Amanda Knox, 2x2 Church, Rabbi Zvi Kogan
A Little Bit Culty: Through the Labyrinth: Amanda Knox on Coercion, Media, and Advocacy
"Author and podcaster Amanda Knox sits down with Sarah and Nippy to discuss the culty nature of the Italian justice system. Amanda shares how she was coerced by the police into confessing to a crime she did not commit and details her experience with a media that is more concerned with ratings than truth. She also discusses the ongoing process of healing from trauma and her ongoing work in criminal justice reform.
Amanda's podcast, "Labyrinths," explores the complexities of the justice system and the human stories often obscured by sensationalized headlines. She has also authored the best-selling memoir, "Waiting to be Heard," offering a firsthand account of her ordeal. Amanda also continues to write and speak out with her new book, "Free My Search for Meaning," scheduled for release in March 2025. In addition to her work on broader justice reform issues, Knox is also writing a book focusing on her complex and evolving relationship with Giuliano Mignini, the prosecutor who played a central role in her wrongful conviction."
ABC: Member of secretive Christian sect sentenced to 120 years in prison
RNS: At rabbis' conference in New York, grief and resilience over colleague's murder in Middle East
Raymond Zwiefelhofer was convicted of possessing child sexual abuse material.
"An ABC News yearlong investigation into the 2x2 Church, a Christian sect so secretive most people have never heard of it, has uncovered allegations of widespread child sexual abuse and subsequent coverups.
During the investigation, ABC News spoke with dozens of alleged victims of child sexual abuse across more than 30 states.
As part of the ongoing investigation by law enforcement, Raymond Zwiefelhofer was convicted of 10 counts of possessing child sexual abuse material and was sentenced to 120 years in prison last month.
"In total, there were 87 files that were determined to be child sexual abuse material or sometimes known as child pornography," Catherine Fu, a Maricopa Deputy County Attorney, told ABC News. "The 10 charged files were a combination of photos and videos, and they were all depicting children under the age of 15 engaged in either exploitive exhibition or sexual conduct."
He was a tech CEO in Arizona, but he was also a member of the 2x2 Church, according to ex-members ABC News spoke to. He was an elder in the community on and off for decades.
"I'm not guilty. Again, I like to get that – make that clear," Zwiefelhofer said during his sentencing hearing. "I would love to know how the jury found that I knowingly did this."
ABC News reached out to Zwiefelhofer's attorney multiple times for comment and did not hear back.
'An elder leads a group of members in their home through church services," Cynthia Liles, a private investigator, told ABC News. "I would say there are almost always children present in the home meetings.'"
Zwiefelhofer, 61, maintains his innocence."
" ... What makes the 2x2 Church so unique is the way it operates. Ministers of the church, known as workers, live with members in their homes, usually for a few days at a time.
Many former members ABC spoke with say some of the church leadership knew about abuse allegations, but did not report it to the proper authorities. Instead, the leadership would often move alleged abusers to different states.
While there is no singular head of the church, ABC News did reach out to overseers – the dozen or so men in charge of the community. While ABC News did not hear back from the overseer of Arizona who oversaw Zwiefelhofer, the former and current overseers with whom ABC News did speak all denied that widespread sexual abuse has been taking place within the 2x2 community."
RNS: At rabbis' conference in New York, grief and resilience over colleague's murder in Middle East
"The murder of Rabbi Zvi Kogan, an emissary of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement, was mourned by Jews around the world, but most of all by the rabbis affiliated with the sect meeting in Brooklyn in recent days.
"Even as thousands of rabbis affiliated with the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic sect crowded into a group photograph at their annual conference in Brooklyn's Crown Heights neighborhood, the absence of one of their colleagues was palpable.
Rabbi Zvi Kogan, an emissary of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement, was murdered last week in an apparent antisemitic attack in the United Arab Emirates. He was laid to rest last Monday (Nov. 25) in Israel.
Three Uzbek nationals, allegedly linked to an Iranian-backed terror cell, were arrested shortly after disembarking from a plane in Turkey and deported back to the UAE as the primary suspects in Kogan's murder. If convicted they could face the death penalty."
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