Daniel Perez was born in Texas in 1959. Few details about his early life are known, but he fled that state in 1997 to avoid sentencing for a child sex crime conviction. He relocated to Kansas, where he adopted the name Lou Castro. He would later claim that he was assaulted by police officers following his Texas arrest and that severe injuries led to memory loss, leading him to believe that Lou Castro was his real name, though this is almost certainly untrue.
The charismatic Perez attracted a small group of followers who believed his clams to be a centuries-old angel with supernatural powers. They lived a nomadic lifestyle, traveling across several states and even briefly relocating to Mexico. Perez had been born in the U.S., but was briefly deported because U.S. immigration authorities could find no record of “Lou Castro.” Perez chose to be falsely deported rather than reveal his actual identity and risk being jailed for his Texas crime.
Patricia Hughes, one of Perez’s earliest followers, helped him return to the U.S., and the group then acquired 20 acres of property in Kansas and set up a commune called Angel’s Landing. Though Perez did not have a job, the Angel’s Landing commune had several houses, a swimming pool, and several expensive cars on site. These were paid for by Perez’s disciples.
Perez exercised considerable psychological dominance over his followers at the commune, though the small number of male followers had more freedom than did the women. Perez convinced his followers that he needed to regularly have sex with young girls in order to revive his angelic force and continue to survive on Earth. Some parents willingly consented to Perez having sex with their minor daughters for this purpose.
When the group’s money started to run out, Perez took out life insurance policies on several members. Hughes drowned in the pool at Angel’s Landing in 2003, and Perez collected at least $1.2 million. While her death was first ruled an accident, five other suspicious deaths over the next few years — with most coming shortly after Perez acquired a life insurance policy on the individual — led the Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office to open an investigation.
Perez left Kansas and moved to Tennessee, where he adopted another fake name. In 2010, he was arrested and charged with murder, rape, sexual exploitation of a child, fraud, and making criminal threats. Perez took the stand and maintained his innocence, with his attorneys arguing that witnesses had colluded against him and that the prosecution’s evidence was insufficient. Nevertheless, Perez was convicted on all 28 counts in 2015.
Perez is currently incarcerated at the Lansing Correctional Facility in Kansas. Other than one minor disciplinary violation in 2018, his time in custody has been uneventful. His sentences were ordered to be served consecutively, meaning that Perez has no possibility of parole until 2095.
Key Sources:
Hegeman, R. (2015, March 24). US commune leader gets life term for slaying of member. Associated Press.
Leibowitz, B. (2012, June 7). Kansas commune leader to stand trial for murder. CBS News.
Nolasco, S. (2020, May 2). Angel’s Landing survivor recalls escaping deadly cult in new doc: ‘It didn’t take long for things to turn.’ Fox News.
Tidd, J. (2020, March 6). Case of Kansas cult killer and rapist Daniel Perez, AKA Lou Castro, featured on TV. Wichita Eagle.
Wills, J. (2021, September 15). Cult leader told followers he needed to rape their children to ‘fix them’ and stay alive. Daily Star.
Encyclopedia of Cults, Sects, and New Religious Movements 