Praise Be
by H.J. Dutton
Horrific Scribes Extremity Rating:
The Long Shadow of the Sodder Cult: A City’s Struggle to Digest Its Bloody Past
by Maisie McBride
November 9, 1999
Today, outside the historic Touraine apartment complex at 1520 Spruce St., Philadelphia, there stands a memorial plaque dedicated to the officers and Sodder Family members who perished in the 1995 raid. The walkway around the plaque is crowded with candles, leftovers of late-night vigils from years ago. Deputy Spencer Moss, one of many surviving officers present in the raid, crouches in front of the plaque and points out to me the names of his colleagues.
At one in the morning on Feb. 22, 1995, PPD operatives received a panicked 9-1-1 call from package courier Alysha Reyes. Reyes whispered about a kidnapping in progress to the dispatcher before something interrupted the call. A team of twelve armed officers arrived on the scene and entered the cellar. According to Wesley Norton, one of the surviving four officers, the team stumbled upon over 80 tenants in the middle of a ritual. At the center of the assembly was 16-year-old Jaiden Burke, crying as someone poured honey over her naked body. When the Sodder Family noticed the officers, they attacked. The three rear officers who fled upstairs immediately requested backup.
Four SWAT vans, each with twelve operatives, arrived on the scene ten minutes later. What followed was one of the bloodiest days in the history of the city. Over the four-hour siege, 15 operatives and 43 Sodders lost their lives. “It was the worst day of my life,” Moss said. “Anyone on-duty that day will tell you the same.” The bodies of Jaiden Burke and the cult’s other known hostages have yet to be found.
Through three years of interrogations and testimonies, investigators pieced together the Sodder Family’s twenty-year history of cover-ups, kidnapping, missing persons cases, and mythology surrounding something the Family referred to as Byatis. Approximately all of the 132 Touraine tenants were members, including staff. Staff uninvolved, among them Reyes, knew of the cult but remained silent due to threats.
Touraine landlord and Family founder Keziah Sodder received multiple life sentences on Sunday, June 11, 1998. According to Family members and “Papa Sodder” himself, the man fathered well over a hundred children among the Family’s women over twenty years. Like the cult’s hostages, the whereabouts of these children, if they existed, are unknown. Sodder and the other survivors have offered no clues beyond vague references to sacrifice.
When the city announced the memorial project on Feb. 7 of this year, councilmen received an influx of outraged calls. Since then, the plaque has been the subject of endless debate, with many claiming the inclusion of certain Family members’ names on the plaque is an insult to the real victims, whereas others claim the majority of the family were themselves victims of abuse, intense isolation and manipulation.
“I think one can simultaneously acknowledge the power of the ‘in-group’ and still refuse to grant victimhood,” said Moss. “These were grown men and women, more than capable of thinking for themselves. Remembering them as hapless sheep at the mercy of dogma indirectly acquits them.”
Officer Moss, like everyone else in Philadelphia, has heard the jokes others throw his way when he travels out of state or even out of the city.The moniker “Philly Fanatic” has become a widespread nickname for the city’s residents.“There’s not much we can do but laugh along,” Moss said.
“Everyone out of state asks me if I personally knew a Sodder,” said PPD dispatcher Brooke McKay. “Truth is, most people in Philly didn’t even know they existed.”
“There’s a spreading sentiment in our culture, I think,” Moss said, “that it ‘could’ve been anyone.’ Your spouse. Your children. You. That nobody is immune. I disagree, wholeheartedly. I don’t want to believe in a world like that.”
AUDIO_LOG_20030104_0415.WAV
OFFICIAL POLICE RADIO TRANSCRIPT ORDER CODE 366172 FILE – 04/13/02
INCIDENT NO. INC 2002-06249
0300 – 0415 HRS EST
[START TRANSCRIPT]
Warrant Execution / Service Operation 03-944
Dispatch: Control to all units on TAC-2, this is Norton, stand by for emergency traffic. Dispatch initiating hard copy log for SWAT operation at 1021 S 4th St, Courtyard Apartments. Effective immediately, TAC-2 restricted to emergency traffic for duration of operation. All non-participating units switch to Dispatch Channel 1 or 2. SWAT Command, Code 33 is in effect. Time is 0301 hours.
Dispatch: Units on TAC-2, roll call prior to breach. Identify by call sign and status.
MED-1, staged at perimeter.
This is TAC-4, covering rear exit.
This is TAC-2, covering front side.
Breacher 1 on Entry 1, ready.
This is TL-1, Moss, at primary breach point. Logistical checks complete.
Dispatch: Control copies all units secure and ready. Stand by for final authorization.
Dispatch: Command, you are cleared to commence operation. Time check is 0304.
TL-1 copy. Units, Green Light. Initiate breach.
[Background Noise]
TL-1, threshold clear. Conducting systematic sweep of first floor. POINT-1, start sweep of floor two with Five and Six. Two, Three, Four you’re with me. All other units prepare to breach neighboring doors. Remember: only every three. Don’t make a mess.
Stack up on Breacher 1.
Ram on my mark. Three. Two. One. Breach.
[Background Noise]
Move. Move.
Get down! All of you! Get on the fucking ground!
Dispatch: Time is 0412. Control to SWAT Command. Report, Moss.
TL-1 copy. All units have successfully vacated the structure. Building clear and secure. Accountability a hundred percent.
Dispatch: Updated count on arrests?
TL-1 to Control, affirmative. Fifty-two civilians in custody. Transport units processing now. Scene remains active.
Dispatch: Control copies, fifty-two total arrests made. Time out is 0412. How many children?
Twenty-five kids likely aged twelve or under.
Dispatch: Good enough. Praise Be to Byatis, Brother Moss.
Praise Be to Byatis.
Want another gripping story by H.J. Dutton? Read “Family of Four” in Horrific Scribes September 2025 and “Darcy’s Docks” in Horrific Scribes February 2026.
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