Cult Killer Dies In Prison: Michael Ryan Dead After Spending 30 Years On Death Row

Cult killer Michael Ryan died in prison on Nebraska’s death row on Sunday. Ryan spent 30 years on death row after being convicted of the 1983 cult killings of two people – one of the victims was a 5-year-old boy.

Michael Ryan died at approximately 5:45 p.m. at the Tecumseh State Correctional Institutional in southeast Nebraska. The cause of the cult killer’s death is currently unknown, an autopsy will be performed by the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services.

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Michael Ryan was convicted for torturing and then killing Jame Thimm, 26, at a Rulo area farm. Thimm was sexually abused, beaten, stomped, partially skinned while still alive, and then shot by the cult leader, according to court records. Thimm’s fingertips had been shot off one of his hands. Michael Ryan tortured and killed Thimm because he said God told him the cult member had angered him, trial documents also state.

Ryan reportedly led a cult on the farm. He was also convicted for the beating death of Luke Stice, 5 – the son of a cult member. The Ryan cult included about 20 members. The cult hated Jews and stockpiled weapons so they would be prepared for a “final battle between good and evil,” according to court records.

Ryan’s son, Dennis Ryan, and fellow cult member Timothy Haverkamp, were sentenced to life in prison for second-degree murder for the role they played in Thimm’s death. Police investigators stated that Dennis Ryan fired the shot that killed Thimm after days of torture.

Dennis Ryan released from prison after winning a new trial and being convicted of the lesser charge of manslaughter. Haverkamp was released from prison after serving 23 years of a 10-years-to-life sentence.

During a March hearing where legislation to repeal the Nebraska death penalty was introduced, State Senator Ernie Chambers stated that the cult killer had terminal brain cancer. Nebraska has only completed four executions since 1973 – at least partially because of repeated legal challenges. The Michael Ryan case came was mentioned repeatedly when lawmakers debated the death penalty and method of execution used in the state.

When Ryan was sentenced, Nebraska’s only method of execution was the electric chair. In 2008, the Nebraska Supreme Court ruled that death via electrocution was cruel and unusual punishment. In 2009, the state legislature changed Nebraska’s method of execution to lethal injection.

The cult killer challenged the process in which Nebraska obtained one of the three drugs which would be used to execute him in 2012. The court denied Michael Ryan’s request and in April 2014, the Nebraska Supreme Court rejected his appeal.

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