MINNESOTA
Fox 9
[with video]
by Tom Lyden
He’s the focus of a nationwide manhunt, but there are still many questions about Victor Barnard. One stands out more than any other: What makes a man like that, and why would so many people follow him?
To begin to understand Victor Barnard, it’s important to know who he followed. When he was just 19, Barnard met a charismatic religious leader who had tens of thousands of followers in 35 countries — but even those who knew him back then tell Fox 9 News that something happened before Barnard went rogue with the Bible.
According to friends from that time, Barnard was a party animal back in 1979, which is when he graduated from the prestigious Breck School. In fact, they were surprised to hear he’d found God the following year in Ohio after he met the man who would become his mentor — Dr. Victor Wierwille, the founder of a religious sect called The Way International.
Karl Kahler took theology classes with Barnard, and wrote a book on The Way International titled “The Cult that Snapped,” and he told Fox 9 News that Barnard had charismatic qualities but did not stand out as unusual in Way Corps training in Kansas and Ohio in the 1980s.
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