2005
From XFamily - Children of God
- Jan. 8 — Angela Marilyn Smith is murdered by former member Ricky Rodriguez.
- Jan. 9 — Ricky Rodriguez subsequently takes his own life.
- Jan. 17 — xFamily.org is established as a collaborative effort to document and collate information on The Family.
- Mar. 3 — Recent photographs of Karen Zerby and other top leaders are made available publicly, by xFamily.org, for the first time in decades.
- Mar. 26 — A memorial for Ricky Rodriguez is held in San Diego.
Press coverage
- San Francisco Chronicle: Murder-suicide case in desert evangelical sex cult — 2005-01-11
- Tucson Citizen: Police probe ties between victim, killer — 2005-01-11
- Arizona Daily Star: Stabber's friends blame decades of abuse in sex cult — 2005-01-12
- Tucson Citizen: Murder suspect, a suicide, raised by cult to lead — 2005-01-12
- Arizona Daily Star: Sect rebuts claims in murder — 2005-01-13
- New York Times: Murder and Suicide Reviving Claims of Child Abuse in Cult — 2005-01-15
- San Francisco Chronicle: Rage turns to vengeance against "Family" — 2005-01-15
- Los Angeles Times: Fringe Group at Center of Deaths — 2005-01-17
- San Francisco Chronicle: Ex-sect members fear new violence — 2005-01-17
- San Jose Mercury News: Group, P.A. woman's slaying intertwined — 2005-01-18
- San Francisco Chronicle: On tape, son of 'prophet' declares war on mother — 2005-01-20
- London Times: Revenge of a son on cult of free love — 2005-01-23
- The Observer, UK: Sex cult's messiah turns killer — 2005-01-23
- AP Spanish Online: Video de homicida-suicida renueva polémica sobre secta comunal — 2005-01-25
- ABC News: New Focus on Fringe Religious Sect — 2005-01-27
- San Francisco Chronicle: Common Thread of Sexual, Spiritual Abuse Among Cult Defectors Who Killed Themselves — 2005-01-27
- San Francisco Chronicle: IRS documents show ties between charity, sex cult — 2005-02-06
- San Francisco Chronicle: Hewlett grant went to cult-linked charity — 2005-02-12
- San Francisco Chronicle: Mixed Memories of 'The Family' Sex: Ex-member believed abuse 'normal' — 2005-02-27
- Evening Standard: The Little Girl Seduced in the Name of God — 2005-03-09
- Los Angeles Times: Tragic Legacies of a Sex-Based Religion: Murder and Suicide — 2005-03-13
- Irish Times: Helping to Take the Cult Out of the Man — 2005-03-21
- Marie Claire: "Killing Myself is the Only Way Out of the Cult" — 2005-04-19
- Rolling Stone: The Life and Death of the Chosen One — 2005-06-30
- People Magazine: Was the Family Doing God's Work - Or Unspeakable Harm? — 2005-07-18
- Humble Observer: Charitable donation or cult income? — 2005-08-03
- Cosmopolitan: A sex cult stole my childhood — 2005-08
See also: Previous Year - 2000s - Next Year