Wife Falls Victim to Cult Fast

Xinhua News Agency, March 13, 2000

OTTAWA (March 13, 2000) XINHUA - A Canadian woman has fallen victim to her husband's desire to become a cult leader, the Calgary Sun newspaper reported Monday.

Eda Diane Lee, 26, died in cult fast five months ago on a mountain plateau 80 kilometers west of Calgary, Alberta.

She and her husband Jason Samuel Lee, 30, were fasting for 40 days and nights, believing that God had forbidden them to eat because food was "an instrument of Satan".

Jason Lee believes he's a cult leader and prophet, being guided by God as to where he'd go and what, if anything, he'd eat, according to the report. The couple hitch-hiked to Canmore and then hiked high onto a mountain plateau, where they began their fast.

On the morning of the day Eda died, Lee said God spoke to him again, and gave him permission to fetch water and give Eda a drink.

"He went down to the creek to fetch it, and when he returned, Eda was deceased," a police officer was quoted as saying.

"He dressed her in religious clothing they had with them, wrapped her in a sleeping bag, and placed her in a natural crevice on the mountain side," said Calgary police Dept. Scott Buchanan.

The few people who knew the couple became suspicious when Lee returned alone. Police launched an investigation and eventually interviewed Lee about Eda's disappearance.

Jason Lee has been charged with the unlawful disposal of human remains after the five-month-old remains of his wife were found in a shallow grave. The couple were expelled from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day

Saints three years ago because of their beliefs. Their former friends became scared of them as the friends feared the couple were using their religious fervor to recruit disciples to follow Jason Lee as a cult leader.

"He had no use for society, or authority, or money, or work, believing God would provide him with all he needed in life," police said.