The Family

House of Horrors

One of the investigators called to The Family's home after Ndigo's death would later describe it as a "house of horrors."

According to search warrants reviewed by the Marin Independent Journal, the interior of the home was decorated with bizarre paintings portraying Wright as a deity. One image showed a black man standing on three nude women and holding a rifle over his head, in an apparent reference to Wright and three of his wives.

Investigators also found a "Book of Rules," which included a byzantine code of conduct for the children forbidding them from answering the front door or eating food without permission. As punishment, the children were forced to eat jalapeno peppers, had their mouths taped shut or were subjected to elaborate whipping ceremonies where a candelabra holding seven candles was lit.

An 8-year-old girl told investigators that she was tied to a playpen for two weeks after sneaking food during an enforced fast; she was also forced to wear a cap fashioned from the wrappers of the snacks she'd stolen and had her mouth taped shut. She'd stolen the energy bars from the kitchen, she told them, because she couldn't bear the gnawing pains in her stomach any longer.