A Scam That Morphed Into a Cult
Eventually some of the victims grew impatient at constantly getting screwed – figuratively and literally – by the Hernandez brothers. The siblings, it dawned on many, were taking their sweet time to reveal the hidden Aztec treasures like they had promised. So the conmen decided to up the ante and recruit some help to help keep the scam alive. They found it in Magdalena Solis, a Monterrey prostitute whom they coached to pretend to be a reincarnation of Coatlicue, a goddess from the pantheon of Aztec mythology. With Magdalena came her pimp/ brother, Eleazar Solis. Santos and Cayetano Hernandez brought Magdalena and her brother to Yerba Buena, and introduced her as the reincarnated goddess Coatlicue.
Magdalena embraced her role enthusiastically – perhaps too enthusiastically. She developed a religious delusion, became convinced that she really was Coatlicue, and took over the cult. Whereas the Hernandez brothers had been content to exploit their followers for sex, the new leader Magdalena Solis was into sadomasochism. Before long, things took a turn for the gruesome. When two members tried to leave the cult, Magdalena ordered them murdered. That was bad enough, but then she began to demand human sacrifices, and claimed that she needed the blood to keep her young forever.