Papa Pilgrim: Decades of Abuse in Alaska's Wilderness
Evil Lives Here examines Robert Hale's reign of terror over his 15 children in an isolated Alaskan compound
Quick Facts
Robert Hale demanded absolute obedience from his wife and 15 children in an isolated compound nestled in Alaska's Wrangell Mountains, insisting they address him as "Papa Pilgrim." The February 25, 2024 episode of Evil Lives Here, titled "Terror in the Wilderness," brings his decades-long abuse into the spotlight through the testimony of his eldest daughter, Elishaba Doerksen, who lived through the torment and eventually escaped to tell her story.
According to the 43-minute documentary, Hale presented himself as a devout Christian preacher to the outside world. Behind closed doors, however, he weaponized religion to control and torment his family. Elishaba describes her father as a former "Satan worshiper" who reinvented himself as a man of God—only to use that faith as a tool of psychological and physical domination over his children.
The abuse was systematic and brutal. According to episode descriptions, Hale subjected his daughter to torture and rape, beatings so severe she became unrecognizable, and psychological terror designed to break her spirit. Among the documented horrors, Elishaba was forced to witness the skinning of the family dog—an act designed to demonstrate her father's absolute power over life and death. These acts of violence were not isolated incidents but rather part of a deliberate pattern spanning decades.
Life in the compound meant total isolation from the outside world. Hale controlled every aspect of his family's existence, from where they could go to whom they could speak with. His children had no escape route, no one to turn to, and no way to understand that their reality was not normal. The wilderness that should have represented freedom instead became a prison.
In 2005, Elishaba made a daring escape through the Alaskan wilderness. Her departure from the compound marked a turning point—not just for her own survival, but for justice. Upon reaching safety, she reported her father to authorities, setting off an enormous manhunt that eventually resulted in his arrest.
