Gene Bicknell, the financial backer of the American Heartland Theme Park, has accused his former business partners of orchestrating a “predatory conspiracy of psychological manipulation” to convince him that “God himself was commanding him” to pay for the project.
Filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma, Bicknell’s new lawsuit alleges that Rick Silanskas and Larry Wilhite engaged in “a pattern of racketeering activity” when they sent fraudulent messages to convince Bicknell that they were members of the triune and that “God himself was commanding him” to finance the theme park’s construction.
“Silanskas and Wilhite tricked Gene by impersonating God and religious figures purportedly communicating ‘God’s’ directives in hundreds of electronic messages targeted at Gene. Silanskas and Wilhite made Gene believe that God himself was commanding Gene to infuse ever more cash into the project and to trust them completely with its management,” Bicknell’s attorneys allege. “And after years of conning Gene out of more than $60 million and spending all of that money, including on themselves and their family members, defendants constructed nothing more than a fence and a gravel road.”
Announced in July 2023, the patriotic-themed entertainment venture in Vinita had been met with broad skepticism even before it faced civil suits from unpaid contractors and failed to secure state funding. As problems mounted, Bicknell’s attorneys allege that “Gene got in deeper and deeper” under “the sway of Silanskas and Wilhite and the religious fervor they continued to engineer.”
“The fraud has been devastating to both Gene’s physical health and mental wellbeing,” his attorneys wrote. “It has resulted in severe emotional distress and, ultimately, a stroke. Most painfully, defendants’ actions have jeopardized Gene’s well-earned reputation as a philanthropic, honest and scrupulous businessman.”
Bicknell, 92, was born in the now-condemned town of Picher, a town destroyed and rendered uninhabitable by industrial mining. To the extent some locals valued hope over sensible revenue projections, the American Heartland proposal drew most of its support from Bicknell’s desire to create opportunities in northeast Oklahoma. Despite early skepticism about the project’s viability, the Vinita City Council voted to annex six square miles around the project and provide municipal services. In Craig County — population 14,500 — the American Heartland project was presented as an economic miracle: $2 billion in development would flow into the region and build the 125-acre theme park, a 320-acre RV campground, a 300-room hotel and an indoor water park.
Bicknell’s time in Picher would have coincided with the region’s decline. After making a fortune from Pizza Hut franchises and running in the 1994 Kansas gubernatorial election, Bicknell became involved with the Mansion Theatre for the Performing Arts in Branson, Missouri. He eventually met Branson-based preacher Larry Wilhite, whom he hired to run the theater for more than 20 years.
In late 2019, Wilhite met Silanskas and the two corresponded until November 2020, when Wilhite introduced Silanskas to Bicknell, the lawsuit alleges. Bicknell’s wife, Rita, had died from cancer in April 2020.
By March 2021, Silanskas was a full-time employee of Mansion Theatre. In June 2021, Silanskas is accused by Bicknell of faking a letter of recommendation from Ronald Logan, a retired Disney executive who died about a year later, which Bicknell’s attorneys describe as “Silanskas’s ticket into Gene’s inner circle.” By the end of 2021, Silanskas was the “executive producer” for the Mansion Theatre with a salary of $110,000.
Notably, American Heartland marks Silanskas’ third failed theme park proposal. As NonDoc reported in September 2023, Silanskas served as chief executive officer of a company called DreamVision, which launched plans in 2015 for “two multi-billion dollar theme parks” in Fort Worth, Texas, and Muscle Shoals, Alabama.
“DreamVision CEO Rick Silanskas says the parks are being developed in partnership with Bryan Robinson, CEO, Provident Global Capital, LLC,” a Dream Vision press release announced in February 2015.
But a year later, the Alabama Securities Commission posted a cease-and-desist order against Robinson, who was accused of taking at least $600,000 from investors to purchase and remodel 85 foreclosed homes but never purchased the homes, according to the Birmingham Business Journal. That same year, Robinson pleaded guilty to one count of securities fraud and received a 10-year sentence for operating a business that perpetrated “fraud or deceit on more than 40 Alabama investors.” He was ordered to repay more than $7 million to those he duped over the massive park plan proposed for Muscle Shoals.
Asked about Silanskas’ prior failed theme park endeavors, Mansion Entertainment Group officials repeatedly told NonDoc that Silanskas had no involvement with the American Heartland Theme Park project — an orchestrated lie, according to Bicknell’s lawsuit.
“The American Heartland Project team — other than Gene — was determined to avoid Silanskas’s public association with the American Heartland project,” Bicknell’s petition states. “In October 2023, in anticipation of the project’s groundbreaking ceremony, proposed responses to common questions from reporters were prepared by the team. Someone on the American Heartland project team —not Silanskas nor Wilhite — sent a ‘Media Interview Brief’ to Gene to ensure that all members of the team were consistent in messaging. One of the potential questions was: ‘Rick Silanskas with Mansion Theatre was involved in two failed proposals for large theme parks in Texas and Alabama. Tell me about his involvement with the RV park and theme park.’ The suggested false response was: ‘[Rick Silanskas] is not part of American Heartland or [the R.V. park that was part of the project], nor is he involved in the development of these projects.'”
Arizona resident Stephen Hedrick, whom Wilhite and Silanskas brought into the American Heartland project, was also named as a defendant accused of fraudulent activity in Bicknell’s lawsuit.
Messages ‘crafted to appear to be written and sent by God himself’
Starting sometime in 2022, Silanskas and Wilhite began composing near-daily messages to be sent to Bicknell with the desired effect of manipulating him into supporting the project, according to Bicknell’s attorneys.
“To manipulate Gene to fund the project while surrendering to their control, Silanskas and Wilhite launched a campaign of text and email messages to manipulate Gene by playing upon his religious faith,” Bicknell’s attorneys allege. “They began sending Gene daily devotional text messages called ‘Today’s Word.’ The messages were crafted to appear to be written and sent by God himself. From the start, the messages were intended to obtain Gene’s money and absolute obedience.”
In the spring of 2022, Bicknell purchased 1,600 acres of land outside Vinita for about $7 million. He transferred another $2.8 million throughout the year, according to the lawsuit. After investing $10 million in the project in 2022, he spent another $5.5 million on 1,200 acres of land in 2023 and invested nearly $48 million into the project. The complaint alleges that, during this time, Silanskas and Wilhite began referencing the Christian triune concept to convince Bicknell to grant them each co-equal control and ownership of the project.
While a groundbreaking for the proposed RV park occurred in October 2023, little work was ever done on the project. The complaint alleges that Silanskas and Wilhite enhanced their religious manipulation by creating a fictional “Sister Catherine” character, a purported nun who reached out to Bicknell and acted as a spiritual adviser.
In January 2024, “Sister Catherine” — who Bicknell’s attorneys claim was actually Silanskas and Wilhite — began sending Bicknell emails alleging to be from a nun at “Mission Agape.” The Sister Catherine messages frequently implored Bicknell to trust his fellow “triune” members.
As Silanskas and Wilhite allegedly siphoned Bicknell’s fortune, they ran into a slight problem: Large portions of his wealth had been placed in trust for his “five children and 45 grandchildren,” meaning he could not directly access significant amounts of his money. At “Sister Catherine’s” urging, Bicknell sought legal counsel to change his will and to claw back money from his family trusts for the project.
“My family will not return it yet (God will step in [prayer hands emoji]) it has caused me depression and guilt,” Bicknell explained to the purported nun. “Absolutely I will repent and start my journey to obey my Lord. Not easy and requires legal action against my family which brings another sorrow along with disobedience.”
The lawsuit says Bicknell hired an attorney to change his will and gave the project another $4.8 million before he experienced a stroke in July 2024. After the stroke, “the persistence of Gene’s family and friends paid off,” and Bicknell began investigating the project he had funded for several years.
Neither Silanskas, Wilhite nor Hedrick had responded to the lawsuit by the time this article was published. A spokeswoman for their Mansion Entertainment Group did not respond to a phone message seeking comment.
‘Gene was not part of their story — he was the conquest’
One of the most bizarre components in Bicknell’s 68-page court filing is an allegation that Rick Silanskas sent Larry Wilhite a story titled, “The Ballad of Rick and Larry (A True Legend).” The story focuses on two friends — “tough, no-nonsense” cowboy Larry and “Sicilian immigrant” Rick — who develop a friendship in America and “set out to explore this new land, to conquer it, and to make it their own.”
Bicknell’s attorneys argue the story mirrors Silanskas’ and Wilhite’s relationship with Bicknell. While the fictional Rick and Larry sought a settler colonial dream of seizing a land to make their own, Bicknell’s attorneys say the real Silanskas and Wilhite sought the dream of conquering Bicknell’s fortune.
“The story (…) dovetails with the primary goal of their scheme against Gene — to take over the ownership of the American Heartland Project,” Bicknell’s attorneys wrote. “The story ends with Silanskas and Wilhite building a life for themselves and ‘remain[ing] the best of friends, united by their love of adventure and their deep bond of friendship.’ Gene was not part of their story — he was the conquest.”
While Silanskas allegedly wrote a fictionalized version of his and Wilhite’s attempted conquest, public relations representatives for the American Heartland Theme Park repeatedly denied Silanskas had any involvement in the project.
Asked Sept. 9, 2023, about Silanskas’ potential involvement, Jacqueline Sit of the public relations firm Gooden Group also denied Silanskas was involved in the project on behalf of Mansion Entertainment Group.
“You had asked about Rick Silanskas, and [Kristy Adams, vice president of operations for The Mansion Theatre for the Performing Arts,] confirmed that Rick Silanskas is not part of any American Heartland or Three Ponies entities, nor is he involved in the development of these projects,” Sit wrote.
In the two years since the American Heartland project was announced, NonDoc left several telephone messages for Silanskas at a number listed for him on the Mansion Theatre website. A receptionist said the messages would be given to Silanskas, but he never returned the calls. On July 17, 2024, a NonDoc journalist went to the Mansion Theatre in Branson, Missouri, to see if Silanskas was available. A person at the theatre said “Mr. Rick” was unavailable, and Adams offered a brief explanation.
“You’re looking for Rick, but he’s not here,” Adams said. “He doesn’t always office out of this building. (…) We have Mansion Film and Television, Mansion Animation, and all of that. So, he really doesn’t work for the theater, although we use this address for everybody. So, you probably never will catch him on site.”
Adams redirected NonDoc to Silanskas’ receptionist, and she reiterated the claim that he had no involvement with the American Heartland project.
“He doesn’t have anything to do with our project,” Adams said.
Read Gene Bicknell’s complaint
