A religious cult leader who claimed he had gone from being gay to straight is under investigation following the death of his wife.

27-year-old Bethany Deaton was buried earlier this month after an apparent suicide.

However, Micah Moore, 23, has reportedly confessed to murdering the deceased, and says the killing was ordered by her husband, Tyler Deaton.

Mr Deaton, 26, is the leader of a Christian prayer group in Kansas City, Missouri.

Mr Moore, a member of the group, has been arrested and charged with first-degree murder and Mr Deaton is now under the spotlight of police officials.

In the four months since the Deatons got married, several male members of the group allegedly sexually assaulted Mr Deaton’s wife.

It’s claimed Bethany Deaton was planning to expose what she had been subjected to and planned to speak with a therapist.

According to the Kansas City Star, Mr Moore said the group, which lived together in a home in Grandview, Missouri, used sex as a means of spirituality.

The newspaper reports that members of the group, which is connected to the International House of Prayer, a virulently anti-gay organisation, claimed Mr Deaton, was against homosexuality because he struggled with being gay himself.

“He struggled with it, but he overcame it,” an individual told the Star. “It was a victory.”