"Claiming Bloody Innocence"

by Susan Murphy Milano

On June 14, 2007, exactly three years ago this past Monday, Kimberly Ellen Vaughn, 34; Abigayle Elizabeth Vaughn, 12; Cassandra Ellen Vaughn, 11; and Blake Phillip Vaughn, 9, were found shot to death in a red SUV parked among a grove of trees in Will County, Illinois.

The only survivor of this gruesome tragedy is Kimberly's husband, Christopher Vaughn, who had minor gunshot wounds to his thigh and wrist. A former private investigator, Vaughn claims the family was headed to a water park when he pulled the SUV over because his wife “suddenly became ill.” What happened next is the crux of this case. Vaughn admits that he'd brought along a 9mm handgun on the family outing. Yet he claims that he didn't pull the trigger. In Vaughn's version, his dead wife suffered from severe depression and abused prescription drugs. She was suicidal, and he was simply another victim. The shooter that day, according to Vaughn, was Kimberly, who shot him and murdered the children before turning the gun on herself.

On this, the Vaughns' 13th wedding anniversary, Kimberly died of a single bullet to the chin, while each of her children suffered two gunshot wounds to their bodies. At least one piece of forensic evidence calls Vaughn's account into question; Kimberly had no gun reside on her hands.

It appears that authorities believe what I do, that the gunshot wounds Vaughn suffered were self inflicted, and that Kimberly wasn't the one pulling the trigger. Just hours before she and the children were to be buried, nine days after the murders, investigators arrived at the funeral home to take this low-life piece of human garbage into custody, charging him with eight counts of first-degree murder.

We'll never know if Vaughn had GSR, gunshot residue, on his hands; he wasn't tested at the scene. Since the day of the murders, he has claimed that he has no memory of the events, suffering from some bizarre form of amnesia. It seems absurd in the face of his actions that day, especially flagging down a vehicle for help and then conversing normally with the driver who called 911.

The trial date isn't set yet, but in the courtroom, the prosecution will have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Vaughn planned and carried out the murders. For motive, they'll point to a $1 million dollar insurance policy Vaughn took out on Kimberly’s life. For the time being, the accused murderer hasn't been able to collect. Under the “Illinois slayer statue” unless Vaughan is acquitted he won’t see a dime. However, there are more problems with the way the case was handled than that Vaughn's hands weren't tested for gunshot residue at the scene. Another crucial piece of evidence, a towel, was rendered useless when it was mistakenly washed at the Will County morgue.

The defense will no doubt use investigators' mistakes to their advantage, along with pointing at prescription drugs Kimberly took for migraines as evidence of her "depression." Sprinkle in a parade of neighbors the defense will undoubtedly call to show what a loving, wonderful father their client is, and you can predict the prosecutions' problems. I expect the defense team to play a full symphony complete with violins casting doubt before the case finally goes before a jury.

Why hasn't this case received more publicity? Soon after the murders the case was sealed by a judge. In that way, the Vaughn case is different than that of former Bolingbrook police Sgt. Drew Peterson, who will be tried next month in the same county for the murder of his third wife, Kathleen Savio. The result is that in the Vaughn murders, the prosecution and the defense have the opportunity to try their case in a court of law minus the Peterson case's media circus.

Although I try to be mindful that a person is always innocent until proven guilty, I have a difficult time believing any other result than that Christopher Vaughn should receive the death penalty.

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Our Hysterical Media

By Laura James

I have three theories on why the mass media hypes certain types of true crime stories. First, certain kinds of cases hit our buttons and drive up viewership. Second, exaggerating a case to "historic" proportions makes the journalist feel more important, since it strokes the ego to think one is reporting on a history-shattering event. Third, whatever drives up ratings is likely to have a divisive political angle worth exploring for ratings the next day.

Every media outlet in the country is guilty of these sins. I can prove that. Outrageous sensationalism is most often associated with mass murders, especially those committed with a "semi-automatic weapon" (news flash: most guns are "semi-automatic"). Another kind of case that attracts a lot of hype, over-analysis and speculation is the family annihilator.

There are dozens of workplace shootings every year. We'll hear about one and only one, I'd guess, this year. Sadly, that recent massacre took place in a city that had experienced just such a madman's rampage decades ago. Very few news outlets bothered to mention that earlier incident. Why? They prefer to think of every story they cover as unprecedented and unique. Precedents spoil hype.

Here is more proof. The most respected media outlets in the United States sensationalize true crime stories to the point of making blatantly false statements for the sake of a great opening sentence.

The mass shooting at Virginia Tech was not even close to being the worst massacre in US history, or even the worst school massacre in US history. But it was hyped exactly as such by none other than these outlets. (I noted the exact quote in case the links expired, and many did.)

On the Virginia Tech massacre, every single statement a false one:

MSNBC - "the worst school massacre in US history"
ABC - George Stephanopoulos: "The worst campus massacre before Virginia Tech was back in the University of Texas in 1966."
Newsweek - "worst massacre in U.S. history"
Time - "the worst massacre in US history"
Baltimore Sun - "the worst school massacre in US history"
Los Angeles Times - "the worst school massacre in history"
Court TV Crime Library "the worst mass murder in American history," indeed! This is a particularly egregious and unforgivable error on a website that purports to offer encyclopedic treatment of historic crimes, including articles on the Bath massacre and Mountain Meadows.
New Jersey Star-Ledger - "America's worst campus massacre"
Atlanta Journal-Constitution - "worst campus massacre in US history"
New York Daily News - "the worst campus massacre in American history"
Troy Record - "the nation's worst massacre"
WorldNetDaily - "America's worst school massacre"
Campus Times - "worst school massacre in United States history"
Shreveport Times - "worst massacre in American history"
Asheville Citizen-Times "The worst massacre in U.S. history"
Janesville Gazette - "the worst massacre in US history"
Roanoke Times - "worst school massacre in US history"
Daily Titan - "worst massacre in US history"
Bakersfield Californian - "the worst massacre in the country's history."

You'd think the press would've remembered having to correct their reporting when they erroneously fluffed the Columbine massacre as the "worst ever." Oops - I assume too much - did they correct themselves?

For the record, the worst school massacre in U.S. history took place in Michigan. The worst massacre ever is more difficult to discern because of all of the horrific examples. There was never a need to exaggerate any of them.

* * *

Once a newspaper touches a story, the facts are lost forever, even to the protagonists.

--Norman Mailer

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The Christmas Killer

by Connie Park

On Christmas Eve, when families gathered together to enjoy the holidays and to celebrate the season, the small suburb of Covina, 25 miles from Los Angeles, received news of a devastating tragedy right in their neighborhood: a "Santa Gunman" had killed nine family members and torched their house to the ground. This year's Christmas celebration turned into a tragedy that the Ortega family will never forget.

At approximately 11:30 p.m., 45-year-old Bruce Jeffrey Pardo, dressed in a Santa Claus suit, showed up at the doorstep of his former in-laws' home, where his ex-wife, Slyvia Pardo, and her three children by a prior marriage, had been living for the past year.

This Santa Gunman wasn't there to deliver presents or to spread joy. Bruce Pardo (pictured above) was armed with 4 pistols and a flame thrower containing racing fuel. This man came to seek revenge on his ex-wife. It was apparent Pardo didn't care who got in his way or who he was going to hurt or kill. He was a cowardly man who shot an 8-year-old girl in the face when she opened the door to Santa. Pardo also fired a gun into the back of a 16-year-old girl. He continued shooting towards the 25 family members and friends who were at the house and then sprayed racing fuel all around the house, setting the home on fire.

Next, Pardo drove to his brother's house in San Fernando Valley and killed himself. At three in the morning on Christmas Day, the mass murderer's brother, Brad Pardo, found Jeffrey dead with a gunshot wound to the head. Police discovered $17,000 strapped to Pardo's body and a plane ticket to Canada. Unfortunately enough, this Christmas present of Pardo killing himself didn't come soon enough for the Ortega family.

Police stated the vehicle found outside Pardo brother's house was tripwired to set off 500 rounds of ammunition. A second vehicle was recovered in Glendale, California on December 28, but no explosives were found. By early Christmas morning, the house was engulfed in flames and 9 family members were killed. According to the authorities, the bodies were so charred that they were not able to make any identifications at the scene.

According to the Los Angeles Times, Bruce and Sylvia married in 2006. However, Sylvia filed for divorce after discovering that for the past several years, Bruce Pardo had been claiming his brain-damaged son from a previous relationship as a tax exemption. Also, in July 2008, Pardo lost his job in with ITT. He had accumulated extensive debt. The final divorce settlement ordered Pardo to pay $10,000 to Sylvia and to give back the diamond ring and custody of the dog.

From the scene, it was apparent that Pardo had been planning the massacre for several months. He rented the Santa Claus suit earlier in September asking for a extra large suit to hide "big presents."

The 9 family members who were killed were Sylvia Pardo; her parents, Alicia and Joseph Ortega (70 and 80 years old); Teresa and James Ortega (51 and 52); Cheri and Charles Ortega (45 and 50); and Alicia Ortiz and her 17-year-old son, Michael. As a result of this tragedy, 16 children were left without one or both parents. The 8- and 16-year-old girls miraculously survived the shooting and are recovering from the injuries.

The facts and evidence of this multiple homicide-suicide will be documented. But the question of why Pardo resorted to that level of violence—rather than, say, simply taking his own life instead of embarking on a complicated killing spree—will remain incomprehensible.

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Reviving Ghosts of Christmas Past

by Vanessa Leggett

South Pittsburg, Tenn.—After dark, the hush of Christmas night had fallen over Main Street. Most of the 2,400 citizens were gathered in the warmth of their homes, surrounded by family and the tranquility of the season, not knowing that armed men were squaring off downtown.

At 9:00, shotgun blasts shattered the silent night. Within minutes, several men lay lifeless or bleeding to death on the street. Police never responded. They couldn't. The principal members of city and county law enforcement were dead or wounded that Christmas Day in 1927—shot by each other.

The Christmas Day Massacre story made the New York Times, which headlined a "Street Battle of City and County Police," declaring that "virtually all local law enforcement officers [there were] dead or disabled."

Six of community's finest were killed: the Chief of Police; the Sheriff; a deputy; the City Marshal; the Night Marshal (a former Sheriff); and a special policeman. Several others were injured. According to the Times, none of their service revolvers had been discharged. Each had carried a shotgun.

When I ran across this story, two questions stood out in my mind. The obvious question was: How could this have happened? How could those who are expected to keep the peace and to protect the public violate their sworn duties in such an unthinkable way and on what should be the most peaceful day of the year? Christmas—on a Sunday, no less.

Members of law enforcement consider themselves part of a brotherhood. Yet here was mass fratricide on an incomprehensible scale. In fact, actual brothers in this Cumberland Mountain community had been at war with each other. The Times wrote that "brother was arrayed against brother in the fatal feud":

Thomas Connor, a deputy sheriff and brother of Police Chief [James] Connor, whose account furnished the only known coherent story of events leading to the shooting, said that city officers had drawn pistols on him in an encounter earlier in the evening and that the fight began when Sheriff Wash Coppinger and several deputies later sought to arrest members of the opposing group for displaying their weapons threateningly.

Why had the city officers menaced the county deputy with guns? The conflict was not born that night. This was not a Southern Christmas brawl that developed out of a lethal mix of Jack Daniels and testosterone. The tragic event was the culmination of an industrial strike that had been brewing tension in the town for a year. A local stove manufacturing plant that employed 75% of South Pittsburg's population was attempting to dissolve its unions.

As happens in disputes that polarize communities, law enforcement became involved. In this case, the two major agencies took opposing sides. The Marion County Sheriff and his men supported the union strikers, while the South Pittsburg City Marshals and his deputies backed the stove company and attempted to break up the strike. The County union sympathizers believed their efforts were being undermined by City lawmen. The Sheriff's men accused them of helping special policemen who had been assigned to guard locations.

News accounts reported that the officers involved in the shooting were accompanied by civilians—from both factions of the strike—bringing the total number in gun battle to around twenty.

After some cursory research, I was never able to fully answer that first question: How could peace officers have resorted to murder, the most violent crime of all? Which brings me to the second question, which is less obvious but, to me at least, more bothersome: Why wasn't there more information?

And what ever happened to law and order in South Pittsburg? The only resolution I could glean was that the National Guard had been summoned to restore order. And the slain Sheriff's son assumed the top lawman's post, but not without resistance. The City Administration was set on ousting the Sheriff's family from county authority. The City unsuccessfully supported one of the few surviving officers of the South Pittsburg Police Force. The Attorney General was supposed to investigate, but I could not find any follow-up to this announcement in the New York Times: "An investigation has been started by Attorney General Tom Stewart, who said today that a hearing probably would be called soon to fix responsibility for the fray."

Among the four New York Times pieces I located, one story acknowledged that details of the shooting were "meager." That was reported two days after the police massacre. Eighty-one years later, information is still scant. The South Pittsburg Historic Preservation Society has archived one local story. Usually local papers have the most in-depth information. But aside from a basic summary of events, all the South Pittsburg Hustler had to report 10 days following the shooting was that "no investigation has been made of the horrible tragedy."

A story appeared in the Nashville Banner and likely other papers as well, but none of the stories I read revealed any meaningful details. I could not find a single quote from a witness, and there were survivors and bystanders, according to the Times, which noted that "[s]pectators held back for fear the firing might be resumed." (The shootout took place next to a hotel, whose guests might have been roused by the gunfire.)

Any substantive fact-gathering efforts or accounts of the incident have been recent. Perhaps the most comprehensive account is a scholarly article in the Tennessee Historical Quarterly co-authored by two professors from Middle Tennessee State University in 2004. Researchers at MTSU have been trying to recreate events surrounding the shooting. According to a news story highlighting their work, they consider the Christmas Day Massacre "an important milestone in what happened to unions in the south." (See the video clip below for a documentary encapsulating their research.) In 2005, the South Pittsburg Historic Preservation Society sponsored a presentation on the "Infamous South Pittsburg Shootout," which was attended by the fallen Sheriff's granddaughter and other descendants of those who lost their lives in the gunfight. The co-authors of the scholarly article, professors who spoke at the event, are still looking for information, as is the Society.

Why was there so little contemporary reporting? I believe one factor might be the shroud of secrecy that surrounds investigations into members of law enforcement. There's a reason it's called Internal Affairs. But in a case of such historical import, I don't believe officers' affairs should be kept internal. The public deserves to know exactly what led to the fatal feud that claimed so many lives. The survivors should have that knowledge available.

I don't blame the police. The fault lies with the press. Even if a collective perhaps subconsciously selective amnesia gripped South Pittsburg in the days after the shootout, reporters should have stayed with the story, continued to dig, and to update the public.

Journalists and authors delve into the minds of killers, dissecting their psyches and revealing their personal histories. Why does there seem to be a reluctance to examine that backgrounds of killers who happen to carry badges? Especially, as in this case, those who murder their own?

These ghosts of Christmas past deserve to have their stories told. If you have information on the Christmas Day Massacre of 1927, please contact the South Pittsburg Historic Preservation Society at information@historicsouthpittsburgtn.org

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From Brother to Brother - Part 1

by Stacy Dittrich

I remember the night all too well. December 26, 2007, my husband Richard and I slept peacefully after a long, festive Christmas Day. We were glad to see the year coming to an end. I was still a deputy with the Richland County Sheriff’s Office and Rich was a Mansfield police officer. We had endured one of those dark years in our profession, the kind that law enforcement agencies throughout history ultimately face. Our departments had been plagued with officer-involved shootings and deaths, all of which were scrutinized by the media. It was a year most of us went to work on edge, wondering if “today was our day.”

Last Christmas was a peaceful holiday—thoughts of work put aside as our daughters were always first priority—and we looked upon 2008 with high hopes. However, if we were ever to imagine how this year would end, we wouldn’t have believed it.

It was approximately 5:00 a.m. the day after Christmas when our phones began to ring: our house phone, and both of our cell phones—repeatedly, which is never a good sign in a household with two police officers. Rich and I were awakened and alerted to the fact that something was wrong—very wrong.

Unable to reach the various numbers that showed on our phones, I began to become extremely concerned about my father. A Mansfield Police Lieutenant, my father supervised Rich on the night shift. Since Rich usually takes Christmas off to spend with the family I was racking my brain trying to remember if my father was on his days off or not. Although it had seemed like several minutes, only seconds had passed when Rich opened his cell phone and read out loud a text that had just come in: MANSFIELD POLICE OFFICER BRIAN EVANS WAS JUST SHOT AND KILLED BY HIS BROTHER. (Evans pictured above.)

Standing in our kitchen in shock, Rich continued to read that Brian’s wife, Trina, had also been shot. I immediately fell apart. I had known the couple for a long time; their 10-year-old daughter Tess was a friend of my daughter’s, and the text didn’t reveal whether Trina was alive or not. The thought of this little girl losing both her parents was too much to handle at that moment. Rich, who had worked side by side with Brian nightly, was also overcome with grief. Regardless, the incessant phone ringing began again, and we began to learn the horrific events that had occurred leaving two innocent people dead, and two shot.

Late Christmas night, Brian, a few friends, and his brother, Larry—a corrections officer at a nearby prison—decided to take in a movie. For reasons that can only be defined as premeditated, Larry excused himself from the theatre and walked out, leaving the rest of the men scratching their heads. Brian and Larry had a good relationship so no one could figure out why he did this. Unknowingly, Larry had taken Brian’s truck from the movie theatre and drove it home. Becoming concerned, Brian called Larry’s wife, Carol, and asked her to pick him up and drive him to their home to find Larry. Brian also called Trina, who was with his sister, Kimberly, and told them to start looking for Larry—something was wrong.

As Brian and Carol drove to Larry’s home, they were unaware that he had already ambushed, and shot his neighbor, 44-year-old Robert Houseman, in the head—killing him instantly.

After spending an enjoyable Christmas with his parents and two young daughters, the well-liked and quiet Houseman was definitely in the wrong place at the wrong time. As he put his keys in his front door to enter, Larry Evans approached Houseman from the darkness, leaving his body to lie on the front porch of the duplex they shared (pictured above).

Brian spotted the body immediately upon pulling into Larry’s driveway. Clearly sensing the danger, Brian ordered Carol to leave the area for her own safety. Brian, a highly trained SWAT member, was also certified in the area of crisis intervention. Emerging from the darkness carrying a high-powered assault rifle, Larry Evans gunned down his own brother in cold blood, before shooting at his own wife who was fleeing for her life.

Mansfield Police Chief Phil Messer summarized Brian’s courage well:

“The fact that this was his brother makes the events even more tragic; however, it cannot be disputed his act to intervene instead of leaving in the vehicle with Carol Evans clearly saved her life and demonstrated his commitment to our oath. Yes, there may be a few among us who would have confronted such a situation in the same manner as Brian—the everyday heroes we read about from time to time—but there are those we expect to respond; our police officers and firefighters, what we call our hometown heroes.”

Brian’s body lay several feet from Houseman’s as Trina and Kimberly made their way to the home. Lying in wait, Larry opened fire on Trina and Kimberly as they pulled in, striking Trina in the right shoulder and Kimberly in the chest. Reacting instantly, Trina threw her car in reverse and sped away for safety. As she called for help, her main priority was getting a message to Brian—to warn him not to come to the house. Unfortunately, she was unaware that Brian had arrived first.

What followed was a stand-off between Larry Evans and my fellow officers at the Richland County Sheriff’s Department and Mansfield Police. Over thirty rounds from various weapons were fired at officers, weapons that—according to Carol Evans, who never reported the incident—were being stockpiled over the course of several days. Carol Evans, who now supports her husband, also has her sister, Debbie Spurlock on her side.

“Larry’s a good, good person. Everyone needs to know that,” Spurlock stressed about the barbaric monster that brutally killed two people and shot two others.

In no less than a cowardly fashion, Larry (pictured left) stripped his clothes off and surrendered to authorities, naked with his hands held high, knowing he wouldn’t be shot. In the aftermath of the brutal slayings, Evans was indicted on 19 counts of murder and attempted murder of Brian Evans, Robert Houseman, Trina Evans, Kimberly Evans, and countless law enforcement officers. His bond was set at one million dollars. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.

The trial of Larry Evans began—and ended—this week. Trina Evans courageously filed a motion to continue the trial, contending the findings of the psychiatrists were grossly inaccurate; the motion was denied.

This is only part one of an incredibly tragic story that has taken an astonishing turn of events. With the insanity plea thrown into the mix, the trial has already sparked outrage within the community, and numerous protests have already begun in downtown Mansfield. Was Larry Evans completely under the reign of a psychotic breakdown, or were the killings calculated by an intelligent, cold-blooded killer who knows the inner workings of the criminal justice system?

There is a growing, and all-too-realistic fear that Larry Evans may be out on our streets one day soon. While incarcerated, Larry has sworn to finish the job he started—a job that includes killing Trina and Kimberly.

On Tuesday, September 2, a three-judge panel (two, actually, since the third fell asleep) deliberated for only ten minutes after listening only to the testimony of one witness, a psychiatrist for the defense. The judges returned an appalling, and shocking, verdict of not-guilty by reason of insanity. A potential mass murderer may be on our streets in less than two years, as Larry Evans attempted to shoot and kill upwards of 15 people that night. At the announcement of the verdict, the courtroom erupted, stunning the victims, including Trina Evans (pictured above).

The second part of this story will focus on what went wrong during the trial, and how a historic lack of injustice could possibly be rectified. To hear Trina Evans' own thoughts on the verdict, listen here. WCI's Susan Murphy-Milano wrote her own blog on the tragedy when it occurred in December.

As for Trina and Tess Evans (pictured left with Brian), they are slowly picking up the pieces and holding their breaths.

Note: I will be discussing the case again on War On Crime radio with host, Levi Page, Sunday, Sept. 7th, at 10pm EDT: www.thewaroncrime.blogspot.com

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Scientology: Church or Domestic Terrorist?

by Stacy Dittrich

I have been chipping away at my latest CeeCee Gallagher book in which CeeCee investigates a religious doomsday cult. During my research phase, which entailed the awful task of researching every cult known to man, I came across the FBI report Project Megiddo. The project was directed at doomsday religions prior to the new millenium, and I was a little surprised to see a reference to Scientology in it. Since I wasn't completely informed about the group, I furthered my research. In speaking with my own contact at the FBI, I learned that cults fall under Homeland Security as potential domestic terrorists. Needless to say, in my research of Scientology, I was disturbed on so many levels it's difficult to know where to begin. I always wondered why my glorious ancestral home of Germany rejected it; now I know why. First and foremost, is the ongoing classification as the cult as a "religion" or a "church." Here's what my dictionary says:

Church: Building for Christian worship, a whole body of Christians

Religion: Service and worship of God

Nowhere in my research did I see anything resembling God or Christianity in Scientology. Read on:

Cult: A faddish devotion (bingo!)

The media put such an emphasis on referring to displaced Katrina residents as "refugees" politically incorrect, I'm surprised this wording is still continued for Scientology-considering it's mentally unstable founder considered it a "business" to begin with. Project Megiddo explained the "Lethal Triad" of cults and how, if the components of the triad are met, the cult is deemed a danger to society. ie Scientology. Here are some facts about the founder of the cult, L. Ron Hubbard, and what the Scientologists say about him . . .

Scientologists: Hubbard was a nuclear physicist

Fact: Hubbard dropped out of college in the 2nd year after receiving F's in most courses

Scientologists: They shun psych drugs

Fact: Hubbard was found with Vistaril (psych drug) in his system when he died

Scientologists: They reject homosexuality as perversion

Fact: In 1967, Hubbard bought a small fleet of ships he called the "Sea Organization" and deemed himself "The Commodore." With that, he was attended by a large harem of teenage girls--"The Commodore's Messengers"--dressed in tight white pants that bathed and fed him" (a sexual predator in my book)

Scientologists: They reject homosexuality

Fact: Hubbard's own son was a homosexual, and died under mysterious circumstances--suicide or murder

Scientologists: Hubbard's a genius

Fact: Scientology started out as a science fiction book that was so bad he couldn't get it published, so he decided to start a religion. He was quoted as saying, "The easiest way to make a million dollars is to start your own religion."

Scientologists: They deny being a cult

Fact: In 1946, Hubbard and Jack Parsons (an associate of occultist Aleister Crowley) engaged in ritual magic including sex magic rituals called the Babalon Working; a ritual derived from the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. . . . Some experts believe he based many Scientology teachings on this

Scientologists: Hubbard was a U.S. Intelligence Agent put undercover to end Parsons sex rituals

Fact: Ummm, nooo.

Bottom line: L. Ron was a fraud, mentally ill, sexual deviant, who possibly had his own son murdered. In addition, they are dangerous. Read this account from the BBC who took on Scientology:

On May 12, 2007 Journalist John Sweeney of BBC Panorama made highly critical comments regarding Scientology and its teachings, and further reported that since beginning an extensive investigation he had been harassed, surveilled, and investigated by strangers. Sweeney wrote, "I have been shouted at, spied on, had my hotel invaded at midnight, denounced as a "bigot" by star Scientologists and chased round the streets of Los Angeles by sinister strangers. Back in Britain strangers have called on my neighbors, my mother-in-law's house and someone spied on my wedding and fled the moment he was challenged." In another passage, "He [Scientology representative Tommy Davis] harangued me for talking to […] heretics. I told him that Scientology had been spying on the BBC and that was creepy." And in another passage, "In LA, the moment our hire car left the airport we realized we were being followed by two cars. In our hotel a weird stranger spent every breakfast listening to us."[190][191]

The Church of Scientology called John Sweeney's documentary (first aired May 14, 2007) into question and produced its own documentary in which it claimed to have documented 154 violations in the BBC's and OfCom's guidelines. [192]

In a small attempt to give Scientology the benefit of the doubt, I went further and found this:

Some past traumas may have been deliberately inflicted in the form of "implants" used by extraterrestrial dictatorships such as Helatrobus to brainwash and control the population. Hubbard's lectures and writings include a wide variety of accounts of complex extraterrestrial civilizations and alien interventions in earthly events, collectively described by Hubbard as "space opera." There is a huge Church of Spiritual Technology symbol carved into the ground at Scientology's Trementina Base that is visible from the air. Washington Post reporter Richard Leiby wrote: "Former Scientologists familiar with Hubbard’s teachings on reincarnation say the symbol marks a 'return point' so loyal staff members know where they can find the founder’s works when they travel here in the future from other places in the universe."

Hmmm . . . reminds me of another cult. Heaven's Gate (Gate Leader Marshall Applewhite pictured left, and Hubbard pictured right) believed in the power of extraterrestrials as well.

Another Fact:

The Cult Awareness Network famously received more complaints concerning Scientology than any other group. They therefore listed the Church of Scientology at the top of their cult list, until they went into bankruptcy from suits initiated by Scientology (1996). Ultimately, they were bought in Bankruptcy Court by the Church of Scientology (1997).

Punishing myself further, I watched a video featuring the deranged poster child (Yes, Tom Cruise) promote Scientology. Watch video here. I find it interesting that Cruise, raised a Catholic and turned his back on it years ago, seems to specifically target Catholic women as a "mate," in an attempt to exert total control and give God the middle finger. "Ha! Grabbed me another one!" Like the video in which Cruise seems to have a psychotic episode right before your eyes (it's really rather disturbing), their own Web site is worse. To read it, I wonder what logical person living in reality could possibly relate to this, let alone believe in it?

In the video, Tom Cruise states, "We are the authority, we are the ONLY ones who can rehabilitate criminals." Sorry, Tommy, this makes me angry. Next sex offender I deal with that brutally rapes children, I'll send your way. You can rehabilitate them, and then have them babysit your daughter and see how much you "believe."

The Cult of Scientology has faced allegations of member suicides, deaths, and psychotic breaks-a.k.a., cult . . . cult . . . cult . . . cult They are dangerous. I hope the government won't wait twenty years to dissolve the sect like they did the recent polygamist ranch. Once they do, I predict the stories that come out of this domestic terrorist cult will be horrendous--extortion; sex crimes; theft by deception; practicing medicine without a license; obstructing justice; assault; abduction; and other crimes, none of which would surprise me. I look forward to future-- federal--indictments.

(Tom Cruise) (Jim Jones)

Justice Anderson of the Supreme Court of Victoria, Australia, an extremely intelligent individual, said this: " Scientology is evil; its techniques are evil; its practice is a serious threat to the community, medically, morally, and socially; and its adherents are sadly deluded and often mentally ill (I would insert Tom Cruise here) . . . It is the world's largest organization of unqualified persons engaged in the practice of dangerous techniques which masquerade as mental therapy. . . ."

To answer your question, Mr. Cruise--No, I'm NOT on board. . . . Sue me.

As always, this is just my opinion.

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