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- Testimony of Adelle Hartwell
- Testimony of George Meister
- Testimony of Paulette Cooper
News Articles
- Judge
OKs hearings on sect
Clearwater Sun, May 1, 1982
"The Church of
Scientology's request to prevent Clearwater from
holding public hearings to investigate its
operations was denied Friday in federal
court."
- Sect role
in city's hearing up in air
Clearwater Sun, May 2, 1982
"When Clearwater Mayor Charles LeCher
convenes the city's public hearings on
Scientology Wednesday, one of the main players
may be conspicuously absent: the Church of
Scientology itself. Paul B. Johnson, the sect's
Tampa lawyer, said Friday that if the hearings
proceed as mapped out by city officials, the
church will not participate."
- Michael
Flynn: idealistic, involved
Clearwater Sun, May 2, 1982
"But most recently Flynn was
hired by Clearwater to act as its consultant
during its public hearings into operations of the
Church of Scientology. In that capacity, he will
introduce witnesses and testimony gathered during
his battles with the church. The hearings are set to begin Wednesday."
- Sect
still scrapping in five local lawsuits
Clearwater Sun, May 2, 1982
"The lawsuit filed this past
week by the Church of Scientology against the
city of Clearwater brings the number of local
legal scraps the sect is involved in to
five."
- Sect
victims' fund asks for rent-free stadium use
Clearwater Sun, May 3, 1982
"The Scientology Victims'
Defense Fund has requested that Clearwater waive
rental fees for the organization to use Jack
Russell Stadium for a forum planned for May
22."
- Petitioners
back hearings on sect
Clearwater Sun, May 4, 1982
"The petitions were presented
to commissioners at their Monday work session by
Robert Bickerstaff, a member of the Scientology
Victims Defense Fund."
- Hubbard's
son will testify today
Clearwater Sun, May 5, 1982
"The son of L. Ron Hubbard,
founder of the Church of Scientology, is
scheduled to testify today in the opening round
of public hearings on the sect, the city's hired
consultant said Tuesday."
- Sect
hearings open calmly
Clearwater Sun, May 6, 1982
"So began testimony in
the much-awaited and much-publicized hearings
that city officials said could result in two
ordinances aimed at curbing Scientology
solicitation and alleged fraudulent
activities."
- L. Ron
Hubbard's son says his father 'destroys' foes
Clearwater Sun, May 6, 1982
"The son of L. Ron Hubbard,
founder of the Church of Scientology, testified
Wednesday his father was obsessed with
controlling people and 'destroyed' those who
opposed him and the church."
- 'They'll
take the Kool-Aid'
Clearwater Sun, May 6, 1982
" 'If Hubbard decides to
leave this planet he'll take the others with him
- they will take the Kool-Aid,' Walters said
referring to the poisoned drink Jones and his
followers swallowed in a November 1978
murder-suicide at Guyana."
- Fort
Harrison: 'horror house'
Clearwater Sun, May 7, 1982
"Instead of
paradise, she said, as many as 10 staff people
were crowded into dirty, insect-infested rooms...
There was great pressure to sell church services,
she said, and at one point the staff was fed
nothing but rice and beans for a week when sales
dropped below quota."
- Sect
witnesses recount fear, deception, 'suicide'
Clearwater Sun, May 8, 1982
"Meister, the day's final witness, said he
went to Morocco in 1971 to identify his
22-year-old daughter's body after a Scientology
minister notified the family she committed
suicide. But he said a picture he saw led him to
believe otherwise. The .22-caliber, long-barreled
pistol that killed her was tucked beneath her
folded arms as she lay on a cabin bed aboard
Hubbard's ship, he said. A bullet hole pierced
her forehead."
- Hearings
'an audit' of sect's founder
Clearwater Sun, May 8, 1982
"Kelly said he agrees with Flynn the
fundamental problem with Scientology is Hubbard,
whom he sees as a "pathetic" figure...
Hubbard's disappearing act, Kelly said, puts the
master at the bottom of the personality rating
scale he invented for his followers."
- Witnesses
tell of break-ins, conspiracy
Clearwater Sun, May 9, 1982
"In a story of
international intrigue, a former senior executive
of the Church of Scientology testified Saturday
about a worldwide sect network involving
infiltrations, conspiracies and smuggling."
- Sect
to counterattack, city told
Clearwater Sun, May 9, 1982
"Walters
predicted all city commissioners will be sued, a
'massive' public relations campaign will begin,
city government will be infiltrated by sect
agents and that officials may be harassed."
- Sect
to participate in hearing today?
Clearwater Sun, May 10, 1982
"During the
hearing's first four days, 16 witnesses told
stories that alleged the Church of Scientology is
a world-wide operation that routinely engaged in
covert criminal activity against government
officials, ex-Scientologists and others
considered 'enemies' of the sect."
- Sect
lawyer calls hearings 'a Roman Circus,' walks out
Clearwater Sun, May 11, 1982
"Calling
Clearwater's public hearings on the Church of
Scientology a "Roman Circus," the
sect's lawyer walked out on the proceedings
Monday. 'The Church of Scientology has been
embarrassed and scandalized,' said Tampa attorney
Paul B. Johnson before leaving."
- 16
witnesses unlock sect's closed society
Clearwater Sun, May 11, 1982
"Of the 16 who
testified, Flynn said he represents Lavenda Van
Schaick and Paulette Cooper directly in separate
lawsuits against the Church of Scientology. He
said he is involved also indirectly in lawsuits
filed by Ernest and Adelle Hartwell and Janie
Peterson."
- Scientology
starts publicity campaign
Clearwater Sun, May 11, 1982
"At a 10:30 a.m. press
conference, Scientology spokesman Rev. Hugh
Wilhere announced the beginning of an 'open
house' publicity campaign. Less than an hour
earlier church attorney Paul B. Johnson of Tampa
had told the Commission he would not use the four
days set aside for church rebuttal."
- A
$1.29 value
Clearwater Sun, May 12, 1982
"Is there one additional citizen
here who, as a result of the hearings, has only
now concluded what the majority concluded long
ago: that Scientology is not the kind of
enterprise this community wants in its
midst?"
Transcripts
Available portions of the transcripts are linked
below. As more of the documentation becomes available, it
will be included.
- May 6, 1982
- May 7
- May 8
- Part
1 - LaVenda Van Schaick
- Part
2 - Janie Peterson
- Part
3 - Sharon McKee and Scott Mayer
- Part
4 - Scott Mayer and Robert Dardano
- Part
5 - Robert Dardano, Paulette Cooper,
Edward Walters, Dr. John Clark, and Brown
McKee
- May 10
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witnesses unlock sect's closed society By Bill Prescott, Sun staff writer
Clearwater Sun - May 11, 1982
The 16 witnesses who testified in Clearwater's
public hearings on Church of Scientology
activities provided the first-hand information
city officials will use if they decide to design
ordinances to regulate the sect.
Boston attorney Michael Flynn, who gathered
the witnesses, said he questioned them
extensively about their Scientology experiences
and people they knew in the sect. He confirmed
that information through other witnesses and
contacts inside the church, he said.
If they had not been in the sect, Flynn said,
"I'd have to be pretty much of a dunce to
allow my witnesses to get up there and say the
things they did."
He said church contracts and waivers signed by
several witnesses were put into evidence. He can
obtain other documents, he said, if necessary.
Witnesses who testified of personal
involvement in crimes were granted immunity by
prosecutors, or were out of jurisdictional
boundaries, Flynn said.
Of the 16 who testified, Flynn said he
represents Lavenda Van Schaick and Paulette
Cooper directly in separate lawsuits against the
Church of Scientology. He said he is involved
also indirectly in lawsuits filed by Ernest and
Adelle Hartwell and Janie Peterson.
The witnesses came from throughout the country
and represented involvement in all levels of the
Scientology organization. In the order they
testified, they were:
- Edward Walters, 44, said he is a gambling
casino executive living in Las Vegas,
Nevada. Walters said he had been a
high-level auditor with the church's
organization in Las Vegas. He summarized
church policies and organization.
- Ronald Edward DeWolf, 48, said he is the
eldest son of Scientology founder L. Ron
Hubbard. DeWolf said he lives in Carson
City, Nevada, where he is a security
officer in a hotel casino. He alleged his
father fabricated most of the biographies
circulated by the church. He also told of
the sect's formation and early years
until he quit in 1959.
- Lori Taverna, 39, said she lives in New
York City, where she operates a souvenir
stand in Times Square. She said she was a
17-year veteran of the sect and alleged a
wide range of abuses - including medical neglect
- of church staff members and their
children. Altogether, she said she spent
11 months in Clearwater during two stays.
- Casey Kelly, 23, said he is stationed at
a U.S. Navy radar school in Virginia. He
said he spent three years in the
Clearwater Flag Land Base handling church
finances and recruitment.
- David Ray, 18, said he lives in San
Diego, Calif. and works at his
grandparents' motel. He said he was in
the church six months, most of that time
in Clearwater doing menial labor. He
testified about poor living and health
conditions.
- Rosie Pace, 30, lives in hiding in the
western United States, Flynn said. She
said church indoctrination made it
difficult for her to leave and that she
spent eight months at the Clearwater
base.
- Ernest and Adelle Hartwell, 62 and 58,
respectively, said they were taken to
Hubbard's desert hideout after being
promised a trip to the Clearwater Flag.
Mrs. Hartwell said she was promised a
cure for an intestinal condition, later
diagnosed as colitis by a medical doctor.
- George Meister said he is a businessman
living in Greeley, Colo., and that his
22-year-old daughter Susan died while on
Hubbard's ship Apollo in Morocco. He said
Moroccan and church officials said the
single gunshot wound to her forehead was
self-inflicted.
- Lavenda Van Schaick, 32, said she is in
hiding from church harassment. She said
she spent nine years in Scientology and
that she received no schooling during her
teens. She testified about living
conditions of children and contended
hepatitis swept through the Clearwater
base in 1977 but was not reported to
health officials.
- Janie Peterson, 34, said she lives in Las
Vegas, Nev., and was a member of the
sect's enforcement arm, the Guardian
Office. She said sect
community programs such as the Gerus
Society, Apple Schools and Narconon are
"basically public relations."
As part of her job, she used information
in confidential confessional files to
fuel smear campaigns, she said.
- Scott Mayer, 38, said he lives in
California and is a legal administrative
assistant to the city of Santa Monica.
Mayer, who said he was a former sect
senior executive, told of a worldwide
network of infiltration,
conspiracy and smuggling.
- Paulette Cooper, 39, said she is a
free-lance write in New York City. She
testified she was a target of intensive
church harassment after publishing a 1971
book, "The Scandal of
Scientology."
- Dr. John Clark said he is a physician at
Massachusetts General Hospital. He said
he was harassed after giving lectures
about the dangers of Scientology and
other cults.
- Brown McKee said he lives in New London,
Conn., and was a sect minister for 24
years. He said he and his two Scientology
missions broke away from the main church
in December 1981 after attempting a
reform movement.
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