F.A.C.T.Net Daily
Newswire archives
for the week of April 12, 1999
April 16, 1999
Gunman in fatal shootout was schizophrenic
The 71-year-old gunman who entered the Mormon Family History Library yesterday in Salt
Lake City, Utah, killing two and injuring four, was schizophrenic and not taking his
medication, Mayor Deedee Corradini has reported. The gunman has been identified as Sergei
Babarin, a Russian native who had a criminal record. He was fatally injured by police
during the shootout. Police ruled out an early theory that a second shooter was involved,
and have dismissed concerns regarding a moving truck parked near the library containing
two 55-gallon drums of gasoline. F.A.C.T.Net reported on the shooting yesterday in case of
possible involvement of one of many cultic offshoots of the Mormon Church, but it appears
that Babarin had no connection to such groups. Mormonism, or the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints, is generally not considered a cult.
Scientology Hamburg center to be demolished
The building housing Scientology’s center in Hamburg, Germany is scheduled for
demolition. However, Hamburg's Scientology commissioner, Ursula Caberta, who monitors the
cult, is working under the assumption that a new center will be established soon.
According to Die Welt [April 15, 1999], Caberta stated, "It's not the center which is
dangerous. What is dangerous are the sect adherents who occupy central positions in
commerce and industry." Scientology has been renting the space from the
building’s owner, who was a Scientologist but has now left the group. The exact date
of the building’s demolition has not yet been set. In its place is planned a
multi-storied building for office space and about 40 apartment units.
Statement issued on totalitarian sects in Siberia
Following a conference held by Orthodox Church leaders and scholars in Siberia in January,
participants have issued a declaration expressing their concern over the proliferation of
cults in that area. The declaration stated in part: “We…express our profound
concern over the practically uncontrolled and immoral proselytizing recruiting activity of
a whole range of destructive religious and pseudo-religious organizations broadly known as
‘totalitarian sects.’ We consider that the state should be concerned for the
preservation and prosperity of traditional and culture-forming religions to which the
majority of the population belongs, and it should give them aid and support. Besides this,
we testify that all religious movements that in their practice do not violate the basic
rights of the individual and the structures of family life, society, and the bases of
legislation, and do not directly or indirectly advocate hatred and service to evil and do
not openly or covertly speak against traditional confession of our country have the right
to exist.” The declaration named a number of groups specifically. The Unification
Church and Scientology were called “pseudo-religious and extremely aggressive
corporations.” Regarding the Family, or Children of God, cult, the statement
expressed “amazement at the inactivity of the Russian law enforcement agencies”
to counter their recruitment techniques which include “prostitution, rape of
children, and other repulsive criminal activity.” The declaration also denounced
Society of Krishna Consciousness, Mother of God, Herbal Life, and Amway. It also stated
that the Jehovah's Witness group is destructive in character, and that the Church of Jesus
Christ of the Latter Day Saints (Mormonism), is occultic statements which some cult
experts would disagree with. The declaration is on the Internet in full at
<http://www.stetson.edu/~psteeves/relnews/9903a.html#05>.
April 15, 1999
Shooting in Mormon library kills three
Three people are dead after a shooting in the Mormon Family History Library today in Salt
Lake City, Utah. A suspected gunman is among the dead, along with a security guard and
library patron. Four other people were shot and sustained serious injuries. It appears
that police fired at the gunman to stop him from shooting, and then conducted a search of
the building for a possible second suspect, now deemed uninvolved. Police are also looking
into a Ryder truck that may have been driven by the shooter, and may contain explosives.
The building is a Mormon genealogical center across from Temple Square, site of The Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ Salt Lake Temple and Tabernacle. No motive has
been discovered. Mormonism is not a cult, but there are a large number of cultic offshoots
of Mormonism. Some of these offshoots are considered to be destructive by cult experts and
by the official Mormon Church. One offshoot on the Utah/Colorado border has recently been
in the news after young women left and went to police with reports of widespread bigamy
and forced marriages of teenage girls. ABC's report on the shooting is being updated
frequently -- see their update.
Traveling sales crews under scrutiny
After the March 25 van crash in Wisconsin that took the lives of seven young people and
injured five others, traveling sales crews like theirs are coming under scrutiny. Youths
recruited for mobile door-to-door sales are "sometimes cut off from family, forced to
work long days without having control of earnings, and subjected to emotional or physical
abuse. Touted as adventurous employment with sales of about $1 billion a year, it's an
exploitation industry happening right under Americans' noses, critics say," according
to the Christian Science Monitor [April 5, 1999]. These groups are not new. Earlene
Williams’ 18-year-old son got involved in the early 1980s and left home. When she
found him, he agreed to come home only if she would help the other youths in his crew,
which she did. In 1983, Williams founded Parent Watch, a New York-based organization that
provides information on this type of traveling sales group to families, law-enforcement,
and legislative bodies.
Public notice from F.A.C.T.Net
This is a notice for anyone who may have received back-up copies of the F.A.C.T.Net
database on CD-rom at any time in the past. As part of the F.A.C.T.Net-Scientology legal
settlement, F.A.C.T.Net has agreed that any copies of Scientology’s upper level
materials in F.A.C.T.Net’s records would be destroyed. This includes CD backups of
F.A.C.T.Net’s database. Because the names of the three or four people who received
back-ups are in an encrypted file, and the pass phrase to that file is no longer
accessible, there is no way for us to know who received back-ups. Thus, this notice is an
instruction to those people to please destroy those copies. Break them physically. We do
not need to know who you are so your anonymity will be preserved. But it is imperative for
our compliance with the injunction that we make every effort to reach anybody who may have
received these materials and instruct them to destroy the copies, which were being held
for our safekeeping. Thank you very much for your assistance.
April 14, 1999
Michigan Supreme Court to address privacy
Before appearing on a “Sally Jesse Raphael” talk show episode on Scientology,
Valda Gratias secretly recorded a conversation she had with her mother, Dorothy Dickerson,
a Scientologist. Gratias wanted evidence that Scientology was damaging her relationship
with her mother. Excerpts from their conversation were broadcast on the talk show. Now,
Dickerson is suing the show for violating her privacy. A county court originally decided
in favor of the talk show, but in 1997 an appeals court sided with Dickerson. Now the case
is at the state supreme court. A decision is expected later this year.
Cult rents rooms in same building as widow
Shizue Takahashi’s husband Kazumasa died in Aum Shin Rikyo’s 1995 sarin attack
on the Tokyo subway. He was one of two subway workers who died trying to clean the subway
of the deadly nerve gas. Now, a computer company with links to the cult has rented rooms
in her apartment building. The widow is outraged and “almost broken with
mortification,” according to the South China Morning Post [March 30, 1999]. Mrs.
Takahashi’s attempts to have police prevent cult members from visiting the building
have been ineffectual.
Vampire cult leader appeals death sentence
Vampire cult leader Rod Ferrell was sentenced to death in February 1998 after pleading
guilty for the murders of Richard and Ruth Wendorf, the parents of a cult member, in
November 1996. Ferrell returned to court last week to appeal his death sentence on the
grounds that his attorney, Candace Hawthorne, was not given enough time in her closing
arguments to explain mitigating circumstances of the bludgeoning to the jury. Ferrell
claims that Circuit Judge Jerry Lockett limited closing arguments to 45 minutes (Hawthorne
wanted 90), although no such limitation was recorded by the court reporter. Chris Quarles,
Ferrell’s appeal lawyer, said that Ferrell’s troubled childhood should spare him
the death penalty. Quarles will file an initial appeal brief with the Florida Supreme
Court in about a month.
April 13, 1999
Narconon anti-drug program not allowed in schools
A school district in Pinellas County, Florida has rejected an anti-drug
program by Narconon, an organization that its officials say is separate from Scientology,
although the program is based on techniques of L. Ron Hubbard, Scientology’s founder.
A school committee reviewed the Narconon presentation, as demonstrated by a Clearwater
Scientologist couple and six teenagers, and decided that it did not meet district and
federal guidelines. The committee did not reject the program because of its ties to
Scientology, but because they found that Hubbard’s "tone scale" was not
line with the guidelines for elementary students. [Scientology
<http//www.factnet.org/Scientology/dianetics.html>]
College brought to court over cult
The State University of New York (SUNY) at Purchase has been sued by the New York City
branch of the International Church of Christ (ICC) and one its members, for suspending the
member and disallowing the cult to meet on campus. The member, 28-year-old Andrea Lark,
was an employee of the church when she began a Bible study group at Purchase College,
shortly after beginning language classes there in 1997. After other students complained of
her manipulative techniques to separate them from their families, the school suspended
Lark and prohibited the group from meeting on campus. Lark and the cult are claiming
infringements of their freedom of speech and religion, although the school is objecting
not to their beliefs but their tactics. [ICC
<http//www.factnet.org/cults/bcc/index.html>]
Guardianship of CUT leader settled, maybe
A hearing took place yesterday to settle a legal battle for guardianship of Elizabeth
Clare Prophet, leader of the Church Universal and Triumphant (CUT). Prophet is suffering
from Alzheimer’s disease. Two of Prophet’s adult children are contesting Murray
Steinman, a CUT member and employee, for control of her legal, medical, and financial
decisions. The children say Steinman has a conflict of interest, given his employee
status. Both sides met yesterday with lawyers to finalize an agreement reached in March,
the terms of which have not been released.
Did you know children are often cults' most devastating casualties?
<http//www.factnet.org/CIF/cif.htm>
April 12, 1999
Welcome to F.A.C.T.Net’s renovated site!
We have settled the Scientology v. F.A.C.T.Net
litigation, and we are moving in a new direction that
includes a completely renovated web site. Please excuse non-working links while we proceed
with our inside-and-out makeover.
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Concerned Christians member leaves cult, returns home
One of the members of Denver-based Concerned Christians cult who was deported from
Israel earlier this year has left the group and returned home to New Jersey. It has been
reported that he left the group’s place of current residence in Greece about a month
ago and arrived at his family’s home, to their surprise and relief. ''To go to a
family he's been told is Satan (by fellow cult members) is a big step,'' Mark Roggeman, a
Denver police officer and cult specialist, told the Denver Rocky Mountain News [April 4,
1999]. An ex-cult member’s relationship with family often advances the
often-difficult process of cult recovery. To respect the family’s privacy and
facilitate their reconnection, F.A.C.T.Net will not release the ex-member’s name at
this point.[Concerned Christian index will be back on line soon.]
Scientology under investigation in Italy
In March 1997, a 20-year-old Italian boy named Roberto jumped from an eight-story
window to his death. He had been involved in Scientology during the time before he died.
Prosecutor Guido Pani is trying to establish that it was psychological trauma that Roberto
underwent at the hands of Scientology that prompted his suicide. After the
prosecutor’s investigation seemed to have been relegated to the files, Roberto’s
family recently requested attorney Mario Canessa to look into Roberto’s last days of
life. Canessa turned up substantial pertinent documentation and testimony, and handed it
over to Prosecutor Pani, at which point Pani ordered searches of Scientology’s
Cagliari branch and homes of Scientology leaders. The searches were conducted by Digos, a
special Italian police corps created in the 1980s to fight terrorism. [Scientology index
will be back on line soon.]
Japan’s municipal governments try to restrict Aum Shin Rikyo
With membership and property of Aum Shin Rikyo on the rise, local governments in Japan
are appealing to higher authorities for help. Residents in Takanecho, Yamanashi Prefecture
and Tokigawamura, Saitama Prefecture are concerned about Aum’s increasing presence in
their areas. The cult killed a dozen people and injured thousands in 1995 with a nerve gas
attack in the Tokyo subway, in an attempt to stir violence that might hasten the end of
the world. Some fear they may try again. Heads of two municipal governments submitted
papers to Japan’s chief cabinet secretary and justice minister claiming that current
laws are insufficient to prevent the cult’s dangerous activities. They suggest
establishing a new law or revising the current Antisubversive Activities Law. In the
absence of such a law, governments are finding it extremely difficult to curtail cult
activity. [Aum Shin Rikyo index will be back on line soon.]
Branch Davidians appeal for shorter sentences
Five followers of David Koresh are seeking shorter sentences. All five are serving
extended sentences for carrying machine guns at the time of the shootout with federal
agents in 1993. Their attorneys are arguing that the evidence is flimsy that the men were
carrying automatic weapons, and that the judge was incorrect in sentencing them for
weapons violations not included in the original charges. Four of the Branch Davidians
received 40-year sentences, 10 for manslaughter and 30 for carrying automatic weapons. The
fifth is serving a 10-year sentence for use of an automatic weapon.
Did you know that Amway is considered by many to use coercive persuasion?
[Coercive groups index will be back on line soon]
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