Scientology deaths

Scientology Deaths: Introduction
See also:



Bloomberg, Pat

 * Pat was declared a "Suppresive Person" after her death.

Bramucci, Gabriella

 * Gabriella Bramucci died of untreated cancer.

Butterworth, David

 * David was a member of the OSA (Office of Special Affairs).

Byrne, Enid

 * Enid Byrne was Registrar at AOLA (the Advanced Organization Los Angeles). She died of cancer around 2004/2005.

C--, Alice Miller

 * Alice was a Sea Org member.

Duncanson, Lindy

 * Lindy Duncanson, an OT8 (Operation Thetan Level 8) died of cancer. "She declined treatment, believing auditing would fix it."

Friend, Roxanne

 * Above Nightline excerpt included in : 
 * Roxanne Friend Scientologist Speaks Out (Youtube)


 * See also : 
 * Scientology Critical Information Directory - Roxanne Friend and Scientology library: “Roxanne Friend”

Gallop, Saima
Died whilst in the Sea Org in the UK of cancer. She was OTV. She died without her husband nearby, as her husband Peter was at Flag training, so he could cure her. This was in the late 70s.

Ella, Paride

 * Paride Ella, aged 22, died of organ failure while an inmate of a Narconon facility in Italy.

Homicide, Murder/Suicide
L. Ron Hubbard issued an order to all Scientologists which accused several people of being "suppressive" and instructed that "Any Sea Org member contacting any of them is to use Auditing Process R2-45." Hubbard had defined the R2-45 process as shooting someone in the head. He also advised exterminating an arbitrary 2.5% of the population and disposing of "people from 2.0 down on the tone scale" (another arbitrary category).

Almeida, Maria do Rosario

 * Maria, a staff member at the Lisbon org., was shot and killed by a man called Joao Cancela (q.v.), who stated he had fired the shots (which also injured another person) due to "intense antipathy to the Church of Scientology doctrine". The shooter later committed suicide while under psychiatric care.

Beals, Arthur Don

 * Gary Don Beals murdered his father, Arthur Don Beals, and also tried to kill his mother, Lawana, after hearing voices for two years, during which Scientology "church members talked him out of getting needed psychological help and also turned him against his parents."

Colletto, Diane

 * See also :  Scientology library: Diane Colletto and The Murder of Diane Colletto

--, David
David was brother-in-law to LaVenda van Schaick (q.v.), married to her sister. He worked for the GO (Guardian's Office) in Las Vegas.

Aigner, Konrad

 * Konrad Aigner at the age of 43, after more than 20 years in Scientology.


 * See also :  Konrad Aigner Memorial on Lermanet and The mysterious death of Konrad Aigner on Why Are They Dead?

Benakee, Hans

 * Hans Benakee (phonetic version of surname, exact spelling unknown) died of an untreated seizure in front of Scientology staff.

Bisbey, Steve

 * Steve Bisbey was a Scientologist in the U.K.

Brewer, Ed

 * Ed Brewer was a member of the Sea Org.

Coco, Rick

 * Rick Coco was a public Scientologist at Miami Org.

Cusworth, Arthur

 * Arthur Cusworth was staff at AOSHUK (Advanced Org. Saint Hill United Kingdom).

Dubin, Dennis

 * Dennis Dubin was an OT8. "Scientology helped him to die."

Fine, Elene and Bob

 * Elena and Bob Fine were the first two OT8s from Miami Org.

Fisk, William J

 * William Fisk was shot and killed by Russell Johnson, whose wife he was auditing at the Church of Scientology.


 * See also : 

2 3

Frost, Kerri

 * Kerri Frost was a public Scientologist at Miami Org.

G-L

 * Gaul, Doreen
 * Doreen died at the age of 19.

"Police investigating the weird slayings of a youth and young woman pursued Monday what they termed the only common thread between the pair: their membership in the Church of Scientology." 2


 * Geuron, Amir
 * Amir Geuron was a NOTs auditor. 1


 * Graham, Nancy Wright
 * "Nancy Wright Graham, "a founding member of the Church of Scientology Celebrity Centre in Washington", died of cancer at the age of 54."


 * Guy, Alastair
 * Alastair Guy was Treasury Secretary at AOSHUK (the Advanced Organization Saint Hill U.K.). 1


 * H--, Jean-Louis
 * Jean-Louis "[w]rote a letter to his best friend in April; saying he'll no longer pay anything to scientology. He's "routed off" from staff and scientology, on May 15th. ... End of August, he indicated his friend that scientology has said him that as he was unable to work for them, he'll be unable to do anything else. Very depressed, according his friend's declar[ation]. ... [His friend] tried to get the refund for him, but scientologists make nothing, though very well informed by the friend of the profound depression of Jean-Louis, and informed that their responsability could be engaged in his possible suicide. 3 Dec 90, his friend saw him the last time. He announced his friend that he'll see him again in ...Heaven. He was dead on Dec 4th, in his car."


 * Harris, Pamela (married names also Flood and Thompson)
 * Pamela was originally staff at Leeds Mission (U.K.). 1


 * Harris, Sheila
 * "Sheila Harris was my senior when I joined staff at Pubs DK in late 1973. She was an American woman probably in her 30s. She went to GO WW for training to be the AG (Assistant Guardian) for Pubs DK in 1974, and she died of breast cancer in England in 1975 or 1976." 1


 * Harvey, John
 * John Harvey was staff at AOSHUK (Advanced Org. Saint Hill United Kingdom). 1


 * Havenith, Josephus
 * Josephus Havenith "died in February 1980 at the Scientology Fort Harrison Hotel in a bathtub filled with water so hot it had burned his skin off ... An autopsy report lists his death as "probable drowning" but notes that his head was not under water." 3 4 5 6 7


 * Hayes, Isaac
 * Isaac Hayes, famous musician and the voice for "the Chef" in South Park, "was found dead next to a still-running treadmill in his house." 3 4 5 6 7 8 9


 * Hiver, Lauren and Hervé
 * Lauren and Hervé, twin one-year-old babies, were mutilated and drowned by their carer.


 * Hyttinen, Hannu
 * Hannu, a Finnish-born Scientologist, died when a bomb exploded in his apartment in Sweden. He was the main suspect in several bombings aimed at Swedish government figures, and was also a friend and possibly co-conspirator of the man accused of killing the Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme in 1986.


 * Hodgkinson, Edith
 * Edith Hodgkinson, "after completing OT VII, she paid for OT VIII and joined the S.O. at Flag. She did OT VII and 4 months later, one night woke up with incredible pain. She was rushed to the hospital and was found to have advanced liver cancer. She died a few months later. Her car was never properly transferred after her death and was used by the [Scientology] Medical officer and other staff for some time."


 * Hubbard, L. Ron
 * L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology, died with a large quantity of psychiatric drugs in his system. 2 3 4 5


 * Hubbert, Allen
 * Allen was a member of the OSA (Office of Special Affairs). "[He] died of brain cancer a few years ago ... age about 60." In Memoriam (2008)


 * Jacquier, Albert
 * Albert Jacquier died alone at the age of 59. "He had completed OT7, which promises to make a person "Cause over life", he had been in the Scientology cult for 14 years, and had given his fortune of several million dollars." "[Albert] attempted suicide after completing OT VII and being denied OT VIII after it had been promised to him and he'd paid in full." 2 3 4 5 6


 * Jeans, Claire
 * Claire Jeans was Qual. Sec. at Miami Org. 1


 * Johnson, Susan J.
 * Susan J. Johnson of Clearwater "died of heart disease at age 42. She was a Patron of The IAS [International Association of Scientologists]."


 * Kennedy, John
 * "[T]he Director of the Scientology Institute in Bulawayo, Africa, a man named John Kennedy, was said to be responsible for the success of Scientology in Rhodesia. ... Unbeknownst to Hubbard, one of their goals was leaving Scientology and setting up a similar organization called the Institute of Mental Health. ... Kennedy died shortly thereafter in a shooting accident. "It is said he shot himself accidentally while cleaning his revolver" stated the Daily Mail on July 14, 1968, "but an open verdict was returned by the coroner.""


 * Krusell, Marie-Louise
 * Marie-Louise Krusell, former GO Sweden, died from abuse of drugs and alcohol.


 * Labuschagne, Peggy
 * Peggy Labuschagne, Sea Org member originally from South Africa, died "in Clearwater in July [1996] of uterine cancer, after several years of trying to audit the cancer away." Her son, Casper (q.v.), also an active Sea Org member, "gassed himself in his car a few months later". 1


 * Laws, Erica
 * "Erica Laws [was] an OT 3 who died of cancer at the age of 57." 1


 * Leese, Graham
 * Graham was a successful mission holder who was ""persuaded" into turning over to the Sea Org. ... [Graham] was not happy with how scientology was being applied ... he died without regaining consciousness, later, I heard that Graham was returning home from the "org" about the usual time, about 11 a.m. and he was hit by two hit and runs. Dave Dewhurst's (q.v.) "suicide" occurred after Graham's "accident"."


 * Lonsdale, Shawn
 * "Shawn Lonsdale, whose one-man crusade against Scientology made him a public enemy of the church, was found dead at his home over the weekend in an apparent suicide. He was 39."

M-R

 * M--, mother of Mario (q.v.)
 * "Mario M., ... suffering of dissociative syndrome ... turned to Scientology looking for help. Verified that the "therapy" was totally unuseful, he asked for a refund (he payed all his savings to the organization, about 3,000 euro in 1985/86), but was victim of delaying and stressful tactics, and psychological threats. On Oct. 10th, 1986 he first tried suicide with the gas, but his mother died instead, in the following fire. On 1.1.1988 he hanged himself."


 * M--, Gerard
 * "That night, it was terribly cold on the Larzac plateau: around 0°F, -15°C. But Gerard M-- leaves the farm where he was for year's end, and get out naked. He was found dead some hours later."


 * M--, Thierry
 * "May 1989, somewhere in Normandy, Thierry, with his frail mind, is just out of a sojourn in psychiatric hospital. He's still on treatment when scientology church takes him." Two weeks before his death, he strangled his mother into unconsciousness. At the age of 24, Thierry died "after a "travel" in scientology".


 * McBride, Joy
 * Joy McBride was awarded as an auditor. Her body was found washed up on a beach in L.A.


 * McCaan, Terry
 * "Terry was a public pc on ASHO lines, in his early forties, and seriously diabetic. Terry was also blind when I met him. His blindness developed when his retinas separated while he was doing the required purification rundown prior to our meeting. When I knew him Terry was very depressed about being blind and wanted to die. He resented deeply having been ordered to do the purification rundown. He was struggling with various disorders that were resulting from his diabetes, including the loss of toes due to poor circulation. He was not receiving regular medical care and on one occasion I and two other friends had to convince him to see a doctor when I discovered festering sores on the bottoms of his feet. He had a wife and son and was separated from the wife, who[se] name I don't know. After we stopped seeing each other and I moved to Maryland, I heard that Terry died in June of 1984."


 * McGee, Mike
 * Mike McGee was at the New York Org. in about 1975. He died of a brain tumour. 1


 * McKee, Julie
 * "Brown McKee's wife died after trying to treat cancer with NOTs auditing, and waiting too long for adequate medical care." 1 2


 * McPherson, Lisa
 * Lisa McPherson "died while forcibly confined under the 'care' of the Church of Scientology. Lisa is regularly cited by critics of Scientology as an example of what they call the "abusive practices and procedures" practiced by the Church." Lisa "was a Scientologist who served Scientology from the age of 18 until her death at age 36." 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14


 * Madigan, Tom
 * Tom Madigan was HGC Auditor at Miami Org. 1


 * Mally, Anita
 * Anita Mally (OT) died of cancer. 1


 * Meirsdorff, Sandra
 * Sandra Meirsdorff died of breast cancer in her early 40s. She was a member of the Scientology Guardian's Office (G.O.).


 * Mooney, Ed
 * "Ed Mooney, Cl 8 and OT8, died at age 37 of aneurysm about 3 weeks after completing OT8 at Flag in the fall of 1990. He was a former mission holder and very good FSM in LA. Scientology friends and family postulated he'd get better. He was in a hospital - but not a really good one. His wife, Patty Mooney, remarried about 6 months later in LA." 2 3


 * Morrison, Diane
 * Diane Morrison "died of starvation". She had been in the Sea Org for over 10 years. 3 4 5 6


 * Motivala, Khushroo
 * Khushroo (38) was found hanged. He believed his life was in danger because he had been trying to expose the 'evils' of the Scientology cult, which his former girlfriend had joined ..."


 * Mueller, Sue
 * Sue Mueller, "the executive director of Hubbard College of Administration and a member of Church of Scientology, Clearwater", died of cancer aged 60. 2


 * Murphy, Therese
 * "Th[e]rese Murphy. A clear who died of cancer in her late 20s." 1


 * Norryd, Mats
 * "Mats was a very successful Swedish painter and I met him the first time at the Stockholm Org 1971 or 1972. He was the Swedish voice in the tape "Can we ever be friends". He went to Flag for doing NOT's around 1985. While on NOT's he was found to have cancer. When he didn't manage to pay for more auditing he was sent home to die."


 * O'Hara, Steve
 * Steve O'Hara (Salt Lake City) died of cancer.


 * Ostertag, Andreas
 * Andreas Ostertag, aged 38, "died in Clearwater in 1985. Nothing is really known about the circumstances of his death. Nevertheless he stayed registered as chairman of the "Dianetic Stuttgart e.V.", although he was dead, until 4 September 1987, when the "Director of Special Affairs" Jrgen Schwarz, became the official "first chairman" of the association." 2 3


 * Perkins, Elli
 * Elli Perkins was murdered by her son, Jeremy Perkins (q.v.). Elli had been a Scientologist for over 28 years. "Her son, Jeremy, started showing signs of strange and disturbing behavior. She attempted to correct this with treatment by non-psychiatric means consistent with her Scientology beliefs, but his schizophrenia progressed to the point where he felt Elli was poisoning him, prompting an unsuccessful suicide attempt. When this failed, Jeremy instead murdered his mother." 3 4 5 6 7 8


 * Pfaff, Heribert
 * Heribert Pfaff "died of an apparent seizure in the Fort Harrison Hotel in August 1988 after he quit taking medication that controlled his seizures and was placed instead on a program of vitamins and minerals." 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9


 * Platinsky, Leslie
 * "Scientologist Leslie Platinsky, aged 49, died ... of cancer. His wife, Janet, is an Honor Roll member of the IAS [International Association of Scientologists]."


 * Quigley, Paula (surname also Ueckermann)
 * "Paula Quigley, a life long Scientologist, has died of lung cancer." Paula dedicated 40 years of her life, her entire adult life, in fact, to Scientology.


 * Raymond, Bruce
 * Bruce Raymond was a dedicated Scientologist who was duped into collecting Paulette Cooper's (q.v.) fingerprints for Project Freakout. He died in 1975. "[H]e was part of something very illegal and corrupt and he was never told what he was doing." 1


 * Rimando, Rodney
 * Rodney Rimando, aged 21, was found dead. "A suicide note found on his bunk bed at the Scientology center was not in his handwriting, according to his mother, and made reference to a "wife". Rimondo was single. Many things don't add up in this case." 2


 * Rogers, --
 * "Mr. Rogers was auditing away on OT VII at home. Since all OTs believe that their ailments are only caused by spiritual factors or other beings, he neglected to get any medical attention even when he experienced extreme dizziness, pains in the chest and along the arms and trouble to breathe. ... He then had a major and FATAL stroke. A few hour later, Irene, his wife returned home and discovered his lifeless body lying on the floor amidst his solo NOTS worksheets (she was an OT VII completion herself). She carefully hid them and avoided any mention of it to the police ..."


 * Romanini, Romano
 * "Romano Romanini had a major stroke 6 months after attesting to OT VIII. He had been a Cadillac pc all along, had never been overweight and had a stroke at age 40." Pierre Ethier (14)


 * '''Ross, Gary"
 * Gary Ross (over 25 years in CoS) died of alcohol abuse.


 * Rubineck, Brian
 * "Brian Rubineck (B-1 exec and former SFO GO staff) died, perhaps of cancer."

S-Z

 * van Sickle, Suzanne
 * Suzanne van Sickle was murdered by her daughter, who had gained power of attorney and drained Suzanne's funds, donating $13,000 to the Church of Scientology. 2


 * Sharp, James
 * James died at the age of 15. "Police investigating the weird slayings of a youth and young woman pursued Monday what they termed the only common thread between the pair: their membership in the Church of Scientology."


 * Slaughterbeck, Carrie
 * Carrie Slaughterbeck, aged 23, was found dead in her apartment. "In an interview with the St. Petersburg Times, Scientology officials first said I had 'never set foot into the church in Clearwater,' until they were shown my certificates of attendance at courses I took in 1996." 2 3 4 5 6


 * Sparshot, Peter
 * "Peter Sparshot . Was the C/S at AOSH ANZO. Died of cancer. He was around 60 years old. He C/Sed folders of people up to OT5." 1


 * Stannard, Phil
 * Phil Stannard was a Scientologist in the U.K. 1


 * Stouffer, Mary
 * Mary Stouffer died of breast cancer in her early 40s. She was a member of the Scientology Guardian's Office (G.O.), and AG Sacramento at one point.


 * Thompson, Howard
 * Howard Thompson was ED (Executive Director) of Leeds Mission (U.K.). 1


 * Thorburn, Robert
 * Robert Thoburn was fatally shot in the head. 2


 * Tomba, Guiseppe
 * Giuseppe Tomba, aged 26, died of organ failure while an inmate of a Narcanon facility in Italy.


 * Tomberlin, David
 * Dave Tomberlin was a former Purif I/C, Auditor and a public Scientologist at Miami Org. 1


 * Travolta, Jett
 * Jett Travolta, son of John Travolta, "died suddenly after a seizure attack". His parents, long-time public Scientologists, had taken him off anti-seizure medication. 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10


 * Waring, Dabney Taliaferro
 * Dabney, a Sea Org member, was hospitalized and died overnight. "He was definitely trying to break with them during this period ... he was scared of something he couldn't discuss, saying "It's too big."]"


 * Wheaton, -- and DC-9 passengers
 * "The plane stalled and came down crashing its tail on the Potomac River bridge squashing 3 cars flatter than pancakes before plummeting into the icy river. Only 3 passengers survived. ... Only years later did I learn by studying reports and folders that the pilot was a Scientologist who was not doing well on the bridge at the time of the accident. His wife was a pc at Flag and used most of her insurance money to pay for FSO services." 2 3


 * Wilhite, Virgil
 * Virgil Wilhite (OT) died of cancer (after 2000). 1


 * Wisner, Gregory Bradford
 * "Gregory B. Wisner, age 27, was identified as the person whose body was found in the surf near Indian Rocks Beach, FL, on January 20, 2001." "Gregory Wisner was raised in Scientology households, but more recently had become subject to Scientology's disconnection policy." 2 3


 * Witte, Marjan
 * "Marjan Witte (around 40) died of cancer about half a year ago." (written in May 2004) 1


 * Zentz, Yvonne
 * "Yvonne Zentz was outspoken about wrong doing within the [S]cientology organization and there was a rumour that she was in disagreement with "what was happening in Mexico", the next thing we hear, she is dead from a brain aneurysm. I have also been told she died of cancer, cancer is not sudden." 1


 * Zimmer, Syma
 * "[Syma] was a supervisor and word clearer in the SHSBC at Flag, and died mysteriously without warning leaving two children behind to be adopted by Sea Org members later. Syma was a tall, friendly, young SO mother whom was well liked within the Academy." 1