| Subject: | FAQ: The Tale of Two Lauras, v 1.0 |
|---|---|
| From: | kspaink@xenu.org (Karin Spaink) |
| Newsgroups: | alt.religion.scientology |
| Date: | 1999/02/09 |
| Message-ID: | <36c87f7c.1226507705 @news.xs4all.nl ![[offsite]](img/outlink.gif) > |
Version: 1.0
Dated: Feb. 8, 1999
Author: Karin Spaink
"There does seem to be some question about identity" Keith Henson on
a.r.s.,
<hkhensonF63vn8.K0q @netcom.com >
In January 1999, Bob Minton
<bob@minton.org>,
one of the two directors of FactNet
<http://www.factnet.org >,
posted a message to the newsgroup alt.religion.scientology accusing a
woman called Laura Terepin of being a spy for Scientology.
Laura Terepin had been working as a volunteer for CAN (Cult Awareness Network) for quite some time. Cynthia Kisser, who was the president of CAN before they were sued out of existence, publicly expressed serious doubts about Bob Minton's allegations.
A huge debate ensued on alt.religion.scientology after these allegations were posted. The most remarkable thing that happened, is that suddenly somebody stated that there were two Laura Terepins in existence. Within a couple of days, that second Laura Terepin announced herself on the newsgroup.
This is the tale of the two Laura's. It is aimed at tracing and delineating the story of the both of them, and attempts to separate hearsay from fact, rumor from accusations, mistakes from misunderstandings, and coincidences from probabilities. In short: it is aimed at sorting things out about them.
NB: Do NOT take this FAQ as an attempt at proving or disproving FactNet's accusations about a Laura Terepin being a spy. It is only an attempt to tell the tale of the two Laura's.
Sources in this FAQ are Usenet and the WWW, not personal or forwarded e-mail, unless the contrary is explicitly stated. I have not edited the quotes.
I have tried to include only postings that contain facts and alleged facts; no gossip or rumors. Sometimes I repeat quotes that contain accusations or refutations rather elaborately; in those instances, I do so only because they also contain (alleged) information about one of the Laura's involved in this story, or could help to date events.
Message-ids are included wherever possible. Additional information, put within [brackets], is mine. Missing dates, names and facts are indicated by a question mark <?>; uncertain dates, names and facts are indicated by a hash <#>.
If anybody has any information that he or she believes should be included in this FAQ, please discuss publicly or mail me at <kspaink@xenu.org>.
Bob Minton <bob@minton.org>, director of FactNet, posted a message to alt.religion.scientology [a.r.s.] on January 19, 1999:
FACTNet, discovered an OSA operative who had been run in on Stacy [Brooks] back in May 1998 for the express purpose of gathering intelligence on my activities and Stacy's. OSA was successful. They had unfettered access to information about me and my whereabouts, Stacy's inner circle of friends, FACTNet records, Dan Leipold's office [*1], Graham Berry's office [*2] and other juicy bits of info. Not only that, this plant had worked for the Cult Awareness Network for years and was an intimate friend of Cynthia Kisser, Craig Branch [*3] and a number of others active in the counter-cult movement. Her name is Laura Terepin. She is a whore who works for the devil named Scientology.
<36a3ec05.14984584 @news.tiac.net
[*1] Dan Leipold is FactNet's attorney and a trusted friend of Cynthia Kisser's
[*2] Graham Berry is an attorney fighting and suing Scientology
[*3] In an IRC talk held on Jan 26 1999, Bob explained
>Bob further stated that more information would soon be forthcoming:
Jesse Prince will post details of how we came to discover her activities and her daily reports to OSA in LA when he leaves Wellspring in a couple of days.
<36a3ec05.14984584 @news.tiac.net
On that same day, Jan 19 1999, Cynthia Kisser <csk@mc.net>, previously the director of CAN, posted a refutation of FactNet's accusation:
Laura was of great help to us in the CAN office. Neither I nor any of the CAN office staff or CAN board ever saw any indication that she was involved with Scientology, and we had considerable experience dealing with Scientology over the years. I know first hand what it is like to have one's reputation unfairly attacked with the use of inflammatory language. And this attack on Laura in this manner is unfair.
<781cs6$kf6$1 @netnews.mc.net
In the same message, Cynthia stated that although Bob and Stacy had promised to allow her access to evidence that would back up their accusation, she had seen or heard none:
I did receive a call from Bob Minton and Stacy Brooks on December 18, 1998 regrading allegations that Laura Terepin had been proven to be a Scientology operative. I asked to see the proof on which they were basing the claim. I was told the private investigator who had uncovered this evidence would be put in touch with me. I waited patiently but did not receive a call. I informed Bill Rehling, who had been president of CAN at the time CAN closed as well as for several years before that, of the allegations at issue, and he approved of my approach in seeking evidence from Bob and Stacy.
On January 7 I received another call from Stacy on an unrelated matter, and brought up to her the fact that I had not been contacted by the investigator and still wanted to talk to him. I was given his number, and I specifically asked that he be contacted first so that he would know that his client approved him talking to me about his investigation. I was told this would be done immediately. I then called the investigator about five days later, and he refused to talk to me because he had not been given approval from his client to do so. He did admit he had done an investigation. He promised to speak with his client and call me back.
I have never received a call back.
<781cs6$kf6$1 @netnews.mc.net
Still on January 19, 1999, Bob Minton disclosed further information about Laura Terepin and her alleged lies:
We hired some PI's with impecable credentials to check up on a few points about Laura. Laura lied about living alone in Madison WI. She never mentioned that one of her 3 house mates was a co$ chicago staff member. Laura cell phones were billed to a Hollywood, CA private investigator who seemingly had at least 13 other phones billed to him that were linked to co$ operatives. Laura's boyfriend, who I went dancing with in SFO with Stacy and the whore, works for the same PI who handled the phones. And the clincher is that daily calls to OSA in LA showed up on Laura's phone records.
<36a4497f.38918539 @news.newsguy.com
The next day, Jan 20 1999, Bob Minton posted a photo of Laura to
alt.binaries.scientology. The picture can now be found at
<http://www.xemu.demon.co.uk/ clam/ people/ turtle.html >.
On that same Jan 20, Jesse Prince <jesse77@gte.net> posted a message in which he described his contacts with Laura Terepin. He too believes that she was a Scientology operative (OSA op, for short). He describes that he was introduced to her in LA, in July 1998, via Stacy Brooks. He goes on:
she told me she was not employed, nor had she ever been. Laura seemed to come and go as she pleased, flying here and there just to be with Stacy and others who were involved in legal cases against Scientology. Laura worked on organizing files for CAN and offered her services to Dan Leipold to help me with an affidavit for the FACTNet case. Laura refused any money for her work and made it clear she did not want to be seen in any court case or in any pictures. (…)
According to Laura, her uncle was extremely wealthy and gave her all the financial support she needed. Laura said her uncle was heavily into the Mafia and organized crime. She also implied this same uncle physically and sexually abused her. She told me she was an adopted child and her parents ignored her most of the time, sending her off to camp and private school. She told me a pitiful story about how her same sex French teacher sexually abused her, which is why she was a lesbian now. However, in the same breath she said she had met a man named Kryle, whom she recently had sex with and she was now not so sure she wanted to remain a lesbian.
<785bih$ku$1 @news-1.news.gte.net
After Jesse and Laura started seeing one another, they met again <undated> when Jesse went to FactNet attorney Dan Leipold's offices, where Jesse was suddenly presented with a letter from Scientology's attorneys:
I met with Dan for the first time, and yes, Laura was there. She told Dan she would help him organize the files for the FACTNet case and she would also type an affidavit for me. The next day Dan's office is swarming with private investigator and OSA drones trying to deliver a letter to me. I posted one of the letters just recently. It was from Elliot Abelson. I don't have the letter to hand but paraphrased it said he understood I was meeting with lawyers who were involved in litigation against Scientology. How in the hell did he know this?
<785bih$ku$1 @news-1.news.gte.net
Jesse had indeed posted that letter not too long ago: on December 12,
1998, in message
<76c1v2$kq$1 @news-2.news.gte.net >.
The date on the Abelson letter he got is July 24, 1998, which thus
provides us with the date of this meeting in Dan Leipold's office.
Jesse tells that they keep meeting one another, sometimes without previous arrangements:
I finally arrived in Denver last August to give a deposition in the FACTNet copyright case and guess who shows up. (…) Laura Terepin.
<785bih$ku$1 @news-1.news.gte.net
Bob Minton had posted on August 22 1998 about that deposition in
message
<35dfcd8e.62091752 @news.tiac.net >:
"Jesse concluded 2 days of questioning by Rosen". That dates this
meeting in Denver between 20 and 22 August 1998.
According to Jesse, afterwards there are two quaint incidents involving Laura [I include them here so that other people might help me to date these events]:
She said she was involved in copying CAN files because it looked like Scientology would gain possession of the files. Laura offered to help get the files copied at a secret location, but we all know what happened. Scientology lawyers somehow found out where the secret location was and brought a marshal in with a court order. (…) Right after this disaster Laura comes to Vashon and she has to have her pot so I go running off to see if I can help her out. Well, I did manage to get a little bit which she enjoyed. The next day I had to leave for the east coast and was met by DEA agents who had apparently gotten a hot tip. Well, of course, they found nothing because there was nothing for them to find. Laura knew my destination and called to see if I arrived. I had told her I would bring whatever was left over from the pot I had with me.
<785bih$ku$1 @news-1.news.gte.net
Jesse explains that after the last incident, FactNet hires a private investigator to do research on Laura:
After this little incident a private investigator was employed and I gave him as much information as I could about Laura. He came back with confirmation that not only did Laura live with a current Scientology staff member, she was making regular phone calls to a private investigator who works for David Lee who works for Gene Ingram.
<785bih$ku$1 @news-1.news.gte.net
More than a week later, on Jan 28 1999, Gary Scarff reveals the name of that PI. It seems he got it via hearsay:
There is the allegation that Laura is a Scientology operative that worked for and had her phone bills paid for by Los Angeles PI, Edwin Richardson (323-661-8880), a Scieno and WISE member, whose office is in Hollywood. According to Graham Berry, Laura paid her telephone bills by personal credit card which conflicts with the premise that someone else paid them.
<36B0272F.F727E12B @postoffice.pacbell.net>
Gary Scarff <garryls@earthlink.net> posted on Jan 20 1999 that Bob Minton had told him about the accusations the previous month. Scarff didn't believe them:
I am fond of Laura and saw her in recent months when she was providing clerical assistance to Graham Berry and during Ursula Caberta's visit to LA. Laura never showed any indication to me that she was working with Scientology, and never exhibited any of the nuances or inquisitive mannerisms I've come to know from my former associations with Scientology. In the time we have spent together, she never inquired nor pushed for information from me.
<36A5662A.CF8F6EAE @earthlink.net
Jim Beebe <jimdbb@aol.com>, who himself worked at CAN and knew Laura Terepin, posted the second refutation of FactNet's allegations on Jan 20:
Laura called me yesterday morning, crying her heart out. These were not fake tears. She told me that only messages of support on the ARS from caring and alert people and a message of support from Cynthia Kisser got her through the night.
<19990120134628.01137.00000114 @ng-ca1.aol.com
Further on, Jim gives the first indication that Laura at one point had been a member of a cult herself:
I know Laura Terepin quite well. In fact she is one of the most sincere, caring, giving, hard working persons that I know I worked with her in the CAN office. She was one of several volunteers who came in to help out. I can't imagine a scientology 'plant' working as hard as she did. She was there 2–5 days a week and I mean she worked with complete sincerity and dedication. At the time she was quite reclusive as a result of a serious psychological wounding from her experience in a cult.
<19990120183728.09408.00000274 @ng-fb1.aol.com
On Jan 30 1999, Jim explains that CAN Laura was one of the people with whom he tried to copy CAN files before those were to be handed over to Scientology / Jason Scott [# research at DejaNews dates this incident in Sept 1999 but I'm not sure]:
she and myself were asked by the orginal CAN Board to participate in a project to Archive the CAN Files. We were not the only ones helping with this. The CAN Files which were under Court Seal had been returned to the CAN Board. (…) Laura T worked very hard and sincerely on this project to archive the CAN Files.
<19990130172613.01211.00001423 @ng-ft1.aol.com
Jim vehemently denies some of the allegations about Laura made by Jesse:
It's funny that none of us at CAN every heard of the wealthy Mafia uncle. Prince knows her for 10 minutes and has all of this weird history from her.
<19990120183728.09408.00000274 @ng-fb1.aol.com
On Jan 20 1999, Jim further says:
Laura is going to issue a statement and. I will have more to say.
<19990120134628.01137.00000114 @ng-ca1.aol.com
To which he adds on Jan 21, 1999:
In fact I have read Laura's statement and it is a very good one. But it was written before the sick and degraded post from Jessie Prince. I have urged her to put it out but she may be too devastated now to do anything.
<19990120210215.19999.00000406 @ng-ft1.aol.com
Only a day after Bob Minton had posted his accusation, on Jan 20 1998, Flood Control <FloodControl@drac.host4u.net> — a pseudonymous poster who is involved in hunting down spammers — discloses that there are two Laura Terepins:
PI investigation shows there are / were two "Laura Terepins." The one at CAN assumed the name "Laura Terepin" and worked for "Department Twenty" of the Scientology business. It is a case of stolen identity.
<FloodControl@drac.host4u.net>
[NOTE: I wondered how and why Flood Control would be the first one to know this. Flood Control, a fairly new player on a.r.s., would hardly be in a position to get this information via FactNet. NWU Laura at this stage hadn't made herself known, nor did NWU Laura at that time know that a PI had discovered two Lauras.
It seems that Keith Henson, who received mail from NWU Laura soon after Bob made his first posting about CAN Laura, discussed the matter on IRC, and that he thus was Flood Control's source.]
A day later, on Jan 21 1999, a.r.s. old-timer Keith Henson <hkhenson@netcom.com> posted that yes, indeed, there is a second Laura Terepin:
it turned out that Bob's original post on "Laura Terepin" caused some interesting information to flow my way from someone whoes maiden name was Laura Terepin. It turns out that she reads ars because she lost a very dear friend to the cult many years ago. This person says the name with this spelling is unusual to the point that she can account for all of those who show up on listings in the US as relatives.
Now, it is possible that there is another with the same first and last names, heck, there is a gay porn star with my name. (There are some dozens of K Hensons.)
But there is a scientology connection which made my corespondent wonder if the "Laura Terepin" Bob had investigated was using her name.
It seems that her ex-friend, the one she lost to Co$ way back when, is pretty high up in the Chicago org these days.
It seemed to her just too much of a coincidence that someone picked this name, and its unusual spelling, out of thin air. She wondered if her ex-friend—Carla Nelson was her maiden name—is either using this name herself, or whether she has given it out for someone else to use…
Carla, with her open connection to scn, seems unlikely to have worked for CAN. But in any case, the former Laura Terepin (whoes phone number shows up on the search engines) is not the "Laura Terepin" (?) you experienced.
<hkhensonF5wHo9.Hsr @netcom.com
[Note: this mail already contains the gist of much that will later surface in greater detail.]
Only a couple of hours later, and still on Jan 21 1999, The Other Laura <theotherlaura_t@hotmail.com> — henceforth I will refer to her as NWU Laura, whilst the first one will be referred to as CAN Laura — posts in person to a.r.s.. She explains that Terepin is her maiden name:
What a horror to log on to a.r.s the other morning and find my maiden name attached to a post that claimed I was a whore for Co$. Yup, I am the other Laura Terepin. I am the Laura Terepin you will find if you do a PeopleFinder search on the net, but I am NOT the woman named in Bob's post! As far as I am aware, my parents in MI and my elderly aunt in NY are the only Terepins in this country. My husband did his own netsearch when we began getting nutty calls at at home, and it became apparent that this woman has been using this name for quite a while, but I doubt that I have an unknown relative with the same name as me.
<787ila$mt2$1 @nnrp1.dejanews.com>
Further down her post, NWU Laura explains — like Keith did previously — that she's suspicious of a possible mistaken identity. There are too many coincidences:
It could be a total fluke that this person is wearing my maiden name. However, I have a reason to wonder: I lost a very dear friend to the cult back in the 80s. Her ex-husband (she divorced him to marry another scieno) has told me that she is quite high in the Chicago org these days. She knew me as that name (I've always hated it and had it legally changed). Also, when she got involved with Co$, she tried to get me to join too. I received two or three calls from the Chicago org before they gave up on me, so I know that that name is in a file drawer or database at the Chicago org. I simply feel it is too much a coincidence that this woman is wearing my name…perhaps she got it from my ex-friend, or perhaps this woman IS my ex-friend!
<787ila$mt2$1 @nnrp1.dejanews.com>
In a second message that day, NWU Laura explains about the nutty phone calls she and her husband received:
My husband took most of them and I was too upset to ask him about the gory details. The one he did tell me about was from some organization we've never had contact with claiming to need to verify my name and address "for their records." The one I took was from a guy who called himself Jeffrey, asking whether I was the person "involved in that horrible cult." I told him that I wasn't and hung up.
<7883k7$731$1 @nnrp1.dejanews.com>
In a third message — dated the next day, Jan 22 1999 — NWU Laura states that she doesn't recognize the woman on the CAN Laura picture:
The picture is not of me, nor is it of my ex-friend.
<78a4et$tma$1 @nnrp1.dejanews.com
In that same message she explains that Carla Nelson, the ex-friend lost to CoS, tried to make her join the cult, and that she herself has read a.r.s. for quite some time:
I spent many hours and hours listening to my scieno friend discuss the tech. She was trying to convince me to join, of course. In addition, I have been reading this group for about three years now, and have picked up alot of the lingo tossed out around here. I was not aware of the true nature of this cult until I did find a.r.s., and I'll admit I've been morbidly fascinated ever since.
<78a4et$tma$1 @nnrp1.dejanews.com
From a collection of quotes by Bob Minton on IRC, posted anonymously on Jan 23 1999, it becomes apparent that at some stage during the PI's investigation, the existence of two Laura Terepins was discovered:
<minty> he [the PI] did turn up the other Laura
<minty> she was of no interest to us once we estab [established] facial identity
<199901231543.QAA02949 @replay.com
Bob Minton and Stacy Brooks post on Jan 28 1999, reiterating FactNet's previous claim about CAN Laura. Regarding NWU Laura, they state:
Bob has spoken in the last few days with the confirmed Laura (nee) Terepin and her husband and has apologized for any inconvenience this matter has caused them. We regret that the confirmed Laura Terepin was drawn into this matter on the internet and again offer her our apologies concerning this matter.
<36b29b25.21772395 @news.tiac.net
NWU Laura provided information; some publicly, some via e-mail correspondence. Apart from that, various people collected / told stories, conducted net searches, or investigated IRL. Their findings are listed here.
Warrior <warrior@entheta.net> was quick to point out that the headers of TheOtherLaura's messages pointed to Northwestern University:
It appears that it was posted through Northwestern University as the NNTP-Posting-Host was 129.105.167.66. A numeric lookup shows that this is laura.anthro.nwu.edu (see below). (…)
Numeric address lookup:
Name: laura.anthro.nwu.edu
Address: 129.105.167.66
<789618$206 @drn.newsguy.com
The address of the computer TheOtherLaura was posting from, led Tilman Hausherr <tilman@berlin.snafu.de> to conclude:
So she is an anthropologist…
<36ee3390.49765915 @news.snafu.de
NWU Laura is quick to corroborate where she works. On Jan 22 1999 she posted:
Yes. I have been employed by Northwestern University since 1989. However, I can get in trouble posting to Usenet during work hours. I used hotmail because this whole thing has scared the bejesus out of me, and even though I wanted to tell my story, I did NOT want even MORE people harrassing me and mine.
<78a55u$ufg$1 @nnrp1.dejanews.com>
[Note: previously, NWU Laura has posted regularly to Usenet from her work computer, using her university account. But it's easy to figure that the second reason is the actual motive, not the first one. And perhaps those weren't during work hours.]
On Jan 22 1999, colette <cdm@nwu.edu> not only verifies that there is a Laura Terepin working at NWU, but also states that a couple of months ago, she has received mail from this NWU Laura via her ordinary account:
I have an e-mail from a Laura <last name deleted> from Northwestern, dated Dec. 8, 1998, asking about my Chicago picket pix to see if I caught the name of one of the Scientologists in my pictures. She said one of them resembled a dear friend of hers that she'd lost to the cult years ago, and who she'd heard became quite a high-up member. (…)
I can also verify through university records (public) that she has been, indeed, an employee of the Northwestern.
<cdm-2201991255090001 @marine.ils.nwu.edu
The next day, colette elaborates on Laura's status at NWU:
She is a fellow member of the staff here at Northwestern. I have verified through university sources that she is "real." I have looked at her web page (with pictures). She is the real deal.
<cdm-2201991946140001 @marine.ils.nwu.edu
The day after, on Jan 24 1999, colette posts:
One thing I don't have any way of knowing for sure about this Northwestern Laura is that her maiden name really was Terepin. However, the address that shows up for Laura Terepin in people.yahoo.com matches the address listed for this person in this NU directory I have on my desk (this one happens to be from '96).
<cdm-2301992012160001 @marine.ils.nwu.edu
Colette summarizes whatever she knows on Jan 25 1999 in
<cdm-2501991540040001 @marine.ils.nwu.edu >;
in that message, she outlines the range and scope of her contacts
with TheOtherLaura.
NWU Laura has posted a few messages to a.r.s. before 1999. The most noticeable posting is the one she made on July 31 1996. In it, she already told what she disclosed again in Jan 1999: she has lost a friend to Scientology. The name of the friend is, as we know by now [see 2.2], Carla Nelson. This is the full text of that posting:
I'm new to this newsgroup but, unfortunately, not to the influence of Scientology. In 1984, my best friend took a job in a chiropracter's office. The chiropracter started working with one of the consulting arms of the org in order to increase her client base. Within one year, my friend began the auditing process and it was downhill from there.
Now, in 1996, this woman has left her husband, has no friends or contacts out of the org, and has not had a job in the real world in eight years. This was a woman who was once vibrant, intelligent, alive and fun—she could have done anything she chose to do, but this is what the wonderful teachings of the org have reduced her to.
I remember asking her years ago why she wasn't going to take this so-called state of the art psychological training and utilize it to create her own therapy practice, as I had done with the teachings I was studying at the time. She could not answer. In my opinion, a good teacher (or parent) knows their job is done correctly when the fledgling can fly on its own.
This was obviously not the position of Scientology. It's become clear to me now that the training she was and is receiving is useless outside of the insular world of the org.
Well, I'm not sure why I felt the need to write this. Perhaps because I still mourn for her friendship, even after so many years. Thanks much for listening.
<4to4m2$8o8_001 @anthro.nwu.edu
In a follow-up that same day, NWU Laura further adds:
After years of unreturned phone calls I've given up trying to reach her. Now that she's left her hubby (who is still a close friend of mine) it's almost as if she's fallen off the face of the earth; even he doesn't know how to get a hold of her.
She's pretty high up in the org these days, her ex has told me, so I have a feeling she probably wouldn't be open to any rational discourse on the subject, even if I did manage to find her. I've been downloading some of the juicier bits to pass along to him, at least. Thanks for your thoughts.…
<4tombr$8o4_001 @anthro.nwu.edu
Apart from these July 1986 postings, between August 1986 and October 1998 NWU Laura posted five other messages to a.r.s., all of them in a round-about way dealing with matters related to CoS: how to find another provider than Netcom (who had just gotten themselves out of the Klemesrud case via a settlement), jokes about Travolta etc.
Various people collected / told stories, conducted net searches, corresponded, or investigated IRL. Their findings are listed here.
On Jan 22 1999, Rod Keller <rkeller@netaxs.com> discloses that he was the one who originally introduced CAN Laura to Bob and Stacy, who in turn introduced her to Jesse:
I met her at the CIS meeting in Newark. [no date given] She was standing by the door, having a conversation with Paul Grosswald [?]. When it was time for dinner, we went with Bob and Stacy to the hotel restaurant. Paul had a hamburger. Bob had steak. Stacy and I had blackened salmon. Laura had mushroom risotto. We had a nice conversation about her previous cult and its bizarre dietary practices. She told us she still followed the purging period followed in the cult, about twice a year. A week or more of nothing but a green algae drink, followed by a day of almond oil enemas. It was lovely dinner conversation.
<78ac0c$meu @netaxs.com
Rod's posting contains the second mention of CAN Laura having been involved in a cult. The first one was Jim Beebe's [see 1.4.2.].
In another posting, on Jan 23 1999, Rod Keller establishes the date of him introducing CAN Laura to Bob and Stacy:
Was this teh first time Bob and Stacy had met her?
Yes, it was. April 19th, 1998.
<78ddjp$re @netaxs.com
On Jan 23 1999, Keith Henson confirms Gary Scarff's posting that CAN Laura was at Graham Berry's offices:
According to Graham, the LT from CAN gave a number of documents from CAN to him through one of his assistants. Graham produced the documents under discovery in Berry vs Barton, but when asked in deposition a few days ago, he did not know where they came from. Moxon and Co decided to depose the assistant on this and other matters, so rather than have this information come out a few weeks from now, the assistant told Graham of the documents origin and Graham told Moxon in deposition of their origin yesterday (Fri.)
It will be of great interest to see if Moxon and Co issue a subpoena to depose CAN's LT. If they do, you can write off CAN's LT being a plant, because even CoS (with their habit of footbullets) would not subject one of their own agents to being questioned under oath.
<hkhensonF617Gr.Mzr @netcom.com
On Jan 23 1999, colette, commenting upon emerging questions about NWU Laura, discloses new information (or, to be more precise, rumors at that stage) about CAN Laura:
This "fake" Laura, from what I understand, claims to have attended Northwestern Law School for awhile, but records turn up no Terepins enrolled as students within at least the last 7 years (that's how far back my university directories go, at the moment). She is also, supposedly, using a social security number that is only one number off from the "real" Laura Terepin.
<cdm-2201991946140001 @marine.ils.nwu.edu
[# It is unclear where the claim that CAN Laura has studied law at NWU originates from.]
Unfortunately, nothing as of yet.
Ron Newman <rnewman@thecia.net> posted on Jan 26 1999 that NWU Laura had seen the picture of CAN Laura that Bob Minton had posted. Was it her lost-to-CoS friend or not?:
She's done that [looking at it], and says that it's not. (She and I exchanged e-mail on this subject.)
<78ivbt$blj @edrn.newsguy.com
The matter of the Social Security Numbers with-only-one-differing-digit described by William Barwell, aka The Pope <wbarwell@Starbase.NeoSoft.COM> on Jan 25 1999:
Dan Leipold, FACTnet's lawyer has been in contact with the real Laura nee Terepin. The social security number was discussed. The fact that two different #s are being used, one possibly fake, was acertained by this inquiry. Source, the real Laura.
<78hnn7$pgl$1 @Starbase.NeoSoft.COM
Bob Minton confirmed this on Jan 26 1999:
The conversation [between Dan Leipold and NWU Laura] established that the ss#' s had one digit different.
<36ad0605.10726157 @news.newsguy.com
The Pope rehashes an hour after this, still on Jan 26 1999:
The real Laura nee Terepin has told me in e-mail, that Leipold already knew about her and had her SS# and other particulars when she talked to him. The PI had found her and realized she had nothing to do with the faux Terepin. Since she had nothing to do with this FACTnet apparently saw little need to drag her into this. But Leipold was willing to talk to her when she wanted to talk to them about what was going on.
<78j7c2$7mn$1 @Starbase.NeoSoft.COM
Via e-mail NWU Laura has confirmed that she attempted to get Dan Leipold on the phone on Jan 19 and Jan 20, after having read Bob's original posting on a.r.s. (she mailed both Bob Minton, Keith Henson and Cynthia Kisser about this posting) and after having gotten Leipold's phone number via Cynthia Kisser. On Jan 20 or 21 1999, Dan Leipold phoned her back. She further comments:
However, Leipold's comment to me that this other LT "had the same exact SS# except for one number" seems to indicate that they had investigated me at some level.
<19990127144524.26822.qmail @hotmail.com>
In an IRC talk held on Jan 26 1999, moderated by yours truly, Bob and Stacy disclose slightly more about CAN Laura and the research the FactNet PI conducted. They confirm that Cynthia Kisser has still not seen the evidence about CAN Laura and Bob states why he felt he had to break the news about CAN Laura to a.r.s.: FactNet had devised a strategy,
but the strategy broke when Dan talked to Craig Branch and he in turn told Laura and we only found that out last week.
<36b14ce9.33732904 @news.xs4all.nl
On Jan 27 1999, Cynthia Kisser posted — by way of Jeff Jacobsen <cultxpt@primenet.com> — that she had spoken with Dan Leipold. The message isn't quite clear on whether she had seen the PI report regarding CAN Laura; Cynthia is however severely dissatisfied with whatever she has been provided with:
Bob Minton, and Stacy Brooks (Young), board members of FACTNet, and Jesse Prince have alleged Laura Terepin is an "operative for the Church of Scientology". The validity of the whole claim ultimately revolves around phone records FACTNet claims to have acquired. I have spoken at length with Dan Leipold in his capacity as counsel for FACTNet. While stating that he believes such phone records exist, he claims not to possess the records, nor to have seen the records, and that the records will not be made available to me. I cannot, herefore, at this time support the conclusion by Minton, Brooks and Prince that evidence exists identifying Laura Terepin as an "operative for the Church of Scientology".
<78nrsd$cn8$1 @nnrp03.primenet.com
On Jan 28 1999, Jim Beebe states that he, and two senior CAN members, support Cynthia's statement:
I have no information about or from Laura T. I will say that some of us are very concerned about her well being. I have heeded good advice and decided not to put out any unnecessary commentary or unverifable information. I have talked with two other CAN staff members who were senior to me and with CAN longer than I was. Both are very knowledgeable and respected in this field. Both stated that they support Laura and the three of us support, unequivocally, Cynthia Kisser's statements on this matter.
<19990128123329.01189.00000073 @ng-fu1.aol.com
Disregarding the question whether CAN Laura was an op or not— that is NOT the subject of this FAQ — there are nagging questions regarding her identity. Joni <jbwebb@idt.net> summarizes them on 28 Jan 1998:
Do you believe they're two Laura Terepin's in the US? (…) Doesn't the name, the similar ssn (…) strike you as just a tad bit odd? Why are there TWO Laura Terepin's both with ties to the Chicago org? What is the rational explanation for that? Where is she now? Does she have an explanation for the name?
<36AFAC53.3DFE @idt.net
Noel Chiappa <jnc@ginger.lcs.mit.edu> does some research about the prevalence of the surname, and after having checked three on-line telephone directories for any Terepins in the US, he comes up with:
Laura Terepin in Chicago, IL
Richard D Terepin in Rochester, MI
F H Terepin in Wilmington, DE
(…) So it's a *really* rare last name.
<78obqu$ojt$1 @grapevine.lcs.mit.edu
That more or less establishes that the surname is uncommon. Two incidences of a rare surname can be coincidence; but having the same first name attached to it, makes it weird. Plus, there's the matter of the SS numbers: NWU Laura's SSN and CAN Laura's SSN allegedly differ only one digit (see 6.1). That's weirder.
[Note: NWU Laura explained that the two other Terepins listed are family. (statement in e-mail to me, Feb 8 1999, <19990208202631.14469.qmail @hotmail.com>)]
On Jan 21 1999, while discussing the picture of Laura that Bob posted, Carol Giambalvo <carol2180@aol.com> volunteers information regarding which cult CAN Laura previously said she had been a member of:
The picture is of the Laura Terepin that volunteered for CAN … but that doesn't affirm the accusation of a false identity. Only someone who was in Consciousness Development with Laura would be able to say that this picture is not the same person who was in CD.
<19990121093936.19507.00000280 @ngol01.aol.com
A week later, on Jan 29 1999, Carol explains what 'Consciousness Development' is:
It's the cult Laura belonged to in Texas — run by Terri Hoffman — it's nicknamed the suicide cult.
<19990129113811.22147.00000390 @ngol07.aol.com
Jim Beebe verified in e-mail to me that CAN Laura said she had been a member, and that both CAN Laura and a CAN officer considered the group to be destructive (25 Jan 1999, <f2927245.36ac039f @aol.com>. In a later e-mail, he states that CAN Laura "didn't like to talk about this" (25 Jan 1999, <270fa3e6.36aca3ec @aol.com>).
Surprisingly, NWU Laura seems to have been involved in the same group. Keith Henson says so on Jan 30 1999, probably based on e-mail NWU Laura sent him:
The NWU LT was slightly involved long ago in the cult CAN's LT claimed to have been in--and Carla knew it.)
<hkhensonF6D5rv.ALs @netcom.com
In an e-mail to me dated Feb 3 1999, NWU Laura writes:
yes, I had a handful of readings from Terri from 2/1987 till 2/1990, and attended a few rituals she held in the Chicago area during that time frame.
<19990203145343.13664.qmail @hotmail.com>
On Feb 5 1999, NWU Laura posts about her involvement with Hoffman in a.r.s.: <79fk2r$ddv$1 @nnrp1.dejanews.com>
Note: The Watchman Expositor has a few articles about Terri Hoffman,
who seemed to have been mostly active in Texas and later on in
Chicago. Hoffman's company was actually called 'Conscious Development
of Mind, Body and Soul, Inc.', not 'Conscious_ness_ development'.
<http://www.watchman.org/ deaths.htm >
<http://www.watchman.org/ chicago.htm >
<http://www.watchman.org/ close.htm >
Quotes from these articles:
Nine students and associates of Terri Hoffman have died sudden deaths leaving her large sums of money or property launching an investigation by the Dallas County district attorney's office into her relationship with the deceased. (Dallas Morning News, 1/8/90 p.1-A).
<http://www.watchman.org/ deaths.htmTwo more front page stories reveal that the New Age teachings of Terri Hoffman have spread outside North Texas to include a core of devoted followers in Chicago.
Investigations also uncovered another death which fits an all-too-familiar pattern: "… a 33-year-old follower took a fatal overdose of pills in 1987, leaving her family puzzling over the whereabouts of a $125,000 divorce settlement she had received 10 days earlier,." (Dallas Morning News, Jan. 28, 1990, p. 1-A).
The suicide of Mary Levinson brings to ten the number of inner-core followers who have given generous donations or have willed their estates to Hoffman before dying by suicide or accident. <http://www.watchman.org/ chicago.htm
FactNet has references to Terri Hoffman and Conscious Development at
<http:// www.xenu.org/ factnet/ AFF/ FILES/ CO0294/ CO0294.TXT >
(Hoffman convicted of bankruptcy fraud – 1994);
<http:// www.xenu.org/ factnet/ AFF/ FILES/ CO1092/ CO1092AB.TXT >
(Hoffman "Brainwashing" suit stalled – 1992)
CAN Laura, according to Jesse Prince, stated that she had been adopted. She also, according to Jesse, implied that she had been physically and sexually abused by her uncle, neglected by her parents and sexually assaulted by her French teacher (see 1.3.2).
NWU Laura has, according to many of her past Usenet postings, been adopted (message-ids withheld). She has, according to old Usenet postings, stated that she is an incest survivor (message-ids withheld).
NWU Laura has studied law (statement in e-mail to me, Feb 8 1999, <19990208202631.14469.qmail @hotmail.com>); where and when is not known. She works at Northwest University, at the anthropology department.
CAN Laura seems to claim having studied law at that same university.
The origin of this claim is unclear; the one who came up with it is
colette in
<cdm-2201991946140001 @marine.ils.nwu.edu >
(see 4.2), who simultaneously stated that she couldn't find any
evidence for that claim in the University records that go back seven
years.
NWU Laura has stated that she lost her best friend Carla Nelson (maiden name) to the cult. Carla joined the Chicago Org. NWU Laura and Carla's ex-husband Peter (statement in e-mail to me, Feb 8 1999, <19990208202631.14469.qmail @hotmail.com>) hoped to get her out, but didn't manage.
CAN Laura got involved with a few of Scientology's big enemies: Bob Minton, Stacy Brooks, Jesse Prince. Those three at one moment suspected (and accused) her of being a Scientology plant.
Estimating her age from the picture Bob Minton posted, CAN Laura is ca. 33 (but it unclear when that picture was taken. According to her past Usenet postings, NWU Laura is 40 right now.
According to her past Usenet postings, as a child, NWU Laura was sexually abused by a member of her family. According to Jesse, CAN Laura implied sexual and physical abuse by her maffia uncle, neglect by her adoptive parents and sexual abuse by a teacher.
NWU Laura is married. CAN Laura has a boyfriend. His name, according to Jesse, is Kryle (see 1.3.2); according to what somebody [?] told Keith Henson, his name is Crile J. Carvey and he lives in Burbank; his father, Carvey Sr. Lives in Salinas, CA. (e-mail, Feb 2 1999, <199902021654.IAA25600 @netcom2.netcom.com>).
The city CAN Laura was last known to live in, is Madison, Wisconsin. NWU Laura lives in Chicago.
By now — Feb 8 1999 — it seems evident that there is a false and a real Laura Terepin. Is it a case of mistaken identity, borrowed identity or stolen identity? The option that there is a collision of identities must be discarded: the stories of the two Lauras are simply too much alike. This is not mere coincidence.
William Barwell, on 27 Jan 1999, comes up with a mischievous explanation for the existence of two Laura Terepins, which revolves around Laura's best friend (Carla Nelson is her maiden name) who joined CoS:
[NWU] Laura stated that at one time, there was an attempt by her firend to get her repeatedly to join Scientology. This woman divorced, and Laura and her this woman's ex-husband made several attempts to talk this woman out of Scientology. (…) Her ex-husband and Laura Terepin probably were considered PTS ones, possibly even twos, and this woman would probably have been questioned closely about them. Possibly then, much about Laura nee Terepin's identity, ect., came from an ethics file in Chicago started on Laura for her efforts in attempting to talk her friend out of Scientology at length, in conjunction with the ex-husband's efforts. (…) A file that was later used to create a throw away ID for an op. It may have been a oneshot that worked well enough they stuck with it.
<78o5kn$db$1 @Starbase.NeoSoft.COM
Keith Henson, on Feb 2 1999, elaborates the scenario and comes up with an interesting detail: there seem to be people who remember NWU Laura in Terry Hoffman's group, not CAN Laura.
NWU Laura wrote me that she was slightly involved in another cult, her boyfriend of the time was deeply involved, and that Carla Nelson knew about it. CAN's LT got involved in CAN at a meeting about ten years ago where she claimed to have been badly damaged by her time in this other cult, thus providing a reason for being at a CAN gathering and becoming friends with the CAN organizers.
CAN has always been a paranoid organization (comes with the job they did). I went to one CAN meeting (Kansas City if I remember right) along about this time to talk about memetics in relation to cults and ran into considerable hostility. I had never been in a cult so they figured I might be trying to infiltrate. The converse may have been that someone who claimed to have been damaged by being in a cult would quickly gain sympathy and acceptance.
Also, if someone did background checking, the association of NWU Laura with the other cult would provide possible cover. In fact, Bob did locate former members of the other cult who remembered a Laura Terepin, but in retrospect, they were almost certainly remembering NWU Laura.
These factors would have been known to Carla Nelson/OAS as they pondered the problem of getting an operative into CAN.
<hkhensonF6JDCy.Iv1 @netcom.com
[Note: this tidbit ("Bob did locate former members of the other cult who remembered a Laura Terepin, but in retrospect, they were almost certainly remembering NWU Laura") was not part of the FactNet PI's work. According to an explanation via e-mail that Keith Henson gave me on Feb 5 1999, <Pine.3.89.9902051548.A15756-0100000 @netcom3>, it refers to a casual conversation Bob had with some former CD folks he knew through CAN.]
Less dramatic explanations than CoS plants, OSA ops and stolen identities are possible. Any of the two Lauras may have been trying to get away from her family, the law, tax authorities, stalkers, previous lovers, previous cults, and may have 'borrowed' parts from the life of the other Laura, and has been presenting herself to her friends and lovers under a false name and with a false history.
For instance, Jet <juniper@ptw.com> offered the theory (via e-mail, Feb 8 1999) that CAN Laura may at one time have felt the need to change identity and took NWU Laura's identity, without any other ulterior motive than to not be known under her real name. Purely by coincidence, Scientology — a fierce opponent of both CAN and FactNet — finds out and uses that to create havoc:
If CoS found out about her fake identity, what better way to discredit a loyal and tireless CAN volunteer than to leak the info for Factnet to find?
<3.0.5.32.19990208142717.00df0320 @ptw.com>
If that is the case, many questions remain to be solved. How could any false Laura get to know this much about a real Laura? And why would she bother (and manage) to deceive her friends and colleagues in such a way, and for such a long time?
As of yet, there is no way to establish without a doubt which Laura took up whose identity. CAN Laura's history however seems to reach back only ten years ago, while NWU Laura's history reaches back beyond that. Since CAN Laura seems to have vanished shortly after this whole affair hit a.r.s., she is unavailable to fill in the blanks.
Stuff such as passports, driver's licenses, college year books. Corroboration of CAN Laura's stories and particulars from her colleagues. People who can verify which Laura was in Terri Hoffman's group. Cold facts. Colder facts.
groet,
Karin Spaink
- I write, therefore I am:
http:// www.xs4all.nl/ ~kspaink
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