Factchecking: Mark Bunker on Lisa McPherson (Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath Season 3 Episode 9)

Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath: Buying A Town (Season 3, Episode 9)
[00:41:03.885]
Mark Bunker: Lisa McPherson was a devout Scientologist for fifteen years… ¹

“Devout Scientologist” implies that Lisa McPherson was resolutely committed to the technical theories and practices of Scientology; that she was dedicated to the application of the ten points of “Keeping Scientology Working.”² However, Lisa’s Scientology records and litigation documents indicate that she was troubled, unhappy with her auditing throughout 1995, and wanted to leave Scientology. The following excerpts were taken from affidavits by Jesse Prince filed in the civil case:

AFFIDAVIT OF JESSE PRINCE

33. I have been retained as an expert witness and trial consultant in the case of Lisa McPherson since Nov, 1998. In Dec, 1998, Scientology representative Glenn Stilo brought Lisa McPherson’s Pre Clear files to the office of Ken Dandar by order of this court for inspection. Glenn Stilo and I knew each other when I was in Scientology. At that time, Glenn was fully aware that I was present at Mr. Dandar’s Office and that I was there inspecting Lisa McPherson’s auditing files. I have also reviewed the “caretaker logs”³ of Lisa McPherson at the Fort Harrison Hotel and her Ethics File.

34. It is obvious from these files that Lisa McPherson complained that auditing and Scientology were not working for her in 1995 and that she wanted to leave and return to Texas. Her “stats” were down, i.e., her production and income at AMC Publishing. As a result, she was placed in Ethics at her work where the records revealed that she was constantly doing “amends” and writing “O/W’s”, overts and write-ups, which resulted in less time to obtain adequate sleep which further, in my own observations, leads to psychotic breaks. This is confirmed by L. Ron Hubbard in his own writings, “Introspection Rundown Additional Steps.” ⁴

AFFIDAVIT OF JESSE PRINCE ON THE 1995 PC FOLDERS OF LISA McPHERSON IN SUPPORT OF PLAINTIFF’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT ON THE ISSUE OF CONSENT AND IN OPPOSING DEFENDANTS’ MOTIONS FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT ON THE ISSUE OF CONSENT ⁵

7. For the whole year of 1995, Lisa was not satisfied with her auditing in Scientology and tried to leave. Each time Lisa complained of her auditing and asserted that she did not want any more, she was coerced to get more “handlings”. Telling your auditor you don’t want auditing or that it is not working for you, is a crime in Scientology. Based on my experience in Scientology, once the preclear makes these type of disparaging remarks concerning auditing, the Director of Processing retrieves the preclear and places the preclear in an auditing repair program. This program is designed to repair past auditing mistakes. Lisa McPherson had several of these programs, yet they did not work. Therefore, the continuing of auditing can only be accomplished by exerting more and more coercive pressure on the preclear. Lisa McPherson is a prime example of this tactic based upon my review of her 1995 PC folders. By my reading of Lisa McPherson’s comments in her auditing sessions, Lisa became increasingly desperate and distressed mentally. Below are quotes of Lisa taken from Lisa McPherson’s 1995 auditing files and my interpretation of terminology only Scientologists understand. Other statements are my summations of what she said during her 1995 auditing sessions.

Date [Day/Month/Year] : 22/2/95
Bates Stamp: LMPC-015716
Lisa tells her auditor she didn’t think she needed any more auditing.

Date: 2/3/95
Bates Stamp: LMPC-015435
Again, Lisa says “I never really ran an engram and Dianetics was anti climatic for me.”
[Translated, Lisa is telling her auditor that Dianetics has never worked for her and she got nothing from it]

Date: No date
Bates Stamp: LMPC-016661
In a D of P interview, Lisa says, “I have not been stable for weeks” and is crying about it. “… can’t seem to find myself.”

Date:
Bates Stamp: LMPC-017222
Lisa is crying and states, “Three months ago I was alive. [I] had people who meant something to me. I had work. I was strong. I was operating off postulates. I was so alive… I realized… my life’s been over for three months. [I] want it to stop. I can’t do this anymore. [I] don’t want to wake up another morning and have to go through this.”
[Lisa said these words in response to being told she needed to get more auditing to ‘handle” her. Lisa is talking to a Director of Processing. In Scientology this is the person who schedules auditing for paying clients.]

Date:
Bates Stamp: LMPC-017224
“God damn it I feel so desperate… [I] don’t want to do this anymore.”
[Again, Lisa is referring to the auditing she is being told she needs to “get handled”.]

Date: 12/3/95
Bates Stamp: LMPC-016720
Lisa tells her auditor she wants to be back out in life.

Date: 6/4/95
Bates Stamp: LMPC-016514
Lisa’s auditor notes in her report that Lisa wants to blow (leave) and has lots of problems at work.
[In Scientology terms, “blow” is defined as an unexpected departure. In Scientology as written in its policy, it is a crime to “blow” (leave) Scientology and every effort is made to prevent a “blow” from occurring.]

Date: 20/4/95
Bates Stamp: LMPC-016241
Lisa says she got nothing out of her Power auditing.
[Lisa is referring to a different auditing program she was put on to get “handled”.]

Date: 1/5/95
Bates Stamp: LMPC-016082
Lisa says she wants to blow (leave) so bad. She goes on to say she wants to kill herself.

Date: 3/5/95
Bates Stamp: LMPC-016018
Complains of not being herself, feels she has lost herself.

Date: 13/5/95
Bates Stamp: LMPC-017149
Lisa states that she and Bennetta have reviewed her condition and determined that Lisa is in “Power.”

Date:
Bates Stamp: LMPC-017150
Lisa is crying. On the next page Lisa states, “I feel like my life is over. If I go in session I don’t think it’s the best thing for me. I am confused.”
[The words “session” and “auditing” are the same in Scientology]

Date:
Bates Stamp: LMPC-017152
Lisa states, “I want to die.”

Date: 17/5/95
Bates Stamp: LMPC-017027
Lisa states, “…recently I want to kill myself…” ” I have these thoughts about wanting to die. That’s the only solution.”

Date:
Bates Stamp: LMPC-017031
Lisa is crying and states, “I feel like I am going into this black hole, like I am already dead.”

Date: 18/5/95
Bates Stamp: LMPC-016967
Lisa states, “I feel like I am going more and more the effect.”

Date: 22/5/95
Bates Stamp: LMPC-016845
Lisa states, “I get this feeling I am afraid.”

Date:
Bates Stamp: LMPC-016846
Lisa states, “… I feel I want to leave.” ” I really feel like I want to leave.”

Date:
Bates Stamp: LMPC-016847
Lisa states, “These questions on Power, I found them stupid.”

Date: 26/5/95
Bates Stamp: LMPC-016742
Auditor states that Lisa’s attention is, “fixated on killing herself as solution to this unknown problem.”

Date:
Bates Stamp: LMPC-016747
Lisa states to her auditor, “I feel disconnected.” She is crying. She states, “I don’t want to go on living this way.” She is crying throughout the entire session.

Date:
Bates Stamp: LMPC-016752
Lisa states, “…there is some command saying I must kill myself.”

Date:
Bates Stamp: LMPC-016755
In response to a question from her auditor, Lisa states, “Nothing is coming to mind except that I want to kill myself.”

Date:
Bates Stamp: LMPC-016756
Lisa states, “I feel like I got to get out.”

Date:
Bates Stamp: LMPC-017568
Lisa states, “It feels like the only thing is to kill myself. My life is over. My life is stopped.”

Date: 28/5/95
Bates Stamp: LMPC-017637
Lisa states, “Yesterday I got very concerned because I felt I want to kill myself.”

Date: 29/5/95
Bates Stamp: LMPC-017557
Lisa is crying and states, “I don’t belong anywhere… my life is over.”

Date: 30/5/95
Bates Stamp: LMPC-017528
Lisa states, “I just want to handle my feelings of suicide.”

Date: 7/6/95
Bates Stamp: LMPC-017220
Lisa states, “[I] don’t want anyone to know—[I was] afraid to tell [my] auditor [that] my brother and father committed suicide.” “… gotta handle whatever this is—I feel dead.”

Date: 9/8/95
Bates Stamp: LMPC-19563
[Note: The following entry is a transcript of a handwritten note sent by Lisa to the C/S.]

Hi! Okay—so one thing I’ve learned is no matter what—communicate! Whether or not I feel it is significant or not I’m just going to keep in comm.
Something I’ve noted—and this has been going on since ‘whatever is going on’ began it seems, is that I’m tired but have a very rough time sleeping (as you well know). My body gets hungry but I want nothing to eat. I sit and want to stand. I stand and want to sit. I lay down and want to get up. I want to rest and the body feels very tired but I can’t make it sleep. I am in a rush all the time but I have nowhere to be especially and nothing demanding that I be in such a rush. Anything I seem to be the least bit interested in as soon as I approach it is now something to be rejected. I think of music I’d like to hear (some of my favorites) but as soon as it begins I want to turn it off. I see a film and think it will be good and then I don’t want to watch it. I think of food that would taste good then get close to it and change my mind. I am in an almost constant state of ‘maybe’ or ‘I don’t know.’ I cannot seem to go very far mentally on any subject or thought. I cannot seem to get comfortable mentally or physically. “I want to go and I want to stay and I don’t want either. It is quite insane. I have no tolerance and everything annoys me. So that’s about all I have to report on that. “Love, Lisa”

[…]

Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath: Buying A Town (Season 3, Episode 9)
[00:41:03.885]
Mark Bunker:  … She got into a minor fender bender in downtown Clearwater. And by the time the police came and the ambulance, she had stripped off all of her clothes and was walking down the street naked. And a paramedic came up to her and said, “Why are you doing this?” And she said, “Because I need somebody to pay attention to me.”¹

According to Clearwater PD Det. Sudler’s interview with Paramedic Bonnie Portolano:

1. The scene of the accident was Belleview and South Fort Harrison, 1.2 miles from S. Ft. Harrison’s downtown intersection with Court Street.⁷
2. The ambulance was already on scene at the time of Lisa’s accident, responding to an earlier accident at that intersection.
3. When the paramedics first spoke with Lisa, she was dressed.
4. Paramedic Bonnie Portolano asked Lisa “What are you doing… why did you take off all your clothes?” Lisa responded, “Well, you see, nobody knows this but I’m an OT.”
5. From the same report, Ms. Portolano later asked Lisa “Why did you take off all your clothes… what’s up?” Lisa said, “Well, I wanted people to think I was crazy because I want help.”⁸

Notes