After the jump, Leiby's ex-wife, Theresa Defino, responds to Marty Rathbun's allegation that she 'caved' to Scientology in its anti-Leiby efforts. Marty Rathbun has done it again. The top former Scientology figure who left the "church" in 2004 has been gradually releasing damaging information about the organization at his blog, "Moving On Up a Little Higher." Rathbun is working with several other defectors who left in recent years, some of them with ties to Scientology's covert operations wing, the Office ...

An open house at the Tuolumne City Memorial Museum will feature an animated model of the Lady Washington Mine’s stamp mill, made by Stu Heller. The museum, at 18663 Carter St., is open every weekend from 1 to 4 p.m. Model-maker Heller will be there on Jan. 29 to answer questions and discuss his work. Refreshments will be served. The Lady Washington is one of several mines dating back to the 1860s, all close to each other on the northeast side ...

Violence and abuse in Scientology can be traced right back to the founder, L. Ron Hubbard, said a former Sea Org veteran who worked alongside him. At a conference in Hamburg Friday a former veteran Scientologist who worked directly with L. Ron Hubbard painted a devastating picture of the movement’s founder. [...]

Work in Sweeney canyon stopped By JAMI FORD Staff Writer Published: Wednesday, February 18, 2009 2:59 PM MST Work being done in Sweeney Canyon south of Rock Springs has come to a standstill, according to Sweetwater County Attorney Brett Johnson. County residents had expressed concerns over IGSS building something unknown in Sweeney Canyon in 2008. Rumors flew as suspicions surfaced about possible links between IGSS and the church of scientology, and people started to make formal complaints. As concerns rose, multiple ...

SWEENEY CANYON, Wyo. (AP) — The construction began last summer, stirring up dust that wafted down this desert valley and into a small community of off-the-grid homes. As many as 20 heavy trucks a day hauling construction materials and equipment rumbled down the valley's main gravel road, passing into a gate marked with a "No Trespassing" sign. Helicopters flew in sling loads of cargo. Powerful work lights lit up the valley at night. Public planners in southwest Wyoming's Sweetwater County — ...

When talking about the Church of Scientology, the township of Tuolumne probably doesn't immediately come to mind. But the small town might as well be mentioned in the same breath as Los Angeles, the religion's mecca, and movie star adherents like Tom Cruise and John Travolta. Tuolumne is home to an archive of the religion's relics, and has been so for the past decade, according to Jane McNairn, a representative of the Scientology-affiliated Church of Spiritual Technology. According to published reports, ...

Hollywood star Tom Cruise is planning to build a bunker at his Colorado home to protect his family in the event of an intergalactic alien attack, according to new reports. The Mission Impossible actor, who is a dedicated follower of Scientology, is reportedly fearful that deposed galactic ruler 'Xenu' is plotting an evil revenge attack on Earth. According to American magazine Star, a source said: "Tom is planning to build a US$10 million bunker under his Telluride estate." "It's a self-contained ...

Aired May 14, 2007 - 22:00 ET THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED. ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening, everyone. Tonight, thousands of American troops in Iraq searching for three of their American buddies, searching their hearts out because they know all too well what the people who claim to have them can do and have done to captives in the past. We will have the latest on the ...

[...] COOPER: Oh, the video of Tom Cruise in happier times with Viacom Chairman Sumner Redstone. Earlier this week, the actor's production company was dumped by Viacom's Paramont Pictures division. Cruise, who in the past – that's Sumner Redstone on the left. Yes. Cruise, who in the past has enjoyed tremendous popularity with audiences and has been a powerhouse, of course, at the box office, seems to be kind of losing at least some of his appeal. One of the issues, ...

Trementina, N.M. – San Miguel County Sheriff Chris Najar says a Church of Scientology compound near Trementina is designed to hold archives for a thousand years. Najar, San Miguel County Manager Les Montoya, Commissioners LeRoy H. Garcia and Kenny Medina and others recently toured the facilities. The 43-acre compound was built in the 1980s in this high desert community about 40 miles east of Las Vegas, New Mexico. Najar says an expensive archival center stores writings of Scientology founder and late ...

COOPER: Well, the other night, we told you about a vault in the New Mexico desert and some mysterious land markings nearby, markings that can only be seen from the sky. Both are part of a compound built by the Church of Scientology. And inside the vault are said to be writings by L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of the church. Many who live in New Mexico are simply unaware the vault even exists and don't – they have never seen ...

COOPER: Welcome back. We've talked a lot about Scientology and the battled Tom Cruise and the church is waging on psychiatric drugs. Last night Cruise told Barbara Walters he doesn't regret anything he said this past year, and claims since speaking out nearly half a million children have come off depressants. Clearly, the church doesn't shy away from the subject. There is another topic the Scientologists are a bit touchy on, it involves a vault in the desert of New Mexico ...

Secret flying-saucer base found in New Mexico? Maybe. From the state that gave us Roswell, the epicenter of UFO lore since 1947, comes a report from an Albuquerque TV station about its discovery of strange landscape markings in the remote desert. They’re etched in New Mexico’s barren northern reaches, resemble crop circles and are recognizable only from a high altitude. Also, they are directly connected to the Church of Scientology. The church tried to persuade station KRQE not to air its ...

Secret Flying Saucer Base Found in New Mexico? Maybe. From the state that gave us Roswell, the epicenter of UFO lore since 1947, comes a report from an Albuquerque TV station about its discovery of strange landscape markings in the remote desert. They're etched in New Mexico's barren northern reaches, resemble crop circles and are recognizable only from a high altitude. Also, they are directly connected to the Church of Scientology. (Cue theremin music.) The church tried to persuade station KRQE ...

[...] Begin time: 05/05/2002 17:29:30 End time: 05/05/2002 18:00:00 [...] Classification: THRX Disposition: N Staff: Z GORTON Event: 02-005875 Time: 0510512002 17:29:30 Call Taker: L CASTLEBERRY Location: 18950 GRIZZLY MINE RD, TUOLUMNE RP: MCNAIRN, JANE Synopsis: RP STATES THAT RICHARD ODOM, WHO LIVES NEXT TO THE CHURCH OF SPIRITUAL TECHNOLOGY, HAS BEEN RECEIVING VERBAL DEATH THREATS. DISPATCH WAS UTL ON ANY EVENTS SHOWING ODOM AS THE RP OF THREATS, BUT RP IS CONCERNED AND REQUESTING CONTACT BECAUSE IT HAS COME BACK ...

outside Celebrity Centre; newspaper article titled “Scientology–A Long Trail of Controversy”; another shot of Celebrity Centre; part of newspaper article title “struggle for credibility” VO: Over its rocky 45- year history, Scientology has driven for mainstream acceptance. DAVID MISCAVIGE (interview): People have been searching for thousands of years for spiritual release and freedom, and what we have in Scientology is the answer. How to achieve that. JOHN TRAVOLTA (on movie set in Army camouflage outfit): Ultimately, the whole purpose is to ...

[Picture / Caption: THE FOUNDER: The finale to the L. Ron Hubbard Life Exhibition in Los Angeles is a series of pocket doors displaying 400 proclamations Hubbard received through the years. The Hollywood Boulevard museum, conceived by Miscavige, is open to the public.] [Picture / Caption: PRESERVING HIS WORDS: Titanium capsules, on display in Los Angeles, are part of Scientology’s ongoing $226-million effort to archive Hubbard’s writings. His words are imprinted on stainless steel plates, stored in the capsules, then wrapped ...

Is the Church of Scientology a religion, or a multimillion-dollar corporate cult? Some former Scientologists have spoken of spending thousands of dollars or working long hours without food or sleep to pay off debts to the church. The church characterizes itself as misunderstood and persecuted, emphasizing testimonials and community outreach activities, while attempting to discredit critics. "Scientology is a racket," says Bloomfield Hills attorney Constance Cumbey, who has handled four Michigan lawsuits against the church. "That's not to say that everyone ...

TREMENTINA — High in the headwaters of the Rio Trementina, a reclusive sect of the Church of Scientology has established what is described as an archive to preserve for a millennium the words of its founder. In January 1984, the California-based Church of Spiritual Technology — one of the parent church's dozens of spinoffs during its 26-year legal battle with the federal government over tax exemptions — began buying the first of a dozen tracts of land some 50 miles east ...

When the IRS granted tax exemptions to the church, it did so mainly on the basis of what Scientology did with its money. WASHINGTON — It might be easier for a camel to walk through the eye of a needle than for the IRS to judge the merits of a religion. So when it comes to considering tax exemptions, the agency sticks to what it knows: money. For the Church of Scientology, which won a series of tax exemptions earlier this ...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 21 — The Church of Scientology, the secretive and combative international organization that recently won a decades-long drive for Federal tax exemption, counts assets of about $400 million and appears to take in nearly $300 million a year from counseling fees, book sales, investments and other sources, according to documents filed with the Internal Revenue Service. The financial disclosures are in documents the church was required to file with the I.R.S. in applying for tax-exempt status, conferred on 30 ...

[This is a shorter reprint of Scientologists profited from new members | St. Petersburg Times (Florida) | 15 October 1993.] WASHINGTON — It pays to pitch Scientology, according to earnings reports the church has filed with the Internal Revenue Service. One man averaged almost $200,000 a year in commissions from the fees of new members he had solicited to become Scientologists. The church gives its proselytizers 10 to 15 percent of what newcomers "donate" for church services, such as the ...

Newly released earnings reports show late founder L. Ron Hubbard's disciples can earn big money by soliciting members to Scientology. WASHINGTON — It pays to pitch Scientology, according to earnings reports the church has filed with the Internal Revenue Service. One man averaged almost $200,000 a year in commissions from the fees of new members he had solicited to become Scientologists. The church gives its proselytizers 10 to 15 percent of what newcomers "donate" for church services, such as the process ...