Scientology critic commits suicide

[Rogue 9]

St. Petersburg Times

Scourge of Scientology dies in apparent suicide

He seemed to abandon the fight in the last year.

By Jonathan Abel and Robert Farley, Times Staff Writers
Published February 19, 2008

CLEARWATER - 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.

Police discovered Lonsdale's body at 12:20 p.m. Saturday after neighbors reported a foul odor. They found a garden hose stretched from the exhaust pipe of Lonsdale's car into a window of his home at 510 N Lincoln Ave., according to Clearwater police spokeswoman Elizabeth Daly-Watts.

Daly-Watts said there were no signs of foul play, and police found what appeared to be a suicide note. It was not immediately available.

The medical examiner's office said the official cause of death is pending toxicology reports.

It was a lonely end for a man who emerged out of nowhere in 2006 as a thorn in the side of the Church of Scientology.

For a few months in mid to late 2006, Lonsdale stood alone in downtown Clearwater beside a sandwich board that read "Cult Watch" in the heart of Scientology's religious headquarters.

Videocamera in hand, he taped hours and hours of footage: Scientology buildings, church staffers walking the streets, security guards watching his movements and verbal confrontations with Scientologists. He then edited them into a "pseudo-documentary" about Scientology that eventually aired on local cable television.

Lonsdale, who was never a Scientologist, was an odd nemesis. He had no connection to the church before arguing with a Scientologist over redevelopment issues at a Clearwater City Council meeting.

But the self-described loner stepped into his new role with enthusiasm. At night, he dropped fliers on the doorsteps of downtown businesses. On his lunch break, he parked his car across the street from the church's cafeteria with posters in his window that claimed people could find free versions of secret church texts on the Internet. He even picked church-related documents from piles of trash in front of a Scientology-owned business and posted some of the documents online.

The Church of Scientology and some its members fought back. They hired a private investigator to look into Lonsdale's background and found two misdemeanor convictions for lewd and lascivious conduct, both related to public sex with men, in 1999 and 2000.

They called Lonsdale's employer at a title company and his landlord and said that Lonsdale was a religious bigot, possibly dangerous.

In the fall of 2006, the church subpoenaed Lonsdale for a deposition, contending he was an agent of an anti-Scientology group that was legally barred from protesting in certain places downtown. Attorney Luke Lirot, who has battled Scientology in the past, came to Lonsdale's aid.

"I found him to be quite affable and truly a very intelligent man," Lirot said in an interview Monday. "I certainly hope that a very thorough investigation is conducted."

In the last year, though, the confrontation between Lonsdale and the Church of Scientology seemed to have run its course.

Lonsdale let his anti-Scientology Web site lapse. He posted less and less on anti-Scientology blogs. Church spokeswoman Pat Harney said it had been months since the church heard from Lonsdale.

Randy Payne, a former Scientologist, said Lonsdale found it impossible to be a full-time church critic and make a living.

Payne said that he last spoke to Lonsdale two months ago, and that Lonsdale had found steady work on the night shift at a local company, stocking shelves. He talked about going back to school and getting a private investigator's license.

"He was getting on with his life," Payne said. "He had every reason to live."

Landlord Joe Critchley said Lonsdale was an ideal tenant: He paid the $650 rent on time every month and he kept the place clean. The last time they talked, Feb. 1 or Feb. 2, Lonsdale seemed fine. "He would be one of the last people I would expect to commit suicide," Critchley said. "But you never know."

All I can say is that the timing seems a little convenient.

[LadyTevar]

Pardon me, but the monoxide poisoning/suicide I signed last month was inside the car, inside their garage. Fumes built up quicker that way, obviously. So why run a hose from the car into the house? It seems it would defuse the monoxide too much.

Something's fishy about this suicide.

[loomer]

Let's see. Time of high backlash against Scientology? Check. Unusual suicide method, compared to the standard form? Check. No reason for the guy to have killed himself NOW, when he'd be able to go basically anywhere online and get some support? Check.

I smell assassination.

[Einhander Sn0m4n]

I have no reason to believe this to be a suicide at all. I would love nothing more than the Feds to investigate this meticulously with Operation Snow White and Freakout in their minds the whole time.

Yes, this cannot be anything other than a hit job.

[CaptainChewbacca]

Well, if he died in Clearwater, there's no way its going to get ruled anything other than a suicide. The Co$ owns that town AND its' police force. They even use off-duty cops for security.

[loomer]

Not if it takes the form of a proper, federal investigation.

[Einhander Sn0m4n]

Not if it takes the form of a proper, federal investigation.

And if Anonymous gets the time of day from the Feds, it may very well happen. It's already probably bouncing around the net as we speak.

[Rye]

Even if it was suicide, the church should definitely be considered highly involved due to years of hounding the man. I'd fucking love it if this, even if it turned out to be a suicide, blew the cult into extreme federal scrutiny. The history books would be full of speculation on the true impact of anonymous and the dude's motives. I hope that happens, anyway.

[Einhander Sn0m4n]

Even if it was suicide, the church should definitely be considered highly involved due to years of hounding the man. I'd fucking love it if this, even if it turned out to be a suicide, blew the cult into extreme federal scrutiny. The history books would be full of speculation on the true impact of anonymous and the dude's motives. I hope that happens, anyway, just for the lulz.

Fixed for truth. You know in your heart you want the Co$ nothing other than a world of butthurt!

[Big Orange]

Wasn't he on that relatively recent BBC docmentary hosted by John Sweeney? He was openly menaced by several Scientologist henchmen in his interview with Sweeney, and they accused him of being a gigalo (this event directly led to Sweeney's famous outburst later on, after days of harassment). Well this cult has left a long trail of equallysuspicious deaths.

Let's hope this most recent death is going to be the straw that breaks the camel's back.

[FSTargetDrone]

Pardon me, but the monoxide poisoning/suicide I signed last month was inside the car, inside their garage. Fumes built up quicker that way, obviously. So why run a hose from the car into the house? It seems it would defuse the monoxide too much.

Something's fishy about this suicide.

It does seem odd. Have you ever heard of any cases of a suicide involving carbon monoxide in a location other than a vehicle in a garage?

[KlavoHunter]

Add another name to the list of Scientology's crimes.

[Big Orange]

Pardon me, but the monoxide poisoning/suicide I signed last month was inside the car, inside their garage. Fumes built up quicker that way, obviously. So why run a hose from the car into the house? It seems it would defuse the monoxide too much.

Something's fishy about this suicide.

It does seem odd. Have you ever heard of any cases of a suicide involving carbon monoxide in a location other than a vehicle in a garage?

Or course it was likely a assassination staged as suicide, that their general style of silencing critics of the COS or cult members breaking rank. Why have they been tolerated for so long?

[loomer]

Money is a powerful motivator to look the other way, that's my guess.

[Big Orange]

Money is a powerful motivator to look the other way, that's my guess.

Certainly to the podunk Police Department in Clearwater, with many officers being COS members anyway, but to Interpol, Special Branch, SIS, NSA, FBI, or CIA?

[loomer]

I would assume so, actually. No one is beyond the prospect of corruption, ultimately, so it is not inconcievable that a few feds or connected Senators or whatever had a little 'grease' for the engine added.

[Darth Wong]

Jesus fucking Christ, you people should be ashamed of yourselves. Without even the tiniest shred of evidence, you've convinced yourself that not only is it possible for this to be an assassination + police conspiracy, but it is actually likely to be so.

This guy was a loner with absolutely nothing in his life to give him purpose or direction, until he got into an argument with a Scientologist and then devoted his entire life to attacking Scientology. Does that sound like an emotionally stable person to you? The guy spent his nights picketing Scientology offices, his lunch breaks distributing fliers, and he even picked through the fucking garbage at Scientology offices looking for information. His landlord said that he was a "religious bigot, possibly dangerous".

And then, over a period of months, he loses his enthusiasm. He lets his website lapse. He stops participating in anti-Scientology activities and discussions. His anti-Scientology crusade apparently caused him professional grief, and he was now working stocking shelves on the night shift. He was quiet, kept to himself.

Now ask yourself the question: do you really think this sounds like the profile of a guy who is sooooo unlikely to commit suicide that his apparent suicide must surely be the result of a murder plot and police cover-up conspiracy? Why the fuck would they even do it, when he had essentially ceased his activities against them?

What a bunch of fucking wankers. If real evidence shows up, then you might have some reason to say these things. But as it stands right now, you are all talking out your ass, and living down to every shitty stereotype of the stupid Internet smart-mouth asshole. Congratulations, fucktards. I guess conspiracy-theorist mentality is just fine when it's against Scientology, eh?

[Nephtys]

This is only going to make things nastier for the Co$. Convenient again, (tinfoil hat), that the suicide note is 'not available'. This clearly has abnormal circumstances, with timing and all.

[FSTargetDrone]

His landlord said that he was a "religious bigot, possibly dangerous".

The story says:

They called Lonsdale's employer at a title company and his landlord and said that Lonsdale was a religious bigot, possibly dangerous.

Though it's somewhat clumsily-worded, I believe that is saying that the CoS was telling both his employer and his landlord that he was a bigot, not that the landlord called him bigoted.

[Turin]

Not if it takes the form of a proper, federal investigation.

And if Anonymous gets the time of day from the Feds, it may very well happen. It's already probably bouncing around the net as we speak.

If Anonymous "gets the time of day" from the Feds, it's probably going to be in the form of arrests. You realize that, right? I mean, I think the CoS is a bunch of assholes as much as the next rational person, but DDoS attacks are nonetheless major crimes. I'm not shedding a tear for the CoS, but I'm realistic in knowing that the federal government apparently doesn't give a shit about the CoS's potential criminal activities. Even if they were, this is real life, not the movie Hackers -- where the kids all get off in the end because the bad guy was just soooo mean.

[KlavoHunter]

<snip>

The story makes it plainly obvious that the CoS was already treating him as "Fair Game", as they so indiscreetly term it, as they have dug up his past in an attempt to humiliate him (Ex: Previous convictions), they have said slanderous things about him to the people around him (Ex: Employer, Landlord), and taken him to court in attempts to silence him.

They have quite obviously put a great deal of effort into destroying his life, and the many, many suspicious elements in his death send up red flags.

There is not yet evidence that his suicide was in fact a murder by the CoS, but they would be the number-one suspect.

[FSTargetDrone]

<snip>

The story makes it plainly obvious that the CoS was already treating him as "Fair Game", as they so indiscreetly term it, as they have dug up his past in an attempt to humiliate him (Ex: Previous convictions), they have said slanderous things about him to the people around him (Ex: Employer, Landlord), and taken him to court in attempts to silence him.

They have quite obviously put a great deal of effort into destroying his life, and the many, many suspicious elements in his death send up red flags.

There is not yet evidence that his suicide was in fact a murder by the CoS, but they would be the number-one suspect.

There seems to be evidence that the CoS was fighting back after this guy made it his life's goal to go after them and I do think it's an odd way to suicide (as opposed ot doing it in a car), but I DW is right. There is no real evidence so far that this is a murder. More details are needed.

[Oni Koneko Damien]

As much as I'd love to jump on the bandwagon here, I have to agree with DW. Come the fuck on people, there is *no* hard evidence pointing to this as a murder, rather than suicide.

Yeah, the circumstances are a little weird. Yeah, I wouldn't put it past Scientology to go out and attempt to murder critics. But jumping the gun like this is poisoning the well. The suicide was unusual, but all that means is it deserves to be fully investigated, not that everyone should put on their tin-foil hats and scream "Lol, Scientology did it!" If they did, an investigation will likely turn up evidence of it, and then I will happily join the screaming mob.

[FSTargetDrone]

As much as I'd love to jump on the bandwagon here, I have to agree with DW. Come the fuck on people, there is *no* hard evidence pointing to this as a murder, rather than suicide.

Yeah, the circumstances are a little weird. Yeah, I wouldn't put it past Scientology to go out and attempt to murder critics. But jumping the gun like this is poisoning the well. The suicide was unusual, but all that means is it deserves to be fully investigated, not that everyone should put on their tin-foil hats and scream "Lol, Scientology did it!" If they did, an investigation will likely turn up evidence of it, and then I will happily join the screaming mob.

It's entirely possible as well that the strange suicide is the result of less than clear thinking. Maybe he preferred to, I don't know, be more comfortable by doing it in the house. Maybe he went to sleep after leaving the car running and hoped he simply wouldn't wake up.

[Rogue 9]

I for one don't say it was murder, but this deserves a damned thorough investigation, and if the Clearwater police keep to their track record it isn't going to get one.