Scientology - obstructing justice since 1952

[weemadando]

Really, this should be the nail in the coffin for them in Australia. At least I hope so. Maybe we can get the Rev Danny Nalliah to try and exorcise them. At the very least seeing those two groups at each other's throats would make me happy.

Also, please note the last line of the article. What a standard outcome for anything involving LRH's pyramid scheme.

Scientology snubs coroner over suicide soldier 'audit file'
By Sarah Elks
The Australian
October 23, 2009 07:55am

THE Church of Scientology refused to provide records demanded by a coroner investigating the death of a soldier who committed suicide two days after finishing one of the church's intensive courses.

The Australian reports that the American headquarters of the church instructed its Australian branch to send the soldier's "audit file" to the US - outside the coroner's jurisdiction - before warrants were issued.

Edward Alexander McBride was found electrocuted and hanged at an Energex substation at Everton Park, in Brisbane, on February 7, 2007.

The soldier, who was based at Brisbane's Enoggera Barracks, was on leave from the army at the time and had been doing Scientology courses almost full-time for about a month.

McBride had paid the church $25,000 for the courses and finished the last one two days before he died.

In interim inquest findings handed down last week, coroner John Lock said that was when "something unusual happened".

In the days leading up to McBride's death, church members tried to contact him repeatedly on his mobile phone, and sent text and voice messages mentioning an "audit" and "LRH" - a reference to Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard.

Mr Lock said requests by police and him for the Church of Scientology to see McBride's audit file were unsuccessful.

He said the Australian Scientology authorities appeared to have been obeying orders issued by the church's US headquarters.

"A clear inference can be made that this course of action was taken as a deliberate decision (by the US church) not to produce the auditing file," he said.

Australian Church of Scientology spokeswoman Vicki Dunstan said the audit file was returned to the "mother church" in the US before the Australian church had received a request from the coroner.

She said the file did not shed any light on McBride's state of mind or cause of death.

Read more on the Scientology soldier's suicide at The Australian

• Comments have been closed on this story due to legal advice

[Stark]

Whoa. They closed the comments section because Scientology likes to sue people? that's pretty funny.

[weemadando]

Whoa. They closed the comments section because Scientology likes to sue people? that's pretty funny.

Your snark lacks bite today. I just find it humorous that News.com.au will allow pages and pages of race-baiting and slander and all the rest, but a few people say something bad about Scientology and it's locked down. Turns out that Rupert Murdoch has editorial policies to protect profit margins. Shock.

[Rogue 9]

So what sort of extradition treaties are there between the United States and Australia? I'd say there might be hope to get it out of them yet, except the original file has no doubt had a close encounter with a shredder by now. There'll be copies somewhere; Hubbard was fanatic about retaining information, but they'll claim it was destroyed.

Anyway, if anyone's interested, here's the coroner's inquest report. PDF format.

[Zixinus]

Let me quote the part most interesting:

Although
there is some evidence from the Energex workers which suggested that
the entrance was likely to be through the head and passing through the
right calf it is clear that whatever is the case the cause of death was due
to electrocution from a very high voltage.

Mr McBride died as a result of intentionally placing himself in a
position on the substation tower such that he would receive a
high voltage electric charge with almost certain death as a
result. In placing a rope around his neck and tied to the
substation tower he intended to provide a backup method to
ensure his life was ended. On the evidence presently before me,
his intention to take his own life was not reasonably foreseeable
by his family, the Australian Defence Force or members of the
Church of Scientology

And why the audit file would be helpful:

There are some
unknowns as a result of the non-production of his auditing file which
may have shed some light on what he was thinking at that time. It may
not. It is clear to me that the degree of forcefulness and amount of
contact from church members over those few days is indicative of
something more than concerns about completing an administrative
process at the completion of his course.

In other words, negligent homicide may be up for the Aussy Scientology church.