Inside Edition

  This was an excellent show - they missed a few things [like how the
3 people in charge of her left the country].
  Hard Copy sucked - its not worth transcribing.

  IE has a web site, but it seems to be either under development of
just moved. - no email address, only 2 phone numbers, and the main tip
form doesn't work (there is another one that does).

  Any and all transcription or spelling errors are probably my fault.
  Anyway, on with the show:

   teaser:  Authorities have questions about the death of this
<picture of Lisa> Scientologist.  But the church <picture of a red
brick building with the Scientology cross> says its just another
example of harassment by government officials.
  <commercial>
   Hostess (Deborah Norville) <standing next to a  picture of lisa w/
caption "mystery death>:  Scientology: some people call it a cult,
while  millions around the world, including some top Hollywood stars,
call it a life focusing religion.  It's even been granted tax exempt
religious status.  But Since its inception, it been surrounded by
controversy.  One of the biggest is how it views and treats members
with emotional or mental problems.
   Matt Hall reports about a young women who had devoted her life to
the Church, and her family is now wondering if that cost her her life.
  One note, we apologize for Matt's voice.  He's got a little bit of a
throat problem [throughout the interview the segment, his voice shifts
from normal to a noticeable hoarse burr.  Wonder if the clams told him
"Scientology can help you with that"]
  <suburban neighborhood>
  Matt Hall:  Growing up in Suburban Dallas, Lisa McPherson was close
to her family and had lots of friends.  According to her Aunt that all
changed 19 years ago.
  <whenever a person speaks, they focus on him / her.  Otherwise it
tends to be filler shots of Clearwater or pics of Lisa>
  Aunt (Dell ???):  After she graduated from High School, she went to
work for the phone company, and got into something what they call
"Scientology"
  Matt Hall:  The Church of Scientology became the center of Lisa's
life.  And when she dies unexpectedly 13 months ago her friends and
family felt there were a lot of unanswered questions.
  Aunt:  There were so many different stories from the different
members of Scientology - Where she was and what had happened to her.
We don't know what to believe
  Kelly Davis was Lisa's closest friend growing up in Texas. She says
when Lisa called her in November 1995, she got the impression she may
be leaving the church.
  Kelly:  She said she was coming to stay, she said she had to talk to
me about a lot of things, and that she didn't want to talk about it
over the phone.
   Matt Hall:  Lisa had been living in Clearwater, Florida.
Scientologists started buying up property there 20 years ago, and
although they've improved them greatly, there's been a lot of bad
blood between the church and local officials..
  Thousands of Scietnologists work and study in Clearwater.  Lisa
McPherson was one of those.  She had a high paying job at a publishing
company owned by a fellow scientologist.  She even donated nearly half
of her $136,000 a year salary to the Church.
  Elliot Abelson, General council, and spokesman for Scientology,
denies Lisa was thinking of leaving the church.
   Elliot: By everything she did and everything she said, she was a
close to the church at the time of her death as at any other time of
her life.
   Matt Hall:  Were there any reports of anxiety being expressed by
Lisa?
   Elliot:  Yes, I believe she was having problems with her
performance on the job.  And I think she had expressed to her family,
and to others, that she felt that pressure.
  Matt Hall:  On the night of Nov. 18, 1995, it appears that the
pressure may have come too much.  Lisa was taken to a clearwater
hospital after a minor traffic accident.
  Why was she taken to the hospital:
  Elliot:  She was taken to the hospital by paramedics who came to the
scene, and she was taken because she had taken her clothes off and was
walking down the street.
   Matt Hall:  According to hospital records we obtained from her
family, Lisa told EMS workers at the scene "she needed to talk"
(expanded quote from image) and that "she took her clothes off to make
people think she was crazy" (another image).
   But soon after she was taken to the Emergency room, some members of
the church of Scientology arrived.  The records indicate they told the
doctor they didn't want her to see a psych, and that "they would be
able to handle her themselves".
   Matt Hall:  Would it be too strong to say they don't believe in the
benefits of Psychiatric?
   Elliot:  They see more harm probably than benefits, yes.
   Matt Hall:  The ER doctor insisted on Lisa having a psychological
evaluation.  After which, Lisa said she wanted to leave. According to
hospital records, her scientologist friends said they "would take care
of her 24 hours a day." (paraphrase of image)
   Wayne Shellor (police spokesman):  She signed herself out against
doctors orders.  Its my understanding from the investigators, that the
attending physician in the ER counseled her that she should probably
stay for observation.
   Matt Hall:  After Lisa signed herself out of the hospital, she
didn't go back to her apartment.  She came here to the old Ft.
Harrison hotel  (big white building) the Churches spiritual
headquarters in Downtown Clearwater. Church officials say Lisa
requested to come here for rest and relaxation. But 17 days later,
with bruises and abrasions on her arms and legs, and having lost a
great deal of weight, Lisa was taken to another hospital - this time
she was dead on arrival.
  Wayne Shellor:  A short time thereafter, we found out that (garble)
Medical Examiner that her death was not from natural causes.  So we've
been investigating her death as that of a suspicious death for over a
year now.
   Abelson:  There has been a war of harassment on the part of the
Clearwater PD, against the church, and we believe that this story
wouldn't be a story if Lisa hadn't been a Scientologist,
   Matt Hall:  Abelson also challenges the competency of the ME's
office, and said it conspired with the police when it issued this
autopsy.
   Abelson:  They have absolutely no basis to say that she that didn't
die of natural causes.
   Matt Hall:  How do you know that? <disbelieving>
   Abelson:  Because I've read the autopsy report
   Matt Hall:  The autopsy, given to us by Lisa's family, says she
died of a blood clot in her heart, but look at the cause of the clot:
"bed rest and severe dehydration."
   ME, Dr. Joan:  This is the most severe case of Dehydration I've
even seen.
  Matt Hall:  Dr. Joan Wood , the (Pinellas or Pasco)) county Medical
Examiner, spoke to us after we interviewed Mr. Abelson.  Dr. Wood (?)
says while dying of a blood clot is a natural cause, what led up to
it, Lisa's severe dehydration, was not. <shows the chemical test>  She
says tests performed during the autopsy indicate Lisa McPherson went
at least 5 days w/o any liquids.
  Matt:  5 days you think she went w/o liquid? <incredulous>
  ME:  I think 5-10 is reasonable, it may have been 17.
  Matt:  What could possibly explain that? <even more incredulous>
  ME:  Umm, I think there's several possibilities.  The first is that
she refused to eat or drink, perhaps she was deprived of food and
water, because if you've even been thirsty, you know how powerful that
thirst drive is.
   Abelson:  She rested, she slept a lot, nothing unusual, really,
until the end of her stay.  She did (pause) get food, water, obviously
people talked to her.  But she got rest and relaxation.
  Matt Hall:  But later in our interview, Mr. Abelson does refer to
something unusual:
  Abelson:  But it was something very unusual to see this charming 36
yr old woman hitting the wall.
  Matt Hall:  With her body?
  Abelson:  No, with her fist
  Matt Hall:  While Scietnologists don't believe in Psychiatric care,
they do have their own methods for dealing with members who are having
what they call "Psychotic Breaks" (the red volumes, quote from I
rundown)  Their teaching call for isolating members who they believe
are a danger to themselves or others.
   There was no construction to isolate Lisa, was there?
   Abelson:  no.  Absolutely not.  That was Lisa's wish.
   Matt Hall:  And she was free to come and go?
   Abelson:  She was free to come and go.
   Matt Hall:  Abelson says Lisa became physically ill very suddenly,
and it wasn't until the last 24 hours of her life that the people
around her had reason to be alarmed.
   Abelson:  She lost a lot of fluids at that time.  There certainly
wasn't enough of a weight loss for anyone to suggest she be taken to
the hospital earlier than the last 24 hours.
   Matt:  You don't deteriorate the way Lisa McPherson did in a day or
two?
   ME:  No.  Absolutely not.
   Matt:  On the evening of December 5, Lisa was finally driven to a
hospital by Scientology staffers in a church van (pic of van w/ "Flag"
in gold letters on it). Even though an emergency room was a quarter of
a mile from the hotel, they chose to drive 25 miles on a busy highway,
(pic of highway) passing at least 4 other Emergency rooms, (pic of
white H on blue hospital street sign) to get to the Columbia Newport
Richy hospital, where there was a doctor on staff who was also a
Scientologist.
   And had they called him, do you know?
   Abelson:  Yes
   Matt:  And did they describe symptoms to him?
   Abelson: In a very general way.
   Matt:  And this doctor recommended that she come to that hospital?
   Abelson:  Yes.  He said get her here immediately.
   Matt:  According to hospital records, the scientologist who drove
Lisa said she stopped breathing just as they approached the hospital.
   Doesn't common sense dictate to you that they would have called an
ambulance?
   Abelson:  I think... I can't apply my common sense to the situation
because I wasn't there
   Matt:  There were adults, were't they?
   Abelson:  Certainly they were adults
   Matt:  Educated people?
   Abelson:  And certainly the fastest way to get her to the doctor
was
   Matt:  <interrupting> Call an ambulance
   Abelson:  to put her in a van and drive her.
   Matt:  You have a woman who's dehydrated, she's got severe
diarrhea, she's had excessive weight loss, and she's going in and out
of consciousness. What were you thinking?
   Abelsson:  You're making more about this going in and out of
consciousness.  She's tired.
  Matt:  Abelson says on the day Lisa died she participated in the
discussion about going to the hospital 25 miles away.  They she'd even
walked, with help, part way to the van.
   ME:  I've spent some time in court, as you can imagine, and so I am
very careful with my wording.  And my wording would be this:  from the
time that Lisa McPherson died, backwards 24-48 hours, she was
unconscious.
   Matt:  Comatose, Unconscious?
   ME:  Yes
   Matt:  She didn't sit around that day and decide whether or not she
was gonna to go to the doctor.
   ME:  Absolutely not.
   Matt:  After she was pronounced dead, Dr. David Mikoff, The
emergency room physician who's also a member of the church, drew blood
from Lisa and had it tested. The test results show a staph infection,
which Church officials say could explain Lisa's rapid deteriorations
and her death.
   ME:  Lisa did not die of an overwhelming staff infection.
   Matt:  Did a staph infecting contribute or cause the blood clot?
   ME:  No.  No.
   Matt:  Dr. Wood says she can't explain the cuts and bruises on
Lisa's body, they may have been from falls before she was comatose.
Abelson maintains the Staph infection could have caused the bruises.
The autopsy also refers to insect bites on Lisa's body.
   Abelson:  I can't explain the insect bites, other than there were a
lot of people probably coming in and out of the room, and there's a
lot of mosquitos in Florida.  So that's how that happened.
  ME:  No, they are not mosquito bites.  They appear to me to be
cockroach bites.
  Matt:  How could Lisa McPherson sit there and let cockroaches bite
her while she's laying on a bed?
  ME:  If she's comatose, it can happen and she doesn't know it and
doesn't react to it.

  Kelley Davis (friend):  I would like for them get to the bottom of
it, and find out exactly what happened to Lisa.

  Deborah Norville (back in the studio):  Officials at Scientology say
the ongoing investigation is the product of long standing hostility
toward the church in Clearwater, and that they'll be able to prove
that there is an organized conspiracy against the church.

Ex Mudder / http://www.best.com/~dkeith
The SP cognition:  "Scientology is a criminal, multi-national,
racketeering organization."