We were busy traveling yesterday and didn’t notice what a portentous date it was.
On July 19 three years ago, Stacy Dawn Murphy, 20, died of a drug overdose while she was a patient at Scientology’s flagship drug rehab facility, Narconon Arrowhead in eastern Oklahoma. She was the third patient to die at Narconon Arrowhead in only nine months, and those deaths sparked numerous county and state investigations, as well as a number of lawsuits.
Three years later, Narconon Arrowhead is barely hanging on — not because of the investigations, which seemed to go nowhere, but because the ensuing press attention has kept people from sending their loved ones to the facility.
But despite all that — despite the deaths, the investigations, and the press reports, as well as two lawsuits alleging that the state torpedoed an investigation that would have shut down the facility because Oklahoma’s mental health bureaucrats literally feared taking on the Church of Scientology — despite all that, Scientology will continue to be able to operate its diminished drug rehab flagship.
Why? Because on June 26, less than a month before the anniversary of Stacy Murphy’s death, the state of Oklahoma approved a new two-year certification for Arrowhead to operate.
That’s some gift for the family of Stacy Murphy.
Here, look for yourself…
As you can see, the certification was backdated to January, and it will run out in January 2017. We had noticed that the certification appeared to be held up because of the recent investigations, but ultimately, the same state department being sued for inaction rubber-stamped its approval.
Scientology is still in business, if barely. As we reported earlier, documents smuggled out of the facility to us revealed that the place was operating on fumes, with only about 42 patients on average in a center that was built to house 230. More than a year after that report, our sources tell us things are even more dire.
But at least Scientology won’t be getting any more trouble from the state. Scientology leader David Miscavige, meanwhile, has dealt with Narconon’s nationwide problems of patient deaths and lawsuits by planning for new “ideal” Narconon facilities that will be showpieces, in places like California and Maryland, and Canada, Australia, Europe, and South America.
Those plans, however, have been running into roadblocks as stubborn local residents have pushed against Scientology’s requests for zoning variances, and plans for new Narconons have been rejected in Australia, Canada, and Maryland.
But such victories mean less to the families who have lost loved ones in Narconon’s existing facilities.
“My heart hurts like it was yesterday,” Stacy’s stepmother Susan Murphy posted to her Facebook account yesterday. “My husband’s heart was ripped out. Please, my dear friends, pray for closure.”
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Miss Lovely on tour
Johnny Tank takes Miss Lovely to the royal palace in Oslo…
Richard’s cats relax with Miss Lovely in Italy…
Another tipster sent us this shot at the Ohio Expo Center in Columbus…
Speaking of Miss Lovely, we’re speaking about our new book tonight at Times Ten Cellars (Too) in Dallas at 6324 Prospect Avenue at 7 pm. We drove by the facility yesterday, and wow, it’s super sweet. We hope you can come out and join us with Dallas Morning News managing editor Robert Wilonsky for a fun evening. There’s no charge, and appetizers will be served. You just pay for the wine you drink!
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Bonus photos from our tipsters
HEY, GIRL. YOU WANT BOOK?
Seen in Dublin…
Jesse Wilson is body-thetan free! (At least until OT 6.)
Wait until the kids back in Moscow see Flag in a Go Pro!
Early indoctrination…
Someone is fed up…
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BOOK NOTES
We didn’t get a chance to include photos in our book, so we’ve posted them at a dedicated page. Reader Sookie put together a complete index and we’re hosting it here on the website. Copies of the paperback version of ‘The Unbreakable Miss Lovely’ are on sale at Amazon. The Kindle edition is also available, and shipping instantly.
Our upcoming appearances (and check out the interactive map to our ongoing tour)…
July 20: Dallas, Times Ten Cellars, 7 pm (with Robert Wilonsky)
July 22: Houston, Fox and Hound, 11470 Westheimer Road, 7 pm, sponsored by Humanists of Houston
July 24: San Antonio, Folc Restaurant/Park Social, 6 pm
July 25: Austin, Cafe Express, 3 pm, Center for Inquiry
July 29: Paris, Le Bistrot Landais, 19:00 (with Jonny Jacobsen)
August 4: London, Conway Hall, (with John Sweeney)
August 24: Boston, Boston Skeptics in the Pub, 7 pm (with Gregg Housh)
Sept 15: Arizona State University
Sept 23: Cleveland
Sept 24: Minneapolis
Sept 27: Portland
Sept 28: Seattle
Sept 29: Vancouver, BC
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Posted by Tony Ortega on July 20, 2015 at 07:00
E-mail your tips and story ideas to tonyo94@gmail.com or follow us on Twitter. We post behind-the-scenes updates at our Facebook author page. Here at the Bunker we try to have a post up every morning at 7 AM Eastern (Noon GMT), and on some days we post an afternoon story at around 2 PM. After every new story we send out an alert to our e-mail list and our FB page.
Learn about Scientology with our numerous series with experts…
BLOGGING DIANETICS: We read Scientology’s founding text cover to cover with the help of LA attorney and former church member Vance Woodward
UP THE BRIDGE: Claire Headley and Bruce Hines train us as Scientologists
GETTING OUR ETHICS IN: Jefferson Hawkins explains Scientology’s system of justice
SCIENTOLOGY MYTHBUSTING: Historian Jon Atack discusses key Scientology concepts
PZ Myers reads L. Ron Hubbard’s “A History of Man” | Scientology’s Master Spies | Scientology’s Private Dancer
The mystery of the richest Scientologist and his wayward sons | Scientology’s shocking mistreatment of the mentally ill
The Underground Bunker’s Official Theme Song | The Underground Bunker FAQ
Our Guide to Alex Gibney’s film ‘Going Clear,’ and our pages about its principal figures…
Jason Beghe | Tom DeVocht | Sara Goldberg | Paul Haggis | Mark “Marty” Rathbun | Mike Rinder | Spanky Taylor | Hana Whitfield
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