To whet your appetite for season 2, A&E airing 2-hour ‘Leah Remini’ special on Memorial Day

 
Leah Remini and Mike Rinder are hard at work preparing season 2 of Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath. But in the meantime, A&E wanted to tide you over, and so the team has put together a 2-hour special that will look back at where Scientology has been and how it’s been exposed in the past.

We weren’t involved in the making of this particular special, but we’ve heard some names of some people who might be appearing in it. We’re hoping to confirm that soon. You can fit quite a bit into a two-hour show! As soon as we hear more about what’s in it, we’ll let you know.

The so far untitled episode is scheduled to air on A&E at 9 pm on Monday, May 29, after a marathon airing of Leah’s first season…

 
And there are other things coming we wish we could tell you about. This should be quite a summer and fall of Scientology exposes, and big news about upcoming projects. The dam has burst, and who doesn’t want to make a documentary about Scientology at this point?

 
UPDATE: We’ve got some confirmation on some of the people who will show up in the 2-hour special on May 29. Are you ready? How’s this great lineup: Australian television journalist Bryan Seymour, California attorney Ford Greene, University of Alberta Professor Stephen Kent, Rolling Stone journalist and Inside Scientology author Janet Reitman, our old pal and journalist Mark Ebner, and one of the stars of our book about Paulette Cooper, former Guardian’s Office volunteer Len Zinberg.

That’s good stuff.

 
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On eve of trial, Stacy Murphy wrongful death lawsuit settles

Oklahoma attorney Gary Richardson has settled another Narconon lawsuit without any of the evidence he gathered in discovery getting out to the public.

Stacy Murphy was a 20-year-old “student” at Scientology’s flagship rehab facility, Narconon Arrowhead, who managed to obtain drugs on a home visit. When she returned to the Narconon facility, she went into an overdose and died on July 19, 2012.

Her death was the third at the facility in only nine months, and it resulted in some intense press coverage at the time. Less than a year later NBC’s Rock Center highlighted the problems at the Narconon center, while lawsuits against other Narconon rehabs proliferated.

Richardson handled the wrongful death lawsuits of all three of the patients who had died at Narconon Arrowhead in that nine-month period — Gabriel Graves, Hillary Holten, and Stacy Murphy. All of them have settled, and in the meantime there has been no disciplinary action of any kind taken against the facility.

Several times when we spoke to Richardson about these cases, he told us that he was getting “fantastic” material in the depositions he was taking. But that evidence, as well as a state investigation that reportedly recommended that the Narconon center be closed down, never saw the light of day while the lawsuits were active.

By contrast, Patrick Desmond’s parents received a settlement from Narconon over the 2008 death of their son, which happened in Narconon Georgia’s unlicensed housing facility. But that settlement came after their attorney, Jeff Harris, had spent several years uncovering incredible documents and testimony exposing Narconon’s deceptions, which ultimately led to the Narconon Georgia facility being raided and shut down by law enforcement. Those documents that Harris made public became the basis for nearly all of the lawsuits against Scientology’s drug rehabs in the years since. Settlements in lawsuits against Scientology itself were also obtained for clients of Texas attorney Ray Jeffrey, but only after those lawsuits produced damning and lasting court testimony (Debbie Cook) and press interviews (Paul Marrick and Greg Arnold). This time, as with Gary Richardson’s other cases, there’s nothing but the original complaints left in the court file that other families will be able to use.

We wish the best for Stacy Murphy’s parents, Robert Murphy and Tonya White, and we hope they got a large amount from Scientology.

 
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Bonus items from our tipsters

Actual caption: “Last week these awesome Registrars were awarded the famous Tampa colored heels for female Regs that hit their personal Highest Evers on Income!!!! VERY well done to Alexandria and Natalie!! Now all Tampa Day female Registrars have their own signature colored heels to wear in style”

 
Actual caption: “As you might well guess…the Pittsburgh City Office is onto its next project. We intend to put an electronic sign right here that will inform approx 40,000 drivers a day about Scientology in Carnegie PA!!! Find out how you can help by picking up your copy of Battlefield Earth today!!”

 
Actual caption from Pittsburgh, part two: “We have a mountain of copies of the LRH SCI-FI BATTLEFIELD EARTH available…Come In And Get Your Copy Today!!!”

 
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Countdown to Denver!

 
HowdyCon 2017: Denver, June 23-25 at the Residence Inn Denver City Center. Go here to start making your plans, and book your room soon!

 
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Posted by Tony Ortega on May 18, 2017 at 07:00

E-mail tips and story ideas to tonyo94 AT gmail DOT com or follow us on Twitter. We post behind-the-scenes updates at our Facebook author page. After every new story we send out an alert to our e-mail list and our FB page.

Our book, The Unbreakable Miss Lovely: How the Church of Scientology tried to destroy Paulette Cooper, is on sale at Amazon in paperback, Kindle, and audiobook versions. We’ve posted photographs of Paulette and scenes from her life at a separate location. Reader Sookie put together a complete index. More information about the book, and our 2015 book tour, can also be found at the book’s dedicated page.

The Best of the Underground Bunker, 1995-2016 Just starting out here? We’ve picked out the most important stories we’ve covered here at the Undergound Bunker (2012-2016), The Village Voice (2008-2012), New Times Los Angeles (1999-2002) and the Phoenix New Times (1995-1999)

Learn about Scientology with our numerous series with experts…

BLOGGING DIANETICS: We read Scientology’s founding text cover to cover with the help of L.A. 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

Other links: Shelly Miscavige, ten years gone | The Lisa McPherson story told in real time | The Cathriona White stories | The Leah Remini ‘Knowledge Reports’ | Hear audio of a Scientology excommunication | Scientology’s little day care of horrors | Whatever happened to Steve Fishman? | Felony charges for Scientology’s drug rehab scam | Why Scientology digs bomb-proof vaults in the desert | 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 | Scientology boasts about assistance from Google | 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