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Private Detective Arrested With Silencer and Arsenal Of Weapons States That He Was Hired To Shadow Father Of Church Leader David Miscavige

488px-scientology_symbolsvgWest Allis, Wis., police had a bit of a surprise when they responded to a call about a mysterious man in the neighborhood near Milwaukee in July 2013 and found Dwayne S. Powell, a private detective, with two laptop computers, binoculars, a GPS tracking device, a stun gun, two rifles, four handguns, 2,000 rounds of ammunition and a homemade silencer in a rented SUV. While first resisting to give his name, Powell reportedly admitted that he was hired to keep continual watch on the father of David Miscavige, the leader of the Church of Scientology, who had separated from the church. Powell further stated that, after seeing what he believed was a possible heart attack, he contacted David Miscavige, who allegedly told him to let his father Ronald Miscavige Sr. die and not intervene or call help. The case has not led to litigation but it could.


200px-Going_ClearThe story is getting even greater attention with the release of Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief — the 2013 non-fiction book about Scientology written by Lawrence Wright detailing abuses and potential crimes by the Church, including its history of harassing and following former members. The Church reportedly prohibits members from reading or seeing such anti-Church information. Indeed, it appears successful with some of its most famous members. Recently, John Travolta told the media that he would not watch the movie because “I haven’t experienced anything that the hearsay has (claimed), so why would I communicate something that wasn’t true for me?” Notably, all of the books by defectors from the church talk about how celebrities are given special sites and treatment like royalty within the church. Thus, it is not too surprising that it was not “true for” Travolta but one would think that he might be interested in what non-celebrities are saying as to their abuse behind the gilded celebrities centers. His choice of words was telling for many who say that they are survivors of the Church: “So, why would I even approach a negative perspective? That would be a crime to me, personally, to do that.”

The Church is considered a criminal organization in some countries and has been accused of criminal conduct by some in this country.

Powell says that he was paid $10,000 a week to trail Ronald Miscavige. Police say that, in this case, private detectives tracked Ronald Miscavige, engaged in eavesdropping, spied on his emails and even planted a GPS unit on his car.

Powell, 43, eventually admitted that he was following the elder Miscavige. The Church (as it has in past such cases) totally denies any connection, “Please be advised that Mr. Miscavige does not know Mr. Powell, has never heard of Mr. Powell, has never met Mr. Powell, has never spoken to Mr. Powell, never hired Mr. Powell and never directed any investigations by Mr. Powell.”

That contradicts not just Powell’s statements but his most shocking story that he and his partner saw what they believed was the elder Miscavige having a heart attack. They called their Church intermediary to say that he was grasping his chest and needed medical help. He said that two minutes later a man who identified himself as David Miscavige called him back and told him that, if it was Ron’s time to die, to let him die and not intervene in any way.”

Powell said he and a second investigator searched the elder Miscavige’s garbage, photographed him wherever he went and tracked him with a GPS device attached to his car and linked to an iPad that read out his location, the documents state. Police found marks on the underside of the car that they concluded were made by the magnetic GPS device.

If the elder Miscavige wanted to sue, he could proceed with a tort actions alleging violation of privacy (inclusion upon seclusion). This could include even some public encounters. The allegations would raise some interesting issues of intrusion upon seclusion and a comparison to Nader v. General Motors Corp., where Ralph Nader was able to show that GM hired detectives to follow him closely. One such instance involved looking over his shoulder at banks to read his bank slips, which was found to be an intrusion upon seclusion even though it was a public place.

There is also trespass on the vehicle with the GPS device. Notably, the Supreme Court recently ruled that police cannot use such devices without a warrant.

Then there is the ever litigious Church of Scientology. The allegation of Powell would certainly constitute defamation, though there are privileges attached to speaking with the police. If these statements are made publicly, Miscavige could bring a defamation lawsuit. The Church has been known to bring an array of frivolous or vexatious actions. This would be a standard defamation case since Miscavige is being accused of personally telling an investigator not to intervene to save his father after the Church allegedly engaged in abusive surveillance. The problem is that “truth is a defense” and Powell could demand a full array of discovery from the highly secretive church.

What is interesting is that the success of the Church in the past in intimidating reporters since to be wading. I have spoken with reporters who have reported being followed and harassed in covering the Church. That has created a chilling effect that appears to be thawing. Even Saturday Night Live appears eager to get into the coverage:

59 thoughts on “Private Detective Arrested With Silencer and Arsenal Of Weapons States That He Was Hired To Shadow Father Of Church Leader David Miscavige”

  1. apieceofblueksy – “Not only do US taxpayers subsidize the cult’s crimes, scientology crimes go unpunished in the name of religious freedom. Disgusting.”

    Yep.

  2. This is one of those cases where the Scientologists would paper you to death if you sued them. However, it would be great press to have the father sue the son.

  3. This PI might actually be a hit man for hire. Just review the tools of trade. Hey Nick S. can you verify this?

  4. Although there is validity to the “all religions are cults” meme, in my humble opinion the so-called “church” of scientology is one of the worst and most dangerous. Hubbard classified scientology as a religion so he could keep all the profits from his money-making scheme, then set it up to brainwash, intimidate, threaten and harass so that members would have great difficulty leaving, speaking out about its numerous egregious abuses, or refusing to give large sums of cash. Being a religion also allows scientology to cry “religious bigot” whenever someone calls the cult out on its criminal behavior.

    As far as this latest revelation goes with Miscavige spying on his own father and wanting those who witnessed his father’s heart attack to let him die, this type of behavior from Miscavige and other scientology higher-ups is par for the course, as is the standard line from the cult: “It never happened, this story is an absolute lie fabricated by bitter apostates blah blah blah.” Most likely, scientology lawyers hired and dealt with the PI in order to keep scientology’s hands clean.

    I would love to see scientology lose in court, but they always seem to skate away Scot free as they are able to claim “religious freedom” for their misdeeds. Hubbard was an evil genius when he set his scam up as a religion. Not only do US taxpayers subsidize the cult’s crimes, scientology crimes go unpunished in the name of religious freedom. Disgusting.

  5. Ross,

    Saw one of your comments yesterday about stalking and harassment by police, but didn’t have time to respond. Know all about it.

  7. Under the post-9/11 “Make it up as you go justice system” – there could be scores of lawsuit possibilities and new precedents:

    1) Using a “Citizens United” angle that this “corporate person” was stalking with the intent to intimidate, illegal wire fraud and witness tampering. Did this corporate person violate state laws?

    2) Under federal “color of law” statutes anyone acting as an authority or form of governance can be viewed as a “government entity” performing illegal searches and violating the father’s First Amendment rights (Title 18 US Code 241-245).

    3) Does this religious institution lose any of it’s First Amendment protections if it also violates the other half of the clause of freedom “from” religion? If church funds were used does that violate IRS rules for tax exemptions?

    Post-9/11, just make it up – the government does!

  8. Some (including the two victims) believe that the Scientology may have played a role:

    January 2008

    The Golden Suicides

    http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2008/01/suicides200801

    “Blake wrote of how he and Duncan had been “harassed here to the point of absurdity” by people who were so “paranoid” that it made him “laugh.” He said that they had been “defamed by crazy Scientologists,” threatened and followed by “their thugs.” (The Church of Scientology has denied any knowledge of the couple.) He wrote of how New York was starting to seem like the place for them to be, a place where they could speak “freely” to “exceptional people” and get their projects started.”

  9. Correction:

    “If the elder Miscavige wanted to sue, he could proceed with a tort actions alleging violation of privacy (inclusion upon seclusion).”

    …should be “intrusion” upon seclusion

  10. One fun fact from the Scientology documentary was that their numbers have fallen to “fewer than 50,000 members”.
    However, actual membership data are hard to come by.

    “Corporate Scientology shouts from the rooftops that there are 10 million members worldwide (though this number has been being used since 2006…)

    The Scientology spokespeople waffle about how they arrive at this figure – but it is actually no mystery. Many years ago the figure was pegged at 4 million which was derived from a guess of how many names had EVER been in any org central files and then adding to it a theoretical number of how many people on average read a hard back book. But then in the 90’s David Miscavage told Heber he was an idiot because he kept using the same figure which meant the church was not expanding. So it became 6 million. Then it became 8 million. Then 10. Each time David Miscavige just pronounced that this was now the new figure.

    In truth, it is easy to know how many active church members there are. The IAS has an EXACT list. It’s about 30,000, but anyone who has ever been on their mailing list knows that it is virtually impossible to get off it, so even that is no longer accurate. But the church will never make that number available.

    There is another accurate measure, which is the number of people that attend the David Miscavige mandatory attendance events. Jeff Hawkins, Steve Hall and others who have seen the figures also know this is less than 30,000. And this is with all Scientology orgs and missions reporting within an HOUR of starting their event so the report can go to DM before the end of the night on attendance. That figure has been below 30,000 since the 90’s.”

    Nevertheless, it retains about $3 billion in assets, so remains “a fearsome beast to contend with.”

  13. “There will be a time when we might need a new religion or simply learn to think for ourselves. Come the revolution…..”

    God is dead.: Nietzsche and Hitchens
    Nietzsche and Hitchens are dead.: God

    “I see all three religions canceling themselves out eventually.”

    You should hope not.
    The atheist communist regimes killed approximately 100 million people in the 20th century.

    …” it might be difficult for them to differentiate between Scientology, Christianity, and Islam”

    I highly doubt that interstellar travel will possible for IQs below 100.
    I suppose however they could be this dumb, and might also confuse light and dark, red and green, baseball and basketball, and still grasp wormholes.
    It would appear then, given the lack of ability for discernment, that future astronauts are all pot-smoking Portland liberals.

  14. Step back a bit and look at the situation. Scientology is a religion like any other religion. It has its fantastic stories to take a human or two or more beyond this world to another. Christ was killed, resurrected, rose up through the atmosphere to the ‘heavens’. Mohammed rode his pony up through the atmosphere to the ‘heavens’. Scientology gets a little more specific with its aliens and spirits and whatnot. Essentially there is no difference. Each religion is an attempt to convince people to live by standards that will keep them: cohabiting peacefully, living under the dictums of rules and regulations to insure that they live together peacefully, and funding the organization. Hey money doesn’t grow on trees, or at least not in this world.

    Scientology does good stuff and is somewhat overbearing in some cases. I’d take it before Islam any day. If it had the architecture and art, bling, and music, it could give Christianity a run for its money. The stories are more up to date.

    If someone or thing from another planet was observing the earth and its peoples it might be difficult for them to differentiate between Scientology, Christianity, and Islam. Personally, I see all three religions canceling themselves out eventually.

    There will be a time when we might need a new religion or simply learn to think for ourselves. Come the revolution…..

  15. “What is interesting is that the success of the Church in the past in intimidating reporters since to be wading.”

    Proofread much?

    Sent from my iPad

  18. How is this group any deficient from ISIS except that they haven’t killed anyone that we know of. If the report is correct, Mr. Travolta seems to have relinquished his mind along with his name to this church. Cults are dangerous things. Members tend to beleive things that are hazardous to others.

  19. … a private detective with two laptop computers, binoculars, a GPS tracking device, a stun gun, two rifles, four handguns, 2,000 rounds of ammunition and a homemade silencer in a rented SUV.

    Obviously well prepared to do God’s work.

  20. Invasion of privacy (intrusion upon seclusion), a tort action, yes indeed. He should sue, but then again he may be given a “heart attack” for real by these wack jobs cultists. So is it legal for PI’s to hack the emails of those they are spying on? I guess going through their garbage isn’t thourough enough.

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