Bare-Faced Messiah (PDF) - Apologetics Index

Avenue, he told Barbara about an occasion when he had demonstrated auditing techniques to a
group of psychiatrists and one of them had said to him, 'If you claim to cure people by doing that, if
you're not careful we'll lock you up.' He laughed excessively, took a bite out of a chicken leg and
spluttered, 'They called me a paranoid, can you imagine it?' That night Barbara wrote in her diary:
'My blood ran cold as he was saying that. It was all I could do to keep from weeping.'
Barbara had been in Palm Springs for nearly three weeks when Ron began fretting that 'something
was brewing' in Los Angeles. He decided that they should return immediately, even though the
book was not yet finished.
'I didn't see him for a week after we got back,' Barbara said, 'then he turned up at my place at about
five o'clock one afternoon, very distraught and pale, with his hair all over the place. He paced up and
down in my room and told me he had discovered Miles and Sara in bed together. He was afraid
that they were plotting with a psychiatrist in San Francisco to get him committed to a mental
institution. Sara had telephoned Jack Maloney, the general manager in Elizabeth, and said a doctor
had recommended he should be treated for paranoid schizophrenia. He said he had found letters
proving that Miles was conspiring with Ceppos and Winter to get control of the Foundation. "Please
don't ask me anything," he said. "I'm in a very bad way. I'm going to the desert for a few days alone.
Things are very bad."'
Hubbard did not go off into the desert alone. He had other plans: he was going to get Sara
committed before she committed him. But first he had to kidnap Alexis.
On the evening of Saturday, 24 February 1951, John Sanborn was babysitting for eleven-month-old
Alexis Hubbard at the Casa on Hoover and Adams in Los Angeles. Several of the staff, Sanborn
included, lived in one wing of the building. Sanborn and Greg Hemingway used to hang around
with Hank and Marge Hunter, who worked in the research department; they'd usually eat together in
a little joint down the road called 'The Bread Line'. Marge, who was a friend of Sara's, had a baby
daughter the same age as Alexis and Sara occasionally left Alexis with Marge when she wanted to
go out.
This particularly Saturday evening, Sanborn was tired and when there was a suggestion that they
should all go to the movies, he offered to stay behind and look after the kids. He had done it lots of
times before, knew all about changing nappies and giving them bottles. Marge was grateful and
went off with the others, happy to have a night out, leaving Sanborn in charge of her daughter, Tam,
and 'Lexie'.
At about eleven o'clock there was an urgent rapping at the door. Sanborn opened it and found Frank
Dessler, one of Hubbard's aides, standing on the doorstep wearing a long topcoat and widebrimmed
felt hat. His hands were thrust into his coat pockets in such a way that Sanborn was
positive he was carrying a gun. 'Mr Hubbard's coming,' Dessler rasped. 'He's here to get Alexis.'
Sanborn thought it was a hell of a time of night to do it, but said nothing.
A few minutes later, Hubbard came in, also wearing a topcoat and felt hat. 'We're just taking Alexis,'
he said. Sanborn led the way to the room where both children were sleeping. Hubbard leaned over
and picked up a toy from Alexis's crib. 'This hers?' he asked. Sanborn shook his head and Hubbard
threw it on the floor. While they were getting the baby's things together, Sanborn started to say,
'Listen, if she wakes up in the night there's a certain routine . . .' but Hubbard cut him short. 'I don't
care about that,' he snapped. 'We've got a nurse for her and we're taking her to Palm Springs.' He
picked Alexis out of her crib, still asleep, and hurried away into the night.