Bare-Faced Messiah (PDF) - Apologetics Index

precious stones and gold. Michael Douglas had been appointed the Commodore's 'finance officer'
and was managing an enormous portfolio of stocks running into millions of dollars. There were
bags of gold coins and diamonds stuffed in two safes at the Hemet apartments and more jewels
were lodged in the vaults of a local bank.
Through the summer months of 1979, Hubbard followed closely the progress of the battery of
lawyers which was fighting to prevent Mary Sue and her co-defendants from being brought to trial.
In the intimacy of the Hemet hideaway, he made no secret of his intention to sever all his
connections with his wife. He frequently asserted that he had never known anything about what
Mary Sue was doing and whined about the fact that she was getting him into trouble. Everyone
knew it was a lie.
David Mayo was sent to see Mary Sue at her house off Mulholland Drive in Los Angeles, to suggest
that she might consider a divorce. 'She was really offended and very upset,' said Mayo. 'I thought
she was going to blow my head off. I went back several times later to make sure that she wasn't
going to rat on him. That's what he was really worried about, that she would reveal duringthe case
that she was only relaying his orders. She had covered up for him so much, and there had been so
many opportunities for her to betray him, that she couldn't believe he would think that. She kept
saying to me, "What is he worried about?" I thought to myself, "My God, I can't tell her."'
Hubbard, still not convinced that he could trust his wife, decided to risk meeting her himself at
Gilman Hot Springs. At summer headquarters, no one was supposed to know that the
Commodore was visiting, although it was not hard to guess since a working party was assigned to
spend two days scrubbing 'Bonnie View' and polishing all surfaces by hand. Mary Sue was told to
go to a hotel in Riverside and wait to be picked up by Kima Douglas, who drove her on a
roundabout route to Gilman, checking all the time that they were not being followed. Hubbard
arrived on the bed in the back of the Dodge Ram, which drove through the gates of the resort at
high speed. Waiting guards immediately put a chain across the entrance. No messengers were
present during the meeting, so no one knew what was discussed and no one saw either the
Commodore or his wife leave the property.
Mary Sue never betrayed her husband, but then she had never intended to. The trial was scheduled
for 24 September in Washington, but the government prosecutors and defence attorneys were still
bargaining at that date and a stay was granted. On 8 October, in an unusual legal manoeuvre, an
agreement was reached that the nine defendants would plead guilty to one count each if the
government presented a written statement of its case, thereby avoiding a lengthy trial.
On 26 October, US District Judge Charles R. Richey accordingly found the nine Scientologists guilty
on one count each of the indictment. Mary Sue and two others were fined the maximum of $10,000
and jailed for five years. The remaining defendants received similar fines and prison sentences of
between one and four years. Sentencing Mary Sue, the judge told her: 'We have a precious system
of government in the United States . . . For anyone to use those laws, or to seek under the guise of
those laws, to destroy the very foundation of the government is totally wrong and cannot be
condoned by any responsible citizen.' All the defendants indicated an intention to appeal on the
grounds that the evidence against them had been obtained illegally.
Scientology lawyers were still hoping to prevent the damning documents seized in the FBI raids,
currently under seal, from being released. But on 23 November, the day after Thanksgiving, the
appellate court ordered the seal to be lifted and began releasing the documents, much to the
delight of newspapers and television stations throughout the United States. At last they were able
to report the astonishing details of Operation Snow White and give the public a peek into the