Transcript: Inside Edition

  I'm Madeline McFadden, in for Deborah Norville
(I had some trouble with my VCR, got it started just in time, but
didn't catch the teaser)
   Let me know if any of you want to claim notoriety for being in this
show.

MMc:  Back in January, we told you about the mysterious death of a
young woman named Lisa Mcpherson.  Lisa spent the last 17 days of her
life at the headquarters of Scientology in Clearwater, Florida.  In
that broadcast, our Matt Mehar reported on some serious questions
raised about her death, questions he has continued to investigate.  He
now has some critical new information about Lisa's death..

<shot of Vigil in Clearwater Florida>
<garble - background noise>

Matt:  A handful of people have gathered for a candlelight procession
in honor of Lisa Mcpherson.  She died 15 months ago.  For almost a
year, the cause of her death was a mystery to her family.  But in
December, authorities said she died from a blood clot caused by bed
rest and severe dehydration.  It occurred while Lisa was in the care
of fellow scientologists, at the Church's spiritual headquarters in
Clearwater, Florida.

<1 man w/ candle, surrounded by Scientologists.  Fem clam is between
him and the camera, male calm is over his shoulder)
Picketer:  I'm lighting a candle for Lisa's death
Female Clam:  for Scientology!  Yes!  YES!
Picketer:  For Lisa's death
Male Clam:  Do you know this girl?

  Lisa Mcpherson had been a devout member of the church of
Scientology, forsaking friends and family back in Dallas, she lived
and worked in Clearwater.  She even donated more than 50 thousand
dollars to the church in 1994.
   The people carrying candles didn't know Lisa, they're critics of
Scientology.  They claim the cause of her death is being covered up by
the church.

Female Clam:  Did you know Lisa?
Woman:  I know, I know Lisa now

  Hundreds of angry Scientologists didn't appreciate this vigil.

Male Clam:  We know you didn't care about this girl.  Who do you think
you are kidding about that?  Tell the truth. You got something against
the church.  Say it.

Didn't appreciate it to the point that they were blowing out the
candles and harassing the demonstrators:
<pic of Clam poofing someone's candle, freeze of trail of smoke>

Female Clam:  There must be a lot of people out there who don't like
Scientology, 'cuz 10 of them showed up.

Female Clam  You are making a scam of Lisa's death right now with what
you're doing.
<garble>

  Lisa's death has become a symbol.  Scientologists say they're being
persecuted by police and the media.  But critics, and a lawyer who
filed suit on behalf of her family, say the church is responsible for
Lisa's death.

Dandar:  The church of Scientology killed Lisa Mcpherson.  We allege
that is was willful, wanton, malicious, and the result of culpable
negligence.

Lisa's plight began in the fall of 1995.  Before Thanksgiving of that
year, she told a friends and family members in dallas that she was
coming to stay.
Lisa's friend, Kelley Davis:

KD:  She said she was coming to stay, she said she had to talk to me
about a lot of things, and that she didn't want to discuss it over the
phone.

But on November 18, Lisa had some type of mental breakdown after a
minor car accident.  She took off all her clothes and told paramedics
that "she needed help, that she needed to talk to someone."

Dandar:  We don't know what happened before the car accident.  We
don't know that yet.  But we will find out.

Matt:  The paramedics took Lisa to a hospital emergency room, where
within minutes, scientologists from the church's Fort Harrison hotel
arrived and tried unsuccessfully to convince doctors not to give her a
psychiatric exam.  Hospital records indicate that Lisa had a fixed
stare, was teary eyed, and was talking in a monotone

Dandar:  The doctors want to keep her for observation, but the church
of Scientology members show up and convince her to leave and go back
to the headquarters in Clearwater.

Matt:  Why did Lisa go there rather than home to her apartment?

Abelson:  She wanted to be around people from the church.  She wanted
peace and quiet. and knew she'd get that at the Ft. Harrison.

Matt:  Elliott Abelson is the General Council for the Church of
Scientology.  We did this interview with him in December for our first
report.

Abelson:   She rested, she slept a lot, uhh....  nothing unusual,
really, until the end of her stay.  She did (pause) get food, water,
obviously people talked to her.  But she got rest and relaxation.

Matt:  But 17 days later, Lisa was taken from the Fort Harrison to
another hospital.  She had lost a tremendous amount a weight, had
bruises on her face, legs, hands, and arms, and according to the
Medical examiner, had been bitten by cockroaches.  This time, she was
dead on arrival

Joan Wood:  Her death is not a natural death.

Matt:  Is her death being investigated by your office as a suspicious
death?

Joan:  Yes

Matt:  We interviewed Dr. Joan Wood, the Medical Examiner for Pinnelas
and Pasco countries, in January.  She has since been told by
prosecutors not to discuss the case.

Wood:  This is the most severe case of dehydration I have ever seen.

Matt:  Dr. Wood said tests performed during the autopsy indicate Lisa
Mcpherson went at least 5 days without liquid.
   5 days you think she went without liquid?

Joan:  I think 5-10 is reasonable, it may have been 17.

Matt:  Wood speculated at the time that Lisa had either refused to eat
and drink, or had been denied food and water

Abelson:  They have absolutely no basis to say that she didn't die of
natural causes.

Matt:  How do you know that?

Abelson:  Because I've read the autopsy report!

Matt:  Abelson told us the Medical Examiner and police are conspiring
against the Church, and ignoring a staph infection in Lisa's body that
he says could have contributed to her death.

Abelson:  It may not have been the cause of death, but it certainly
would have exasperated what, what was happening to her.

Wood:  She did not die of an overwhelming Staph infection

Matt:  A test for the Staph infection was ordered after Lisa died by
this man, Dr. David Mikoff.  He works in the Emergency Room at the
Columbia Newport Richly hospital, and is a member of the Church of
Scientology.  On the last day of her life, the Church says Lisa
indicated she would only be comfortable seeing a doctor who was a
Scientologist and a nice man.  So even though there was an emergency
room 2 minutes away from the Ft. Harrison, she was driven 25 miles on
a busy highway, passing at least 4 emergency rooms, to get to Dr.
Mikoff.
  And had they called him do you know?

Abelson:  Yes

Matt:  And had they described symptoms to him?

Abelson:  In a very general way.

Matt:  And this doctor recommended that she come to that hospital?

Abelson:  Yes.  He said "get her here immediately."

Matt:  According to Hospital records, the scientologists who drove
Lisa said she stopped breathing just as they approached the hospital.
   Doesn't common sense dictate to you that they would have called an
ambulance?

   Abelson:  I can't apply my common sense to the situation
because I wasn't there

   Matt:  There were adults, were't they?

   Abelson:  Certainly they were adults

   Matt:  Educated people?

   Abelson:  And certainly the fastest way to get her to the doctor
was

   Matt:  <interrupting> Call an ambulance

   Abelson:  to put her in a van and drive her.

   Matt:  You have a woman who's dehydrated, she's got severe
diarrhea, she's had excessive weight loss, and she's going in and out
of consciousness.

   Abelson:  She's sleepy. You know, you're making more about this
going in and out of consciousness.  She's tired.

Matt:  The Family's lawsuit accuses the church of isolating Lisa
against her will, and subjecting to her a church procedure called an
introspection rundown.  The lawsuit alleges she was confined during
the procedure, and she went into a coma and severely dehydrated, even
though it was obvious she needed urgent medical attention.
  There was no construction to isolate Lisa, was there?

Abelson:  No, absolutely not, that was Lisa's wish.

Matt:  For our first report we were told that Lisa had requested to be
alone - she just wanted to get some rest.  We were also told there
were no medical professionals in the hotel, and she was only being
checked on by good friends and hotel employees. Well, that does not
appear to be the case.
    Hospital and police reports from the night Lisa died indicate she
was accompanied to the Emergency room by a fellow Scientologist named
Janice Johnson.  Inside Edition has learned that Johnson is actually a
Medical Doctor, who was licensed in Arizona under her married name,
Fitzgerald.
   But listen to what Church attorney Abelson told us in January.  He
said there was no one at the hotel capable of realizing how serious
Lisa's condition was.

Abelson:  If this wasn't a hotel, and these weren't people, and there
was some trained people to look for things like, like what happened,
she would have gone to the hospital, earlier, probably.

Matt:  He went on to say

Abelson:  But you can't put me or you after the event, in the place of
the people who were just hotel employees, really.

Matt:  Dr. Johnson was certainly not just a hotel employee, in fact
she was medical liaison officer at the time of Lisa's death.  We
wanted to ask her some questions, but she didn't want to talk to us.

(Johnson is in a van, in Sea Org Blue, as she is asked questions she
smiles, waves, and backs out of the parking place)

Were you with Lisa Mcpherson when she died?  Can I ask you some
questions about Lisa's death, please?

Maybe she didn't want to talk to us because she's not licensed to
practice in Florida.  Inside Edition had learned she's not even
licensed to practice in her home state of Arizona.  In 1994 the
Arizona State medical board investigated Johnson for allegations of
drug abuse.  Without admitting wrongdoing, Johnson signed an agreement
giving up her right to practice or prescribe medicine in that state.

  Could I just talk to you for a second please?

(Johnson drives off, freeze on pic of her face)

Church attorney Elliott Abelson told us any questions about Dr.
Johnson should be referred to him.  But when we showed up this week in
Los Angeles for an interview he scheduled, Abelson said he would only
read a prepared statement.

Abelson:  The church, probably more than any other entity, wants the
truth to be known, concerning Lisa's last 17 days. (snip?)  Really a
celebration of her other part of her life, the 18 years that she spent
so happily in the Church.

Matt:  When I tried to ask him some question, he got up and left.

Abelson:  Matt, its been fine.  Thank you very much.

Matt:  You invited me out here to do an interview, and all you'll do
in read a statement.  I want to ask you a simple question about
something.

Abelson:  Matt, I'm really, it was nice to see you again.

Matt:  Was Lisa being attended to by medical professionals?  You told
me the last time we talked that is was hotel employees that were
taking care of her.

Abelson:  We had an agreement.  You broke it.

Matt:  Yes, you told me to come out here and we would do an interview.
  Off camera, he and other officials said Dr. Johnson was not
practicing medicine, she was just referring people to other doctors.
When I asked in Dr. Johnson had been tending to Lisa Mcpherson, they
said that's a question better addressed to the authorities.  Back in
Clearwater, they are still looking for answers.

(vigil again)

Male Clam:  She wouldn't want you to be doing this.

Gabe Cazares:  Well, she wouldn't want to be dead, either

MM, back in the studio:  The Church has responded to the family's
lawsuit denying all allegation of wrongdoing.  And the church issued a
statement today, which in part says, quote "The charge that the church
or anyone else was responsible for Lisa Mcpherson's death is false and
outrageous.  It is contrary to the Medical Examiners report of death
due to a pulmonary embolism.  It is contrary to fact.  It is contrary
to the opinion of five experts, including the medical examiners of 3
major cities.
   This is precisely the type of exploitation of a young woman's death
that the church will not tolerate, and it makes the church more
determined that ever to bring the truth out in the open so Lisa
Mcpherson can finally rest in peace."  End quote
We will continue to update you on this story.