It seems strange referring to him as my grandfather as we never met, but I am seeking information on behalf of my mother and my aunt. My grandfather, William David Westman, supposedly committed suicide in 1977 (possibly 1978) a couple of years after joining Scientology, and I was recently told that they have both always been suspicious that his death was faked. I will get into the long and strange tale surrounding his suicide and time in Scientology below, but does anyone believe it's likely for this organization to have helped or encouraged someone to fake their own death in order to cut ties with their families?
My grandfather was introduced to Scientology possibly sometime in 1975 in Denver, Colorado by next door neighbors that my mom and aunt refer to as "the naked couple" as they walked around their apartment and welcomed in visitors fully nude whether adult or child. My grandfather then joined a Scientologist Church in Denver taking his family with him. My mom and her siblings were then taken out of the public school system and put into a Scientologist run school in someone's basement called the Rocky Mountain Apple School, which my mom recalls ended up being raided by police officers. I think they were probably enrolled in this school sometime in 1975 and 76.
My grandfather then took his family to Los Angeles California in 1976. My grandparents stayed in a Scientologist run hotel, and my mom and her siblings were forced to stay in a separate hotel where many other children were being kept. My mother was around 11 at that time and recalls toddlers running down the hallways unmonitored screaming with poop falling out of their diapers. She says they weren't treated badly, but they weren't well cared for. She remembers many nights she and her siblings snuck down to the kitchens looking for food from hunger. My aunt, bless her, was the oldest, and would sneak out every night to get my mom and their little brother so they could all stay together in the same room, and she could look after them. My grandparents were only allowed to visit them for one hour each night. Well, my grandmother decided she had had enough, and after a few weeks got the children and hightailed it back to Denver without her husband.
Their memories are murky, but they say they remember the Scientologist church in Los Angeles trying to have my grandparents get a quickie divorce in Mexico after she left him, and to cut ties with them. I'm not sure what happened with that, but I know they never got a divorce. My grandmother moved them back to Denver and didn't hear from or see my grandfather for probably about 9 months, then one day in 1977 he just showed up on their doorstep to get his things. He stayed with them for about a month, then sold most of his things that he wasn't planning on keeping, and drove back to Los Angeles. I'm not sure exactly when this next thing happened, but cops showed up to tell them that my grandfather had committed suicide in the desert in Nevada by running a tube from his exhaust pipe into his window. They never saw a body, never had a funeral. He was cremated, and the cops supposedly scattered his ashes in the Nevada desert. My aunt claims that she and my grandmother went to the police department (I believe it was Clark County) in the town where he had supposedly committed suicide about a year later, and the police had no information on it. Them never seeing a body, and the police department having no information has been what has caused most of their suspicions.
Is there anyone from those locations who remembers a man by this name in the late 70s? I will try to post a picture of him later.
A note on my grandfather: I think it's very likely he could have actually committed suicide. He was not a very good father, and from what I can understand never wanted to be tied down with a family. He was an abusive man, and my mother says she has never once received a hug from her father or heard him tell her "I love you." He could never hold down a job for very long, and was a very lost person in life from what I can tell. I think he was probably just a very depressed man who looked for answers in the wrong places.
My grandfather was introduced to Scientology possibly sometime in 1975 in Denver, Colorado by next door neighbors that my mom and aunt refer to as "the naked couple" as they walked around their apartment and welcomed in visitors fully nude whether adult or child. My grandfather then joined a Scientologist Church in Denver taking his family with him. My mom and her siblings were then taken out of the public school system and put into a Scientologist run school in someone's basement called the Rocky Mountain Apple School, which my mom recalls ended up being raided by police officers. I think they were probably enrolled in this school sometime in 1975 and 76.
My grandfather then took his family to Los Angeles California in 1976. My grandparents stayed in a Scientologist run hotel, and my mom and her siblings were forced to stay in a separate hotel where many other children were being kept. My mother was around 11 at that time and recalls toddlers running down the hallways unmonitored screaming with poop falling out of their diapers. She says they weren't treated badly, but they weren't well cared for. She remembers many nights she and her siblings snuck down to the kitchens looking for food from hunger. My aunt, bless her, was the oldest, and would sneak out every night to get my mom and their little brother so they could all stay together in the same room, and she could look after them. My grandparents were only allowed to visit them for one hour each night. Well, my grandmother decided she had had enough, and after a few weeks got the children and hightailed it back to Denver without her husband.
Their memories are murky, but they say they remember the Scientologist church in Los Angeles trying to have my grandparents get a quickie divorce in Mexico after she left him, and to cut ties with them. I'm not sure what happened with that, but I know they never got a divorce. My grandmother moved them back to Denver and didn't hear from or see my grandfather for probably about 9 months, then one day in 1977 he just showed up on their doorstep to get his things. He stayed with them for about a month, then sold most of his things that he wasn't planning on keeping, and drove back to Los Angeles. I'm not sure exactly when this next thing happened, but cops showed up to tell them that my grandfather had committed suicide in the desert in Nevada by running a tube from his exhaust pipe into his window. They never saw a body, never had a funeral. He was cremated, and the cops supposedly scattered his ashes in the Nevada desert. My aunt claims that she and my grandmother went to the police department (I believe it was Clark County) in the town where he had supposedly committed suicide about a year later, and the police had no information on it. Them never seeing a body, and the police department having no information has been what has caused most of their suspicions.
Is there anyone from those locations who remembers a man by this name in the late 70s? I will try to post a picture of him later.
A note on my grandfather: I think it's very likely he could have actually committed suicide. He was not a very good father, and from what I can understand never wanted to be tied down with a family. He was an abusive man, and my mother says she has never once received a hug from her father or heard him tell her "I love you." He could never hold down a job for very long, and was a very lost person in life from what I can tell. I think he was probably just a very depressed man who looked for answers in the wrong places.