Boyne, Gil & Hilder, Anthony
Originally a stage hypnotist, Boyne developed his own methods of hypnotherapy and in 1956, started The Hypnotic Training Institute of Los Angeles. This was the same year his protégé William Bryan also opened up shop under the name American Institute of Hypnosis. Brinkmanship?
In other parallels, both functioned as technical advisers on movies involving hypnosis. In Boyne's case, it was for a 1960 B-Grader called "The Hypnotic Eye". The posters for the movie screamed “BEWARE HIS HYPNOTIC POWER that turns human flesh into helpless robots! NEW AUDIENCE-PARTICIPATION THRILL - HYPNOMAGIC - It makes YOU part of the show!” Say again? And while Bryan would go on to author a book about jury selection, Boyne had already been a writer and technical director on the TV drama series, "The Eleventh Hour". The basis of this show was how a psychiatrist evaluated the mental state of criminals for the Department of Corrections.
Boyne was interviewed for the Christian - Turner book, "The Assassination of RFK". At first, playing up the extreme difficulty of hypno-programming anybody, he later suggested an actor/record producer/radio host/documentary filmmaker, and anti-New World Order conspiracy theorist, Anthony Hilder may have been capable of doing it. Hilder’s work in music production was in the surf/stomp genre and he part-owned the studio where the Beach Boys cut their first recording. Without doubt, he would have moved in the same circles.
Hilder had participated in his classes, along with a girlfriend, before dropping out and returning in December 1967 offering a gun and ammunition as payment for further tuition. During this time, Hilder hinted that a coming event would touch off race riots. Was this inside knowledge, or was it just part of the underground scuttlebutt in the City of Angels? And was it in regard to the Tate-LaBianca murders or the RFK assassination, or neither? The timing of the lessons is intriguing, as is Hilder’s determination to barter for the lessons rather than pay by cash, check, or credit card. It is hard to imagine Hilder, with so many strings to his bow, not having money.
“Kill The White Man" was a video series put together by Hilder ostensibly to expose racism in Black leadership. It featured his debates with Khalid Abdul Mohammed, a leader in the New Black Panther Party. Mohammed had played his part beautifully leading up to the debates with a series of speeches extolling violence against, and hatred toward Jews, gay people, and White South Africans. Just the type of speeches that can be exploited to further stir emotions while playing the victim.
Clearly Hilder wanted to usher in a race war as many before and since have tried to do, using all manner of mass psychology tricks to divide, with the eventual aim of ruling. In these videos, he predicted that there would be a currency crash and race riots and revolution by 2000.
Associations: Dr. William Joseph Bryan, The Hypnotic Training Institute of Los Angeles (both), Beach Boys, Khalid Abdul Mohammed (Hilder)
Assassinations linked to: RFK, Tate-LaBianca
Assessment: Boyne was possibly not the fraud others in his profession were, including Bryan, and has a low probability of any involvement, though within his network, he may have picked up more than he ever let on. It is not known why Boyn named Hilder as capable of programming Sirhan, but Hilder was certainly wanting a trigger for a race war, and he mixed with a lot of very dubious people of similar mindset.
Bryan, Dr. William Joseph
Bryan was charged in Nevada with furnishing liquor to a minor - an 18-year-old girl. It was further alleged that he was discussing the concept of "free love" with her at the time. He was extradited from California in 1961 to face the charges filed by DA William Raggio. Raggio would later become embroiled in the Sinatra, Jr kidnapping on both a personal and professional level (he was a friend of Ol' Blue Eyes). Later still, Raggio would have a major dispute with Jim Garrison over the latter's investigation into the JFK assassination.
Bryan claimed the charge was politically motivated (at the time of the incident, he was running for local office in Sparks). Convicted and fined $1,000, Bryan later surrendered his license to practice medicine in that state.
During a 1973 Dallas murder trial in which Bryan had been called as an expert witness for the defense, he was forced to admit under cross-examination, that he was currently serving five years on probation with the California Board of Medical Examiners after being found guilty of sexual misconduct with four female patients. One of the conditions of his probation was that "whenever respondent shall perform any treatment upon a female patient involving hypnosis or other therapy, he shall have an adult female present as an observer, or such hypnosis or therapy shall be otherwise visually monitored by such adult female." Some claims, both about and by Bryan, have proven impossible to verify (especially the uncited claims found in uber-conspiracy books) including that he was a fundamentalist preacher and another, that he was a Bishop of the Old Catholic Church. One however, made by Bryan himself, can be ticked as true: he was indeed the grandson of multiple presidential candidate and anti-Darwinian crusader, William Jennings Bryan. His father, WJB's only son, William, Jr, made a name for himself as U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona and serving as Regent of the University of Arizona. In 1921 he moved to Los Angeles and practiced law at the office of Isadore B. Dockweiler. WJB, Jr then served as federal commissioner for the San Francisco Exposition of 1939. This was the year following his appointment by President Roosevelt as Collector of Customs for the port of Los Angeles.
Another claim by Bryan which may be true is that he was a technical consultant for the movie, The Manchurian Candidate. Whilst it has not been verified, it has at least been verified that he had similar roles in the cult classics, Tales of Terror and Dementia 13. One more unverified claim in conspiracy books is that he was a drummer for a short period in the Tommy Dorsey Band. However I suspect that Bryan is being mixed up with singer Bryan Anthony who had a short stint with the band.
Bryan also claimed he had been the one-time Air Force Chief of Medical Survival Training. This has been extrapolated by various conspiracists into his having worked in "the covert brainwashing unit of the Air Force". For the record, here is what it actually refers to: “medical survival training, including specialized training for one’s specialty as a Special Operations Command Medical Officer (Health Administrator, Physician Assistant, or any Specialist under AFSC 48X) to ensure success during an operation while in the field with limited supplies.” At a stretch, and it is a big one, this may include mind control techniques…though his self-described expertise in "brainwashing" is hardly supported by his known futile attempts to use such techniques on females for his own personal pleasure.
Bryan was the hypnotist who helped Albert Desalvo remember how he committed the murders associated with the Boston Strangler. There are reasonable grounds to believe that Bryan fed Desalvo information toward supporting the confession via leading questions. Of some interest is that Sirhan had written in his notebook “God help me... please help me. Salvo Salvo Salvo Di Di Salvo Die S Salvo.” Some use that as evidence of Sirhan having been hypnotized by Bryan. Which would make the whole plot Amateur Hour, if true. What plotters, who would obviously know about the automatic writing already implicating Sirhan, would allow that entry to remain in the book when it leads straight back to the hypnotist they used? It is more likely that Sirhan read about the hypnosis used on Desalvo and subconsciously understood that he himself was getting in too deep.
In 1974, David Rendin, Science Editor for the National Education Association, did a four-part series exposing the American Institute of Hypnosis run by Bryan. The AIH had been operating since 1956 teaching hypnosis and acupuncture. Rendin exposed it by simply forking over the dollars for a four-day course on Medical, Dental and Surgical Acupuncture. At the end of the course, he not only received a certificate for acupuncture, but also a certificate stating he had "satisfactorily completed prescribed courses of study, and having presented proper credentials, and having demonstrated thorough knowledge and proficiency in the use of hypnosis" and was "hereby elected to membership in the professional association division of the American Institute of Hypnosis." Trouble was, not once during the course, did he or any other participant, receive any training whatsoever in hypnosis or its use. Then again, nor did any of them actually administer acupuncture needles to themselves or others with or without guidance. In short, the AIH was a diploma mill. And to add a touch of audacity, it also offered courses in the "Successful Treatment of Sexual Disorders". This was run by the sexual predator himself, Dr Bryan. Brochures for this course advise participants to "wear comfortable clothing", that many "new and unusual teaching methods" will be employed including "three laboratory sessions, a special demonstration session of artificial aids, a film on frigidity and a three-and-a-half-hour workshop." The best part? He referred to himself in these brochures as "Big Daddy"!
At this point, a brief word on his Wikipedia entry is necessary. I am not among those who dismiss Wikipedia out of hand. Such dismissal shows a basic misunderstanding of how any encyclopedia is compiled and what types of records can be used as citations. As with any source of information, you need to check the citations used for any particular entry before accepting or dismissing it.
That said, the Wikipedia entry for Bryan is abysmal, noting the Christian/Turner hypothesis that Sirhan had been hypnotized by Bryan to fire blanks at RFK, while making only cursory mention of some of the misconduct charges he had faced and no mention at all of the very real question mark over the legitimacy of his Institute. In fact, it uses a single source to make him appear to be an important figure in the development of hypnosis in therapy.
Associations: Gil Boyne; F. Lee Bailey; Melvin Belli, Albert Desalvo, (possibly) Frank Sinatra; American Institute of Hypnosis.
Assassinations linked to: RFK & MLK
Assessment: Bryan was a self-promoting scam-artist and sex fiend. His claim of having been involved in CIA programs like MKULTRA are not only not supported by any documentation as far as it can be ascertained, but come to us only via prostitutes he had bragged to. Having checked the claim in many books and online sites without finding a single citation in support, except on Wikipedia (who cited a book which accepted Bryan’s bragging as Gospel), it would appear that this is the only evidence that exists. As pointed out previously, his use of hypnosis to take advantage of young woman, failed miserably assuming they were programmed to forget. That alone shows he was not up to the job of programming a patsy. The suspension of disbelief when it comes to Bryan is not a “one off” in conspiracy literature. The sad fact is, any claim by anyone can get a free pass if it can be assimilated into the theory being pushed.
Castorr, Colonel L Robert
Friend of Gen. Walker who helped stir the passions of the Dallas Cuban exile community in the lead up to the assassination of JFK. Castorr was a Knight of Malta and recognized by the Order of St Stanislas for his long struggle to help free Poland from Communism.
Father Walter McChann, who had been assisting those same Cubans in resettlement, believed Castorr was some type of intelligence operative.
Castorr and is wife fit the respective descriptions given By Nancy Perrin Rich of a Colonel and his wife who had been involved in a potential arms sale in 1962, with Jack Ruby as buyer for the Cuban effort.
In the 1980s Castorr became involved in a company called Impex - ostensibly an import-export firm - favored cover of the CIA - and indeed, the company and those involved with it, became entangled in the arms-for-hostages negotiations with Iran.
He gains his entry here by virtue of having written the foreword to a book called The Stargate Chronicles: Memoirs of a Psychic Spy by Joseph McMoneagle. The book is about the CIA-DoD efforts at psychic spying via what was termed “remote viewing”. McMoneagle had been one of the psychics used.
Castorr, logically, must have had some level of involvement in this program to have been asked to provide the foreword -- and does talk about the program in glowing terms in his one-page effort, ascribing to McMoneagle the same hero status as others have to the pioneers of space exploration.
Associations: CIA; Army Intelligence, anti-Communist Cubans, STARGATE, Gen Edwin Walker, Jack Ruby, Order of St Stanislas, Knights of Malta, Iran-Contra, Father Machan, Lucille Connell.
Assassinations linked to: JFK.
Assessment: Involvement in intelligence work in Dallas during the latter months of 1963 is one thing - but where it involves Cuban exiles and Gen. Walker, it is starting to get a bit close to the bone – especially on top of arms deal discussions with Jack Ruby the previous year. We also note Lucille Connell’s similar interest in “remote” psychic abilities.
Church, Old Catholic
The “Old Catholic Church” is more or less a generic term for a plethora of anti-Roman Catholic churches. The names of these include: Union of Utrecht of The Old Catholic Churches; Catholic Diocese of the Old Catholics in Germany; Christian Catholic Church of Switzerland; Polish Catholic Church; Old Catholic Mission in France; Old Catholic Church in Italy; Polish Catholic Church in Canada; American Apostolic Catholic Church; Holy Family Old Catholic Church; Catholic Church, Inc; Holy Angels Catholic Community; Holy Angels Ministries; Ecumenical Catholic Communion; Autocephalous Diocese of St. Willibrord; North American Old Catholic Church; St. Mychal Judge Old Catholic Church; St. Jude Old Catholic Church; Dove of Peace Old Catholic Church; Holy Trinity Old Catholic Church; Old Catholic Church of North America; Reformed Catholic Church; Good Shepherd Old Catholic Church; Apostolic Catholic Church; Catholic Church of Americas; Independent Catholic Church; United American Catholic Church; Liberal Catholic Church International; The Liberal Catholic Church, Province of the USA; Celtic Catholic Church; American Orthodox Catholic Church; Apostolic Old Orthodox Catholic Church of North America.
Such churches were sometimes used as cover for intelligence or criminal purposes. Two examples:
1. Thomas Edward Beckham became ordained in the Apostolic Old Orthodox Catholic Church of North America through Jack Martin in order to run a Cuban Mission as a front for exiles. The Old Orthodox Catholic Church of North America was the same church to which David Ferrie and Jack Martin belonged. This church, among other things, was an ordination mill.
2. Tom Dowling, a supposed aid worker, appeared before the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere Affairs in April 1985 to counter claims of Contra massacres by saying it was the Sandinistas doing all the nasty stuff. He was dressed as a priest - thus lending credibility to his testimony. The committee however, later learned that he worked for Ollie North and belonged to the Celtic Catholic Church - not the Catholic Church as they had assumed. "Old Catholic" churches have the same roots as the Russian Orthodox Church aka the White Russian Church.
Associations: CIA, anticommunist émigré groups; ordination mills.
Assassinations linked to: JFK
Assessment: Despite most of them conducting only legitimate church-related work, some are a tool of extra-political forces and a haven for charlatans and conmen. They provide some background interest in relation to use in covert ops,
Church, Process
The roots of this cult trace back to London circa 1963 when Robert DeGrimston and Mary Ann MacLean - two members of Scientology broke away and formed a psychoanalysis group, calling it "Compulsions Analysis" and basing it on a mix of Hubbard and Adlerian theory. They soon attracted a small number of hard-core adherents, and the name "Compulsions Analysis" was changed to The Process.
Over time, religious aspects were added and blended, as were techniques and rituals.
After stints looking for enlightenment in the Bahamas and Mexico, the group hit the US, just in time to catch the Summer of Love, moving in on San Francisco and Los Angeles in 1967. Looking into the Process Church is no easy feat. What you find is more or less a propaganda war with one side claiming they were just naive and innocent youth caught up in the times, while on the other side, they are portrayed as Satan worshiping killers. There has however, also been some careful and astute work done on the cult, and together with some of their own writings, a relatively clear picture emerges.
By 1967 at least, these were not a bunch of hippies. Nor were they innocent and naive - if indeed, they ever had been (and the evidence indicates that was never true of the founders). While the hippies preached love and peace, The Process preached embracing both "Good" and "Evil" without guilt or shame. Shades of gray were not to be tolerated -- and tolerance of any kind was itself hypercritical - a liberal nonsense that had to be eradicated. Jesus was hip. But so was Hitler.
Legend has it that in California, they approached Anton LeVey of the Church of Satan, but overtures of a merger were rejected.
LeVey was interviewed in October 1967 by Joy Miller of Associated Press as part of a story on how the Middle Class was being attracted to witchcraft. LeVey told Miller, "We have a planned hedonist program. We believe in doing others before they do you. We recognize that man is sometimes lower than the animals, and we accept ourselves as we are and live with it. The one great sin is self-deceit. We believe in the power of ritual magic and bask in the real flesh and blood life." LeVey is widely regarded as having had the backing of the CIA.
Meanwhile the inevitable schisms were emerging. One was called the Four Pi Movement, so called because of the four "P"s which formed its Swastika-style emblem representing the four "God Forces" of Jesus, Jehovah, Satan, and Lucifer.
The strongest evidence that this was a death cult was in the form of two young men charged with murder in July 1970 - Stanley Baker and Harry Stroup. Stopped and questioned near Big Sur because their descriptions matched those of two young men spotted leaving the scene of a traffic accident, Baker stunned the officers by suddenly admitting to cannibalism. The two then backed up the claim by retrieving finger bones from their pockets. The victim was killed in Montana and was found headless, limbless, and missing his heart. Baker would later claim he was turned on to cannibalism by a Satanic Cult he was recruited into on a campus in Wyoming, and by drug use. That cult was the Four Pi. But Baker wasn't finished his confessions just yet. He further admitted participating in ritual murder in California, and some references claim his fingerprints were actually found at the scene of one such atrocity, and that there was writing in blood on the walls ala the Tate/LaBianca murders - yet California refused to hold him pending further investigation, and simply shipped him back to Montana.
Found guilty of the murder committed there, he was, incredibly, paroled in the mid '80s. Stroup meanwhile did not even serve that long.
But they were not the only cannibals roaming the streets of California in 1970. At this very time, another self-confessed cannibal, Steven Hurd, was under arrest in California. Hurd's attorney, William Gamble, told reporters that Hurd "worships the devil and believes in human sacrifices". He went on to claim that "though present at the crime scenes [Hurd], had not participated". Hurd was declared insane, whilst his accomplices, Arthur C Hulse and Christopher Gibboney were found guilty.
Devotees of the DeGrimstons were by this time, being encouraged to identify with Satan, Lucifer, or Jehovah, and live vicariously through what their choice represented. According to Ed Sanders, "The Luciferians were of this world, they were fun-loving, they celebrated tranquility, harmony, order, peace and sensuality. The Jehovans were uptight, narrowminded, rectitudinous, anti-sex, zealous and austere. They beat each other as punishment and were into self-flagellation according to a girl who once associated with the group. And Satanists were cold, calculating, cruel, and violent; they were the goons." Founding member Michael Mountain defended The Process in a 2004 interview by claiming they had trouble gaining traction in the '60s due to their philosophy of abstinence from sex and drugs. This was pure spin in that the abstinence spoken of, only applied to those identifying as Jehovan - and to those at the very earliest stages of initiation into the cult. In other words, a majority of initiates would quickly reach a stage where there were few, if any, taboos. Michael Mountain, aka Father Aaron, aka Hugh Mountain - one of the original members, was one of the uptight Jehovans sent to San Francisco to recruit in those early days of the Haight. Then on June 21, 1968, he and two of his fellow Jehovans, Celeste and Chris Fripp aka Father Alban, incorporated The Process Church of the Final Judgement as a non-profit organization in Louisiana. This is a mere 16 days after the assassination of RFK.
On May 21, 1974 (around the time the DeGrimstons divorced, and Robert was booted out of the cult) the name was changed to The Foundation - Church of the Millennium. It stayed under that name until March 1976, when it became The Foundation Faith of the Millennium. In turn, that was changed on February 27, 1977, to The Faith of God. Its current name - Best Friends Animal Sanctuary - came about on August 12, 1993. This could be seen to bring it full circle (albeit on a much, much larger scale) to the days when the DeGrimston's sent the flock out into the streets of London begging money for "animal welfare". A look at the books show that the remnants of The Process are doing just fine into the millennium they predicted would never arrive. Their longstanding reputation as anti-vivisectionists would seem to stand at odds with a group which allegedly sacrificed animals in its heyday. But maybe giving up an animal for Satan was not seen quite the same way as giving it up for science…
Associations: Manson Family
Assassinations linked to: RFK
Assessment: Certainly, the move to Louisiana so soon after the assassination of RFK looks at least mildly suspicious. The Process did have what they referred to as telepathy meditation sessions on a regular basis which may have attracted others of interest in the RFK case. The association with cult murders remains a far higher probability, despite being linked to the RFK case by the likes of Terry Maury and Ed Sanders.
Gerät, Umland
German Palmist living in Bogota who was seen on a number of occasions by alleged assassin Juan Roa Sierra during the 1947-48 period. It was Gerät who introduced Sierra to AMORC, and it was through AMORC that Roa learned self-hypnosis and studied the occult.
Gerät had not been interred or deported during WWII by the Colombians - or the US, who kidnapped German, Italian and Japanese nationals from Latin America and held them in various camps across the US. Those left behind were most often informants for the FBI.
The palmist’s name has the possible translation from German as “tool of the hinterland” and was unlikely to have been his real name. It may have been meant to indicate he was a doorway to the “great beyond” or that he was an asset of the fascist partisans who operated in the hinterland. He was indeed suspected of being in league with fascist elements.
Associations: suspected CIA and/or German Fascist connections; Juan Roa Sierra.
Assassinations linked to: Jorge Eliécer Gaitán (1948).
Assessment: Probable involvement in helping to find, shape and prepare suitable patsy for the Gaitán hit.
Demar, Bill
Stage name of William Crowe. Ventriloquist and mentalist who was appearing at the Carousel during November up to the time Ruby closed the doors following the assassination. Had performed his act in the US and Germany while in the army. His act was advertised as including hypnotism, but this was not mentioned during his Warren Commission testimony.
Demar was with Ruby frequently over those few weeks. He claimed later that he had seen Oswald in the Carousel Club, though this was undoubtedly Larry Crafard.
Associations: Jack Ruby.
Assassinations linked to: JFK, Oswald.
Assessment: Stage hypnotists were used by the Army in MKultra and precedent programs. This included “field” experiments using unsuspecting subjects. That he performed his act in the Army is therefore of some concern. But also of concern is that no mention of his prowess as a hypnotist was made in his Warren Commission testimony. His attempt to tie Oswald and Ruby together was picked up and used by the Ultra-Right to push a Jewish/Communist conspiracy, and the fact that he had spent much of his spare time in Dallas with Ruby in and out of the clubs are also bothersome facts. Ruby did act as if he had been in some type of hypnotic stupor, and was said to have relaxed considerably only when he learned Oswald had died.
I confirmed some years ago that he was an experienced hypnotist by contacting him under the pretext of asking for tips on how to expand my amateur stage magician act to incorporate hypnotism. His response was to try and sell me instructional videos he had made on hypnosis.
Though hypnosis may have played a role in Ruby’s actions, it was more likely to have been a combination of sleep deprivation, drugs, and coercive persuasion, including threats to family members. These are classic methods for example, of eliciting information and admissions from POWs and, minus the drugs, confessions from suspects. Typically, such methods draw agreement from the subject, but the effects generally do not last.
Lewis, Ralph Maxwell
Lewis took over AMORC when his father, Harvey Spencer Lewis died in 1939. He continued as leader until his own death in 1987. He was therefore leading the organization when Gaitan was allegedly assassinated in Bogota in 1948 by a member of AMORC and in 1968 when RFK was allegedly assassination by another member of AMORC.
All that is really known about Ralph is that he carried out and extended upon the work of his father. On that basis, we will work on the assumption that the acorn never fell far from the tree and look at some salient points about Harvey.
Harvey Spencer Lewis founded AMORC in New York circa 1912. It is a self-described non-sectarian brotherhood which teaches alchemy, meditation, reincarnation, remote healing and psychic abilities. Eventually, the World HQ was established in San Jose, California.
Lewis, like others, had an admiration for Hitler and Mussolini and had an avid interest in eugenics. He did not particularly like democracy. During the same period and on, he was close to American Fascists and white supremacists who shared his occult interests in the Ascended Masters (aka the Great White Brotherhood) - a group of “enlightened super beings”.
According to an FBI report, RFK was warned by letter in November 1967 that Lewis and another member of AMORC whose name was redacted in the (heavily redacted) report, planned to kill the Kennedy family. The author was a member of AMORC but was dismissed as a crank after being unable to adequately explain why Ralph Lewis (or anyone in AMORC) would be involved in such a plot.
Let us address the issue of her being a “crank”. The document notes at the end in her (again heavily redacted) general description, that she had an alien registration card. Many ethnicities have a level of susceptibility to religion and/or superstition and the occult as part of their cultural upbringing – often accompanied by a lack of education. A language barrier and lack of education could account for the noted “confusion” during her questioning. Her accusation that Ralph Lewis was an agent of Russia could be genuine confusion on her part because of his alignment with Russian occultists, and Theosophy which allegedly wanted the world united in “international brotherhood” – code to some for communism.
Let us also look at the timing of her warning.to RFK – November 1967 – one month before Hilder turned up at Gil Boyne’s classes to resume lessons in hypnotism. It was also around the time that Sirhan resumed his association with AMORC.
Lastly, the US Government refused to agree to obtain Juan Roa Sierra’s AMORC membership details for Colombian investigators based on a technicality over the request. The FBI, however, did get Sirhan’s registration direct from Ralph Lewis. What is unknown at this time is whether the correspondence lessons completed and returned by Sirhan were still available - and if so, whether they were also requested and obtained. They would assuredly tell us a lot – one way or another.
Associations (of Harvey Lewis Spencer): Wesley Swift, Adolph Hitler, Benito Mussolini, Big Business.
Assassinations linked to: Jorge Eliécer Gaitán, RFK.
Assessment: Involved in both at least tangentially since both alleged assassins were members of his organization. Any more direct involvement would be in the use of the organization to help find suitable candidates for the patsy role and in training them in self-hypnosis so that they could be programmed.
Pellar, Ronald
Real name of stage hypnotist Dr. Dante. On Aug 5, 1963, Jack Ruby tried to get New York booking agent, Joseph Glasser to sign Dr Dante who had performed at the Adulphus in Dallas earlier that year. Glasser refused.
Ruby claimed that he had met the performer in an automat. Peller's career, to put it mildly, has had its highs and lows. Some of those have included; hiring undercover cops as hitmen to kill a long-time rival hypnotist whose act he had been accused of plagiarizing; a marriage to Lana Turner which culminated in taking her for hundreds of thousands in cash and jewelry; a mention in the Guinness Book of World Records for receiving the highest amount ever paid for a lecture on hypnotism; charges being laid over businesses including one which involved teaching the application of permanent makeup, and another being a diploma mill; hiding out on a yacht in the waters off Mexico where he ran a hang gliding business after it was alleged he sent an employee of the business to his death under hypnosis and; the alleged loss of millions of dollars he'd amassed from his various scams after being kidnapped by the Mexican authorities and returned to the US to face a prison term.
He also twice claimed to have been shot at by hitmen – the second time in Dallas in 1970, accusing Frank Sinatra of hiring the shooters to warn him away from his daughter Nancy (who later claimed never to have met Dante). The first attempt was just after marrying Lana Turner in Los Angeles in 1969 in an underground garage by someone wearing what he described as an Australian bush-hat. Crikey!
The Dallas attempt was a flat out lie, and so the Los Angeles one may have been – but the case can be made that the episode in Los Angeles was at least possibly real.
The most obvious way that Dante would know about an Australian Bushman’s hat would be if he had visited here – possibly touring with his stage act. As it happens, I had a cousin named Terence Augustus Tonks living in Melbourne who committed suicide by jumping from a bridge after being put under hypnosis by a touring American stage hypnotist. This was in the late 1950s. Recall that Dante had later hypnotized an employee in Mexico who then died while hang-gliding while still possibly under hypnotic suggestion.
Vicki Watts, a niece of Terence, had made contact with me while compiling a family history – there had been no previous contact with this branch of the family which goes through my great uncle. She had been unable to locate the name of the hypnotist because at the time of the death, there was no official connection made between being hypnotized and the following decision to jump to his death, so it attracted no news coverage. In any case, Vicki was not convinced one way or the other concerning any connection and brought it up merely as a remote possibility, In short, finding the name of the hypnotist had not been a priority for her, despite also stating that Terence had no known depression or other psychiatric issues and had been a happy and popular young man with the world at his feet. Neither of us at that time knew anything about Dr. Dante. All that can be added is that knowing my family, the notion that a member of same did join the dots and then travelled to the US to extract revenge on Dante, is not too far-fetched – nor would waiting 10 or 11 years to do so be out of the question.
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