May 5, 1991 TRANSCRIPT 11:00-11:30 PM

WNEP-TV(ABC) Channel 16
Wilkes-Barre, PA
Newswatch 16 Update
Nolan Johannes, anchor:

The tragic story of a Luzerne County family is told in this week's issue of Time magazine. That family is featured in a cover story about Scientology, a self-professed religion the Time calls a cult of greed. Newswatch 16's Susan Houseman talked with one of the cult's former followers.

Susan Houseman reporting:

Mary Hepner (Former Scientologist): It was very Nazi. It was extremely a Nazi organization. They take all of your money. They brainwash you to the point where you cannot think without them, and they determine your life. Houseman: Mary Hepner of Wilkes-Barre claims she was once involved in Scientology. For six months she attended meetings she say seemed like group therapy sessions. But she says she finally found the organization to be manipulative and greedy, so she quit. But that was not the end.

Hepner: I was what they called blackballed at that time, put on the Treason List, and there was a contract put out for me that I was fair game to be killed. Houseman: (Visual of Time Magazine: Scientology, The Cult of Greed) Time magazine alleges the cult, founded by science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard, is ruining lives and thriving off of the thousands of dollars it gets from members to allegedly clear them of unhappiness.

Most probably associate L. Ron Hubbard with the book he wrote forty years ago called, "Dianetics." Time magazine calls it Scientology's sacred text. You may remember the TV ads and the radio ads. Well, that huge advertising campaign is virtually unmatched in the book industry. Time magazine estimates Scientology has about fifty thousand active members. One of those followers was twenty-four-year-old Noah Lottick of Kingston. His parents, Dr. Edward and Sally Lottick, are featured in the Time article. They blame Scientology for Noah's suicide in New York City last year. After graduating from Muhlemberg College in 1989, Noah went to the Jersey

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