My current speculation about Stacy Moxon Meyer's death is that the most unlikely part of the Meyer story is true--the squirrel part. It is the part about her wanting to be in that vault that is false.

It was an "aha" last night based on breaking down the "shore story"

told by "Gold" management into 3 elements:

-the squirrel part (she was looking for ground squirrels) -her motivation (dissected from what she was doing) -that no one authorized or knew what she was doing and that she had "blown" her post.

Keith told me last night that somewhere Andre Tabayoyon (whose 1994 declaration details his part in construction at "Gold") related that there was quite a problem with ground squirrels at "Gold." They chewed through wires and caused shorts, and he may have said they were being poisoned. I also remember in one of Keith's postings about a picket that he noted the presence of dead ground squirrels (he says they had been flattened on the road).

One part of the story reported by OSHA was that a ground squirrel had been electrocuted in a transformer vault some weeks before. I now think that that part is true and that Meyer was indeed either looking for squirrels in the vault or (more likely) checking the screen (mentioned by OSHA) to keep them out. It is the other elements in the story that are false, the ones that seem the most innocuous if you assume that staff at "Gold" is like staff anywhere else. But they're not. They're clearly slaves, as Tabayoyon, Prince and several others have pointed out. No one fails to show up for work as in the $-ology story, without the entire compound being turned upside down by Security. No one goes to unauthorized areas without being observed and risking serious consequences. The security precautions to keep slaves in and Wogs out are, according to Tabayoyon's declaration that I was just reading yesterday, extreme, including hidden microphones, cameras, motion sensors, patrols and an "Eagle's" nest that has a view of the whole property, equipped with a telescope (and a high-powered rifle). If Meyer had been off her post and wandering visibly about the property they would have been on her like an owl on a mouse. The accident happened at 10:15 and, according to the report, the start of her shift was at 10.

Therefore, she was not off her post. Therefore she was assigned to do what she was doing. Therefore, they knew she was there. This leaves the squirrel part of the story as probably true. Didn't Holmes once say, "When the impossible has been eliminated, whatever remains must be true"? Since it is impossible that she could have been off post without being missed and furiously sought (and by admission in the open, dragging a noisily scraping manhole cover off a vault), she must have been on post, and since it is known that ground squirrels were a problem, and since $-ology almost always seasons its lies with some truth (aside from the grand ones about freedom and such), my conclusion is that she was hatted for the task of going into the transformer vault and either looking for ground squirrels or places where they could get in.

The biggest open question is: why was the power not turned off so that she didn't have to enter a "hot" vault?

I think there are several possible answers to this.

-The simplest answer is that someone forgot it.

-It may not have been assigned.

-Given the location, it might have involved cutting power to Miscavige's mansion, which may have been unthinkable.

-Cutting power would probably have cut production, meant reduced "stats" and therefore penalties for a lower condition for part or the whole of the staff.

The fact that a wooden ladder was used may indicate that it was expected that the power would not be turned off (assuming a metal ladder was available). Perhaps the reason such a short ladder was used was that no wooden ladder of the proper height was available, and a metal ladder could not be used because it was anticipated that it would be too dangerous.

Further possibilities are: that it was not anticipated that Meyer would go down the ladder very far and thus get close to the wires;

that she was in fact chosen for the task because she was small enough to get to the bottom of the ladder without contacting the wires (the OSHA report mentions the tiny amount of space at the bottom of the ladder); that no one realized that a wooden ladder of the proper height would not be available; or that no one realized until it came down to time to do the task that the power would not be cut off.

Simply because it is life-threateningly dangerous or has become so due to unanticipated difficulties is not an excuse to abandon a post in the dark world of $-ology.

The OSHA report said that the ladder was not properly latched. It would have been extremely difficult just to put in a ladder that was 2 feet short of the height of the vault with only a manhole from which to place it. Anyone placing it would have had to lower the folded ladder inside the vault while lying on the ground face down, then try to maneuver the ladder to get it to open. It would have been virtually impossible to latch it.

Photographs taken by the coroner's office at the time of the removal of the body would elucidate the issue of how she was oriented when found, and thus how she fell. I've been told these are not available without a subpoena.

I feel the photos should be subpoenaed because there is a question of what could possibly be called "reckless endangerment." I agree wih the coroner that this was an accident. The open questions are:

-why was she down there? (I believe she was ordered to go there.)

-did she have a companion? (someone who helped her with the 230-lb manhole cover, possibly placed or helped place the ladder) -who observed her there? (someone had to, given the security arrangements at "Gold") -why was the power not turned off? (see above) -if she was ordered to go there, who gave the order and why?

-what happened to people who observed her there and/or ordered her to be there and/or didn't turn the power off?

-The OSHA report states that "911" was called. This is not true.

"911" calls are public records; Keith requested the record from the Highway Patrol. He was told that there is no record of such a call.

It is said that "911" has been disabled from "Gold" telephones. Could that be because the Sea Org doesn't want people calling for help without authorization? People who might be, say, being beaten because they want to leave (see Tabayoyon's declaration)?

For these reasons I believe it is incumbent upon the district attorney to investigate this death to determine whether reckless endangerment (or whatever the name for the illegal act is) did indeed occur and why the circumstances of the death were covered up as follows, if my theory is correct:

-lying about her being in an unauthorized area -lying about her having taken the initiative to be there -lying about her having been unobserved -lying about her not showing up for work after having been transported to "Gold"

-prolonging the issuance of the coroner's report for 9 months, presumably so any furor caused by the death would have died down and preparations could be made for investigation if any should occur -leaving Meyer's maiden name off the coroner's report so that no connection would be made with $-ology chief counsel Kendrick Moxon These questions go to the heart of the situation at "Gold":

-people are being detained there against their will -staff members are placed in dangerous situations without possibility of appeal -people may even now be detained at "Gold," "Happy Valley" or other locations because they know too much about the Meyer death--or other inconvenient or embarassing knowledge -management at "Gold"--specifically Miscavige--has absolute power over the lives of staff members independent of the surrounding community -the justice system and emergency response system do not reach into Gold and its 735 staff members, and cannot do so under current conditions Arel (former member of the Mystery Writers Association, former student of detective-fiction writer Joseph McNamara [once police chief of San Jose, now fellow of the Hoover Institution])

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