Outspoken Scientology Critic, Shawn Lonsdale, Found Dead In Clearwater
In what is being reported as an apparent suicide, 39 year-old Clearwater resident Shawn Lonsdale, an outspoken local critic of Scientology, was found dead in his home on Saturday.
The St. Petersburg Times has more details:
CLEARWATER - Shawn Lonsdale, whose one-man crusade against Scientology made him a public enemy of the church, was found dead at his home over the weekend in an apparent suicide. He was 39.Police discovered Lonsdale's body at 12:20 p.m. Saturday after neighbors reported a foul odor. They found a garden hose stretched from the exhaust pipe of Lonsdale's car into a window of his home at 510 N Lincoln Ave., according to Clearwater police spokeswoman Elizabeth Daly-Watts.
Daly-Watts said there were no signs of foul play, and police found what appeared to be a suicide note. It was not immediately available.
The medical examiner's office said the official cause of death is pending toxicology reports
Prior to his death, Shawn had quietly dropped off the grid from his routine protests against the Church of Scientology in the town of Clearwater, where the infamous Fort Harrison Hotel is located.
Fort Harrison Hotel is a Scientology mecca, which hosts members from around the globe for a variety of the courses the organization offers. And Clearwater, Florida is a town polarized by the presence of the secretive church.
Coincidentally, Ft. Harrison is also the location of many strange events which have taken place over the years within the Church of Scientology, the most controversial of which was the death of Lisa McPherson. McPherson would have been 49 this month had she not died while in the care of Scientologists in 1995, after what started out as a minor fender bender. The story of Lisa's death is the subject of many anti-Scientology websites and forums, and at the crux of global protests by the internet activist group Anonymous earlier this month.
Right after Lisa's car accident, she was picked up and transported to a local hospital after she was found to be disoriented and in a state of undress. Lisa was released to members of the Church of Scientology who told hospital officials they would be looking after her. Seventeen days later, Lisa was declared DOA, after Scientology members finally had her transported to a city hospital. According to the county coroner, Lisa was in a severe state of dehydration and had what were thought to bug bites all over her body (possibly cockroaches) as well as numerous bedsores resulting from her comatose state at the end of her life. Ultimately, it was this state of immobility which lead the embolism which killed her. For more on the mysterious events surrounding Lisa's death, visit here.
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