The Church of Scientology

 Kyle Brennan’s Death

Kyle Brennan was born in Connecticut in 1986. Kyle was bright, creative, and outgoing. Like many youngsters, he suffered from mild anxiety and depression. He was prescribed Lexapro, a well-regarded psychiatric medication, by his psychiatrist. Kyle was not a Scientologist.
 
Scientologist Tom Brennan (Kyle’s Father) – In 2007, Kyle’s father—a longtime Scientologist—lived in Clearwater, Florida, where the Church of Scientology’s world headquarters is located. He worked for the Church, lived down the street from its main building, and was well-connected to its celebrity leadership. Brennan’s Scientology “auditor” (or spiritual advisor) at the time was Denise Miscavige Gentile, the twin sister of the organisation’s controversial leader, David Miscavige. Brennan was pushing Scientology on Kyle, but Kyle was resisting. When visiting Brennan in the summer of 2006, Kyle was told that Scientology was all he needed. He didn’t need college. During this visit, he heard Brennan’s new wife, also a devout Scientologist, refer to him as an “enemy of the Church.”
 
Scientology and Psychiatry – The Church of Scientology maintains a deeply antagonistic stance toward psychiatry. One of the organisation’s central tenets is that psychiatry and psychiatric medications are fundamentally harmful. Scientologists assert that psychiatry is a form of pseudoscience with historical ties to unethical practices. The Church positions itself in direct opposition to psychiatry.
 
Kyle’s 2006-2007 Travels—Just after Thanksgiving 2006, Kyle left his home in Virginia to travel the country. He first hopped on a plane to Waterloo, Iowa, where he was looking into a local college. He later flew to Maui in Hawaii, where he stayed at a resort hotel for two nights and then camped on the beach for three. Just before Kyle left Virginia, his mother had filled the Lexapro prescription. In preparation for his trip, Kyle purchased another bottle of his medication.
 
Kyle in Clearwater – Kyle arrived in Clearwater on February 8, 2007. He’d decided to visit with his father before returning home to Virginia. Brennan put Kyle up in his apartment and gave him his own room. Over the phone, Victoria asked Brennan to make sure Kyle took his medication. He said he would. Instead, Brennan continued pushing Scientology on Kyle, telling him that Scientology-recommended vitamins would be better for him than his Lexapro. On Thursday, February 15, Kyle walked three miles to a branch of his bank and deposited money to keep his savings account open. On the evening of Friday, February 16, Kyle called a number of Clearwater-area personal injury lawyers seeking assistance.
 
Kyle’s Death – Kyle died of a gunshot wound to the head that same evening—Friday, February 16—in Brennan’s Clearwater apartment. The EMTs found Kyle’s body in what Brennan said was his bedroom, not Kyle’s. Alongside him was a Taurus .357 Magnum revolver. Kyle’s head was found lying inside a laundry basket. His Lexapro was found locked in the trunk of his father’s vehicle. Based on what we were told initially, we believe Kyle died at approximately 11 p.m. Brennan called 911 for help at 12:10 a.m. after first calling “chaplain Denise” for advice. The horrific 1:00 a.m. phone call his Charlottesville family received describing Kyle’s death was made—not by Kyle’s father, not by the Clearwater police—but by Gerald Gentile, Denise Miscavige Gentile’s husband. They’d driven to Brennan’s apartment that night.
 
Scientology “Handling” – In 2010, we learned that Kyle’s death had taken place only 36 hours after Tom Brennan had been given written orders to “handle” Kyle by Scientology’s “Flag Service Organisation” (the Church’s “spiritual headquarters” located in Clearwater’s Fort Harrison Hotel). In Scientology, “handling” means taking care of a situation and removing a problem. To Scientologists, my son was an “enemy of the Church” because he was consulting a psychiatrist and taking Lexapro. Along with its hatred of psychiatry, Scientology teaches that ethics don’t apply when “handling” an “enemy of the Church.” As founder L. Ron Hubbard wrote, “An enemy… may be deprived of property or injured by any means… [They] may be tricked, sued, lied to, or destroyed.” Brennan was ordered to “handle” his son or face the consequences. One part of this Church-mandated “handling” was the seizure of Kyle’s psychiatric medication, but how far did Scientologist Brennan go to stay in the Church’s good graces?
 
The Criminally Mismanaged Police Investigation – Clearwater police officers and emergency medical personnel arrived at Brennan’s apartment within minutes of his 911 call. Rookie patrolman Jonathan Yuen was assigned to manage the crime scene, and Detective Stephen Bohling assumed responsibility for the investigation the following day. However, Bohling never visited Brennan’s apartment. He informed our family that the police “never processed the weapon or the scene for fingerprints,” which was untrue. The police report indicates that Kyle’s hands were tested for gunshot residue, but the detective withheld the results from further analysis. The weapon was also tested for fingerprints, and the results were negative; there were no fingerprints or ridge details on the Taurus revolver, nor was there any blood present. This suggests the weapon had been wiped clean. The bullet that killed Kyle was never recovered. The medical examiner ruled Kyle’s death a suicide, stating that a suicide note was found on his person, although the police later admitted that no note existed. Given the missing bullet, the absence of a gunshot residue test, and a weapon negative for fingerprints, it remains undetermined who discharged the weapon that killed my son, or whether he was killed by the weapon found at the scene.
 
Lies Tom Brennan Told About the Weapon & Ammunition – Brennan told many contradictory stories about the Taurus and its ammunition. He told Patrolman Yuen that the gun was unloaded, it was kept in a green bag, he didn’t know where the ammunition for it was, and that Kyle didn’t know it was in the apartment. He told Detective Bohling that he did not know the whereabouts of the ammunition; it was stored in the green bag with the weapon. Under oath, in his deposition, however, Brennan stated that he didn’t know if the weapon was loaded or unloaded, that the ammunition was not in the green bag with the weapon, and that Brennan had shown the Taurus to Kyle just prior to taking Kyle and his older brother Sean to a local firing range. That’s where Brennan claimed he’d purchased the bullets. Sean, however, swore out an affidavit stating that they’d gone to a local firing range, Fowler’s, but had not taken the Taurus .357. They instead rented a Heckler & Koch USP .45, and Fowler’s provided the ammunition. Obviously, the .357 caliber and .45 caliber ammunition are not interchangeable, so where were the .357 bullets for the Taurus purchased? The green bag was not retrieved from the crime scene.
 
Tom Brennan’s Various Timelines – Brennan first told Kyle’s family that the evening Kyle died, he’d arrived at his apartment at 10:30 p.m. after having dinner with friends. He later changed his story, saying he’d arrived home between 11:10 and 11:15 after spending the day selling books at the State Fair and stopping by Denise’s to borrow a book. His first story places him in the apartment when Kyle died. And it’s obvious that he changed his story to distance himself from his apartment and Kyle’s death. But even if the second story were true, why had it taken an hour for Brennan to dial 911? Why did he lie about his whereabouts? Detective Bohling was told about Brennan’s contradictory stories, but he never challenged Brennan’s veracity. In fact, Bohling, in the subsequent police report, improved on Brennan’s alibi, saying: “Thomas Brennan returned home near midnight. . . .”
 
Lies Told by Denise Miscavige and Gerald Gentile –The Gentiles at first denied their relationship with Brennan, denied that Denise was a Scientology “auditor,” and denied that Denise was Brennan’s “auditor.” They also at first denied that Denise rode down to Brennan’s apartment the night Kyle died. And they claimed that Gerald’s call to me was placed from their home. All of these statements were later shown to be lies: Scientology documents prove Denise’s status as a “chaplain” and that she was indeed Brennan’s “chaplain”—meaning they’d had a very close relationship. Gerald Gentile later admitted that both had gone to Brennan’s apartment and that the call was made there. Pressed for details concerning the “book borrowing” alibi, Denise and Brennan made contradictory statements.
 
Kyle’s Laptop Computer – Kyle’s computer—instead of being taken into police custody—ended up at the Miscavige-Gentile home soon after he died. When the laptop was returned to Virginia, Kyle’s sister-in-law, a computer technology specialist, analysed its content. She found that it had been accessed, but a few hours after Kyle’s death, on Saturday the 17th. Files had later been deleted.
Lies Told by Police and the Medical Investigator – Detective Bohling and Medical Investigator Martha Scholl lied about contacting Kyle’s psychiatrist, saying in the police report that: “The doctor confirmed that Kyle had been exhibiting early signs of schizophrenia to include paranoia and delusions and . . . advised that he was not aware of any major side effects if one was to suddenly stop taking Lexapro.” However, Kyle’s psychiatrist, under oath, stated that he had absolutely no contact with either Bohling or Scholl. “Perplexed and dumbfounded” by their statements, he said he was “bound by confidentiality” not to release “information about a patient’s treatment.” Under oath, he stated that “Kyle’s diagnosis was mild anxiety and depression” and that there are major side effects from the sudden termination of taking Lexapro, especially for someone of Kyle’s age.
 
In conclusion, the numerous inconsistencies and falsehoods presented by the defendants and Clearwater-area public officials have left any reasonable observer confused and deeply suspicious. The true events that transpired in Brennan’s Clearwater apartment on February 16, 2007, the night Kyle died, remain unresolved.
 

Written by Victoria Britton©, All Rights Reserved. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwEAnBfaOI8&t=1s&pp=ygUaa3lsZSBicmVubmFuICsgc2NpZW50b2xvZ3k%3D

https://thetruthforkylebrennan.com/about-this-site-kyle-brennan-truth/

https://thetruthforkylebrennan.com/crime-scene-information/

Kyle Brennan talks about his Scientologist father.
 
Detective Steve Bohling testimony.

Discover more from Scientology & the Death of Kyle Brennan

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