Kyle’s Computer: “A Tangled Web”
“A Tangled Web” (part 1)
How is it that Kyle’s computer ended up at the Miscavige-Gentile home soon after he died, where–inexplicably and suspiciously–everything was erased? The computer files, by the way, no doubt contained schoolwork and information linking Tom Brennan to an apartment fire in Virginia. Additionally, that fire and the resultant insurance company lawsuit caused Brennan to leave the state of Virginia and file for bankruptcy protection in Florida.
When reviewing the conflicting testimony of Denise Miscavige, Gerald Gentile, and Brennan, it’s apparent that Kyle’s computer was, in fact, never accessed by this trio of bunglers. When the laptop was returned home after Kyle’s death, his sister-in-law analyzed the content. She noted; the computer had been accessed within a few hours after his death, and files had been deleted. This asks the question; who did it and why?
In their first interviews with Clearwater Police Detective Stephen Bohling, Denise Miscavige and her husband Gerald Gentile stated that Kyle’s computer was removed from Tom Brennan’s apartment and taken to their home on Saturday, February 17 (the day after Kyle passed away). Gerald Gentile stated that he accessed the computer and copied the files—all on the same day—Saturday, February 17. During Gerald Gentile’s deposition, however—when Attorney Ken Dandar asked him to relate when he accessed Kyle’s computer—he avoided giving a direct answer. He stated, instead, that it took place in the daylight hours. Unfortunately, Dandar did not press him for further computer-related information.
When Attorney Dandar deposed Detective Bohling, the policeman conveniently “forgot” what he had written in his Clearwater Police Department Report—that Kyle’s computer, following Kyle’s death, was accessed for the first time on Sunday, February 18. Why would the detective write down that this fairly significant incident occurred on Sunday, February 18, instead of on Saturday, February 17—despite being told to the contrary by two defendants, Denise Miscavige and Gerald Gentile? It does not take Sherlock Holmes to come up with the obvious answer—the date was changed because the seizure of Kyle’s computer, along with the accession and copying of Kyle’s files, so soon after his passing by defendants in the lawsuit, would be regarded by any judge and any juryman as very suspicious.
A Tangled Web (Part II)
Detective Stephen Bohling, in his Clearwater Police Report, states that Kyle’s computer was accessed on February 18—the Sunday after Kyle’s passing—even though Denise Miscavige, Gerald Gentile, and Tom Brennan testified that it was accessed on the 17th. Agent Barbara Mendez also writes in her report that the computer was accessed on February 18. In other words, she conducted her analysis based on the information provided to her by Detective Bohling. None of this adds up; none of this is cohesive or makes sense. Why would the detective lie about the dates? Usually, when someone lies, they’re attempting to hide something. Let’s shine the light of truth on these inconsistencies.
But let’s add to this “computer-file” confusion. Let’s add a few more tangled strands. Detective Bohling, in his narrative regarding Kyle’s PC (as written in the Clearwater Police Report), evidently took creative liberty when attributing certain statements to FDLE Agent Mendez. During her deposition, when Agent Mendez read how she was quoted in the Clearwater Police Report—how Bohling had quoted her—she vehemently denied making the statements. At this moment in her deposition, the FDLE agent seemed vexed, annoyed that she had unwittingly become entangled.
A case of incompetence, you say? Perhaps. . . .
Read the excerpts from the agent’s deposition, and you’ll undoubtedly be as confounded as she was. Could this be another example of Clearwater Police Detective Stephen Bohling fabricating evidence to protect the sister and brother-in-law of David Miscavige? If Kyle’s case had gone to trial, imagine the massive embarrassment, the circus-like spectacle, of Detective Bohling attempting the impossible task of extricating himself from his fiction-filled police report, his tangled web.
Denise Miscavige and Tom Brennan lied about where they were and what they were doing the evening of Friday, February 16, 2007 (the evening Kyle passed away). They created a phony 11:00 p.m. “book borrowing” alibi to position themselves away from the scene of Kyle’s death. When, during the deposition process, Attorney Ken Dandar pressed them for specific details about the “book borrowing,” he exposed their lies. Despite all of this fairly obvious alibiing, however, the erroneous 11:00 p.m. time of death went into the Clearwater Police Department Report. Due to Miscavige and Brennan’s lying, it’s presumed that Kyle passed away at 11:00 p.m. on Friday, February 16.
As children, we were taught that policemen are here “To Protect and Serve.” They’re supposed to be “serving” the people by “protecting” the innocent, the weak, the helpless, and those members of our society who cannot stand up for themselves. This includes, of course, those who’ve perished under highly suspicious circumstances. In Clearwater, Florida, however, “Protect and Serve” appears to mean “serve” the wealthy and the corrupt, “protect” their interests. The interests of a twenty-year-old who ran afoul of powerful Scientologists be damned.
A Tangled Web (Part III)
How do you catch someone in their tangled web of lies? By shining the light of truth on the multitude of inconsistencies.
Florida Department of Law Enforcement (or FDLE) Agent Barbara Mendez studied Kyle Brennan’s computer after it was handed over to her by Clearwater Police Detective Stephen Bohling. In her report, “Barbara”—as the detective referred to her—stated that no files had been deleted. Kyle’s family, however, knew this was untrue. His college professors, for example, had noted that Kyle had been submitting schoolwork after he left home in the autumn of 2006. They said Kyle had completed his courses and his final exams—online—with this very same computer. And Kyle saved everything.
None of these papers, Kyle’s school papers and stories, were ever recovered. Also: Scientologist Gerald Gentile—in his convoluted explanation of how and why he had possession of Kyle’s computer—admitted that he had accidentally deleted files! Yet, despite Gentile’s testimony, despite the truth, Agent Mendez stated that she could not determine if files had been deleted.
But let’s add to this “computer-file” confusion. Let’s add a few more tangled strands. Detective Bohling, in his narrative regarding Kyle’s PC (as written in the Clearwater Police Report), evidently took creative liberty when attributing certain statements to FDLE Agent Mendez. During her deposition, when Agent Mendez read how she was quoted in the Clearwater Police Report—how Bohling had quoted her—she vehemently denied making the statements. At this moment in her deposition, the FDLE agent seemed vexed, annoyed that she had unwittingly become entangled.
Read the excerpts from the agent’s deposition, and you’ll undoubtedly be as confounded as she was. Could this be another example of Clearwater Police Detective Stephen Bohling fabricating evidence to protect the sister and brother-in-law of David Miscavige? If Kyle’s case had gone to trial, imagine the massive embarrassment, the circus-like spectacle, of Detective Bohling attempting the impossible task of extricating himself from his fiction-filled police report, his tangled web.
We were all taught as children that policemen are here “To Protect and Serve.” They’re supposed to be “serving” the people by “protecting” the innocent, the weak, the helpless, and those members of our society who cannot stand up for themselves. This includes, of course, those who’ve perished under highly suspicious circumstances. In Clearwater, Florida, however, “Protect and Serve” appears to mean “serve” the wealthy and the corrupt, “protect” their interests. The interests of a twenty-year-old who ran afoul of powerful Scientologists be damned.
Kyle Brennan’s computer was accessed within but a few hours of his death—in the early morning hours of Saturday, February 17, 2007. Who would do this? What was the purpose? Any reasonable person would refer to this fact—this act—as very suspicious. Even more suspiciously, Kyle’s PC was not removed from the crime scene by the police as evidence but was taken to the home of Gerald and Denise Miscavige Gentile (two of the defendants in the wrongful-death lawsuit that ensued). And, of course—just like everything in this tangled story—there are multiple versions of how and by whom the computer was handed over to these powerful Scientologists.
Clearwater Police Detective Stephen Bohling, the lead investigator in the case, learned about Kyle’s computer being accessed soon after Kyle’s demise-three weeks after the tragedy—on March 6, 2007. Did he think that this acknowledged activity was in any way suspicious? Did Bohling rush to interview the Scientologist who had taken possession of what should have been in police custody all along? Let’s look at what happened next:
Over the next 16 months, Kyle’s PC traveled a circuitous route. Tom Brennan got the computer back from the Gentiles and mailed it, along with several boxes of Kyle’s possessions, to Kyle’s family in Virginia in the final days of February 2007. Under the advisement of Attorney Luke Lirot, legal representative for the estate of Kyle Brennan, the computer was next shipped back to Florida to the Clearwater Police Department. It arrived on September 13 of that year. According to Detective Bohling, it was delivered to the Tampa office of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) on the same day. Sometime over the following 41 days, FDLE Special Agent Barbara Mendez analyzed Kyle’s computer.
On October 24, 2007, at 14:30 hours, Detective Bohling took custody of Kyle’s computer from the FDLE Evidence Section.
On July 13, 2008—over eight months after taking possession of the computer and almost one and half years after Kyle’s death—Detective Bohling conducted the first interview with Gerald Gentile. By this time, the Scientologists have had ample opportunity to speak with—and strategize with—their Scientology-hired lawyers.
In the police interview, Gentile stated that he didn’t really know Tom Brennan, Kyle’s father, all that well. Gentile described Tom Brennan as an acquaintance, someone who’d come over to his home once for Thanksgiving—to bake a pie—and once for Christmas. Gentile claimed he’d never really had a conversation with Tom Brennan. He said he knew Brennan through his wife and that “[Brennan] works as a handyman for a couple of my rental properties that I own in Pinellas County.” Gentile further stated that he’d never heard of Kyle before his death—he said he didn’t even know Brennan had a son.
A Tangled Web (Part IV)
During the interview, too, Gentile told Bohling matter-of-factly that he had hard copies “of everything that was on [Kyle’s] computer,” including bank statements, photos, and personal notes. What would compel him to save this information? Why did Gentile have a folder containing personal and sensitive information belonging to a dead boy that he did not even know? Why had he saved—for a year and a half—print-outs from computer files belonging to the son of a mere acquaintance?
What follows next is very illuminating. Detective Bohling—instead of questioning Gentile about the oddity of having in his possession some of Kyle’s personal effects—asked Gentile politely if he would mind if he, Bohling, made copies. Bohling said he might need these copies later.
Who had the upper hand in this interview? Who was in control, the Scientologist in possession of personal items belonging to a dead boy he’d never met—the son of someone who was merely an acquaintance—or the groveling police detective who had to ask permission to make copies of files that should have been in his possession from the get-go?
Agent Barbara Mendez
Detective Stephen Bohling, Clearwater Police Department
Brennan testifies that he directly hands the computer to Gerald Gentile.
Excerpt from the Gerald Gentile Deposition.
Denise Miscavige Gentile Deposition
Excerpt from Brennan Deposition
Denise Miscavige Gentile Deposition
Gerald Gentile Deposition
Excerpts from the Deposition of Gerald Gentile
There was never an explanation for who accessed Kyle’s computer on the dates Gentile claims he did not.
Affidavit of Mia Brennan
Detective Stephen Bohling
A Tangled Web (Part II)
Narrative and Documents
Detective Stephen Bohling, in his Clearwater Police Report, states that Kyle’s computer was accessed on February 18—the Sunday after Kyle’s passing—even though Denise Miscavige, Gerald Gentile, and Tom Brennan testified that it was accessed on the 17th. Agent Barbara Mendez also writes in her report that the computer was accessed on February 18. In other words, she conducted her analysis based on the information provided to her by Detective Bohling. None of this adds up; none of this is cohesive or makes sense. Why would the detective lie about the dates? Usually, when someone lies, they’re attempting to hide something. Let’s shine the light of truth on these inconsistencies.
http://thetruthforkylebrennan.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/2007-calendar-001.jpg
Denise Miscavige and Tom Brennan lied about where they were and what they were doing the evening of Friday, February 16, 2007 (the evening Kyle passed away). They created a phony 11:00 p.m. “book borrowing” alibi in order to position themselves away from the scene of Kyle’s death. When, during the deposition process, Attorney Ken Dandar pressed them for specific details about the “book borrowing,” he exposed their lies. Despite all of this fairly obvious alibiing, however, the erroneous 11:00 p.m. time of death went into the Clearwater Police Department Report. Due to Miscavige and Brennan’s lying, it’s still presumed that Kyle passed away at 11:00 p.m. on Friday, February 16.
Excerpt from the deposition of Denise Miscavige
Denise Miscavige testifies that it was “the next morning” that Brennan returns to the apartment and discovers Kyle’s computer-February 17th.
Gerald Gentile’s First Statement; Clearwater Police Report, page 45.
http://thetruthforkylebrennan.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/detective-steve-bohling-interview-with-gerald-gentile-pg-45-001.jpg
Excerpt from the Deposition of Gerald Gentile
Excerpt from the Deposition of Detective Stephen Bohling
The Clearwater Police Report narrative; written by Detective Steve Bohling
Detective Bohling omits a significant detail in his first narrative–Gerald Gentile’s name.
http://thetruthforkylebrennan.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/clearwater-police-report-detective-steve-bohlingbully-liar-001.jpg
In their first interviews with Clearwater Police Detective Stephen Bohling, both Denise Miscavige and her husband Gerald Gentile stated that Kyle’s computer was removed from Tom Brennan’s apartment and taken to their home on Saturday, February 17 (the day after Kyle passed away). Gerald Gentile, in fact, stated that he accessed the computer and copied the files—all on the same day—Saturday, February 17. During Gerald Gentile’s deposition, however—when he was asked by Attorney Ken Dandar to relate when he accessed Kyle’s computer—he avoided giving a direct answer. He stated, instead, that it took place in the daylight hours. Unfortunately, Dandar did not press him for further computer-related information.
When Detective Bohling was deposed by Attorney Dandar, the policeman conveniently “forgot” what he had written in his Clearwater Police Department Report—that Kyle’s computer, following Kyle’s death, was accessed for the first time on Sunday, February 18. Why would the detective write down that this fairly important incident took place on Sunday, February 18, instead of on Saturday, February 17—despite being told to the contrary by two of the defendants, Denise Miscavige and Gerald Gentile? It does not take Sherlock Holmes to come up with the obvious answer—the date was changed because the seizure of Kyle’s computer, along with the accession and copying of Kyle’s files, so soon after his passing by defendants in the lawsuit, would be regarded by any judge and any juryman as very suspicious.
Excerpt from the Deposition of Detective Steve Bohling
Actions Speak Louder than Words
Statement of Tom Brennan made under the advisement of Attorney Paul Johnson.
No copy of the receipt was entered into evidence.
The Truth of the Matter
Detective Bohling’s First Interview: March 2007
A copy of this document was sent to the FBI, Tampa Division, in the Autumn of 2007.
“Thirty-five documents?”
Statement of Mark C. “Marty” Rathbun, a former senior executive of the Church of Scientology.
A recorded exchange between Attorney Lee Fugate and Detective Steve Bohling
Who’s giving advice to Tom Brennan? Scientology, Office of Special Affairs.
Part III
How do you catch someone in their tangled web of lies? By shining the light of truth on the multitude of inconsistencies.
Florida Department of Law Enforcement (or FDLE) Agent Barbara Mendez studied Kyle Brennan’s computer after it was handed over to her by Clearwater Police Detective Stephen Bohling. In her report, “Barbara”—as she was referred to by the detective—stated that no files had been deleted. Kyle’s family, however, knew this was untrue. His college professors, for example, had stated that Kyle had been submitting schoolwork after he left home in the autumn of 2006. Kyle, they said, had completed his courses and his final exams—online—with this very same computer. And Kyle saved everything.
None of these papers, Kyle’s school papers, and stories, were ever recovered. Also: Scientologist Gerald Gentile—in his convoluted explanation as to how and why he had possession of Kyle’s computer—admitted that he had accidentally deleted files! Yet, in spite of Gentile’s testimony, in spite of the truth, Agent Mendez stated that she could not determine if files had been deleted.
A case of incompetence, you say? Perhaps. . . .
But let’s add to this “computer-file” confusion. Let’s add a few more tangled strands. Detective Bohling, in his narrative regarding Kyle’s PC (as written in the Clearwater Police Report), evidently took creative liberty when attributing certain statements to FDLE Agent Mendez. During her deposition, when Agent Mendez read how she was quoted in the Clearwater Police Report—how Bohling had quoted her—she vehemently denied making the statements. At this moment in her deposition, the FDLE agent seemed vexed, annoyed that she had unwittingly become entangled.
Read the excerpts from the agent’s deposition, and you’ll certainly be as confounded as she was. Could this be another example of Clearwater Police Detective Stephen Bohling fabricating evidence in order to protect the sister and brother-in-law of David Miscavige? If Kyle’s case had gone to trial, imagine the massive embarrassment, the circus-like spectacle, of Detective Bohling attempting the impossible task of extricating himself from his fiction-filled police report, his tangled web.
We were all taught as children that policemen are here “To Protect and Serve.” They’re supposed to be “serving” the people by “protecting” the innocent, the weak, the helpless, and those members of our society who cannot stand up for themselves. This includes, of course, those who’ve perished under extremely suspicious circumstances. In Clearwater, Florida, however, “Protect and Serve” appears to mean “serve” the wealthy and the corrupt, “protect” their interests. The interests of a twenty-year-old who ran afoul of powerful Scientologists be damned.
Excerpt from the Deposition of Detective Stephen Bohling.
Excerpt from the Deposition of Gerald Gentile.
Clearwater Police Report-page 28
Testimony of Agent Barbara Mendez-Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
Excerpt from the Deposition of Detective Bohling.
Declaration of Mia Brennan
http://thetruthforkylebrennan.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/declaration-of-mia-brennan-002.jpg
http://thetruthforkylebrennan.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/declaration-of-mia-brennan-001.jpg
A Tangled Web (Part IV), More Computer Complications
Amazingly, Kyle Brennan’s computer was accessed within but a few hours of his death—in the early morning hours of Saturday, February 17, 2007. Who would do this? What was the purpose? Any reasonable person would refer to this fact—this act—as very suspicious. Even more suspiciously, Kyle’s PC was not removed from the crime scene by the police as evidence but was taken instead to the home of Gerald and Denise Miscavige Gentile (two of the defendants in the wrongful-death lawsuit that ensued). And, of course—just like everything in this tangled story—there are multiple versions of how, and by whom, the computer was handed over to these powerful Scientologists.
Clearwater Police Detective Stephen Bohling, the lead investigator in the case, learned about Kyle’s computer being accessed soon after Kyle’s demise-three weeks after the tragedy—on March 6, 2007. Did he think that this acknowledged activity was in any way suspicious? Did Bohling rush to interview the Scientologist who had taken possession of what should have been in police custody all along? Let’s look at what happened next:
Over the course of the next 16 months, Kyle’s PC traveled a circuitous route. Tom Brennan got the computer back from the Gentiles and mailed it, along with several boxes of Kyle’s possessions, to Kyle’s family in Virginia in the final days of February 2007. Under the advisement of Attorney Luke Lirot, legal representative for the estate of Kyle Brennan, the computer was next shipped back to Florida, to the Clearwater Police Department. It arrived on September 13 of that year. According to Detective Bohling, it was delivered to the Tampa office of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) on the very same day. Sometime over the following 41 days, FDLE Special Agent Barbara Mendez analyzed Kyle’s computer.
On October 24, 2007, at 14:30 hours, Detective Bohling took custody of Kyle’s computer from the FDLE Evidence Section.
On July 13, 2008—over eight months after taking possession of the computer, and almost one and half years after Kyle’s death—Detective Bohling conducted the first interview with Gerald Gentile. By this time, the Scientologists have had ample opportunity to speak with—and strategize with—their Scientology-hired lawyers.
In the police interview, Gentile stated that he didn’t really know Tom Brennan, Kyle’s father, all that well. Gentile described Tom Brennan as an acquaintance, someone who’d come over to his home once for Thanksgiving—to bake a pie—and once for Christmas. Gentile claimed he’d never really had a conversation with Tom Brennan. He said he knew Brennan through his wife, and that “[Brennan] works as a handyman for a couple of my rental properties that I own in Pinellas County.” Gentile further stated that he’d never heard of Kyle before his death—he said he didn’t even know Brennan had a son.
During the interview, too, Gentile told Bohling matter-of-factly that he had hard copies “of everything that was on [Kyle’s] computer,” everything including bank statements, photos, and personal notes. Why did Gentile have a folder containing personal and sensitive information belonging to a dead boy that he did not even know? Why had he saved—for a year and a half—print-outs from computer files belonging to the son of a mere acquaintance? What would compel him to save this information?
What follows next is very illuminating. Detective Bohling—instead of questioning Gentile about the oddity of having in his possession some of Kyle’s personal effects—asked Gentile politely if he would mind if he, Bohling, made copies. Bohling said he might need these copies later.
Who had the upper hand in this interview? Who was in control, the Scientologist in possession of personal items belonging to a dead boy he’d never met—the son of someone who was merely an acquaintance—or the groveling police detective who had to ask permission to make copies of files that should have been in his possession from the get-go?
Kyle’s Computer; Clearwater Police Report Narrative by Detective Stephen Bohling.
Gerald Gentile’s July 2008, interview.
Lyle’s (?)
Gerald Gentile describes his relationship with Brennan.
Clearwater Police Report
Who’s in Charge?
Excerpt of Gentile interview with Detective Bohling
Detective Bohling guiding Gerald Gentile-lining up the lies!
Kyle’s Computer, More Notes
Bernie McCabe, Church of Scientology, Death of Kyle Brennan, Denise Miscavige Gentile, Detective Steve Bohling, Gerald Gentile, Investigator Doug Barry, Officer Jonathan Yuen, Sixth Judicial Circuit
Here’s why almost six months passed before Kyle’s family mailed his computer back to Florida.
In March of 2007, Kyle’s brother Scott contacted the Clearwater Police Department to talk with Detective Stephen Bohling. Three weeks had passed since Kyle’s death, and Kyle’s family in Virginia had yet to receive a single phone call from the Clearwater Police Department. In this darkest of times—while we were in the throes of grief—we were completely baffled by this unprofessionalism on the part of the Clearwater police.
Didn’t they have questions? Weren’t they interested in information about Kyle that only his family in Virginia could provide?
That first telephone conversation between Virginia and Clearwater, Florida, was certainly an eye-opener. Scott’s impression of Detective Bohling—to put it mildly—was decidedly unfavorable. Bohling, said Scott, was arrogant and extremely rude. When Scott told the detective that Kyle’s computer was tampered with in the early morning hours after his death, for example, Bohling responded that he “didn’t care,” it wouldn’t change a thing.
In late February, when Kyle’s possessions—and his computer—were mailed back to Virginia, they were sent to Scott’s apartment, not to Kyle’s home. This is how Scott came to be in possession of Kyle’s computer.
When Bohling later requested that the computer be mailed back to Clearwater, Scott refused to release it to the detective. During the first meeting between Luke Lirot—the attorney representing Kyle’s family—and Bohling, the detective again requested that we send him the computer, but Scott still balked. The unprofessionalism of the Clearwater police, their lack of respect, and their obnoxious behavior had already made them well-nigh impossible to trust. Because of this point of view, we thought the computer should be forwarded to the FBI for analysis, not the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE). With great hesitation, therefore, Kyle’s computer was sent back to Clearwater almost six months after the detective requested it.
Thinking that the computer was with the FBI in Tampa, I contacted them and asked that they please check that Bohling had indeed brought it over. The Tampa-based FBI agent that I spoke with asked for background information. When he heard about the situation, heard about the family’s experience with Detective Bohling and his investigation, he exclaimed that one should always trust their instincts. He said that what the police detective had been telling my family didn’t add up. He also said that he’d personally check on the status of Kyle’s computer, but unfortunately, I never heard back from him.
Copy of information that was sent to the FBI and the Office of Bernie McCabe, State Attorney for the Sixth Judicial Circuit.
Excerpts from the deposition of Detective Stephen Bohling
Excerpt from the Deposition of S. Brennan
http://justiceforkylebrennan.blogspot.com/2012/08/the-death-of-20-year-old-kyle-brennan.html
The Narratives above are all Copyright 2023 Victoria Britton.
