Lisa McPherson Files - Interview of Keri Lee
This is an interview with
Keri Lee, a co-worker of Lisa McPherson's at AMC Publishing.
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FL0520300/Clearwater Police Department Report No. 95-29158
Offense Death Investigation Date of Report 03/12/97
Location 645 Pierce St. Orig Incident Date 12/06/95
Victim Lisa McPherson VI Prosecute Yes X No
Investigator Dot. J. Carrasquillo
Previous Status Active
Subject
Impound Inventory
NARRATIVE:
Det. Carrasquillo: Today's date is March 12, 1997. The time is 1515 hours. This is an
interview with Keri Lee concerning the Lisa McPherson investigation.
Present during the interview are Ron Cacciatore, Mrs. Lee's attorney,
FDLE Agent Sharon Feola, and myself Det. Carrasquillo. Keri, would
you please state your personal information for me for identification
purposes on that tape. I need you to state your full name, spell it, home
address, date of birth, Social Security number, home phone number, and
work number.
Ms. Lee: Okay. You'll have to remind me. I may forget.
Det. Carrasquillo: I'll remind you if you forget something.
Ms. Lee: Do you want my middle name?
Det. Carrasquillo: Your full legal name.
Ms. Lee: Full legal name. Okay. So its Keri Aileen Lee, that's K e r i A i l e e n, L
e e. My address is X, X. My phone
number is . My Social Security number is XXX-XX-XXXX.
Det. Carrasquillo: Date of birth.
Ms. Lee: Date of birth is X/71.
Det. Carrasquillo: And your work number.
Ms. Lee: .
Det. Carrasquillo: And you did provide your home number, right?
Ms. Lee: Yes, I did.
Det. Carrasquillo: Okay. What we're basically doing is, we're conducting an investigation
into Lisa's background, trying to get some information on her, prior to
her death December 5, 1995. At this point in time, you are not a
suspect. You're here as a witness and I would like for you to tell me in a
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FL0520300/Clearwater Police Department Report No. 95-29158
Offense Death Investigation Date of Report 03/12/97
synopsis form, how you met Lisa and what you know about Lisa and I'll
probably ask you specific questions.
Ms. Lee: Okay. Well, I met her through Tom, working at AMC Publishing. And,
we started working together on Winter Wonderland so that's how I
interacted with her. And, it wasn't - we didn't, we didn't see each other a
lot, just at the meetings if she was there. Usually she was on the phone
uh, doing the fund raising for Winter Wonderland. But, she'd come in
and brief us all on how it was going and who she needed to talk to and if
she needed any help from us. Um, and then Halloween party. Uh, I
guess that was 95, and then some more work on Winter Wonderland.
Det. Carrasquillo: Okay, you said you met her through Tom at work. What month? When
did you initially make contact with her first?
Ms. Lee: I think it was like - cause I was going to come up after he was finished,
and um, at first I think it was just, "Hi," you know and um, then, I don't
know; I think he started in (I'm so bad without a calendar in my face). I
think he started in February 95. I'm not sure exactly, but -
Det. Carrasquillo: Well, that's what he said.
Ms. Lee: Okay. Good, good, good. All right, so, I probably met her in probably
March.
Det. Carrasquillo: March of 95?
Ms. Lee: Um hm.
Det. Carrasquillo: Is that when you started also working for AMC Publishing?
Ms. Lee: No, I started in 96.
Det. Carrasquillo: Okay, so you were not working at the time.
Ms. Lee: No.
Det. Carrasquillo: And you said -is that when you started? When did you start working for
the Winter Wonderland project?
Ms. Lee: In the summer. We started doing - we started working on it. I can't
remember exactly. I think we had our initial meetings um, probably the
fall. Actually summer, but where we would meet regularly on it would be
fall.
Det. Carrasquillo: So your first contact with her was beside "Hi" when you picked up Tom at
work, in the summer of 95, when you were dealing with the Winter
Wonderland project, and then into the fall of 95.
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FL0520300/Clearwater Police Department Report No. 95-29158
Offense Death Investigation Date of Report 03/12/97
Ms. Lee: Yeah.
Det. Carrasquillo: Do you recall if she made the meetings - and I'm assuming July and
August would be the summer, June, July.
Ms. Lee: I wasn't there much - it must have been a little bit before - it must have
been -I think it was more June, cause in July and/August I wasn't
there.
Det. Carrasquillo: At the Winter Wonderland meetings?
Ms. Lee: Yeah.
Det. Carrasquillo: You were working somewhere else and just didn't make the meetings.
Were you out of state where you couldn't make the meetings?
Ms. Lee: No. No. I was - I was down at the beach everyday, so I wasn't able to
come to the meetings. So, I think it was; I know definitely August I was
not there. Maybe part of July I was there. I can't remember exactly, but
uh, she wasn't there every single time that I was there. She was either
uh, not there, or if she was there, she's usually in her office making calls
trying to get
Det. Carrasquillo: Where is there?
Ms. Lee: I'm sorry. The office. We'd hold in the conference room is where we
would hold the meetings.
Det. Carrasquillo: AMC Publishing?
Ms. Lee: Yeah.
Det. Carrasquillo: Okay. And, and, when she was there, how did she appear to you?
Ms. Lee: Um, like happy, sad?
Det. Carrasquillo: Yeah.
Ms. Lee: Okay. Um, kind of busy, you know, like uh, and happy, you know, kind
of like okay, this is what we're doing. This is who I need to contact. Who
has phone numbers for these people? Uh, I would just go over her game
plan on raising the money.
Det. Carrasquillo: Okay. So, it appeared it was someone in full control of their mental
facilities?
Ms. Lee: Oh it seemed it, yeah.
Det. Carrasquillo: Okay.
Agent Feola: Who else was responsible? You said that she was responsible for the
fund raising issue, raising funds for - who else was responsible for that?
Do you know?
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Ms. Lee: I was. But then I wasn't there for most of it, so
Agent Feola: I was just trying to see if there was someone that she was working with
closely to try to develop funds for the project.
Ms. Lee: Well, once I was off for the summer, I don't - I mean I know that she was
and um, I'm not sure exactly who else. I mean, I could look back in the
records and see. An, I know T. C. Applebaum is now.
Agent Feola: We'll ask her that.
Ms. Lee: She may know, because I wasn't around during the summer.
Det. Carrasquillo: Okay. When was your last contact with Lisa prior to her death?
Ms. Lee: Um. It was a Saturday. I'm not sure exactly when. It's like, we were
doing preparations at the site, you know, the props and everything like
painting them, and tying ribbons on them. Uh, poles.
Agent Feola: Where was that at? Do you remember?
Ms. Lee: It was at a warehouse. Winter Wonder - it's not where the warehouse is
now, but a Winter Wonderland warehouse.
Agent Feola: Where was that at?
Ms. Lee: It was off of Myrtle. I don't remember-I mean I can't get there right
now. But, it was off of Myrtle.
Det. Carrasquillo: Jeffords?
Ms. Lee: Could be. Could be, yeah. It was in that area where Jeffords is.
Det. Carrasquillo: Who else was there that day?
Ms. Lee: Bennetta, Slaughter, Katie Chamberlain, uh, Heide Peens.
Agent Feola: Hyda?
Det. Carrasquillo: How do you spell that?
Ms. Lee: Spelling is Heide Peens. And Franz Rider - he was there for part of the
day. Tommie I think was there. Yeah he was there for the day.
Although I think the guys were mainly doing the heavy stuff down at the
site, I think.
Det. Carrasquillo: And Lisa was also there?
Ms. Lee: Yeah.
Det. Carrasquillo: Just try to refresh your mind. Was this the same date she had her
accident?
Ms. Lee: I don't know. I didn't know about her accident until I read the paper.
After she had died. But she was out of it. She was like, um, real - well
what I remember is that she was vacuuming part of the warehouse and
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Offense Death Investigation Date of Report 03/12/97
she was just standing there looking up and like, you know, just standing
there with the vacuum on. So I was kind of freaked out about that.
Det. Carrasquillo: Okay.
Agent Feola: What else?
Ms. Lee: That was it. I mean I didn't talk to her.
Agent Feola: You didn't have any contact with her at all.
Ms. Lee: No I didn't.
Det. Carrasquillo: Did you report it to anyone?
Ms. Lee: Oh yeah. Bennetta was standing - you know I went to Bennetta -
something's wrong with Lisa. And she was...so I brought her over and
she saw, so she said to her, Lisa, Lisa. And she tried to get her
attention. She got her attention. And, so then Lisa started vacuuming
again. And then after that, I think Bennetta took her off vacuuming.
Maybe, I don't know who did, but anyway, next time I saw her was she
was sitting in the car with Katie Chamberlain
Agent Feola: Who is Katie's car?
Ms. Lee: It looked like she was sleeping. I just figured she was kind of I don't
know, kind of freaked, or whacked out, or whatever, and she just needed
to be alone and
Det. Carrasquillo: Some space?
Ms. Lee: Yeah. So, and I remember Katie - I think Katie went and got the food
and she like, got some lawn chairs.
Agent Feola: And that's the last time you saw her?
Atty. Cacciatore: Do you know how long she had been in the car?
Ms. Lee: Oh, it wasn't - I don't think it was a long time. It looked, I mean it looked
like - I remember looking over and I saw that Katie was in the car. It was
on, the air conditioning was on, and Lisa was just kind of had her seat
back and her eyes were closed and she was just kind of...
Atty. Cacciatore: How did you happen to notice that?
Ms. Lee: Uh, I was walking around.
Atty. Cacciatore: (unintelligible) Okay, but I guess my problem is that I don't understand
what we're talking about. Where was the car in relationship to the
warehouse, I guess that's what I'm asking.
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FL0520300/Clearwater Police Department Report No. 95-29158
Offense Death Investigation Date of Report 03/12/97
Ms. Lee: Well, here's the warehouse. Here's like the door. And the car was like
here. And we were doing painting and stuff outside. Plus, I had my little
girls, so I was chasing her around a lot.
Atty. Cacciatore: How old are your little girls?
Ms. Lee: Their five and four now.
Atty. Cacciatore: So they were running around?
Ms. Lee: Oh, always. Totally running.
Det. Carrasquillo: Was there any - do you know if Lisa left with Katie that day?
Ms. Lee: I'm not sure. I mean I assume so.
Agent Feola: Do you know how she got there? How Lisa got to the..
Ms. Lee: I don't know. I didn't see it as far as that. Maybe Katie.
Det. Carrasquillo: Okay, so that's the last contact you had with Lisa prior to her death?
Ms. Lee: Um hm.
Det. Carrasquillo: From that day forward you had no other contact with her?
Ms. Lee: Um mm.
Det. Carrasquillo: Do you have any information regarding the circumstances surrounding
Lisa's leave of absence in July? I know you were not working then.
Ms. Lee: I didn't even know she was gone. No one mentioned it until recently.
Det. Carrasquillo: How about her isolation from November 18th to December 5, 1995? Any
information on that whatsoever?
Ms. Lee: Um mm.
Det. Carrasquillo: Did you hear anything about that at work?
Ms. Lee: Well, I think I remember asking where Lisa was. And, uh, I think they
said either medical leave or leave of absence. And I didn't ask any other
questions about that.
Det. Carrasquillo: Do you remember when you asked? How was that? You had some kind
of good holidays to kind of give you a hint - you got Thanksgiving, you got
Agent Feola: Halloween.
Det. Carrasquillo: Christmas.
Ms. Lee: It was after Halloween.
Agent Feola: Did you go to the Halloween party?
Ms. Lee: Yeah. I did.
Det. Carrasquillo: How did she behave at the Halloween party?
Ms. Lee: Ah, she was dancing and bubbly, and happy, and..
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FL0520300/Clearwater Police Department Report No. 95-29158
Offense Death Investigation Date of Report 03/12/97
Agent Feola: Did she wear a costume?
Ms. Lee: You know, I don't think so. She had a black shirt and black pants. I
don't think she did wear a costume.
Det. Carrasquillo: So she appeared perfectly normal.
Ms. Lee~ : Yeah.
Det. Carrasquillo: I'm talking about mental. She wasn't doing what she was doing at the
warehouse.
Ms. Lee: Oh no, No, no, no. She was happy and I danced with her for a little bit
and
Det. Carrasquillo: Okay. Do you have any information or know anything about Gloria living
with Lisa? Gloria Cruz.
Ms. Lee: I just knew that they lived together. But, that was it.
Det. Carrasquillo: You don't know why Gloria moved in?
Ms. Lee: I just figured Gloria needed a roommate. Or, Lisa did.
Det. Carrasquillo: How did you learn about Lisa's death and circumstances?
Ms. Lee: Tommy told me. I think it was Wednesday.
Det. Carrasquillo: cause you were not at AMC Publishing?
Ms. Lee: Mm mm. I went to pick him up. I remember he told me outside and I
remember Bennetta walked by and said, I guess I'm in trouble. Anyway,
then he told me and
Agent Feola: Why would you be in trouble?
Ms. Lee: Oh, just from Tommy you know, because pulling me outside, you know.
Kind of joking.
Det. Carrasquillo: Did you care for her at all from November 18th to December 5th, or do you
know of anyone who did? In other words, did you drive her, or go up to
her apartment?
Ms. Lee: Um mm.
Atty. Cacciatore: You need to answer
Ms. Lee: Oh, I'm sorry. Ah, no. I didn't see her after that time at the warehouse.
Det. Carrasquillo: And you never had occasion to drive up to her apartment during that
time frame.
Ms. Lee: No, I never went to her house. I didn't know where she lived.
Agent Feola: How long have you been a Scientologist?
Ms. Lee: Since 86.
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Offense Death Investigation Date of Report 03/12/97
Det. Carrasquillo: I know your husband said he was cleared. Have you reached that
plateau also?
Ms. Lee: No.
Det. Carrasquillo: Okay. Do you know what the introspection rundown is?
Ms. Lee: No.
Det. Carrasquillo: Never heard of it?
Ms. Lee: I've heard of it because I read the papers.
Det. Carrasquillo: Okay. Do you have - do you know why, you couldn't tell me what it is or
the function or anything else.
Ms. Lee: No.
Det. Carrasquillo: Did you attend Lisa's ceremony for clear?
Ms. Lee: Did I what? Oh, when she announced it?
Det. Carrasquillo: Her ceremony for clear?
Ms. Lee: Uh, no.
Det. Carrasquillo: Okay. When Lisa got back - we know she went to Orlando for a
convention November 15, 16, 17. When she came back from that
convention, did you have an occasion to meet with her or talk to her?
That was prior to the Saturday that you guys had contact with her.
Ms. Lee: Um mm. No, the time before that was Halloween when I saw her. Unless
it was like in the hallway or something. I don't remember anything
specific
Det. Carrasquillo: What's your understanding of Lisa's death or the circumstances
surrounding it?
Ms. Lee: From what I was what I kind of put together - was learned from the
newspaper. Um, that she had an embolism or aneurysm, I don't
remember which. Ah, I guess it's the blood clot to the heart. And um,
that she - I remember when we had asked what happened, uh, there was
the car accident and from what I you know, looked up, trying to
understand what you know an aneurysm or an embolism is. I guess it's
an embolism. An aneurysm is a blood clot to the heart, ah head. Okay,
so um, I kind of put together that um, I think it was in the paper, said
that she had a bruise on her leg or someone had told me that she got a
bruise on her leg from the car accident and that that could you know,
could have traveled and clotted the heart.
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Offense Death Investigation Date of Report 03/12/97
Det. Carrasquillo: Any questions?
Agent Feola: I just have one question. Ah, did you at any time Keri, discuss Lisa's
behavior that you observed Saturday with anyone after that Saturday?
You never mentioned it to anyone, Bennetta, Katie?
Ms. Lee: Well, I talked to Bennetta that day.
Agent Feola: How about afterwards?
Ms. Lee: I don't know. I mean I might have. I might have like asked, you know, is
she okay, and like how's she doing?
Agent Feola: Right. Or where's she at?
Ms. Lee: Yeah.
Agent Feola: Cause she was really involved in this Winter Wonderland project prior to
the 18th of November, okay. Now, just think with me for a minute. Now
she drops off the face of the earth. She is charge of raising all this
money, okay, and no one has contact with her for seventeen days and no
one speculates where is she? What happened to her? Where's our
donation money? Who's going to pick up her lead?
Ms. Lee: I didn't see her that often, so I wouldn't have known, you know, like how
many days she was gone, or whatever. Uh, there was something you
said that made me think of something.
Agent Feola: Um, I mean I am sure, I mean even if it was an acquaintance, and I
observed some kind of oddity, or this odd behavior, I'm sure that I would
bring it up to someone after the fact, and say, hey, what's going on with
Susie?
Ms. Lee: Yeah. I can't remember if I, you know talked to anyone, like who I talked
to. But, I remember uh,
Agent Feola: Who else can you think of that was there that perhaps maybe could
maybe offer us some insight into her behavior on that day?
Ms. Lee: I know Franz was in the room with her at the time. When she was
vacuuming. He was like hammering or something. I mean there were a
lot of people there that day. But, they kind of came in shifts. And the
other thing was that um, I hadn't worked that much on it, like I wasn't
even going to work there that day, cause I didn't, you know Tommie said
okay, well I have to work today. I was like, well what are you going to
do? And he said, well, can you drive me here? And I said, okay, so when
I got there, I saw that they needed my help, so you know, I just had my
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Offense Death Investigation Date of Report 03/12/97
girls and we did what we could. Uh, but I didn't know that they were
going to be doing it that day. So, I didn't - you know it wasn't like
Agent Feola: Ready to go to work all day there.
Ms. Lee: Right. And I, you know, no one had called me - say we need your help.
So I - uh, I remember knowing that you know she was in good hands
kind of thing, so I wasn't like concerned,
Agent Feola: Like, there were friends there
Ms. Lee: Yeah, yeah. I knew that
Agent Feola: Was Gloria Cruise there that day?
Ms. Lee: I'm not sure. I don't remember specifically that she was. She could have
been. I don't remember if she was.
Agent Feola: How about anyone named Jeannie DeKyper?
Ms. Lee: I don't think so.
Agent Feola: How about Judy Goldsberry-Webber?
Ms. Lee: Uh uh. I don't know who that is.
Agent Feola: But Bennetta was there for sure.
Ms. Lee: Oh yeah.
Agent Feola: How about Brenda?
Ms. Lee: You know, I can't remember exactly. She could have been. I didn't know
Brenda very well.
Agent Feola: Katie was there, we know that.
Ms. Lee: Katie definitely was there. She definitely was there.
Agent Feola: And we don't know where Lisa's car was.
Ms. Lee: No, I can't remember it being there.
Det. Carrasquillo: Just one more question and then I'll - we'll be done. Did anyone direct
you to write anything for us about Lisa's behavior that day? Have you
ever written any reports or documented any of Lisa's behavior and deliver
same to the church?
Ms. Lee: Um mm.
Det. Carrasquillo: So, there should be no report that your name is on.
Ms. Lee: Um mm. No, cause I...
Agent Feola: You were kind of...
Det. Carrasquillo: You know what I'm talking about. I've been told by several
Scientologists, that if its' not written its not the truth. And a lot of them
will write what they see for later recollection.
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Ms. Lee: No. Ha ha ha.
Det. Carrasquillo: Well, that's what I was told.
Agent Feola: Okay.
Ms. Lee: No, I didn't write anything.
Det. Carrasquillo: You don't know anything about that philosophy?
Ms. Lee: Well, I know that if you want to - say like you want to get something
done, for instance, I mean this is how I do it. If you want to get
something done, like, I don't know, uh, whatever, I can't really think, but
whatever you want to get done, uh, you just put it in writing so that if
the person forgets or whatever, they can just look back and you know.
Det. Carrasquillo: Like a recall.
Agent Feola: Like a recollection type thing.
Det. Carrasquillo: But if you and Attorney Cacciatore were out on a dance and he started
doing weird things, would you write - document his behavior?
Ms. Lee: No. I would tell my friends. Ha ha ha ha. You know, tell someone.
Agent Feola: But, if you knew - let's hypertheticalize - if you knew that Ron was going
be going to his auditor to receive counseling, would maybe you
document that to give him some guidance?
Ms. Lee: No. No. For me, what I understand of it, is you just write you know.
Say, like you get an order from your superior - you know, I want you to
clean out blah blah, and make this, and do that, so you make a list -
okay these are the things that I need to do. And that would be
Det. Carrasquillo: Like me, I have Alzheimer's so I just
Agent Feola: List making is a pretty common phenomenon.
Det. Carrasquillo: Okay, I think that'll conclude this interview. And the time is 1544.
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FL0520300/Clearwater Police Department Report No. 95-29158
Offense Death Investigation Date of Report 03/12/97
Ofc. Reporting Det. J. Carrasquillo /cs ID No. 630
Case Status _______________________________ Date Cleared _____________
Clearance Type Exception Type
I. Arrest 1. Extradition declined 3. Death of Offender
Adult Juvenile 2. AR of primary offense, 4. V/W refused to cooperate
2. Exceptional secondary offense, 5. Prosecution declined
3. Unfounded w/o prosecution 6. Juv/No Custody
Ofc. Reviewing Date SAO Info
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