Subject: Marianne Coenan stories
Metro; PART-B; Metro Desk D.A.
Won't File Charges Against Man Who
Kept Wife Locked Up JOHN H. LEE
01/31/1990 Los Angeles Times Home
Page 3 (Copyright, The Times
Mirror Company; Los Angeles Times
1990 All Rights Reserved)
The Los Angeles County district
attorney's office has decided not
to file criminal charges against
the husband of a mentally
distraught woman who was kept
isolated in a cell-like bedroom
for two months, a prosecutor in
Pomona said Tuesday.
Edwin Coenan, 41, was arrested
Dec. 5 after Pomona police found
his wife incoherent, bruised and
confined in a boarded-up room at a
residence in the Phillips Ranch
area.
Deputy Dist. Atty. John Hayes said
the case was being "kicked back to
police detectives for further
investigation." Detective Carolyn
Lundstrum said Coenan has refused
to discuss the case with police.
She added that the wife's father
and stepmother, Floyd and Audrey
Twede, who live at the house, also
refused to answer police
questions. The Twedes were not
arrested.
Attorneys for the husband and the
Twedes told investigators that
Marianne Coenan, 31, was isolated
so she could safely recover from a
mental breakdown suffered in
October. When police and Los
Angeles County mental health
workers found Coenan, she was
locked behind a door into which a
small, square window was cut and
steel bars had been inserted.
"Generally speaking, the family
was not under obligation to report
(the confinement)," Hayes said.
"Our decision not to file charges
was based on insufficient
information to support the case.
From what I read between the
lines, these people actually
thought they were benefiting this
woman." The family, which belongs
to the Church of Scientology,
apparently adhered to beliefs
espoused by the church's late
founder, L. Ron Hubbard-
particularly, a disdain for
psychiatric treatment.
Coenan 's confinement was
consistent with the method of
treating mental breakdowns
described in Scientology
literature that police requested
and reviewed while investigating
the case, Lundstrum said.
"Based on the report we submitted,
the (district attorney's) office
was not convinced that any
criminal activity took place," the
detective said.
Prosecutor Hayes said the
investigation will continue until
additional relatives and friends
of the woman are questioned.
"We want the police to conduct a
few more interviews," Hayes said.
"I don't think the wife has been
questioned yet," he said. "I
believe her condition has improved
greatly, though. The detectives
will talk to her when she is able
to handle an interview." --
NEWS LOS ANGELES BRIEFLY
01/31/1990 The Orange County
Register EVENING Page a03
...
No charges: Los Angeles Deputy
District Attorney John Hayes on
Tuesday said officials had
insufficient information to file
any charges against Edwin Coenan,
41, of Pomona, the husband of a
mentally distraught woman who was
kept isolated in a bedroom for two
months. Police arrested Coenan on
Dec. 5 after they found his wife
incoherent, bruised and confined
in the boarded-up room.
Hayes said the case has been
returned to police for further
investigation. The woman
reportedly has improved greatly
since she released from the
isolated room.
...
--
Metro; PART-B; Metro Desk
Captivity Case May be Tied to
Faith Investigation: Church
teachings may explain why a
mentally ill woman was kept locked
up in her Pomona home, police say.
JOHN H. LEE; JOHN JOHNSON
01/13/1990 Los Angeles Times Home
Page 3 (Copyright, The Times
Mirror Company; Los Angeles Times
1990 All Rights Reserved)
Pomona police said Friday they are
investigating whether beliefs
espoused by the Church of
Scientology led a family to
confine a mentally disabled woman
in a cell-like bedroom at a
Phillips Ranch house.
While stressing that neither the
church nor its beliefs are under
investigation, police said they
want to know if Scientology
practices could explain why the
woman was kept in confinement.
Police and Los Angeles County
mental health workers discovered
Marianne Coenan, 31, locked in a
sparsely furnished room with a
boarded-up window after they
entered the residence on Jan. 5.
The woman was incoherent and had
bruises and scratches on her legs,
wrists and neck, police said. She
was kept behind a door into which
a small, square opening was cut
and steel bars had been inserted,
police said.
Her husband, Edwin Coenan, 41, was
arrested the same day and booked
on suspicion of false imprisonment
and endangering a dependent adult.
He has been released on $5,000
bail, and no charges have been
filed.
The woman's father and stepmother,
Floyd and Audrey Twede, as well as
the victim's half-brother, Steven,
are also under investigation,
police said. The Twedes rented the
house on Rolling Hills Drive where
the woman was confined.
Police said they saw Scientology
printed material in the house and
plan to review documents written
by Scientology's late founder L.
Ron Hubbard that describe how to
treat mental breakdowns. In the
documents, Hubbard recommended
isolation as a treatment and also
warned his followers to avoid
conventional psychiatric care.
"During talks with attorneys
representing the (husband and the
Twedes), it has always been a
given fact that they are
Scientologists," Pomona Police
Detective Carolyn Lundstrum said.
"The family also made statements
to the effect that they didn't
believe in some forms of medicine
and psychiatric help," Sgt. Elias
Valdez said. "We are trying to
determine what connection the
beliefs had with the false
imprisonment." Investigators said
other relatives and friends of the
woman said she had been kept in
the room for at least eight weeks
after suffering a mental breakdown
in October.
"Attorneys for the husband and
parents have said that Marianne
became so violent, she was hurting
herself," Lundstrum said. "So they
created a space where she could
not harm herself. They said they
did it for her own safety." The
woman's confinement came to the
attention of authorities after
Cathy Speer of Hillsboro, Ore.,
said her sister failed to arrive
in Oregon for the Christmas
holidays, Lundstrum said. Speer
asked police to go to the Phillips
Ranch home to check on her, the
detective added.
After Edwin Coenan 's arrest, a
relative called the Church of
Scientology and was referred to
Timothy Bowles, whose Los Angeles
law firm represents the church on
various matters. Bowles told The
Times that he had been briefly
involved in the case, but is not
defending Coenan.
Church spokeswoman Shirley Young
confirmed Friday that the Coenans
and Twedes are Scientologists but
added that the care of Marianne
Coenan "was not a church matter...
nor did the church take any stand
with relationship to her
treatment." Specifically, police
said they will review a "technical
bulletin" authored in 1974 by
Hubbard, in which he describes the
"Introspection Rundown"-a process
for treating people with mental
breakdowns.
He wrote that people suffering
severe mental anguish, or a
"psychotic break," should be
isolated and "destimulated" to
protect them and others from
possible harm. During the process,
Hubbard added, the "muzzled rule
is in force," meaning that no one
should speak to the troubled
person or talk within earshot.
The document also articulates
Hubbard's understanding of
psychosis and his disdain for
psychiatry.
Asked if the family was using a
church-approved treatment for
psychosis, church spokeswoman
Young said Coenan 's isolation was
"a medical matter" and added that
"the church takes no official
stand on it." However, church
officials, relatives and police
said Coenan had been under medical
supervision during the two months
of confinement.
Young, asked whether the family
was applying the "Introspection
Rundown," said, "I'm just becoming
abreast of the situation. So far
as what they did, this is a sad
and unfortunate case." Detective
Lundstrum, meanwhile, said the
bulletin "may help explain what
the people were doing, but the
information has absolutely no
legal bearing on the case."
Detectives visited Marianne Coenan
several times this week at a
private psychiatric hospital in
Pomona, Lundstrum said. Coenan
appeared to be in fair physical
condition, and "she had some lucid
moments, but she still has not
been able to concentrate," the
detective said.
"I haven't talked to her yet about
the case," Lundstrum said. "She is
not ready to be questioned. She
says things to herself, most of
which I couldn't understand."
Relatives told police that her
condition deteriorated over the
past year, during which time she
had been taken to several doctors.
One of those physicians was James
R. Privitera, a Covina
nutritionist and allergist. Coenan
was brought to his office two
months ago, and he recommended a
CAT scan, which is a medical
imaging procedure, Privitera said.
The doctor declined to discuss the
case in detail, citing the need to
protect the patient's privacy.
Privitera said he told the police
investigators he would discuss the
case with them if they obtained a
court order.
Privitera was placed on medical
probation in 1980 after
prescribing the controversial drug
laetrile to cancer patients. In
1987, the state moved to revoke
his probation and end his
practice. Privitera has denied the
allegations, and the case against
him is pending.
Privitera said he has no
connection to Scientology and the
church has never steered patients
to his practice.
Detectives said charges against
Edwin Coenan must be formally
filed by Thursday.
At that time, charges against any
other suspects will be filed, if
there are any, Lundstrum said.
--
Metro; PART-B; Metro Desk Family
of Woman Locked in Cell-Like Room
Will Be Questioned CAROL McGRAW
01/08/1990 Los Angeles Times Home
Page 1 (Copyright, The Times
Mirror Company; Los Angeles Times
1990 All Rights Reserved)
The father and stepmother of a
mentally ill woman found locked in
a cell-like room in the Phillips
Ranch area of Pomona lived in the
rented house with her and will be
questioned as to why she was being
kept a virtual prisoner, police
said.
No charges have been filed against
the couple or their two grown
children, who also lived at the
house, police said. A spokesman
for the Pomona Police Department
said investigators expect to
interview all four, whom he
refused to identify by name, as to
why the frail-looking woman was
locked away.
The couple's son-in-law, Edwin
Clemens Coenan, 41, was arrested
Friday for allegedly imprisoning
his wife, Marianne Coenan, 31, at
the four-bedroom, one-story home.
Edwin Coenan, who told police he
is a truck driver and lives in
Hendersonville, Tenn., is now free
on $5,000 bail. He has refused to
talk to police until he has an
attorney present, Lt. Larry Todd
said.
"We don't know what to assume
happened yet, until we talk to
everyone. But there are several
theories," Todd said, including
the possibility that the family
"wanted to resolve the woman's
problems on their own." A tip from
a doctor who had examined the
woman at the house led police to
the discovery late Friday. The
woman is now undergoing
psychiatric evaluation at a Los
Angeles County Mental Health
Department facility in the Pomona
area.
When found, she was incoherent and
unable to talk to authorities,
police said.
She had bruises on her legs and
scratches on her neck and hands. A
preliminary examination indicated
Sunday that she is not ailing
physically, although was very thin
and frail when officers found her,
police said.
Upon their arrival Friday at the
home, located at 3 Rolling Hills
Drive, officers and mental health
workers said they found that the
door to one of the four bedrooms
had been bolted shut. According to
their account, steel bars had
covered a 5-inch- square peephole
which had been cut in the door.
The only window in the bedroom had
been covered with plywood;
carpeting had been removed to
expose a concrete floor. The
room's light switch had been
rewired so it could be operated
only from outside in the hallway.
The furniture in the room included
a mattress, blanket and dishpan.
But when police returned to the
house Saturday with a search
warrant, they found that someone
had tidied up the room, Todd said.
A new door had been installed,
plywood had been taken off the
window, and carpeting had been
placed in the room. However,
investigators said they found the
old door and plywood in the garage
and confiscated them for evidence.
"We don't know who made the
changes, whether it was the people
living there or the landlord,"
Todd said.
--
METRO Incoherent woman found
locked in "cell' Confined in
bedroom of affluent suburban home
01/07/1990 San Francisco Examiner
THIRD Page B-4 (Copyright 1990)
POMONA - A bruised, incoherent and
possibly mentally ill woman was
found locked in a "cell" fashioned
from a bedroom of an affluent
suburban home, police said
Saturday. Her husband was
arrested.
The 31-year-old woman, whose name
was withheld, was placed in a
psychiatric facility for
observation, said police Lt. Larry
Todd.
Her husband, Edwin Coenan, 41, was
arrested and booked for
investigation of false
imprisonment and cruelty to a
dependent adult, Todd said. He
posted $5,000 bail and was
released from custody.
The relationship and roles of
three other adults who appeared to
also live at the house remained
under investigation.
Police officers accompanied by a
mental health evaluation team went
to the home in the Phillips Ranch
neighborhood about 6:30 p.m.
Friday and found the woman locked
in the room.
"We received information from a
physician who had seen her," Todd
said.
"Someone took her to this location
and he felt she was either
mentally incapacitated or
physically incapacitated, and the
people took her away before he
could treat her. He called us. We
went out basically to check on her
safety." The woman was locked in a
"cell-type" bedroom, he said.
The room was secured from the
outside by a bolt lock on the
door. A 5-inch by 5-inch hole had
been cut in the door as an
observation port and covered by a
grate. The only window in the room
had plywood nailed over it.
A mattress, blanket and plastic
dishpan were the only furnishings.
"She was on the concrete slab
floor," Todd said.
The woman was incoherent and the
mental health evaluators declared
her gravely disabled. Police took
custody of her under state welfare
law.
Bruises on her legs and arms were
examined at a hospital and found
to not be serious injuries,
clearing her for transfer to a
psychiatric facility for a 72-hour
observation period allowed by law.
After 72 hours, Los Angeles County
mental health authorities must
decide whether she can be released
or requires further care.
The house was in "excellent
shape," Todd said, and the
investigators' report indicated
the confinement room was clean.
Police did not know what caused
the woman's bruises.
Investigators also did not know
how long she had been confined
"other than it took someone some
time to modify that room," Todd
said.
Coenan was placed under arrest at
the hospital where his wife was
first taken for examination.
"He invoked his rights so he
didn't really tell us a lot about
what had occurred," Todd said.
--
NEWS HUSBAND ARRESTED AFTER WIFE
FOUND IN `CELL' Associated Press
01/07/1990 Los Angeles Daily News
Valley N7 (Copyright 1990) A
bruised, incoherent and possibly
mentally ill woman was found
locked in a "cell" fashioned from
a bedroom of an affluent suburban
home, police said Saturday. Her
husband was arrested.
The 31-year-old woman, whose name
was withheld, was placed in a
psychiatric facility for three
days of observation, said police
Lt. Larry Todd.
Her husband, Edwin Coenan, 41, was
arrested and booked for
investigation of false
imprisonment and cruelty to a
dependent adult, Todd said. He
posted $5,000 bail and was
released from custody.
Police officers accompanied by a
mental health evaluation team went
to the home in the Phillips Ranch
neighborhood about 6:30 p.m.
Friday and found the woman locked
in the room.
"We received information from a
physician who had seen her," Todd
said.
"Someone took her to his location
and he felt she was either
mentally incapacitated or
physically incapacitated, and the
people took her away before he
could treat her. He called us. We
went out basically to check on her
safety." The woman was locked in a
"cell-type" bedroom, he said.
The room was secured from the
outside by a bolt lock on the
door. A 5-inch by 5-inch hole had
been cut in the door as an
observation port and covered by a
grate. The only window in the room
had plywood nailed over it.
A mattress, blanket and plastic
dishpan were the only furnishings.
"She was on the concrete slab
floor," Todd said.
The woman was incoherent and the
mental health evaluators declared
her gravely disabled. Police took
custody of her under state welfare
law.
Bruises on her legs and arms were
examined at a hospital and found
to not be serious injuries,
clearing her for transfer to a
psychiatric facility for a 72-hour
observation period allowed by law.
After 72 hours, Los Angeles County
mental health authorities must
decide whether she can be released
or requires further care.
The house was in "excellent
shape," Todd said, and the
investigators' report indicated
the confinement room was clean.
--
NEWS Woman freed by police // She
was found in makeshift `cell' :The
Associated Press
01/07/1990 The Orange County
Register EVENING Page a03 A
bruised, incoherent and possibly
mentally ill woman was found
locked in a "cell" fashioned from
a bedroom of an affluent suburban
home, police said Saturday. Her
husband was arrested.
The 31-year-old woman, whose name
was withheld, was placed in a
psychiatric facility for three
days of observation, police Lt.
Larry Todd said.
Her husband, Edwin Coenan, 41, was
arrested and booked for
investigation of false
imprisonment and cruelty to a
dependent adult, Todd said. He
posted $5,000 bail and was
released from custody.
The relationship and roles of
three other adults who appeared to
also live at the house remained
under investigation.
Police officers accompanied by a
mental-health evaluation team went
to the home in the well-to-do
Phillips Ranch neighborhood about
6:30 p.m. Friday and found the
woman locked in the room.
"We received information from a
physician who had seen her," Todd
said.
"Someone took her to his location
and he felt she was either
mentally incapacitated or
physically incapacitated, and the
people took her away before he
could treat her. He called us. We
went out basically to check on her
safety." The woman was locked in a
"cell-type" bedroom, he said.
The room was secured from the
outside by a bolt lock on the
door. A 5-inch by 5-inch hole had
been cut in the door as an
observation port and covered by a
grate. The only window in the room
had plywood nailed over it.
A mattress, blanket and plastic
dishpan were the only furnishings.
"She was on the concrete slab
floor," Todd said.
The woman was incoherent and the
mental-health evaluators declared
her gravely disabled. Police took
custody of her under state welfare
law.
Bruises on her legs and arms were
examined at a hospital and found
to not be serious injuries,
clearing her for transfer to a
psychiatric facility for the 72-
hour observation period allowed by
law.
After 72 hours, Los Angeles County
mental-health authorities must
decide whether she can be released
or requires further care.
The house was in "excellent
shape," Todd said, and the
investigators' report indicated
the confinement room was clean.
Police did not know what caused
the woman's bruises.
Investigators also did not know
how long she had been confined
"other than it took someone some
time to modify that room," Todd
said.
Coenan was placed under arrest at
the hospital where his wife was
first taken for examination.
"He invoked his rights, so he
didn't really tell us a lot about
what had occurred," Todd said.
The Police Department will take
the case to the district attorney,
he said.
--
NEWS The World/Nation... in brief
Captive wife is freed
01/07/1990 The San Diego Union-
Tribune UNION; 1,2 Page A-23
(Copyright 1990) POMONA -- A
mentally ill woman was rescued
from a cell-type bedroom where her
husband allegedly held her
captive, police said yesterday.
Edwin Coenan, 41, was booked on
suspicion of false imprisonment
and endangering a dependent adult
after officers discovered his wife
locked in the bedroom of their
home Friday evening, Lt. Ron
Frazier said. Coenan was released
after posting $5,000 bail.
Police were notified after a
doctor examined the woman earlier
in the day.
Details about her mental and
emotional condition were not
immediately available, but Lt.
Larry Todd described her as
"gravely disabled and unable to
care for herself." United Press
International
--
Metro; PART-B; Metro Desk Man Held
Mentally Ill Wife Captive in Home,
Police Say DAVID FREED; EUGENE AHN
01/07/1990 Los Angeles Times Home
Page 1 (Copyright, The Times
Mirror Company; Los Angeles Times
1990 All Rights Reserved)
A mentally disabled woman who
apparently had been kept locked
away in a stark, cell-like bedroom
in Pomona was under psychiatric
observation Saturday while her
truck driver husband was free on
bail after being arrested for
allegedly imprisoning her.
Authorities said they could not
immediately determine how long or
why Marianne Coenan, 31, had been
kept in the room. They described
her as incoherent when police
officers and Los Angeles County
mental health workers found her
late Friday.
"Her husband didn't want us in
there, but we went in anyway,"
said Pomona Police Lt. Larry Todd.
Police had been tipped off by a
doctor who had examined the woman
earlier in the day. It was not
immediately clear why the woman
had been examined or by whom.
When officers and mental health
workers arrived at the one- story,
wood-frame house, located at 3
Rolling Hills Drive in the
Phillips Ranch area, they found
that the door to one of four
bedrooms inside had been bolted
shut. Steel bars covered a 5-inch
square opening in the door.
The only window in the bedroom had
been covered with plywood. The
carpeting had been removed,
leaving a bare concrete floor. The
only furnishings, Todd said, were
a mattress, a blanket and a
plastic dishpan. A naked light
bulb shone from the ceiling.
"She was incoherent, rambling on"
when authorities opened the door,
Todd said.
"The (mental health) people
evaluated her as being
psychologically...
disabled." Marianne Coenan, Todd
said, was wearing a shirt and
pants but no shoes. Her legs were
bruised, and scratches covered her
wrists and neck, but she was
otherwise uninjured.
She was taken to Pomona Valley
Medical Center for evaluation,
then placed by county health
officials in an unidentified
psychiatric facility in the Pomona
area for a 72-hour observation
period.
Todd said the husband, Edwin
Clemens Coenan, 41, a truck driver
from Hendersonville, Tenn.,
refused to answer any questions
without an attorney present. He
was arrested on suspicion of false
imprisonment and endangering a
dependent adult.
Coenan was booked into the Pomona
jail and released a few hours
later after posting $5,000 bail,
Todd said.
On Saturday, a man with graying
brown hair who identified himself
as Marianne Coenan 's husband
answered the door of the house but
declined to discuss the case with
a reporter.
"A lot of people have been asking
me about this, and we just don't
have any comment," he said.
The exterior of the house offers
no hint of the prison-like
conditions that police said they
found inside.
The house and grounds are not well-
maintained compared to other homes
on the street, some of which have
elaborate front yards adorned with
shrubs trimmed in perfectly shaped
geometric forms.
At least three other adults live
in the house where Marianne Coenan
was found, according to officers,
but neither police nor neighbors
knew whether they were friends or
relatives.
No one questioned Saturday was
sure how long the Coenans had
lived there.
"One of the things I noticed
was... they're never out doing
yard work," said next-door
neighbor Roger Sparkman.
Neighbors, including Sparkman, 34,
said they had little, if any,
contact with the Coenans.
PHOTO: Inside the house at 3
Rolling Hills Drive is a stripped-
down room with a door that bolts
shut, police say. They claim Edwin
Clemens Coenan kept his wife
captive there. / ADRIENNE HELITZER
/ Los Angeles Times
January 31, 1990, Wednesday, Home
Edition
SECTION: Metro; Part B; Page 3;
Column 2; Metro Desk
LENGTH: 393 words
HEADLINE: D.A. WON'T FILE CHARGES
AGAINST MAN WHO KEPT WIFE LOCKED
UP
BYLINE: By JOHN H. LEE, TIMES
STAFF WRITER
BODY: The Los Angeles County
district attorney's office has
decided not to file criminal
charges against the husband of a
mentally distraught woman who was
kept isolated in a cell-like
bedroom for two months, a
prosecutor in Pomona said Tuesday.
Edwin Coenan, 41, was arrested
Dec. 5 after Pomona police found
his wife incoherent, bruised and
confined in a boarded-up room at a
residence in the Phillips Ranch
area.
Deputy Dist. Atty. John Hayes said
the case was being "kicked back to
police detectives for further
investigation."
Detective Carolyn Lundstrum said
Coenan has refused to discuss the
case with police. She added that
the wife's father and stepmother,
Floyd and Audrey Twede, who live
at the house, also refused to
answer police questions. The
Twedes were not arrested.
Attorneys for the husband and the
Twedes told investigators that
Marianne Coenan, 31, was isolated
so she could safely recover from a
mental breakdown suffered in
October. When police and Los
Angeles County mental health
workers found Coenan, she was
locked behind a door into which a
small, square window was cut and
steel bars had been inserted.
"Generally speaking, the family
was not under obligation to report
(the confinement)," Hayes said.
"Our decision not to file charges
was based on insufficient
information to support the case.
From what I read between the
lines, these people actually
thought they were benefiting this
woman."
The family, which belongs to the
Church of Scientology, apparently
adhered to beliefs espoused by the
church's late founder, L. Ron
Hubbard -- particularly, a disdain
for psychiatric treatment.
Coenan's confinement was
consistent with the method of
treating mental breakdowns
described in Scientology
literature that police requested
and reviewed while investigating
the case, Lundstrum said.
"Based on the report we submitted,
the (district attorney's) office
was not convinced that any
criminal activity took place," the
detective said.
Prosecutor Hayes said the
investigation will continue until
additional relatives and friends
of the woman are questioned.
"We want the police to conduct a
few more interviews," Hayes said.
"I don't think the wife has been
questioned yet," he said. "I
believe her condition has improved
greatly, though. The detectives
will talk to her when she is able
to handle an interview."
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
--
Copyright 1990 The Times Mirror
Company Los Angeles Times
January 13, 1990, Saturday, Home
Edition
SECTION: Metro; Part B; Page 3;
Column 4; Metro Desk
LENGTH: 1010 words
HEADLINE: CAPTIVITY CASE MAY BE
TIED TO FAITH; INVESTIGATION:
CHURCH TEACHINGS MAY EXPLAIN WHY A
MENTALLY ILL WOMAN WAS KEPT LOCKED
UP IN HER POMONA HOME, POLICE SAY.
BYLINE: By JOHN H. LEE and JOHN
JOHNSON, TIMES STAFF WRITERS
BODY: Pomona police said Friday
they are investigating whether
beliefs espoused by the Church of
Scientology led a family to
confine a mentally disabled woman
in a cell-like bedroom at a
Phillips Ranch house.
While stressing that neither the
church nor its beliefs are under
investigation, police said they
want to know if Scientology
practices could explain why the
woman was kept in confinement.
Police and Los Angeles County
mental health workers discovered
Marianne Coenan, 31, locked in a
sparsely furnished room with a
boarded-up window after they
entered the residence on Jan. 5.
The woman was incoherent and had
bruises and scratches on her legs,
wrists and neck, police said. She
was kept behind a door into which
a small, square opening was cut
and steel bars had been inserted,
police said.
Her husband, Edwin Coenan, 41, was
arrested the same day and booked
on suspicion of false imprisonment
and endangering a dependent adult.
He has been released on $5,000
bail, and no charges have been
filed.
The woman's father and stepmother,
Floyd and Audrey Twede, as well as
the victim's half-brother, Steven,
are also under investigation,
police said. The Twedes rented the
house on Rolling Hills Drive where
the woman was confined.
Police said they saw Scientology
printed material in the house and
plan to review documents written
by Scientology's late founder L.
Ron Hubbard that describe how to
treat mental breakdowns. In the
documents, Hubbard recommended
isolation as a treatment and also
warned his followers to avoid
conventional psychiatric care.
"During talks with attorneys
representing the (husband and the
Twedes), it has always been a
given fact that they are
Scientologists," Pomona Police
Detective Carolyn Lundstrum said.
"The family also made statements
to the effect that they didn't
believe in some forms of medicine
and psychiatric help," Sgt.
Elias Valdez said. "We are trying
to determine what connection the
beliefs had with the false
imprisonment."
Investigators said other relatives
and friends of the woman said she
had been kept in the room for at
least eight weeks after suffering
a mental breakdown in October.
"Attorneys for the husband and
parents have said that Marianne
became so violent, she was hurting
herself," Lundstrum said. "So they
created a space where she could
not harm herself. They said they
did it for her own safety."
The woman's confinement came to
the attention of authorities after
Cathy Speer of Hillsboro, Ore.,
said her sister failed to arrive
in Oregon for the Christmas
holidays, Lundstrum said.
Speer asked police to go to the
Phillips Ranch home to check on
her, the detective added.
After Edwin Coenan's arrest, a
relative called the Church of
Scientology and was referred to
Timothy Bowles, whose Los Angeles
law firm represents the church on
various matters. Bowles told The
Times that he had been briefly
involved in the case, but is not
defending Coenan.
Church spokeswoman Shirley Young
confirmed Friday that the Coenans
and Twedes are Scientologists but
added that the care of Marianne
Coenan "was not a church matter...
nor did the church take any stand
with relationship to her
treatment."
Specifically, police said they
will review a "technical bulletin"
authored in 1974 by Hubbard, in
which he describes the
"Introspection Rundown" -- a
process for treating people with
mental breakdowns.
He wrote that people suffering
severe mental anguish, or a
"psychotic break," should be
isolated and "destimulated" to
protect them and others from
possible harm. During the process,
Hubbard added, the "muzzled rule
is in force," meaning that no one
should speak to the troubled
person or talk within earshot.
The document also articulates
Hubbard's understanding of
psychosis and his disdain for
psychiatry.
Asked if the family was using a
church-approved treatment for
psychosis, church spokeswoman
Young said Coenan's isolation was
"a medical matter" and added that
"the church takes no official
stand on it."
However, church officials,
relatives and police said Coenan
had been under medical supervision
during the two months of
confinement.
Young, asked whether the family
was applying the "Introspection
Rundown," said, "I'm just becoming
abreast of the situation. So far
as what they did, this is a sad
and unfortunate case."
Detective Lundstrum, meanwhile,
said the bulletin "may help
explain what the people were
doing, but the information has
absolutely no legal bearing on the
case."
Detectives visited Marianne Coenan
several times this week at a
private psychiatric hospital in
Pomona, Lundstrum said. Coenan
appeared to be in fair physical
condition, and "she had some lucid
moments, but she still has not
been able to concentrate," the
detective said.
"I haven't talked to her yet about
the case," Lundstrum said.
"She is not ready to be
questioned. She says things to
herself, most of which I couldn't
understand."
Relatives told police that her
condition deteriorated over the
past year, during which time she
had been taken to several doctors.
One of those physicians was James
R. Privitera, a Covina
nutritionist and allergist. Coenan
was brought to his office two
months ago, and he recommended a
CAT scan, which is a medical
imaging procedure, Privitera said.
The doctor declined to discuss the
case in detail, citing the need to
protect the patient's privacy.
Privitera said he told the police
investigators he would discuss the
case with them if they obtained a
court order.
Privitera was placed on medical
probation in 1980 after
prescribing the controversial drug
laetrile to cancer patients.
In 1987, the state moved to revoke
his probation and end his
practice. Privitera has denied the
allegations, and the case against
him is pending.
Privitera said he has no
connection to Scientology and the
church has never steered patients
to his practice.
Detectives said charges against
Edwin Coenan must be formally
filed by Thursday. At that time,
charges against any other suspects
will be filed, if there are any,
Lundstrum said.
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
--
Copyright 1990 The Times Mirror
Company Los Angeles Times
January 7, 1990, Sunday, Home
Edition
SECTION: Metro; Part B; Page 1;
Column 2; Metro Desk
LENGTH: 534 words
HEADLINE: MAN HELD MENTALLY ILL
WIFE CAPTIVE IN HOME, POLICE SAY
BYLINE: By DAVID FREED and EUGENE
AHN, TIMES STAFF WRITERS
BODY: A mentally disabled woman
who apparently had been kept
locked away in a stark, cell-like
bedroom in Pomona was under
psychiatric observation Saturday
while her truck driver husband was
free on bail after being arrested
for allegedly imprisoning her.
Authorities said they could not
immediately determine how long or
why Marianne Coenan, 31, had been
kept in the room. They described
her as incoherent when police
officers and Los Angeles County
mental health workers found her
late Friday.
"Her husband didn't want us in
there, but we went in anyway,"
said Pomona Police Lt. Larry Todd.
Police had been tipped off by a
doctor who had examined the woman
earlier in the day. It was not
immediately clear why the woman
had been examined or by whom.
When officers and mental health
workers arrived at the one- story,
wood-frame house, located at 3
Rolling Hills Drive in the
Phillips Ranch area, they found
that the door to one of four
bedrooms inside had been bolted
shut. Steel bars covered a 5- inch
square opening in the door.
The only window in the bedroom had
been covered with plywood. The
carpeting had been removed,
leaving a bare concrete floor. The
only furnishings, Todd said, were
a mattress, a blanket and a
plastic dishpan. A naked light
bulb shone from the ceiling.
"She was incoherent, rambling on"
when authorities opened the door,
Todd said. "The (mental health)
people evaluated her as being
psychologically... disabled."
Marianne Coenan, Todd said, was
wearing a shirt and pants but no
shoes. Her legs were bruised, and
scratches covered her wrists and
neck, but she was otherwise
uninjured.
She was taken to Pomona Valley
Medical Center for evaluation,
then placed by county health
officials in an unidentified
psychiatric facility in the Pomona
area for a 72-hour observation
period.
Todd said the husband, Edwin
Clemens Coenan, 41, a truck driver
from Hendersonville, Tenn.,
refused to answer any questions
without an attorney present. He
was arrested on suspicion of false
imprisonment and endangering a
dependent adult.
Coenan was booked into the Pomona
jail and released a few hours
later after posting $5,000 bail,
Todd said.
On Saturday, a man with graying
brown hair who identified himself
as Marianne Coenan's husband
answered the door of the house but
declined to discuss the case with
a reporter.
"A lot of people have been asking
me about this, and we just don't
have any comment," he said.
The exterior of the house offers
no hint of the prison-like
conditions that police said they
found inside.
The house and grounds are not well-
maintained compared to other homes
on the street, some of which have
elaborate front yards adorned with
shrubs trimmed in perfectly shaped
geometric forms.
At least three other adults live
in the house where Marianne Coenan
was found, according to officers,
but neither police nor neighbors
knew whether they were friends or
relatives.
No one questioned Saturday was
sure how long the Coenans had
lived there.
"One of the things I noticed
was... they're never out doing
yard work," said next-door
neighbor Roger Sparkman.
Neighbors, including Sparkman, 34,
said they had little, if any,
contact with the Coenans.
GRAPHIC: Photo, Inside the house
at 3 Rolling Hills Drive is a
stripped-down room with a door
that bolts shut, police say. They
claim Edwin Clemens Coenan kept
his wife captive there. ADRIENNE
HELITZER / Los Angeles Times
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
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From: arsccnews@my-deja.com
Date: Fri, 01 Oct 1999 01:52:57 GMT
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