About the blog
“Father, Forgive Them; They Don’t Know What They Are Doing…”
This piece by Johann Sebastian Bach is called “Air”. It is accompanied by a picture of Moses who is desperate with his people who started praying to a Golden Calf while he was away carrying God’s commandments to them. The picture is dedicated to all those who also pray to the Golden Calf and are ready to lie about an innocent human being like Michael Jackson for money, fame, career or other reasons.
February 26, 2010
It is a complete shame I hadn’t been among Michael Jackson’s supporters before he died. When all those awful allegations against him reached my part of the world in mid-90s I couldn’t withstand the general wave of mistrust towards Michael and half-believed the horrible rumors about him saying to myself that “there couldn’t be smoke without fire” and “if so many people think that way they can’t be all wrong about it”.
However the thought of a nice guy like that being probably involved in such a terrible crime was so uneasy and disquieting that I preferred to thrust it into the very back of my mind and forget about the whole thing until after he died.
The news of Michael’s death brought a sudden feeling of sadness and a renewed interest in his personality while the strange circumstances of his tragic demise made me read and watch whatever there was to read and watch about him at the time. The result of this little research was quite unexpected – the more Michael’s videos I saw and the more of his speeches and interviews I read, the surer was a terrible guess creeping into my mind – he was completely innocent…. to an extent we can’t even imagine…. how could we be that wrong …. what a shame on all our heads…. it’s almost like some 2000 years ago with that old story repeating itself……nothing changed, nothing learned…. is there a way to make up for it?
The feeling of guilt, remorse and a terrible harm which cannot be undone has gripped me every since and is unbearable to live with. So now you know the reason for this blog – these posts are just a humble attempt to repent and make up for all the injustice I personally did to Michael Jackson by half-believing those nonstop lies about him told by the bloodthirsty, money-craving, small-minded and completely delirious media about the man whom they did not take the trouble to really know and whose little finger they are not worthy of.
Besides the attempt to vivisect lies about Michael and clear his name of all the dirt thrown at him in such a ruthless and shameless way this blog is also a kind of Michael’s memorabilia with all sorts of facts, evidences, testimonies, observations and opinions about him collected from various sources and provided by different people many of whom have come to appreciate this pure and innocent guy only after his untimely death.
The man we learned to admire and miss so late in our lives.
December 22, 2010
More people have joined me in the past few months. What is uniting us is the ardent desire to clear Michael Jackson’s name of all the dirt thrown at the man we very much love, respect and support. What we are doing here is cleaning up this dirt.
At the moment there are four of us and the blog make-up reminds you of the coalition forces during WWII:
- Helena, RUSSIA, the administrator of the blog, is writing as vindicatemj
The authors include:
- Sanemjfan, USA who is writing as sanemjfan @sanemjfan
- Lynette, USA is writing as lynande51
- Deborah Ffrench, UK is writing under her own name
* * *
Since readers are asking how the blog started here is a short word about its history.
In 2009 I received a message from a MJ fan called MJJmahal. She said she wanted to collect all my posts made in the michaeljackson.com forum and opened a blog for me in the name of vindicatemj. This is the note she left for the readers of the blog on November 21, 2009 which makes the date the official birthday of the blog:
November 21, 2009
These are helena’s posts from http://www.michaeljackson.com.
I created a blog for them for my own selfish reasons. Given my short attention span, I need a format with links that will allow me to access the articles with ease.
MJJmahal
I sincerely thanked MJJmahal for this great and surprising gift but – to be frank with you and her – didn’t know what to do with the blog as I had not idea how to handle it and all my attention was focused on the forum anyway.
However when some well-wishers deleted my ‘Vindicating Michael’ multi-post thread in the michaeljackson.com forum, there was no other alternative but continue writing here. This is when I wrote this short note in this blog:
February 25, 2010
Thank you very much, dear MJJmahal. I’m taking over from you now and hope to be able to manage this blog myself or with those of my fellow-fans who are also willing to stand for Michael Jackson’s good name side by side with me.
However the blog will first need a huge renovation. I am currently learning how to do that and hope to restart the updated version of this blog in a not too distant future.
helena
You see that the blog was not planned and was quite a surprise even for me. Since it started as a selfless gift from one Michael Jackson’s supporter to another one, which is truly in Michael’s spirit, I wanted to go on with this generous and beautiful tradition and invited others who were also willing to do vindication work for Michael.
And then people just started joining in.
February 18, 2011
I am happy to inform you that our anti-Haters coalition forces have been joined by more authors. At the moment they promise to make occasional contributions only but I hope that they have come here to stay for good:
- Lisa, USA, will write as lisathelawyer
- Olga, GREECE, will write as thetis7
- Sara William, USA, will write as sara101mj
- Loulou, SWEDEN, will write as markoftheancients
- Rockforeveron, UK, will write as Lacienegasmiles
- Mona, ROMANIA, will write as Mona
April 14, 2012
The structure of the blog is changing again. Now it has become so public a feature that it is turning from a personal blog of mine into a public blog or a sort of a journal, which is opening its doors to all those who wish to stand up for Michael Jackson and say his/her own word in Michael’s support and vindication.
There is no “team” in the usual meaning of the word which implies that all should express the same view on every subject. On the contrary, each of the authors has his own voice and freely speaks his mind with absolutely no censorship from me as the admin – I dream of seeing the blog as a self-regulatory body where each author is his own discipliner and his own censor.
Therefore what you will see here is a whole range of opinion on various matters concerning Michael. Our common goal is searching for the truth, refuting false allegations against Michael and clearing him of bucketfulls of dirt which the media still keeps pouring on the innocent man. In doing so each of us is following his own path but is selflessly working for the common goal.
If you are also willing to do hard research work and are not afraid to change the world, you are very much welcome to contribute to this blog too.
Helena, or Vindicatemj, Administrator of the blog
May 16, 2012
The events are developing quicker than I thought. As you can see a month ago I changed the structure of this blog by giving some of my former co-editors the status of usual contributors to the blog. One of the reasons for that was that I could no longer bear responsibility for the individual views displayed by some of my former co-editors which are directly opposite to mine.
However since freedom of speech is a sort of a fixed idea with me, despite our huge differences of opinion over some matters I still give all my authors a free hand in expressing their thoughts as long as they do their vindication job for Michael Jackson.
But today I have learned of some activity undertaken by one of our authors which made me feel ashamed that in some people’s eyes he may be (erroneously) seen as a person officially representing this blog.
By the ‘activity’ I mean a TwitLonger message sent today by Sanemjfan to Deborah Kunesh, author of the Reflections On the Dance blog http://www.reflectionsonthedance.com
The message is extremely ugly in style and contains ideas totally incompatible with the proud name of a Michael Jackson’s supporter. Michael Jackson’s advocates should have a clean code of ethics which this message has nothing to do with:
sanemjfan (@sanemjfan)
Dear Debbie Kunesh: When you blocked me from the ROTD page and your personal FB page a few weeks ago, I was initially dumbfounded, as I have bent over backwards to help you and give you information. You never tried to talk to me before you blocked me, and you ignored all of my attempts to reach you. Initially, I thought it was because I committed the sin of challenging your assertion that you didn’t want to launch the project when you did when in fact you teased fans for around a week prior to the launch by saying “Are you guys READY?”, “It’s coming soon!”, “It’s coming tomorrow!”, etc.
I felt that you blocking me was the ultimate confirmation of what many people have said about you, and I decided that you were gonna hear from me one way or another, so I blasted you in public because I knew you’d be forced to pay attention to me. You replied to your readers by saying that I had sent emails to people telling them to turn against you, and I thought that it was just some lie that you pulled out of thin air.
But then I went through my sent box and saw two messages that I sent recently to Sandy Corbin and Morgan Raimondi. In those messages, I merely explained to them what was going on, and why so many people were demanding answers from you. I saw Morgan commenting on your page talking about all of the “haters”, so I wanted to let her know my side of the story, since she was labeling me as a “hater” (even though she didn’t know it.) I also sent a message to Sandy to explain the situation to her as well. I assume that one or both of them forwarded you those messages, and that is what made you upset at me.
So I went back and read those messages that I sent, and I certainly did NOT try to turn them against you or slander you! All I did was say to them the SAME THING THAT I SAID TO YOUR FACE on the ROTD page! I said that you were being dishonest in saying you didn’t want to launch the project when you did, among the other personal responsibilities that you deflected.
I will post those emails so that everyone can see for themselves what I wrote and decide if I slandered you. There were no personal attacks against you, and all I did was criticize your actions, so please stop lying to your readers by telling them I slandered you! I think you were upset that I dared challenge you about the problematic launch of your project, and you’re using those emails as a pretext.
I challenge you to post the emails on your page and let your friends decide if you’re being honest! And if you have any other emails that you claim that I sent out, then do me a favor:
PUT UP OR SHUT UP!
Post them on your page, or if you don’t want to, then forward them to me so I can see for myself what I allegedly wrote about you!
As for your claim that I “told” you what to include on your website, you know damn well that’s not true! I suggested a lot of information for you because you said you were working on a “critic’s site” that would not be targeted at fans, but rather skeptics who wanted to ask the tough questions about MJ. I never TOLD you to include anything, so please stop lying to your readers.
When I said that I was spoon feeding you, it’s in regards to the questions you asked me last summer when you were working on the “Debunking the Demonic Myth” post,questions about the 2 jurors who lied and said MJ was guilty after he was acquitted, the prosecution’s timeline, the DCFS document (which was leaked after MJ was arrested), and other basic, rudimentary facts about the case that you SHOULD have known, but you didn’t, and out of everyone that you could have asked, YOU ASKED ME!
Those questions (plus the fact that you link to Wikipedia not once but TWICE on your website) are symptomatic of your lack of knowledge of a lot of basic facts about the allegations, and that’s why I offered you so much info for your critic’s site. If you’re going to be an MJ advocate, then you should have an understanding of the fundamentals of the case, and you should know where to look to find the answers. There’s no reason why you should have needed to ask me or ANYONE about those 2 jurors or the prosecutor’s timeline!
Here’s some advice for you: on your ROTD website, on the accusations page, in the “Get Informed” box, you like to Wikipedia on the following 2 links: “A Breakdown of the Trial for easier comprehension” and “Information on both cases”. Instead of linking to Wikipedia, why not take the time to research the facts and WRITE YOUR OWN BREAKDOWN OF THE TRIAL! Since you’re not running the ROTD facebook page anymore, you should have some free time on your hands, so you should put it to good use. It’s almost 3 years after MJ’s death, and your website is STILL linking to Wikipedia? I can understand if you weren’t that knowledgeable at first, but come on Debbie?!!
It’s 2012, and you’re STILL linking to Wikipedia??!!! Seriously??!!!!
Also, to help you become more knowledgeable about the 2005 trial, beyond what you already know from reading MJ Conspiracy (that’s if you read it instead of just skimming through it; Aphrodite Jones talked about those 2 jurors you asked me about, which makes me wonder why you had to ask me in the first place!), why don’t you start reading my trial summaries? I’ve already posted the summary of the opening statements, and this will also clear up your misconceptions on the prosecutor’s timeline that you asked me about last year.
And while you’re at it, you should read my summary of Jason Francia’s testimony. You know, one of MJ’s accusers who also got a settlement in the early 90’s. Neither you nor Dr. Moriarty have summaries of his testimony on your website or in her book, respectively, so I guess you both feel that he isn’t important enough for fans to know about, despite the fact that he could have sent MJ to jail in 2005 had the jury believed his claims!
As for your friend Dr. Moriarty, I have no regrets whatsoever for giving her book the flogging that it deserved! She should be ashamed of herself for such sloppy and half-hearted research! And you’re helping to peddle that book to gullible, unsuspecting fans who are desperate for anything positive on MJ! If Dr. Moriarty respected the fan community, she wouldn’t have cited Wikipedia, TMZ, Radar Online! And if you don’t believe me, check her list of source documents at the back of the book!
You claim to be a journalist, yet you threw away your journalistic integrity simply because you’re “friends” with the author! That’s so unprofessional! You didn’t give that book any scrutiny whatsoever!
Did I mention you at all in that review? NO!! So why were you so defensive about the book? Oh, that’s right, you’re friends with Dr. Moriarty! That explains it! You know you can’t refute any of the VALID criticisms I have about the book, so you tried to attack me personally by saying I had an ego! Let me ask you this: is there some under the table financial incentive for you to get a commission based off of sales of the book? If not, why would you try to rebut my review?
Dr. Moriarty completely reinforced the stereotype that fans are not capable of writing competently and objectively about the celebrities that they admire, and YOU reinforced the stereotype that fans of a celebrity will approve of ANYTHING written about that celebrity, regardless of how sloppy the research is, as long as it’s positive!
You claimed that I had a negative tone in that review, but that’s just another pretext. You would be upset at ANYONE who bravely called out Dr. Moriarty’s mistakes because you can’t handle the truth!
Compare my review to all of those reviews that gave the book 5 stars, and you’ll notice how short and without substance those reviews are! How can someone review a 500 page book in 5 or 10 sentences? Because the person didn’t scrutinize the book and is writing based off of emotions, that’s how!
You mentioned that I don’t have any industry contacts, and that I haven’t interviewed any of MJ’s friends and confidants; yet, despite that, I STILL have more respect in the fan community than you because people trust my judgment and work ethic! I am NOT “smarter” or “more intelligent” than anyone else, but I AM a hard worker, and the fan community notices it!
And I don’t go around blocking every single person who disagrees with me! I actually ENCOURAGE people to challenge me if they disagree with anything I say or write!
So in closing, I’ll wait for you to post all of this “evidence” that you have about me slandering you in emails, but I won’t hold my breath for it, because you don’t have any! I posted the emails that I sent out, and everyone will see for themselves that you’re lying about me! In fact, here is what you said about me a few weeks ago:
“What David fails to mention is that the time he keeps insisting that he was not being rude to me on the ROTD page, he was also sending around emails to other MJ fans as well as to my personal friends on FB, trying to get them to turn against me and saying nasty things about me. I’ve seen the emails. Maybe you should ask him about that. Would any of you entertain a person like this on your own pages?”
I said this earlier, but I’ll say it again:
PUT UP OR SHUT UP!
As for Sandy Corbin and Morgan Raimondi unfriending me, you can tell them that I COULDN’T CARE LESS! I didn’t send them friend requests in 2010; they sent ME friend requests! They wanted to meet up with me when they found out we live in the same city! I didn’t lose a single nanosecond of sleep over it! My friendship with them wasn’t mutually beneficial. They’re both a bunch of cowards for unfriending me and not hearing my side of the story! And you can tell them I said that!
Maybe the next time you need help with the allegations, they can help you! Or maybe your friend Dr. Moriarty can help you, since you believe that she’s such a great researcher!
What you don’t realize, Debbie Kunesh, is that by blocking me from the ROTD page, you’re not hurting me; YOU’RE HURTING YOUR READERS! I’ve posted a lot of good information on your page over the years, and you know this, but now all of a sudden I’m blocked?
You should learn to take personal responsibility for your actions instead of playing the victim card and “bobbing and weaving” and deflecting blame.
If I had known about your project in advance, I would have respectfully advised you not to go through with it because, as you’ve already stated, you did NOT have the Estate’s permission, and fans would justifiably question you about it.
Unlike you, Debbie Kunesh, I had the wisdom and the foresight to realize that you shouldn’t try to raise thousands of dollars to fund something that has not already been announced!
I don’t know why you act like you’re so surprised at the reaction you got. Did you REALLY expect to raise thousands of dollars from fans, and just put it away in a bank account until an MJ children’s hospital is announced? How long were you going to wait until you donated the money to another cause? 1 year? 5 years? 10 years?
One last thing: I would also suggest cleaning your bathroom tiles with some good old fashioned Pine-Sol cleaner, because once all of the dirt has been mopped away, you won’t have to worry about seeing any more images of MJ in your tiles!
http://tl.gd/he6hbr · Reply
I do not know what terrible things Deborah Kunesh did to provoke such an ugly reaction from Sanemjfan but no matter what the reason was I must say that the manner in which Sanemjfan talks to other Michael Jackson’s supporters is totally unacceptable for a MJ advocate and vindicator.
As the administrator of this blog I do not want to have anything to do with this style and would like to state that Sanemjfan is not in any way authorized to represent this blog and be a sort of an official “voice” of it. He is one of its authors and is the only one who is responsible for what he says and does.
Dear Deborah Kunesh, I know your Reflections On the Dance site and find it admirable, so notwithstanding what you have (or haven’t) done to Sanemjfan as a contributor to the vindicatemj blog, please accept my sincere apologies. I feel that I bear partial responsibility for the ugly words said to you as it was me who invited this author to my blog after all. Sorry again.
Helena or Vindicatemj
Administrator of the blog
Vindicatemj
Deborah
thetis7
lisathelawyer
sara101mj
lacienegasmiles
Mona
Helena with all due respect i did not think anything SaneMJfan said was Ugly or extreme in any way (it was much kinder response i would have given lets just say) i have followed some of the things David has been talking about like they there sources he wanted to point them out because he wanted to help them but they felt offended if you ask me what they did was childish and ugly NOT what David said i mean the guy got bashed for just helping someone out and correcting their mistakes instead of taking his advice and fixing there errors they started attacking David making him out to be the bully. What would you wish he should have done just ignored a fellow fans mistakes and not correct them?
“an ugly reaction from Sanemjfan” ??
I think not; not “ugly”. I know because I was working along with him in an attempt to mediate and promote peace in the MJ community due to this issue.
What he dd, as I did, was call Ms. Kunesh on her contradictions and refusal to own her part in what became a fan war.
We tried and tried to reason with her, but Debbie (who had previously been more than an acquaintance to me on FCBK) refused to embark on a purposeful rapport.
I want you to know that I had send a few e-mails/PM’s to Debbie when the shit first hit the fan (to put it nicely). My notes to her were empathetic & open-minded. She refused to reply to me which was unlike her. Whenever I had reached out to her prior, she would respond directly to me within 2 days. ??
Helena, I do not understand why you judge sanemjfan; who is quite sane, understanding & respectful and much more than a fan.
You would need to know more about what went down that prompted our attempts to simmer the discord in order to make a judgement. To say “I don’t know what caused…” says to me that how could you follow that with what you said ? This makes no sense.
David & me spent many hours trying to communicate with DK. I don’t blame him for putting it to her and telling it like it is. I support him whole-heartedly.
I hope that you shall be apologizing to DE; NOT DK !
Meanwhile, the entire thread of the conversation that this references was taken down by Debbie Kunesh. So, I ask you, what is the point of bringing this up anyway ?
Sorry for the typos.This is very late for me and I am half asleep..But I read a bit om “vibdicate and that inspired me to this comment.
It had perplexed me why at Michaels death pressconference a hospital official firs speks a few words,then stares he will invite agood friend of Michael´s to speak.Ko and behold this
xery good friend is no other tham Thome Thome.When he keaves(and this is just behind or the border of video clip.they embrace. Them Jermaine spesks and ends wuth,”May Allah be with you aleways”. Aftre this T.T. entrers the podioum and microphones the swecond time announcing:Jermaine will be the only spokeperson for the family.As if he owns them.Onli 5-6 weks earlier hr he curses then and makes threathens then vith violence and total destruction.-Murray now felt safe with the AEG..
Katherne Jackson i suing aeg for hiring Murray.I think tat is too narrow for the suit.Michael
hired Murray to traet his in somnia,He awas aqainted with this anestetic from some occasional use during a tour,the Dr was an anestestesioiloligis.He was not dependent on Demerol before his death,he had overcome his once addiction.The real cruel thing happened during the Riot act,Idoubt that that was the idea by murray,but of AEG.
They were threatening ,condescending and rude toWARDS MIchael.Randy Phillips was there and a few others, I don´t know aboút Thome-Thome, Murray lost all respect for Michael aftrer that, He felt secure embedded into the finances of AEG,
It is the crzy contract,is it the estate that will bring in a suit over that?
And then Frank Dileo dies to the relief for AEG,.
@Truth Prevail
She gets involved in everything, its hilarious. She also represented the transgendered Miss Universe contestant. She’ll do anything to be in front of the camera. Even during Michael’s life, whether or not she had a stake in teh matter, she’d make public statements. I don’t really hate her since she’s such a joke, like Nancy Grace. Both of these people don’t really hate Michael, they just go after anyone and everyone. It’s nothing specifically about Michael that brings out their stupidity so they’re not really worth our time.
@Hilary
I Think she has a tendency to represent accusers of famous people.
Has anyone else noticed that there does not seem to be any celebrity support for Travolta either? Where’s Oprah (one of his supposed really good friends), Lisa Marie Presley and others to defend his honor? Friends seem to scatter like roaches when there is controversy. Disgusting stories being sold to National Enquirer – allegations by people who don’t seek criminal action by a payday? Sounds extremeley familiar.
Dear VindicateMJ Site – I have to honestly say that after Michael died and I desperately began searching anything and everything about him, I was absolutely thrilled beyond belief to find this site. It is something that I have faithfully checked multiple times per day always looking for a new post. There is so much garbage out there and you can look on just about any blog and you will still find comments from people who continue to quote tabloid nonsense and have extremely ugly things to say (even on some “fan” sites). So please know that the work you are doing is phenomenal and dissecting the trial transcripts is extremely helpful due to the media’s overtly biased reporting – no one was given the truth! I love the fact that you are doing that!
Having said that, there does seem to be tension amongst some people whose goals should all be the same – to do whatever can be done to vindicate Michael. I, for one, hate to see arguments played out on twitter or Facebook and I tend to brush over that when I see it because I feel it is between the parties involved. I also read Dr. Moriarty’s book and was disappointed in it for much the same reasons David mentioned in his review and agreed with everything he said. I so wanted it to be more than it was and it does appear that it was produced too quickly without the much needed fact checking. Her intentions were good, but her research was lacking and I also have to wonder what ended her relationship with at least 2 of the body guards she was working with on the book such that she went ahead and published it without their full support. As such, I tend to want to watch or read anything that might be positive about Michael because so much is not and walk away disappointed a lot of the time. When I see or read something by Randy Taraborreli, knowing that he says conflicting things depending on which side he’s on that particular day – it disgusts me. That brings me to the David Gest documentary, which was meant to be positive and for the most part it absolutely was – but again I was disappointed in the fact that he had Reynaud Jones on there talking about the Jackson 5′s early days in Gary. Jones is one of the ones that sued Michael claiming he stole songs, some of which weren’t even written by Michael (the Mexico depositions). Why on earth would you have someone who sued Michael for something so ridiculous and lost the lawsuit on a documentary about Michael? Why was Taraborelli allowed to be on there saying that during the trial while the media was waiting in line to get in – one “very famous journalist” (as he put it) stood out of the line and yelled, “Who besides Randy Taraborelli thinks Michael is innocent?” Ok, in anything that any of you watched or read prior to Michael’s death that included anything out of Taraborelli’s mouth felt like he had Michael’s back? I sure didn’t! So you do absolutely have to wonder if some of the people with good intentions truly do the necessary research. It’s like asking KISS to be at the Michael Jackson memorial concert. Good Lord, why would anyone want Gene Simmons anywhere near anything to do with Michael after the twisted lies he spouted?
One thing that I have truly liked about this site as opposed to other sites is that it is kept strictly about Michael and not bashing his family. This is venting on my part, but I will not view sites such as muzikfactory2 because the scope of her mission seems to involve that very thing. I feel that this detracts from what the mission should be. When you have someone who devotes a blog to asking Debbie Rowe to take the children from Katherine; who tweets some of the ugliest things to Michael’s siblings and the most dangerous – attempting to parent Michael’s children via twitter which evolved into her calling Paris a spoiled brat – I can’t support that nor do I want to hear anything else someone with that agenda has to say.
Which brings me back to your site. Again, your work is phenomenal! Please do not allow disagreements to separate any of you from your invaluable efforts. I know that each of you has been trashed by ugly haters at one time or another (which only proves you are getting to them) and I can only imagine how disconcerting that must be. David – your posts are awesome and your time, effort and research is very much appreciated; Lynette – your medical knowledge and research is also awesome and very much appreciated; and Helena – your compassion and desire to set the record straight is what started this project and so each one of you is such an asset to all of us.
Since someone brought up John Travolta…Gloria Allred is representing his accuser. Surprise surprise.
Some news about the AEG trial:
http://wavenewspapers.com/arts_and_entertainment/article_5dc28c8a-9eba-11e1-aa14-001a4bcf6878.html
“I know Roger Friedman runs hot and cold on Michael, but found the second last paragraph on his John Travolta piece regarding Michael interesting. Hopefully more journalists will start to put the obvious truth out there. http://www.forbes.com/sites/rogerfriedman/2012/05/10/john-travolta-more-proof-he-was-in-new-york-not-l-a-on-day-of-alleged-assault/“
Susan, the second last paragraph in Roger Friedman’s article does clearly state how Fridman finally sees the situation with Michael Jackson. It is worth repeating here for the sake of Michael Jackson and also as a sign that Michael Jackson’s example has made the media more wary of accusing other people without having sufficient proof.
It seems that Michael Jackson had to sacrifice his life for the media to finally sober up after their wild drinking party during which they killed an innocent man and thoroughly enjoyed themselves in this process.
Hi guys:
Don’t know where to post this so I’ll just put it here. I know Roger Friedman runs hot and cold on Michael, but found the second last paragraph on his John Travolta piece regarding Michael interesting. Hopefully more journalists will start to put the obvious truth out there.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/rogerfriedman/2012/05/10/john-travolta-more-proof-he-was-in-new-york-not-l-a-on-day-of-alleged-assault/
”Every single time you really examine Michael’s true character, he comes up smelling like a rose…”
Nannorris, that’s so true… And isn’t it so great to stand behind such a man like Michael was and discover fact after fact that indeed he stands up to everything we hoped for? It’s amazing that someone could live up to such a high standard. A pity others trashed him like that during his lifetime. Indeed, one of the greatest humanitarians the world has ever known!
LOVE
lynande51
I agree this is good news because people realize they can make money in a positive way off MJ rather then the opposite.
Since we know , no matter what MJ will be used for lining someones pockets , atleast this is a positive manner …
As far and them pulling their endorsement ..
I blame the Chandlers alot more the I blame Pepsi..
They were selling a positive image and this was just bad news all around..
So the fact that they are banking on a billion pepsi cans with his image on it , is great news…
Just another step toward the truth…
The influx if trash stories is interesting in timing also..
How outraged would the general public be if they realize they were duped into believing the worst about one if the worlds greatest humanitarians for profit and ambition..
I do think some in the media would really like to forget about that trial. DD included…
I also think that is why Zonen gets so defensive..
There was over a decade of mud being thrown at MJ and three years after his death , people love him even more then ever… ..
As hard as it was to listen to that tape Murray did, it shows Michael to have such a pure and beautiful soul..
Constantly putting others first
(although I wonder if that tape was for blackmail or if he was planning on playing it back for someone from aeg or whoever he seems to be reporting back to)…that remark kenny ortega mad about bringing the doctor into the fold or whatever…
Every single time you really examine Michaels true character, he comes up smelling like a rose..
More news this morning about Michael Jackson. It seems that Pepsi has partnered with the Michael Jackson Estate to use Michael’s image in upcoming promotions. This is one step closer to eradicating the hate against Michael. He lost the Pepsi endorsement in 1993 after the allegation were made by the Chandler gang and the fallout from that and now he has them back. It seems that the business world no longer sees his image as a liability but an opportunity. No wonder there has been a recent tabloid onslaught against him, there must have been talk in world of business that this was happening. Fans should be able to recognize this as a victory for Michael’s reputation and image.This is a nice article without any reference to the allegations but does mention the accident
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/pepsi-brings-back-michael-jackson-110352864.html
David, I fully support you and the co-editors of the new book about Michael’s charity and have made a post about it in your name.
Hopefully this will give more publicity to this worthy project and more people will come in and share their stories about things Michael was too modest to ever disclose to anyone. Please feel free to change the title if it is grammatically wrong and you want it to be different.
Here is an email that we have received from a group of fans who last year published a book called “It’s All About L.O.V.E. – Michael Jackson Stories You Were Never Meant To Read”, which is a collection of stories from fans who met MJ throughout the years.
They are trying to gather stories from fans who have been helped by MJ’s charity in order to publish a second book about his humanitarianism, and they asked us to help spread the word about their project to our readers. Here is their message:
kaarin22, thank you very much, that draws a very clear picture now.
I don’t know what my friend saw in her, she seemed to him ‘just like an angel’. That comment was annoying, as she seemed to me more like an angel of death and I’m happy to be proven right. Such a pity that people like this have their say about Michael and also seem credible.
Mona, this Etok woman,a PhD, is giving an interview with Diane Dimond. From that you can pretty much know where she stands.
Not sure where exactly I could post this but I had to reach out to you.
I saw this awful documentary today called ‘Who Killed the King of Pop’. I’m not sure when it was produced, but I guess it must have been still in 2009, so all of you have probably seen it… The documentary does not answer the question in the title directly, but they definitely insinuate that drugs did it. It really left a bitter taste in my mouth, especially seeing someone who pretended to be his friend for such a long time, like Dr. Susan Etok, show up and say such things about him with such ease and grace. What’s more, the documentary was presented to me by a friend who thought I should know the truth and I was sure to like it as there was nothing bad said about Michael. Really saddened by the video.
What do you guys think?
Guys, here is the essence of the changes which I intend to make to this blog. A post about it will still have to be written – these are just some ideas to which I’ve come after several days of thinking:
1. This blog started as mine and existed in this capacity since November 2009 till today. It was later joined by other authors. Some of them continued writing, some of them not, some made only one or two posts, some made a lot of them. Whatever it is, the blog has become a joint effort of many people.
2. As a result of this joint effort this blog has ceased to be my or anyone’s personal blog. Now it is public for various advocates of Michael Jackson to write here if they have to say a word in his support.
3. All these people have their own perception of Michael as a human being – some think he was an angel while others do not put him on the moral pedestal. I myself have my preferences which I will naturally express in this blog as an author and administrator of it, but it does not mean that others are obliged to share my views – they have their own and have the right to express them too. My only hope is that eventually we will be able to reach for the truth if we do not sweep things under the rug and discuss everything openly.
4. For all these reasons I would like to make this blog FULLY PUBLIC and open its doors to every Michael’s advocate to have his/her say as long as their goal is to clear Michael of all the dirt thrown at him by others. The procedure of how to accept different authors’ contributions is not yet clear to me, but the main idea is this – there will be no official “vmj team” here. There are individual authors in this blog, and each is standing up for Michael from his own point of view.
5. Therefore all our authors will become individual authors (and not editors). They will have the same right to write here as before, but in their individual capacity only and not as “official” representatives of the vmj blog.
6. There will have to be two exceptions though. One of them is that we need a moderator for our “forum” (if we can call it that way). I mean the comments to various articles against which Michael’s haters often start their campaigns, so we need to stay vigilant and keep an eye over what’s going on there.
7. For the moderator I suggest Lynette as she has been doing amazing work in the comments sections anyway. This work takes very much time and somewhat distracts from making posts, and by her huge contribution in this field Lynette has deserved this special status, I think. I hope she does not refuse this suggestion.
8. The second exception is that I will still remain the admin of the blog for the primary reason that there must be an admin here. The administrator is the one who shapes the blog and determines the road where it is going. Since I have been doing it for two and a half years I will try to go on with the job – even if eventually it becomes a pure formality.
My dream is to make this public blog a SELF-REGULATORY body. Every author should be on his own and enjoy full freedom in expressing himself, but on the other hand the author should also feel fully responsible for every word he/she is saying and therefore exercise a lot of self-discipline and self-censorship. I see the content of what the author is writing as the author’s responsibility and not he responsibility of the admin.
In my opinion, the admin should interfere only in case there is no other way out. I will continue the policy of full transparency and discussing everything in the open, so that everyone knows that there is nothing going on “behind the scenes” and all decisions are taken here together and openly.
9. All of the above means that this blog is turning from my personal blog into a public one – a sort of a journal if I may say so. All those who wish to participate in the common job of vindicating Michael are very much welcome here. Those who will write here just once or occasionally will be Contributors (they post after a certain okay from the admtnistrator – I didn’t get the procedure yet, but will look for it and report to you), and all those who have become Authors will write on their own and whenever they like, without any interference from the admin (as it was before).
10. As to me, quite by accident I have made a new blog and can now use it as my personal one. However I don’t know when (and if at all) I will start writing there – now I have my hands full here and not much strength left for the other thing.
A more official announcement wil be made a little later as now I must be on my way.
P.S.
By the way I had to change the video with Bach’s music on this page as someone attached an ad to the previous one and it spoiled the whole thing. The new music piece I’ve found – funnily – has a picture of Moses who returns from the mount where he received God’s commandments and finds that people in his absence started praying to a golden calf.
Considering the religious subjects we’ve been discussing lately and the symbolic prayers to the “golden calf” that ruined the Chandlers and others who wanted dirty money at the expense of destroying Michael, this picture acquires a meaning of its own for us. I am amazed to have found this picture – now it is a symbol of the new stage the blog is entering.
This blog definitely lives a life of its own.
Here is the video:
I was too harsch with Karen, I know that she meant well but the result is disappointing. Frank Cascio did a better job defending MJ.
@Shelly
The difference between Dimond and Dr. Moriarty is that Dimond is obviously a tabloid hack who did everything in her power to make MJ look guilty. Dr. Moriarty is a fan who tried to write a positive book, and she did, but it is a major disappointment in some areas, and it has a few egregious errors that I refused to simply sweep under the rug, as many other fans did (if they even bothered to read the book!). It’s not a fair comparison to put Dr. Moriarty in the same category as Dimond, Orth, etc., but Dr. Moriarty really reinforced the negative stereotype that fans of celebrities cannot write accurate books.
That same stereotype also applies to celebrity blogs and websites, and Vindicate MJ is no exception. There are a lot of students in high school and college who use this site for research, but they may not be able to cite this blog as a source, due to the assumption that our research is biased in favor of MJ, and that we would deliberately omit anything that would make MJ look bad. That’s why I made that post a few weeks ago that compiles all of the articles and summaries of the trial from lawyers and journalists, who students can and should cite in their research. I always suggest to students that when they use our blog as a source, instead of citing the blog itself, instead they should cite the articles and source documents that our posts are based on. That’s what Dr. Moriarty should have done when citing the MJJ2005 forum! http://www.mjj2005.com/kopboard/index.php?act=idx
And she had no business whatsoever citing questionable MJ sites such as this one: http://www.michaeljacksonhoaxforum.com/
As I have said before , I will be writing a positive review about Dr Moriarty book..While I realize that some things have been left out or not correct …I can acknowledge that, within my review, and still write from a positive position….
This book is written with good intentions…The fact some research may not measure up to the standards that we all hope for ,after all , we all want the gold standard , when it comes to MJ,, doesnt mean I am going to throw the baby out with the bathwater..
DD is like a paid assassin..She wrote a character assassination for profit..So did Stacey Brown and Bob Jones..
Ian Halperin? wrote a book denying MJ was a criminal , but said some awful and sensational stuff as well..
VG motives are even worse in my opinion..
Rest assured , these people dont give a hoot what is in their books as long as they profit off them..In fact , I dont tweet or whatever ,but I think I saw on here , that Stacey Brown was somewhat throwing it in fans faces , how much he profited off that trash..
I have spoken to Dr Moriarty and told her some of my impressions and she has responded..
If there are things to be included or changed , then she can always correct them in a later edition or when speaking on the radio..
I already know alot of the things that are included in the book as I have done extensive reading on Michael Jackson.., but, not everbody has the time to do that, so I think this is a good introduction to MJ..
I also could never be able to organize my thoughts well enough to compose an essay, much less , a book..
So I cant do much with my knowledge other then when I am in conversation with people unfamiliar with the truth..
How many people can I reach??
I wish the trial stuff was more indepth or what ever but keep in mind that Tom Mesereau reviewed that stuff for her twice and he was okay with it ..
So if Mr Mesereau endorses this book ..I am all for it..
The positive factors outweigh whatever shortcomings , imo..
I think the people who run this site should consider writing books also because they put all this effort in , and it is their research…
It would be great for more people to have this available in book form….
These are my own opinions of course , and everybody is entitled to their own.
.
I totally agree with your review of that book. How can fans criticize Dimond and praise her at the same time? It’s hypocrit at best.
I recently bought the the book “Defending A King” by Dr. Karen Moriarty after seeing it praised nonstop by numerous fans and MJ bloggers, and after hearing that it was endorsed by Mesereau.
Here are some of the reviews that the author posted on her website: http://defendingaking.com/reviews.htm
I had high hopes or the book, but after reading it I was so appalled by the numerous errors and inaccuracies that I wrote a very honest and objective review of it on Amazon, which stands out in stark contrast to the “love letters” that other fans have written about the book. It’s highly unlikely that my review will be posted on Dr. Moriarty’s website!
Here’s my review on Amazon:
So far, I have gotten nothing but positive feedback from fellow MJ fans who have thanked me for actually scrutinizing the book, and not giving it a free pass just because it’s positive and the author’s heart was in the right place. Be sure to read the comments under my review because 2 prominent MJ bloggers who praised the book when it was released took exception to my “harsh” review, but attacked me personally instead of addressing the salient points that I mentioned in my review. I responded to them as well!
http://www.amazon.com/Defending-King-His-Life-Legacy/product-reviews/0741470314/ref=cm_cr_dp_hist_2?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=0&filterBy=addTwoStar
I had a lot more to say about this book on Twitter, so please check out my timeline @sanemjfan, and scroll down to April 10 and read up from there!
We as fans should not accept mediocrity just because it is positive about MJ! Although the book, in general, is good, and you will learn a lot from it, there were a lot of UNPROFESSIONAL AND UNACCEPTABLE errors and innaccuracies, and most importanly, OMISSIONS!
“Helena I said that I won’t comment on anyones faith. As for asking you to delete your posts that was between you and David also something that I did not want to become embroiled in.”
But I’m not asking you to comment on anyone’s faith. I wondered what comment insulted you personally and whether you thought it insulting to ask the admin to delete her posts in the blog she actually started. Frankly, I am asking these questions to find out where I am.
Helena I said that I won’t comment on anyones faith. As for asking you to delete your posts that was between you and David also something that I did not want to become embroiled in. I think if you remember back not so long ago when another discussion was taking place you will know exactly why. I for one know that it is a very inflammatory discussion and believe that it is best handled by you if you like but I will not comment on it or my feelings about what is happening.
“Please don’t think the excerpt had anything to do with your current discussion about religion. I don’t want to discuss it at all for several reasons, one is that some of the comments that have been made have left me feeling, for lack of a better word, insulted, so I won’t comment either on the blog or in private about anyone’s faith.”
Lynette, I didn’t understand a thing about the book, but understood that your addition did not have anything to do with our discussion. Okay.
I wonder which of the comments made you feel insulted and I also wonder why a request to delete my two posts didn’t strike you as insulting too?
Helena, that part that you wrote was part of the book that was written. My intention in adding it to the About the Blog is because it is a book that needs attention. It is small and may seem insignificant but it is a good book of rememberance from a friend. That just happend to be the part that I could lift from my Kindle because of the way it scrolled, that is the only reason that I used the part that I did. I also wanted to show that this family consisted of 4 children, 3 girls and a boy, and the Mom and Dad spent as much time in Michael’s room as their kids if not more. As a matter of fact this man watched a movie in the theater in one of the bedrooms that were designed for sick kids on the bed with Michael in the middle and Elizabeth Taylor on the other side. Please don’t think the excerpt had anything to do with your current discussion about religion. I don’t want to discuss it at all for several reasons, one is that some of the comments that have been made have left me feeling, for lack of a better word, insulted, so I won’t comment either on the blog or in private about anyone’s faith.
“Though Michael had been raised as a Jehovah’s Witness he told me once that he never liked the part about no Christmas and no birthdays so he just decided one day to throw those two rules away along with a few others.”
Lynette, I understand Michael very well, but it does not mean that he gave up God and basic understanding of Him which he learned through the Jehovah’s Witnesses. The idea of God Michael came up with as a result of his individual search and reflections is a huge attraction to me – it is simple and natural, funny and extremely powerful.
I have an excerpt from a book that was written by Dr. William “Barney” VanValin that was a friend of Michael’s until he left the country after the trial. His name appears on prescriptions that were made out to Frank that the police claimed were actually Michael’s. In his book the only thing that he says that could be construed as negative is that Michael told him one time that Bill Gates gave him a Lincoln Navigator and he later said it wasn’t true. Michael liked to prank people and that might have been his prank for the day ” let’s see what I can get Barney to believe” kind of thing. It is a wonderful book written about conversations that they had that reflect wonderfully on Michael and it is written like a friend would. It is only 74 pages but it is well worth the $9.95 for the Kindle version of it just for the pictures he paints withhis description of Neverland and his childrens and wifes friendship with Michael. Here is where he is telling about his kids birthdays at Neverland.
@Helena
The tape was not sent to Michael. It was sent to a person in Miami Florida that was being investigated for being a child pornographer. It had absolutely nothing to do with Michael other than the tape carried his name. Michael never saw or knew of this tapes existence because it was not him in the investigation just someone in Miami Florida.
“Here is an article that I found about one of the largest stings that took place in from Australia where they first used the software.It is also a very good article that puts in proper perspective exactly what a real p******** does. http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/1501622/Thirty-one-Aussies-arrested-in-biggest-paedophile-ring“
Lynette, I am both happy and unhappy with the news of this successful operation. Happy because it is a major breakthrough in fighting this huge evil, but unhappy because the problem is still there and they have done much damage to a lot of children who now will never be what they were before. But at least this is an encouraging sign.
In my opinion ped-lia is the worst world problem because it is too widespread and too powerful forces are engaged in this business. There can be no special “profile of a ped-le” for a very simple reason – it is an ordinary person whose morals have become extremely corrupt. Part of them were corrupted themselves in their boyhood after which their life took a totally different course. Many of them were persuaded by their abusers that what had been done to them is “normal” and existed in the world since time immemorial.
The most awful thing is that there are very many open sources which advocate this point of view (the closest example are those professors who recommended Tom O’Carroll’s book and who still teach at their universities and spread their views there!). All of them say that “it” existed in the world for thousands of years – except the relatively short period of “Judo-Christianity” as they call it – so it is “normal” to return to it. The general “coldness in faith” and ongoing corruption of morals are to their great advantage. Allowing people with a true faith in God like Jehovah’s Witnesses’ or Seven Day Adventists’ to take over will be the worst of their nightmares – and that is why they are persecuted.
These forces are much more happy with “formal religion” where everyone clatters about their belief in God, but no one gives a damn (I am sorry for the word). I was so much taken by the religious trend in our discussion because I have come to realize that what we are essentially facing here is a huge spiritual fight.
It is a fight between total moral corruption accompanied by the no less total worldwide hypocrisy and people like Michael Jackson who either have deep belief in God and his commandments, or simply have human conscience and ethics which they mistake for atheism but which are in fact another form of listening to the Holy Spirit.
There is no more need to beat about the bush – incredible as it might seem but Michael Jackson involved us in a spiritual fight with the worst world evil in which we have no right to lose.
What you have said about that tape sent to Michael by mail shows once again that ped-les were keeping him as their constant target – one way or the other they wanted him to be “theirs” and in reaching that goal they employed every means possible – provocations (like this parcel sent by the mail), slander, pulling the necessary strings in the media, compromising him in the eyes of the most conservative forces in the society (like Tom Sneddon), using the racial card, whatever.
They most probably never expected Michael to resist them so much – knowing his gentle ways they hoped to break his spirit by the very first wave of all that nastiness, but to their great surprise he stood up to their attacks again and again. He was bleeding but still fought back until the end of his life. And now – by standing up for Michael Jackson – we have sort of inherited the fight he waged and cannot avoid it.
* * *
Lynette, I think you should make a very short post about the question asked by a reader about the tape and your answer to it. You seem to know much more about it than I do. It is time we stopped making “fundamental” posts but answered concrete questions which may be summed up later into a collection of questions and answers. Please….
@VMJ
The tape was found by customs agents going through the suspects mail. He was a suspected trafficker of child pornograhy and so they had Federal search warrants for his mail. It had nothing to do with Michael other than they used his name on the title and used the title of his song (written by R. Kelly) as one of the segments of the film. It was made in the Czech Republic and was homemade made over several other videos which is what 3rd or 4th generation means.
It was different back in 1995 for the child pornography business. These guys would keep in touch with each other via mail and share their child pornography. Now it is different because they can share on the internet or at least they could until last year. Interpol and the police in many countries have caught many of them with new computer programs designed to search them out. I actually know a programmer that worked on forensic software for tracking them and finding what is on their computers. They can track certain suspects now and from there whoever is in touch with them can be found and investigated as well.
Here is an article that I found about one of the largest stings that took place in from Australia where they first used the software.It is also a very good article that puts in proper perspective exactly what a real p******** does.
http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/1501622/Thirty-one-Aussies-arrested-in-biggest-paedophile-ring
Lynette, it is great that you have found all those follow-up materials on that tape. I remember the FBI files speaking about a tape which was found somewhere at the customs but didn’t know that it had such a luring name. If it was Michael Jackson who put that name on the tape he evidently wanted very much indeed to draw the customs officers’s attention to it, or otherwise I cannot explain why it had such an attractive title.
As far as I remember, besides it being a third-generation copy of we don’t know what, no one could prove that it ever belonged to Michael. Anyone could write his name there (same as yours or mine) and later claim things about it – but it would be laughable even to think that if any of us wanted to hide it the first thing we would do is put our name on it!
What this tape actually testifies to is that someone wanted to set up Michael by putting it somewhere into his luggage. In fact we do not even know where it was found, but what we can be sure of is that it was put there on purpose.
This is another great fact for our collection of facts about Michael having been framed up by someone.
The tape that was found in 1995 was not found in Michael Jackson’s home. It was found in Miami by a customs agent found to be a 3rd or 4th generation tape and was found in connection to another case that was being investigated.It was mailed to the person that they were investigating from South America.You can go to the FBI and just search Michael Jackson and it will tell you what that tape was about. What they mean by third or fourth generation tape is that someone made a home made tape. It was done on top of a previous tape and the audio did not match the video. Neverland was searched in 1993 and again in 2003 not in 1995. Here is a link to the FBI document that explains it.The best I can make out is that the tape was made in the Czech Republic and someone used Michael’s music in it.
http://vault.fbi.gov/Michael%20Jackson/Michael%20Jackson%2095%20File%20Part%201%20of%201/view
http://intelfiles.egoplex.com/1996-10-11-ICE-Michael-Jackson.pdf
http://intelfiles.egoplex.com/2010_02_01_archive.html
I moved this to a more appropriate location in the blog.
Ojala todas estas cosas se pudieran replicar , en espanol , ya que somos muchos los seguidores de Michael tanto en Espana ,como latino America, y deseariamos poner nuestro granito de arena , dando nuestra vision de las cosas y manifestar el inmenso Amor que le tenemos Michael Jackson
Kaarin, are you able to comment now? Recently the wordpress sent me another piece of advice – please inform me if this does (or doesn’t) help:
This is kaarin22 again.I have posted for over 2 years without problems. If not mistaken I had a permalink and my name etc was there under the space for writing.
I have not been able to send messages. Just got in with Worldpress, but then they told me to sign in with email address etc. There was no place to do that. Please help me to get back in, I have posted 21/2 years without any problems.
Yes, wow, this is fantastic, David. I saw the video with WW back in 2010. We need people like her. I am very interested in this.
“I will work with her to give her additional material that she can assign to her class to read, such as books and articles. Via word of mouth, enrollment in her classes has skyrocketed due to MJ! We will meet again in a few weeks and I’ll keep you guys updated!”
Wow, just wow! David, please refer Martha Gullien to our site as well. My biggest hugs to Martha Gullien!
Today I met with a professor who is teaching her college students about MJ! Her name is Martha Gallien, and she teaches criminology and sociology here in Texas. We met for around 2 hours and talked about MJ, what she thought about him before and after his death, what her students think about her, and other topics.
She is making her students read “MJ Conspiracy” & they must write a book report on it! In another class, her students are given extra credit assignments that they can do on MJ if they choose. She always liked his music, but was too busy with working and raising her family to follow his life closely while he was alive. After he died, she became very curious about him, and was disgusted at what she discovered!
In Sept. 2010, she flew to Cali to attend the Frozen In Time seminar, where Mesereau, Zonen, Feldman, & others spoke about the MJ cases.
She met with William Wagener afterwards and taped an interview for YT where she describes what she heard there. I will work with her to give her additional material that she can assign to her class to read, such as books and articles. Her students are very excited about learning about MJ, and many have decided to study MJ even after taking her course! Many minds have been changed!
They love watching the “What Did Happen To Michael Jackson?” series on YT! Via word of mouth, enrollment in her classes has skyrocketed due to MJ! We will meet again in a few weeks and I’ll keep you guys updated!
I don’t know if that story is true, but if it is, then it’s very interesting
Abuse witch-hunt traps innocent in a net of lies
Public alarm over paedophiles has led to a relentless ‘trawl’ for sex perverts. David Rose and Gary Horne report on one man whose life was ruined when he fell victim to the wave of panic.
Share
reddit this
The Observer, Sunday 26 November 2000
Article history
In a spartan special-visits room at Wakefield prison, Roy Shuttleworth leans across the bolted-down table and displays his most treasured possessions: letters and cards from his wife, Irene. ‘My darling, innocent Roy,’ one begins, ‘I am as much in love with you as the day we met nearly 40 years ago. My only wish is to spend what life we have left together. I only hope nothing happens to either one of us, because I know the other will die of a broken heart.’
As he speaks of his shattered family, he makes no attempt to hide his grief. His children, Roy junior and Suzanne, cross the Pennines from Cheshire to visit him twice a month. Now 67, the pale, broken man they find is a ghost of the jolly paterfamilias they see in family photos. This former champion swimmer, mining foreman and long-distance truck driver is serving a 10-year sentence for crimes deemed by some to be worse than murder – 11 counts of sexual assault and buggery against boys once in his care.
From his arrest in 1995, he has protested his innocence. Although it could shorten his sentence by two years, he refuses to take the prison sex offender treatment programme: ‘How can I sit there in a so-called therapy group talking about my crimes if I haven’t committed them? And listening to them who has done it – it’s disgusting.’
Tonight, after five months of investigation, the BBC Panorama programme will reveal dramatic new evidence supporting Shuttleworth’s claim of innocence, including evidence from former residents at the home where he worked – Greystone Heath in Warrington – who refute key elements of the prosecution case, contradicting key elements in the stories told by Shuttleworth’s alleged victims. One man, confronted by huge discrepancies in his story, has now changed it beyond recognition from the version he gave in court.
All of the eight men who made allegations against Shuttleworth have criminal records for dishonesty; three were serving seven-year sentences when they testified. Three have since allegedly disclosed they fabricated their claims for money, hoping to be awarded compensation from the government criminal injuries scheme and from civil actions against Liverpool City Council, which owned and ran Greystone Heath. The rewards from this process may run to more than £100,000 for each claimant.
It would be deeply disturbing if Shuttleworth’s story was an isolated case. But it is not. Since the time allegations of sexual abuse in care homes first surfaced in North Wales in 1991, more than 100 former care workers have been convicted and jailed for terms of up to 18 years. Some of them, perpetrators of foul and degrading crimes whose victims were long disbelieved, confessed to the police and pleaded guilty. Others, like Shuttleworth, continue to protest their innocence.
Police investigations into care-home abuse have become an unregulated phenomenon with 90 separate inquiries under way at present, and thousands of former and serving care workers and teachers under suspicion. Officers from a single inquiry in South Wales recently announced they had more than 500 suspects.
All are using ‘the trawl’ – the highly unusual method piloted in North Wales and by the Cheshire force that investigated Greystone Heath. It relies, not on victims coming forward, but on the police visiting hundreds or thousands of men once at a particular care home to discover if they were abused. Shuttleworth’s solicitor, Chris Saltrese, calls it a ‘begging bowl operation, a hunt for allegations’. Some of those identified this way are genuine abusers. But as Shuttleworth’s case shows, it is a blunt weapon, likely to produce false allegations.
The trawl that led to Shuttleworth’s conviction began with a single allegation from a resident of Greystone Heath, a prolific offender sent there by the courts. Early in 1994 ‘Paul’ (the law says alleged victims of sexual offences must have their identities protected) found himself in the custody of the police. He told them that nine months earlier he had been driving his car in Widnes when he saw a former Greystone worker, Alan Langshaw, leaving the magistrates’ court with a boy. This, he said, brought back the horror of the sexual abuse Langshaw inflicted on him at the home during the 1970s.
‘Paul’ made a statement, and in the days that followed, accused a further 17 former care workers, including Roy Shuttleworth. Without independent evidence his claims posed a serious problem for the police. However, two years earlier the media had fiercely criticised the failure of police in North Wales to bring the perpetrators of sexual abuse in local homes to justice. The Cheshire officers talking to ‘Paul’ did not want to expose themselves to similar attacks. The force decided to set up a major investigation – Operation Granite.
Using health, prison and benefit records, the police traced hundreds of former Greystone residents. At least 1,000 made statements, though only a small minority claimed they were victims. When the police arrested Langshaw, he confessed almost immediately and was finally jailed for eight years. Langshaw’s Greystone Heath contemporary, Roy Shuttleworth, was a different matter.
There were striking differences. Langshaw, a gay single man, had a private flat at Greystone Heath where he could lock the door and do as he pleased with his victims, immune from scrutiny. Shuttleworth lived on the campus with his wife and children. He had come into care work in his forties, when his wife Irene, sick of his absences driving HGVs, persuaded him to apply for a joint post as houseparents. The couple did everything together. Why such a man would want to abuse young boys is a matter for psychologists. How he could have done so is a crucial question on which his proof of innocence turns.
The vital principle which trawl inquiries must follow is to avoid ‘leading’ potential witnesses by planting ideas in their minds. Professor Mike McConville of Warwick University, an authority on miscarriages of justice, tells tonight’s Panorama how easy it is to generate a false allegation in this way. The police, he points out, do not simply record what interviewees say: they write up their statements from lengthy question and answer sessions, and it is impossible to tell the spontaneous account from one which has been suggested.
By telling interviewees they were investigating sexual abuse and reminding them of the names of care staff, detectives could sow the seeds of a wrongful conviction. McConville believes that introducing mandatory taping of all detective-witness encounters in trawl investigations is urgently needed.
When talks with police generate untrue statements, says McConville, the witness will almost invariably ‘adopt’ the misleading account as his own. In the present climate, a wrongly accused care worker is the deadly foe.
Panorama’s investigation revealed that this process was at work in Operation Granite. A former Greystone inmate who left the home seven years before Shuttleworth began to work there in 1974 made a graphic statement, describing how Shuttleworth had forced him to masturbate him in the shower. The man sticks to his account now, insisting that Shuttleworth abused him. But the man got Shuttleworth’s name from the police who descended ‘out of the blue’ one day in 1995. The detectives, he says, showed him photographs of Shuttleworth and told him they were investigating claims he was a paedophile.
The case reveals a second, deadly way in which wrongful convictions can be generated by trawls – the lure of compensation. After the man had made his statement, the police suggested he see a solicitor. He went to Abney Garsden McDonald in Cheadle, which by early 1995 was co-ordinating actions for damages on behalf of alleged abuse victims throughout the North-West. (Today there are more than 700 claimants in these actions, all funded by legal aid, 350 of whom the Cheadle firm represents.)
The lawyers told him he had two ways of making a claim: the Government criminal injuries compensation scheme, and a civil action against Greystone’s operators, Liverpool City Council. He began to pursue both courses. Only then did the police realise the discrepancy over dates, forcing him to withdraw from both the criminal and civil legal process.
The police have taken an unusually close interest in the compensation aspect of the case. Senior officers visited the government scheme’s Glasgow headquarters and persuaded them to waive the normal three-year time limit for claimants. They also had meetings with Peter Garsden, Abney Garsden McDonald’s lead partner in the abuse cases, and with other lawyers involved in the civil actions.
‘It very quickly became apparent that it was important for us and the police to have a symbiotic relationship,’ Garsden says. ‘For example, the police would want us to refer any new complaints of abuse that they didn’t know about to them, because it would help them in their process. We depended on them, because we wanted as much information about the pending criminal trials as possible.’
Garsden also appointed a ‘press relations officer’ who succeeded in getting articles placed in the local media which made it clear that victims might be able to claim thousands of pounds in damages. A former Greystone resident, Eric Oldham, went to the firm and lodged a claim after seeing this publicity. Only after he had made his statement for the lawyers did he agree to talk to the police.
In McConville’s eyes, this relationship between criminal and civil justice was risky. ‘You cannot have a cheque book investigation in a criminal case. Victims can be legitimately assisted in pursuing compensation, that’s one thing, but you must not have the issue of compensation colouring their accounts.’
In some cases, the relation between lawyers and police has been closer still. ‘The police have been very helpful,’ says solicitor Keith Robinson, handling over 100 abuse claims. ‘I have had several clients who have been referred to me by officers. They will often supply important documents, such as unused material from a trial and supporting evidence.’
A third and final factor made the position in which Shuttleworth found himself more perilous still.
In 1991, a House of Lords judgment in the case known as Director of Public Prosecutions versus P changed the law. Normally, an allegation of a criminal offence has to stand or fall on its own merits: if a witness accusing someone of sexual abuse was sufficiently credible, or could adduce supporting evidence, then an abuser would be convicted. Until 1991, multiple allegations against the same person could only be held to be mutually corroborating if there were ‘striking similarities’ between the alleged crimes, indicating a criminal’s ‘signature,’ a distinct modus operandi. But the judgment removed this protection. In effect, the courts have accepted the idea of ‘corroboration by volume’.
Peter Garsden insists that every allegation in the 700 cases he is co-ordinating is true, because nobody would be prepared to put up with the unpleasant business of giving evidence unless they were telling the truth. He further believes he is, literally, fighting the forces of Satan: ‘I believe that we’re messing with the Devil, because you know, child abuse is evil, and the people that get involved in it are powerful, manipulative people. And they will do their level best to stop us succeeding and stop us getting justice for the victims.’
Garsden, who is also executive officer of the national Association of Child Abuse Lawyers, says that even when discrepancies occur between allegations and known facts, this doesn’t cast doubt on their story: their memory may have deceived them over some of the details, but the one thing they will always remember is how they were abused, and by whom.
Lesley Cohen from Nottingham, who has prepared reports for more than 100 victims disagreed. ‘You cannot tell from using a psychometric assessment whether a person has experienced [the abuse] they’re talking about.’
The seven men who gave evidence accusing Shuttleworth all made criminal injuries claims, most before his trial; all have also lodged civil actions. One already had been convicted and jailed in 1991 for conspiracy to defraud the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board.
A psychiatric assessment dating from 1983 described this claimant as ‘unable to separate fact from fantasy’. Nevertheless, as the trial opened at Chester Crown Court in May 1996, the police were convinced that he and the other men were telling the truth.
Shuttleworth’s defence scored important points. For example, faced with the difficulty that Shuttleworth had no private space to take his supposed victims, the complainants claimed they’d been abused in public parts of the home. One, ‘Dave’, said he had a key to the swimming pool where he worked alone as a cleaner and Shuttleworth used to abuse him there.
Peter McCudden, the former head of PE, said this was untrue: there were only two keys to the swimming pool, guarded religiously by himself and the duty head, and anyone found alone there would be banned from the pool for life. The discrepancies were ignored by the jury. The judge described the men as ‘coming forward’, and asked the jury to consider how they could have made their claims independently unless they were true. But they had not ‘come forward’.
Panorama tested ‘Dave’s’ story further. He also claimed that Shuttleworth used to wake him in the dormitory and take him away to abuse him at night. We traced two of his former room-mates, both of whom insisted such a thing was impossible: they would have known. They denied Dave’s claim that one of them had also been abused. One, abused by Langshaw, is now a successful entrepreneur who asked to remain anonymous. He said: ‘No, no, not in this world, no, no, never – Shuttleworth never did anything to me.’
This was nothing to the unravelling of the claims of another witness – ‘Jim’. He claimed he was assaulted one afternoon in the shower in a brutal attack which ended in buggery and lasted for 10 to 15 minutes. Finally, he said, he pushed Shuttleworth off him, banging his head against the shower door, and ran wrapped in a towel to the headmaster’s office.
But ‘Jim’ would have had to run 400 yards in full view of the road and passers-by who used Greystone Heath as a short cut – on his account, crying, screaming and bleeding from his anus. Unfortunately, the trial never heard crucial details of the evening shower routine which cast further doubt: the shower was open, with no door against which Shuttleworth could bang his head. The boys showered together in a tightly supervised regimen, with two staff patrolling. ‘There was never any stragglers,’ says Lee Fielding, once ‘Jim’s’ best friend.
Confronted by Panorama with these discrepancies, Jim changed his story: the attack, he said, lasted only ‘a matter of seconds’; and he was no longer sure whether he had been penetrated. His one-time friend Lee then asked how he could have left the building, because the doors were always locked. ‘Jim’ claimed he jumped from a first-floor window – a detail he never mentioned before. Last week we went back to Greystone Heath and found – as Lee had told us – that the windows were restrained by metal brackets, and could not open more than three inches. ‘Oh, aye,’ ‘Jim’ said. ‘I was skinny in them days.’ Our inquiries found problems with the evidence of all the witnesses. The more we checked it, the more it fell apart.
Some of this fresh evidence was available when Shuttleworth applied for leave to appeal in 1999. The most dramatic example was the story of ‘Tony,’ who claimed Shuttleworth bent him over his bed and started to bugger him, and that he screamed and bit Shuttleworth’s finger so hard he fell to the floor in agony. He claimed that another care worker, Phil Fiddler, was drawn by the commotion and was told by Shuttleworth (with trousers, presumably, at half-mast) that ‘Tony’ had attacked him.
In 1997, ‘Tony’ gave evidence in Fiddler’s own trial. This time he claimed that Fiddler bent him over his bed and started to bugger him, and that he screamed and bit Fiddler’s finger so hard he fell to the floor in agony. Drawn by the commotion, he said another care worker, Ted Tipton, entered the room and Fiddler told him (with trousers, presumably, at half-mast) that ‘Tony’ had attacked him. Fiddler’s jury acquitted him of all charges. It was a carbon copy of the evidence against Shuttleworth. As Fiddler’s barrister told the court, he had to be lying. In tonight’s Panorama, another former Greystone resident who met ‘Tony’ in prison describes how he boasted that he was making false allegations for money, adding: ‘You should try it yourself.’
At about the same time as Fiddler’s trial, Shuttleworth’s solicitor, Chris Saltrese, traced ‘Paul’, the man whose claims had first triggered Operation Granite. He admitted he had fabricated his allegations against Shuttleworth, and agreed to consider making a statement saying so. However, after consulting his lawyer, he declined. He is still claiming compensation – although by the time of Shuttleworth’s trial, the police had decided not to call him as a witness. The reason, an internal police memo records, was that ‘doubts must be cast on his competence as a credible prosecution witness’.
Shuttleworth was refused leave to appeal. Last year Irene suffered a heart attack and died. Shuttleworth was allowed to throw a handful of earth on her coffin handcuffed to a prison officer.
‘My life is in fragments,’ he says. ‘I am in darkness. What those men’s lies have taken away can never be put back. All there is left is to clear my name.’
• Panorama’s investigation, In the Name of the Children, is on BBC1 tonight at 10.15.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2000/nov/26/socialcare.childrensservices
I love Michael! Not only because he is the King of Pop but I believe he was a special person. He loved everybody. He understood our sadness, our injust lives. Our pain was his pain. Our dreams were his dreams. Our happiness were his happiness. He is really an angel now.
I also did not know much about Michael’s life, my parents used to watched him when he was a little boy singing away. Somehow when the terrible news came out I did not trust what everyone was saying, somehow deep down even without really knowing him I new that could not be true. This was the time I started to read about Michael Joseph Jackson, and really learn about the Man in the Mirror, the more I read the more this incredible feeling of sadness and admiration and desire of teach people about HIM came into me. I appreciate very much the blogs about Michael. My heart aches when I think of HIM, I can not help that feeling, but his music lift me when I am down, make me smile when I am sad, and also make me cry when I here his voice. Why is this happening to so many of us? Why is Michael so deeply implanted in our hearts and souls? I think Michael was like the clean air from the Ocean, like the smell of fresh flowers, like the sun that shines on us every day, His feeling and soul were so pure, his love for the children of the World and concerned for Nature and Animals and for humanity in general. Michael took every bad situation that came to him and handled it in such a manner that I can not even find a word for it, ” I know” He had FAITH and he new he was innocent, and he had a family to care for, HE WAS ALL ABOUT L.O.V.E
Dear readers, I apologize for spamming the blog with some links – it is the result of my work on the 2nd (additional) blog. It was somewhat of a mess after the wordpress people helped me to transfer the posts there and since they imported everything now I am trying to categorize things. And in the process of it a torrent of links is being sent here!
Terribly sorry again. I don’t even know whether we will use the second blog but since the job was started I cannot give it up now.
Guys, I am terribly sorry for having to be away. In a moment of crisis I began working on a new blog which is to be an addition to the present one. The crisis is over but the blog is already in the process of making, so I decided to go on with it – it will give our team more space to express our views on various subjects concerning MJ.
I hope to be duplicating my posts here and there, but in the new blog will try to categorize things better (for easier search). Systematizing material turned out to be quite a problem, so please have some patience with me.
Another thing is that it is almost impossible to manually copy all the 175 posts I’ve written here, and I am still waiting for the wordpress hosts to help with that. Unfortunately one thing depends on the other as categorizing posts depends on how soon they will help me with the copying process. While the posts are not there it is impossible to systematize them.
I apologize to readers for starting a blog of my own – it is a sort of a hideout for me which I’ll occasionally use to touch upon subjects I wouldn’t think of raising here. All the rest of my studies will be fully posted here together with David’s and Lynette’s posts. This site was always meant to be a blog for different people standing up for Michael and I hope it will last even when its founders are gone.
Vindicating Michael is a long process and undoing the harm done to him will probably take as long as it took the other side to smear him. Our goal is the opposite – we are working to clean his good name of all the dirt and restore it in its beauty and shine. However restoration is no easy process and is by far more difficult than demolishing something (or someone), as everyone knows.
Please go on with the research. I will join you as soon as I can and hope it will be in the very near future. There is too much work for us to linger over it, isn’t there?
P.S. I’ve just noticed that I first addressed my readers here exactly two years ago – on February 25, 2010. What an incredible coincidence! Similar to the one we had several months ago, on November 20, 2011 when David made a post about us hitting a 500,000 mark and a reader thought the post was about the blog’s foundation date and sent us birthday congratulations. David said no, it wasn’t our birthday, but when I checked up the date of the first post it turned out that it was! The first post was made on November 20, 2009, or exactly two years before that!
Miracles seem to be happening in this blog and a two year period evidently has some cosmic meaning for us, so let us dream of the best miracle ever to take place for Michael in no longer than two years, okay?
Isn´t tomorrow, 24,th of February 2012 the day Murray is going to Appealleate Court? Or am I mistaken re the date.
I added a new blog to the blogroll! It’s called Valliee Girl 67 “ALL THINGS MICHAEL!” I was very impressed with the different categories of information and sites that she put into her blog roll! It’s great for research purposes!
http://vallieegirl67.wordpress.com/
Thank you!
@ rockforeveron
http://jacksonaktak.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/jordan-versus-evan-chandler-2006.pdf
Does anyone have a working link to the documents involving Jordan vs his father and the restraining order?
http://lawlibrary.rutgers.edu/decisions/appellate/a0422-05.opn.html
The original link has been moved because the website was updated but I don’t know how to find the new link, anyone else have it?
“There is no effect to attack people who are trying to help you.”
You are not helping me and I am not attacking you. I simply think that you are not a friend to Michael Jackson. This is my opinion and I think I have the right to have one.
In any case the job of monitoring comments is not mine now – I’ve passed it over to my co-admins. Since I have absolutely no time for handling each and every comment and this is definitely not a forum but a BLOG, I would like to focus on posts instead.
After long debates about whether to allow or forbid dubious things in the comments section I surrendered to the opinion of the majority. I myself am of a slightly different opinion and the reason for that is that I am curious about my opponents. I want to know who they are and why they are doing it. I also think that sometimes it is necessary to give them all the rope to hang themselves with.
I really do want to know why Michael’s haters deny a good deal of truthful facts uncovered by us. There must be a reason for it. Of course I would prefer haters to tell us directly – without arranging all this theater, but for some reason they are not doing it (if you know any haters please ask them why they are denying the most obvious things and are harassing MJ even more viciously than ever).
I expected an honest dialogue and hoped that one day it would take place, but instead I see only lies and dirt. Now I am told that Topix people are spreading lies that this blog is “recommending the NAMBLA book” and we just “erased” something incriminating, and they ask each other whether they made screen shots of it (?)
All this is inconceivable. To tell you frankly I see similar things done against people only by the authorities of my country when they want to harass someone. This was also the method used against any kind of dissident opinion during the Soviet times.
It is a total shock to me to find that similar things are taking place in your part of the world and on a mass scale too. What I see reminds me so much of our propaganda that I simply cannot believe my eyes. All media is speaking against Jackson as if in one voice! And the dirty tricks they use against innocent people!
I don’t care whether they are doing it for Money only. Money is also ideology. Printing only those things which are “selling” – even if they are flat lies – is Money Ideology. Money decides what is truth and what is a lie and in Michael’s case it decided in favor of horrendous lies.
And now that I’ve seen what it is like, I know for sure that this is what I don’t want for my country either.