David Is "a Terrible Person," Says PI Hired to Spy on Miscavige's Dad
One of two private detectives who were allegedly paid $10,000 a week by Church of Scientology leader David Miscavige to spy on Miscavige's elderly father was evidently not particularly fond of his employer. "David probably has reason to be afraid," PI Daniel Powell tells police in an interview recording obtained by TMZ, when asked about Miscavige's paranoia. "He's a terrible person."
The recording comes after the revelation— first reported in the Los Angeles Times—that Miscavige allegedly spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on round-the-clock surveillance of his father, who left the church in 2012. (Miscavige's attorney denied any connection to the private detectives.) According to Powell's interview with police, Ron Miscavige left the church after David asked him to step down as Scientology's music director:
His music got a little outdated. David said, "Go live your life. Get out of the church. Don't worry about it." Ron took that as "You're fired. Get the hell out of here. We don't want anything to do with you anymore. Leave."
Powell also says that "digging up dirt" to use against Ron Miscavige in the event that he tries to hurt the church is "pretty much all we do." Asked about the reasons why David might be fearful of his father, Powell mentions books written by the elder Miscavige—although neither of the titles listed under Ron's name on Amazon appear to have anything to do with David Miscavige or Scientology ( True confessions of a kid and Hideouts for Midgets on the Lam: And other disrelated stories).
In a Tampa Bay Times report on the surveillance published yesterday, David Miscavige's niece Jenna Miscavige Hill, an ex-Scientologist, explains how the church has driven her family apart:
"I have to let my grandpa decide when and if he's going to tell his story," she said, adding that Scientology's first family suffers from the same kind of rift that keeps many church families apart.
...
"So I think that it's just been heartbreaking for him and he's trying to deal with it," she said of Ron Miscavige Sr.
