Testimony of a Christian Patriot on Phony Christian Scamsters & Grifters

Here is an e-mail message I received, in 2003, from a Christian patriot, Richard Phelps. It is pretty much self-explanatory; but I should add that I had posted a report on my website, exposing the bogus death threats being promoted, accusing an innocent person, Jeff Swedenburg, of threatening my life; and of being hired as a contract hit man by CIA.

The first of these bogus threats (and the slander against Jeff Swedenburg) were relayed to me by Kurt and Lee Ann Billings on Easter Sunday, April 15, 2001. The second slander and promotion of bogus threats was made by Tim White, through a conduit, Daryl Sturgis aka Tim Hall, in mid-August 2001.

One thing is clear: White and the Billings (and possibly Daryl Sturgis) were in collusion to promote this death threat. These unscrupulous individuals caused tremendous pain and suffering, to both myself and Jeff Swedenburg, as well as severe financial losses to me, in my efforts to protect myself until I could investigate the threat to determine whether or not it was real.

It wasn't; and Jeff and I, after discussing it many times, came to the conclusion that it was an attempt to "kill two birds with one stone." Both of us had been targeted by criminals in government, including the notorious Ted L. Gunderson, whom I had broken off my association with in January 2000, and first exposed the reasons why in February/March 2001.

The death threat followed close on the heels of my exposure (and it was mild, compared to what I have since exposed) of Ted Gunderson.

Over the years, I have figured out that Gunderson must have been involved, right from the beginning. Death threats are a typical COINTELPRO tactic, in attempts to intimidate a target.

In my case, I wasn't intimidated. Instead I was mad as hell, and eventually tracked down the alleged "hit man" myself. He later became my bodyguard, which tells you how much I feared for my life.

To: Barbara Hartwell
From Richard Phelps
Lafayette, Louisiana
16 January 2003
Re: Kurt Billings

"I stumbled into your website, via searching for Stew Webb's site on Google.com tonight, after one of our local Patriots (Chuck), that comes to our Freedom Forum meetings on the 2nd and 4th Thursdays at Hub City Diner here in Lafayette, hosted by Tom Parker), told me that I should check out Stew Webb's info on the "Council (group?) of 13" report, and what I read re: Kurt Billings echoed what my family and I suffered under the beguilement of Mr. Billings.

What follows is an off-the-cuff, incomplete synopsis from my wife and I, re: Kurt Billings entanglement into our lives...we've successfully broken all ties to him, years ago, but the scars remain, of course, but God has healed us of the agony.

So, I thus apologize for any missing information; there is simply too much to relate for me to get into tonight; I've had a very stressful day, as we just learned our State MEDICAID program is severely cutting back the Prescription benefit, and this will adversely affect many of our friends, who are on disability.

My wife and I have been married almost 25 years, and have been attending our home church (Bethel Crossroads Cathedral) for 10 years, and before that, Calvary Eastside in Bellevue, Washington, since 1983.

I've been involved in research and discernment issues since I became a Christian in 1975, helping the now-defunct The Colossian Fellowship of Seattle in the mid-1980s, in researching the very strange group, Seattle Community Chapel and Bible Training Center (pastored by a very controlling individual, Don Barnett, heavily into Latter-Day Rain), and exposing the veritable smorgasbord of New Age, Pagan, satanic, etc. groups that permeated the spiritual landscape of the Seattle area.

I also volunteered for Rev. Ed Decker, at Saints Alive in Jesus (SAIJ -Rev. Ed Decker, President teachings), helping in their media department, in the mid-1980s, and again in '88 and '89, where I first met Mr. Kurt Billings (little were we to know what heartache we were in store for!).

I'm currently helping Tom Parker produce his weekly Freedom Forum program on our local public access TV station, Acadiana Open Channel. and when my family and job permit, do some research for him on the Internet, re: freedom/constitutional issues (for example, the rather frightening implications of the "Converging Technologies for Improving Human Performance: Nanotechnology, Biotechnology, Information Technology and Cognitive Science" report; it is LOADED with CIA/MK-Ultra MC language...refers to a "hive-mind" linking of human minds in some near-future enhanced human performance scenario, employing nano-technology computer implants in the brain...shudder!).

I started reading your site, and almost *immediately* saw the name Kurt Billings, which brought back all the horrible experiences my family and I, our church, and close friends had, re: Mr. Billing's very bizarre, divisive, and strange behavior, from 1989, when we first ran into him at Saints Alive in Jesus (SAIJ - Rev. Ed Decker, President - a ministry to help those lost in the cults of Mormonism and Masonry) International Headquarters in Issaquah, Washington State, where I was a volunteer.

To cut to the chase, we were, like yourself and many others, duped into thinking that Billings (he was separated from Lisa Billings, his first wife, while at the same time, seeing an alleged SRA victim, Yasha Tomblin, who lived at the Section 8 apartments we lived at, in Bellevue, Washington), that had initially been referred to Kurt Billings by Bill Schnoebelen, who at the time was working with Ed Decker at SAIJ in counseling and research (Mr. Schnoebelen and his wife moved to Iowa, to be with their elderly parents, who needed their care; they continued their ministry, With One Accord, there).

Unfortunately, Mr. Billings engaged in a platonic relationship with Ms. Tomblin, which I verified with both Ed Decker and Bill Schnoebelen, and they gave Mr. Billings an ultimatum: Either cut off the relationship with Ms. Tomblin, or be disallowed from using SAIJ resources, property, etc. for Billing's "ministry." Billings *appeared* to comply with their request, but soon made plans to move to Louisiana, taking Ms. Tomblin with him, *while still separated from his wife, Lisa Billings.

Both Ed Decker and Bill Schnoebelen had misgivings about Billings, but unfortunately, I was too blind-sided by Billings to see the deception, and my wife and I, and our then 2 yr. old son moved down to Lafayette, Louisiana, to be "part of Billing's ministry," booking his "speaking engagements," and helping in his "research."

As you're probably now guessing, in 1992-93, we found out *the hard way* about Mr. Billing's *real* character; deception, sowing division, lies, and using people's homes, money, and time to achieve his own selfish ends. He left us with an $800 phone bill, loss of credibility (there were many long phone calls between my then-pastor, Mike Linney, ourselves, Sue and Robert Patin, and others, about how we all mutually discovered Billing's true nature.

After we confronted Billings about numerous inaccuracies in his "research" (plagiarized from another researcher, in Seattle, who is too stressed out to deal with this), and his sensational accusations against some church leader, author, etc., and about the $800 unpaid phone bills, he moved out of our home on his own accord, claiming he was engaged to a woman by the name of Leslie, from St. Martinville.

Shortly after this, I found myself in the unenviable position of having to "backtrack" and contact *all* the churches and pastors I had recommended Kurt Billings to, and apologize for having ever recommended this individual to them (my phone bill ran up to $200, in the course of contacting the 100 churches, and pastors/ ministries, about Billings). Almost to a person, each pastor, ministry leader, etc. confirmed that they later had "suspicions" about Billing's character and integrity.

The clincher came when Kurt Billing's adoptive mother, Hazel Billings, received a copy of Billing's "Praise the Lord" "testimony" on a Beaumont, TX Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN - which I do not endorse in large part, due to their emphasis on aberrational and "health-and-wealth" teachings), where Billings had "detailed" information as to how his mother (he would *never* say in his "testimony" in public, that she was his *adopted* mother, but would refer to himself as the descendent of Christian Science founder Mary Baker Eddy, via his "mother") had allegedly raised him in a satanic coven, and then "jump" from there to expose the New World Order.

Hazel Billings was dumbfounded about where/how he came up with such a tale, and related to my wife and I that he had a *history of drug dealing/abuse in the early 80s, in the Portland area, which Billings admitted to us himself, and was prone to "exaggeration."

I should note that when we briefly met Hazel Billings in her home in Portland, Oregon (during one of Billing's "ministry" trips, we were enticed into, before we realized the truth about Billings), that she was quite eclectic in her religious background...she indeed had material by Mary Baker Eddy in her home, but also books by Benny Hinn, Billy Graham, Unity School of Christianity, etc....a "mix-'n match" smorgasbord! But, even though Mrs. Billings and I may not have seen eye-to-eye on our faith (we attend Bethel Crossroads Cathedral, Assembly of God, where Billings left a trail of lies and sensationalism, in '91 to '93).

As Kurt came into the living room, she had to stop talking about his past.

It was only later, over the next year, that we learned from Hazel that Kurt had a strange childhood, and was prone to lying, and getting his own way through whatever means.

She said he was "wearing her down" (as I've read on your site, a classic hallmark of his CIA-esque background), and she was totally frustrated about what to do about him. I can only relate a tiny fraction to the heartache she must've gone through, dealing with a wayward son, over those years, as we are parents of an 8 year old daughter, and a almost-16 year old son.

Kurt was ugly with her about Christmas gifts, and we learned shortly thereafter that she suffered a stroke, and went into a nursing home, whereupon we lost contact with her.

We stayed in touch with Hazel Billings, up until she was admitted to a nursing home, after a stroke, either at the end of 1993, or beginning of 1994. The last conversation we had with her was difficult, as she was crying, and very upset about Kurt cutting off most of his communication with her, and continuing to show his "testimony" on the Beaumont, TX TBN affidavit, about "her raising him in a satanic coven."

While all of this was going on, Kurt Billings married Leslie from St. Martinville, in either '93 or '94, and went on his usual way of "ministry" speaking engagements...when he found out I was contacting the churches/pastors/ministries about him, and his fraudulent ways, he attempted to frighten me via a phony letter (in fact written by an extremely over-controlling station manager at the Beaumont, TX TBN affiliate!), into alleging I'd violated the RICO act, in "defaming his name across state lines."

My pastor, Mike Linney, attempted to defuse the matter, but he out just how controlling that "station manager" was, when he attempted to calmly discuss the matter with him--I could hear the station manager's raised voice, over the phone, from across the desk of my pastor!

I talked to several local attorneys, who assured me the "letter" re: the RICO act "violation" on my part "against the good name of Kurt Billings" was not to be taken seriously, and to just throw it out.

Sadly, we found out from friends of Leslie's family, that Kurt had left her "stranded" in a tent, with the two babies he fathered through her, in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, and she had to have her family come and take her back home to Louisiana. She eventually found a decent Christian man of integrity, and are happily married.

It is unknown as to the status of Lisa Billings, Kurt's "first" wife, or of Yasha Tomblin, but as my wife and I sadly concluded, along with local area pastors (and ditto for those pastors and ministries in Washington State), Mr. Billings does not present anything close to a "Christian" witness in his life, leaves broken relationships in his wake, lies and uses people to his own ends, and is not to be trusted.

I also heard of the story from Gunderson, on Ken Adachi's website (I, too, have reluctantly come to have to doubt Gunderson's character...I've had many conversations with Ron Patton of Olympia, Washington (he, too, had negative experiences re: Billings), and in the course of discussion about MC (mind control) issues, Mr. Patton said there were "just too many questionable traits" about Gunderson, to trust him.

When I did read (with caution, from Gunderson's "A Response to Barbara Hartwell", and read the sections about Kurt Billings, it was obvious Billing's "strange bizarre behavior" was prominent, re: being around Gunderson, and others. I did not know of your web site, Barbara, at the time, and had just found out Billings was "re-surfacing" in the Pacific Northwest area, and via Bonnie in Louisiana (another patriot), forwarded my synopsis on Kurt Billings, to area pastors/ ministries, etc.

I thus did not know of all of Gunderson's questionable character, when I forwarded my material on Billings to Ken Adachi of Educate Yourself website, after I mentioned I had very bad experience re: Billings, in private e-mail to Ken Adachi. Ken advised me that Ted Gunderson was still being sued by Art Bell, re: the alleged remarks Gunderson (put in his mouth by Billings, if Gunderson is to be believed) about Art Bell's pedophilia against his son, and he was looking for any info on Billings, that would show Billing's extremely questionable character. I sent the material off, had one very brief telephone conversation with Gunderson, who said "I'm basically out of work, in poor health...Art Bell, Billings, etc...in campaign to destroy my reputation."

I mentioned all of the above to Ron Patton, who said that there were some serious questions re: Gunderson's character, and integrity (too long to get into here), so I asked him, "was it a bad thing I sent the Billings material to Ken Adachi, who sent it to Gunderson" Did I walk unwittingly into another trap, a la Billings?"

Ron said to just be very careful dealing with Gunderson, and to just let the matter rest, re: any further contact with Gunderson; others I knew corroborated my concerns about not just Billings, but now Gunderson. I was wondering, "How messy can this get?"

Well, it has been about 2 years since the above transpired, then tonight, while looking at your web site for the first time in-depth, I saw the name Kurt Billings leap out at me from your web site.

Barbara, I'm so sorry you had to endure a much greater hardship, re: Billings, than we did...it makes what my family and I went through look like a tea-party, in comparison. And, it always saddens me to see the Ted Gundersons, the Kurt Billings, etc. propagate themselves into the Christian and Patriot movements, and create the discord, confusion, heart-break, ruined relationships and marriages, etc. in their wake.

I sometimes wonder "how long, Oh Lord," should I even continue researching and sharing info for Christians and Patriots, but I have to press on, after I take care of my primary responsibility to my family, and to the Lord, something that Billings certainly did not do!

We have been through our own set of trials and tribulations here in Louisiana, re: the Patriot/Freedom movement. Tom Parker had to deal with a certain individual and his wife, whose marriage is very shaky, after he made false accusations about Tom, apparently in "revenge" against her husband, who used to come to our Freedom Forum meetings.

Tom got a "visit" from the federales, after the misguided wife of this person alleged Tom "had illegal firearms" in his possession...Tom came out ok through this, but it was not fun, to say the least. The only "good" news is that once the federales and the local sheriff deputies actually met Tom, and saw his actual belongings, they realized he was not what he was made out to be, by the woman who made these false accusations. In fact, Tom thinks he made a few "converts" to our side that day :-)

Barbara, I realize you probably get tons of e-mail each day, but I hope this has been of help to you, in efforts to expose Kurt and Le-Anne (we never met her; it was after Leslie left Kurt), and others of the same ilk...I read Jude verses 12 and 13, which seem to apply to people like Billings:

Jude 1:12 These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds [they are] without water,carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;

Jude 1:13 Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever.

I wish you success, and God's strength, in your efforts to expose the forces of darkness that would seek to destroy our freedoms, and our faith...I know it sometimes seems a thankless job, Barbara, but as one poster I saw said:

"The earthly wages are lousy, there are no benefits [referring to Christian ministry, but applies to the Patriot movement, too], and the hours are long, but the eternal rewards are out of this world, which eye has not seen, nor ear has heard..."

Richard Phelps in Lafayette, Louisiana