The Ecker Report Continues

And now, we pick up from where we left off...Oh, and this entry also contains mild profanity.

“Friends of Bishop Seán Manchester wrote:
From: Friends of Bishop Seán Manchester
To: "Don Ecker"
Subject: Re: Misrepresentation
Date: Sun, 8 Jul 2007 12:15:41 +0100

Dear Don Ecker,

You may raise questions regarding the Highagte Vampire case at
http://groups.msn.com/TheCrossandTheStake

Just how willing Bishop Manchester will be to respond to an American who describes him as being someone who is "either a brilliant opportunist or is vastly deluded"* I really cannot say. Personally, I would be disinclined, if someone spoke about me in that way, to show much co-operation. I only mention this because your first e-mail response talked of having "courtesy" (July 06, 2007 5:56 PM). I do not find your published remarks at all courteous. Far from it. One of his secretaries (I am his national secretary), however, might be willing in the absence of personal abuse to address your queries, but expecting a courteous reply from a highly respected public figure whom you label as deluded is a bit rich.

By the way, David Farrant is not Bishop Manchester's "arch enemy," as you claim on Amazon.* If you read the bishop's Introduction to Confronting the Devil, you will discover he clarifies that the Devil - not Farrant - is his arch-enemy. [which is amusing, considering these renderings of Farrant, by Manchester on his blog -ed.]

This can be found at: http://clearblogs.com/confrontingthedevil

Thank you for deleting the post which duplicates Farrant's libel that "Lusia" is Jacqueline Cooper who is a private individual not involved in any of these matters and clearly not "Lusia" who has never been identified. Farrant takes great pleasure in disseminating misinformation of every conceivable kind where Bishop Manchester and his work is concerned. What the outsider must consider is this: how on earth would Farrant know "Lusia's" identity? Or anything else concerning the case of the Highgate Vampire as recounted in Bishop Manchester's book? Farrant did not meet "Lusia" or any of the other characters mentioned in the Highgate Vampire account. He had no contact with anyone involved with the case and was either out of the country, on remand in prison, serving a prison sentence, or drinking copious amounts of alcohol in his local pub when these events took place. All his claims regarding Bishop Manchester are spurious, fabricated and malicious.

Regards,

Katrina Garforth-Bles
FoBSM”

Well, I was to discover how David Farrant knew “Lusia, aka Jacqueline Cooper” and that part of the story is fascinating as well.

Now as to the last note from “KGB”, quite frankly it pissed me off by the sneering tone about my being an American. Let me refresh you,

“Just how willing Bishop Manchester will be to respond to an American who describes him as being someone who is "either a brilliant opportunist or is vastly deluded"* I really cannot say.”

Okay, I will be the first to admit that I am an American. However, if this bunch is trying to convince the planet that we are all at risk from the dreaded undead stalking us, (to turn us into a happy meal?) then one would think that they would welcome someone who is conversant in investigations to be involved in what would be a world-class criminal case. Not really as I found out, and I will state that all my bull-shit indicators were ringing loud and long.

I still did not wish to totally alienate this bunch so I tried once more and was very polite but honest with them. By now though, I decided this was pretty much a lost cause. This was becoming too “cultish” a group to try to really communicate with.

“Dear Ms. Garforth-Bles,

Firstly, you are welcome. (for the thanks you forwarded for removing my post on Amazon.)

Well, as a former criminal investigator with years on the job, which I might add included investigating murders and the subsequent incarceration of the perpetrators to prison, I will be the first to admit that I am skeptical about the fact of "supernatural vampires." In 1981 I was the lead investigator on two cattle mutilations which in a round about way led me to discovering the Highgate case. (Both animals were exsanguinated.) At first blush, one should not be too harsh when my skeptical side rises, however I was willing to keep an open mind concerning the "possibility" that something with supernatural overtones did in fact occur.

One must agree (perhaps not you) that in light of almost non-existent evidence, supernatural vampires as an answer to Highgate and other cases, is a stretch of logic. The reason I purchased both "The Highgate Vampire" and "The Vampire Hunter's Handbook" was because I was looking for evidence with supernatural overtones. I fear I have not yet found what I am looking for.

Now, placing my "detective" hat on, allow me to tell you what I've been led to.

If, and that is a very big if, a genuine supernatural vampire did exist ... and if said creature attacked and murdered humans, this would be a law enforcement priority of the very first magnitude. How would one go about proving such an outrage? The answer is forensic science. If "Lusia" was in fact a victim of a vampire creature, then her cause of death would be vitally important to not only religious authorities but to Law Enforcement agencies worldwide. (Not to mention her corporeal body turning into a spider… something I’ve never experienced by the way) I still have many law enforcement connections and I must say the idea of "vampiric infestation" does not register anywhere. But then I am trying to examine this using logic and not emotion. Your emotion (and apparent anger) shines through you missives, when if you believe this phenomenon is real, one would think you would be willing to discuss this in a rational manner. (Instead you sound as if you are sneering that I am an American.) On another note, when my father was in England in 1943, the English were very happy to see him. However, water under the bridge.

You seem to castigate me for my initial skepticism about Bishop Manchester's assertion that supernatural vampires are real. Why yes, guilty as charged, but I am still willing to look and perhaps even be convinced with proof. Another Brit, one David Icke, asserts that the controllers of the planet are reptilian humanoids, which include the Queen and former President George Bush among many others. Icke has followers that are as intolerant of questions as you seem to be. Should you and I take Icke's word as fact without proof? Somehow I doubt that.

I have been respectful and courteous in my messages to you. I am genuinely interested in the Highgate case, which explains why I am in communication with you and the Friends of Bishop Manchester. But one thing I learned as a detective that has always rung true, when people are too intolerant of legitimate questions ... or regard such questions as an attack … one must suspect that something is being hidden. If Bishop Manchester would not deem to speak or write to me because I’ve expressed legitimate skepticism, then I suspect he is much too thin-skinned, which would seem to hold true for any group that has a perceived guru or infallible leader. That would be a shame.

With regards,

Don Ecker”

To be continued...

More of the Ecker Report

Continued from the previous entry. Note: contains mild profanity.

“Friends of Bishop Seán Manchester wrote:
From: Friends of Bishop Seán Manchester
To: "Don Ecker"
Subject: Re: Misrepresentation
Date: Sat, 7 Jul 2007 15:13:53 +0100

Dear Don Ecker,

I do not appear to have answered your question as to why Farrant should want to "smear" Bishop Manchester.

The online extracts from a work by Bishop Manchester prove a comprehensive explanation. When you access the main page, you need to scroll down and start with the Introduction, moving upward through the seventeen parts which are extracts from Confronting the Devil (Gothic Press, 2007). I was under the impression that you have read some of the bishop's books dealing with vampire cases and some of these would have informed you about the motivation behind Farrant.

The address for this data is:
http://clearblogs.com/confrontingthedevil/page2/&thisy=&thism=&thisd=

The main body of text can be found at: http://clearblogs.com/confrontingthedevil

Regards,

Katrina Garforth-Bles
FoBSM

Farrant's known crime sheet:

Occupation: (since release on parole in autumn 1976):

Unemployed (permanently in receipt of state benefits).

Criminal Convictions:

November 1972 (Barnet Magistrates’ Court):

Indecency in Monken Hadley churchyard (Ecclesiastic Courts Jurisdiction Act 1860).

June 1974 (Central Criminal Court, London):

Malicious damage in Highgate Cemetery by inscribing black magic symbols on the floor of a mausoleum.

Offering indignities to remains of the dead via black magic rites in Highgate Cemetery where photographs were taken of a naked female accomplice amidst tombs.

Threatening police witnesses in a separate case where his black magic associate, John Pope, was subsequently found guilty of indecent sexual assault on a boy named Blackwell. Pope, on his current website, still describes himself as a “master of the black arts.”

Theft of items from Barnet Hospital where the offender worked briefly as a porter in late 1970.

Possession of a handgun and ammunition kept at Farrant address, which also contained a black magic altar beneath a massive mural of a face of the Devil that had featured in various newspapers, not least full front page coverage of the Hornsey Journal, 28 September 1973.

Sentence: Farrant was arrested in December 1973 and held on remand until his trials at the Old Bailey in June 1974. He received a prison sentence of four years and eight months. He was released on parole in the autumn of 1976 and took up residence at a multi-occupied house in a bed-sitting room at [I have opted to remove David's private address -ed.], which he still occupies.

Civil Actions:

Two libel suits brought by David Farrant resulted in the News of the World (on a claim that his publicity-seeking was a substitute for his failed sexual libido) failing to produce their principal defence witness owing to Farrant making sure she remained in her native France, and his losing against the Daily Express (who had accused him of being a black magician and of being insane) where £20,000 court costs were awarded against him. In the News of the World action, which he won on a technicality, he was awarded the derisory sum of £50. The newspaper’s star witness who failed to appear for their defence was Martine de Sacy, an ex-girlfriend of Farrant’s who was identified as the naked female in the infamous “nude rituals trial” at the Old Bailey in 1974. Farrant persuaded her not to appear, causing the News of the World to lose their star witness. Farrant was arrested in December 2002 and charged with the harassment of Bishop Seán Manchester, Mrs Sarah Manchester, Mrs Diana Brewester, and Br Keith Maclean, but the CPS did not prosecute due to Farrant taking great care to stagger the frequency of incidents so that they fell just outside the remit for the minimum number of offences necessary per month for a case to be successfully prosecuted. Farrant is still being monitored by the police.

Other Arrests: Farrant has been arrested on various occasions throughout his life. Those that made the headlines for which he was later not found guilty include being in an enclosed area for an unlawful purpose at Clerkenwell Magistrates Court in August 1970 (because a Highgate Cemetery cannot be defined as an “enclosed area”); arson (along with John Pope), and theft of a corpse and placing it in someone’s vehicle at the Old Bailey trials in June 1974.

It became very apparent to me that I would get nowhere with “KGB”. I finally “caved” in and I wrote her (?) the following note.

“Dear Ms. Garforth-Bles,

Please be advised that under the guise of furthering Anglo/American

relations, I have deleted the post concerning "Lusia-Jacqueline Cooper." I still have several questions regarding the case, I hope either you or perhaps Bishop Manchester will be available to answer.

With regards,

Don Ecker”

Okay, using the “street parlance” sometimes you gotta give a little to get a

little. I wanted to interview Manchester on my radio program. By now however I held out slim hope because he had to know who I was and he had to at least suspect I have a short fuse with someone trying to “bull-shit” me.

Now, allow me a second to relay a short exchange that took place on the Amazon horror chat forum. After I asked if anyone had been aware of the Highgate case, someone chimed in with their belief that Manchester was an “opportunist” with the Highgate case. I then stated that I thought he was "either a brilliant opportunist or is vastly deluded" and that came back to haunt me in my next email from “KGB”.

To be continued...

Don's Inquiry Continued Some More

Continued from here.

“Friends of Bishop Seán Manchester wrote:

It is a point of fact that Bishop Manchester refused to discuss the charlatan Farrant on "World of the Unexplained" - as the hosts of that programme will confirm. Farrant used the opportunity to misrepresent and defame Bishop Manchester. You have accepted what Farrant - a convicted felon - alleged about "Lusia" on the programme and published Farrant's falsehood on Amazon. "Lusia" has never been identified and she was certainly not "Jacqueline Cooper" who should not be identified and misrepresented in this way by either you or Farrant. The latter, of course, has innumerable criminal convictions and is a compulsive liar, having had his claims exposed as being fraudulent by journalists, authors, magistrates, judges and juries. Farrant has "answered" nothing for you. All he has achieved is draw you into his world of chicanery by your duplicating his malicious falsehood about "Lusia." We, therefore, request that you remove your reference to "Jacqueline Cooper" on Amazon. The claim that Bishop Manchester cannot be contacted is also preposterous. He is contacted every day by interested people, researchers, academics, scholars and television documentary-makers who simply put his name into a search engine and discover his various forums and websites.”

Now, I will admit that the tone of this missive “irritated me” plus the fact that the note was not signed. I put my cop hat on and thought this …. had I gotten a note from Jacqueline Cooper or her family, well I would have understood that. Why would Manchester be interested? And, how did he find out about an obscure chat thread on the American Amazon dot com forum? Alright I thought, one thing at a time. I wrote them back and said,

“Dear Friends of Bishop Manchester,

My name is Don Ecker, a writer and radio broadcaster. I am a medically retired criminal investigator with a very real interest in the Highgate case.

If you write me, please have the courtesy to sign your name so I know to whom I speak. Once knowing to whom I am speaking, I will be happy to discuss this matter with you.

With regards,

Don Ecker”

Okay, after years of trying, finally the Manchester group was in communication with me. On one level I was pretty happy about that, on another level I knew that Manchester and the “FoBSM” seemed to have a very hot feud going with anyone and everybody. If he was a legitimate “man of the cloth” that seemed to me to be very un-Christian but then, who am I to judge?

Shortly after I wrote back to the “FoBSM” I received the following,

“Friends of Bishop Seán Manchester wrote:
From: Friends of Bishop Seán Manchester
To: "Don Ecker"
Subject: Re: Misrepresentation
Date: Sat, 7 Jul 2007 10:03:58 +0100

Dear Don Ecker,

My name is irrelevant. What is relevant is the misrepresentation you have published courtesy of the convicted felon Farrant.

I am one of a number of people who sign as FoBSM. You are the first to find this a bar to addressing a damaging error you are responsible for on the internet.

If you have no intention of amending the falsehood concerning an innocent third party who is not a public figure, Amazon will have to be informed.

Regards,

Katrina Garforth-Bles
FoBSM”

Gee whiz, I felt just like I had been threatened to be taken to the school principal for throwing snowballs when I was in the 4th grade! Wow! Amazon will be informed about me. Well, at that point I did not wish to start a feud with them so I wrote her back and was very courteous.

“Dear Ms. Garforth-Bles,

Courtesy is never irrelevant. If I indeed made an error in identifying "Lusia" as one "Jacqueline Cooper" I will be more than happy to correct it in the post I made on the Amazon discussion forum.

I understand that Farrant was a convicted felon that served time in prison, and I understand what his crime was. Perhaps you might enlighten me as to why he would wish to "smear" Bishop Manchester in this manner?

My only other question is simply this, being on this side of the Atlantic I of course have limited knowledge of the events and persons involved in this case. What makes you the arbiter of the facts surrounding the Highgate case? Were you there and involved in these events or does your knowledge come "after the fact?" Please show me where I was incorrect.

With regards,

Don Ecker”

“KGB” wrote me back, and notice that “she”, if in fact it is a “she” and not Manchester masquerading as someone else, never points out why Cooper is not “Lusia.”

“Friends of Bishop Seán Manchester wrote:
From: Friends of Bishop Seán Manchester
To: "Don Ecker"
Subject: Re: Misrepresentation
Date: Sat, 7 Jul 2007 14:42:33 +0100

Dear Don Ecker,

I was there latterly. My colleague Dennis Crawford (who is the bishop's international secretary) was there from the case's inception. You have made an error concerning Farrant's malicious identification of "Jacqueline Coper" as "Lusia." Perhaps you need confirmation from Bishop Manchester himself. He certainly was there at the time and can be contacted at the aforementioned forum -
http://groups.msn.com/BishopSeanManchester.

Can you confirm whether or not you are willing to remove the name of an innocent third party, ie Jacqueline Cooper, from your comments on Amazon?

Regards,

Katrina Garforth-Bles
FoBSM”

I kept hope alive that in one of these notes I would learn of the error of my ways by “KGB” pointing out why good ol’ Jackie Cooper was not “Lusia.”Instead I found my self attempting to “keep afloat” from the deluge of crime statistics of Mr. David Farrant. Oh yes, I also asked myself this question, why would a “Christian Bishop” keep the “rap sheet” handy of his arch rival???

To be continued...

Don's Inquiry Continued Again

For the previous installment of Don's Inquiry, click here.

As I later found out, one of the photographs that had been excised was a picture of the “vampire fang marks” on Ms. Wojdyla’s throat. Then of course was the death of “Lusia” by vampire attack, her internment and “resurrection” as a vampire creature. (And let us not forget, Manchester claims she turned into a giant spider vampire before he staked her.)

Reading the book, I was struck by the tone of Manchester’s prose. It was“almost” like reading Bram Stoker’s epic “Dracula.” Allow me to give an example. On page 172 of the second edition of “The Highgate Vampire”, here Manchester and “Lusia’s” sister “Anne” are standing at “Lusia’s” grave site.

Eventually I joined her at the graveside where several vessels containing holy water stood amongst wild garlic and various other impediments. Slowly she found her voice.

“What are these things doing here?” she asked, her eyes glazed with grief and anger.

“I believe that you know the answer.”

“I want you to tell me,” she shouted. “This is what you used all these years ago to protect my sister. Why use them now? How can you protect her from anything now?”

“It is too late to save Lusia from harm, but we must protect others.”

“What do you mean others?”

“The night is full of her voice calling me,” I heard myself saying as I stared with moist eyes at the lonely tomb. “Others have been attacked. There have been fatalities and recently a child …..”

“This is madness,” she interrupted. “I won’t listen to any more.”

Okay, sounds like good advice to me, but still if “Lusia” had died under mysterious circumstances then like any good cop I wanted to see a copy of her death certificate. However to do that, I had to know her real name, and there was no real name available.

I had a lot on my plate then. We had gone from publishing UFO Magazine every two months to publishing every month. I was still doing radio, radio interviews and occasionally television appearances, while trying to finish my book. My novel was finally published in 2004 by Gateway Publishing to good reviews.

This was a ton of weight removed from my shoulders and I could now concentrate on other things. Because I could not locate a name for “Lusia” I again decided to let the Highgate case rest, thinking the entire thing was a huge “put-on” by Manchester and his cronies. I must state however, I still found the case intriguing.

Along about 2006 I was approached by several film people about the possibility of making a major motion picture out of my novel “Past Sins.” Now, if you are not familiar with how THIS process works, well that is a subject for an entirely new “paper.” (And I will add that the film process is still ongoing.) I was feeling more and more withdrawn from UFO research, really hating the downward slide of sensational and unproven dreck that was becoming what all of UFO research seemed to be. I wrote an entire paper on my leaving UFO research and if you care to read my reasons go to, http://www.ufowatchdog.com/ufo_fog.pdf or “My 20 Years in the UFO Fog”. I was still doing my latest radio show “Dark Matters” and I would hit those weird stories on the show trying to use my logic as a counter-balance to the topics covered.

I also trolled the “net” on subjects that interest me and last year I came across a podcast titled “Worlds [sic] of the Unexplained” hosted by two interviewers named Jay Scott [J. Scott -ed.] and Trent Lackey (sp?) [this spelling is correct -ed.]. I found two shows that I immediately downloaded, the first with “Bishop Sean Manchester” and “David Farrant.” These interviews of course were not done at the same time because of the feud between Manchester and Farrant. (As I later found out in excruciating detail from all the parties involved.)

I listened with great and detailed interest to both interviews but it was the Farrant interview that caused me to have my “Ah Ha!!” moment. He identified “Lusia” on the show as one “Jacqueline Cooper” and I finally seemed to have her identity. [David's interview for World of the Unexplained, in which he makes this claim, can be downloaded here - ed.] Now my next step was obvious, locate the death certificate if she in fact was dead.

I wrote to my colleague John Spencer in the UK with this new information on “Lusia” and gave him my information. I asked him if he could make some inquiries on my behalf and do a document search for a death certificate. John told me he would do what he could.

Now, I was a published author, and any author will tell you that they do all they can to get the name of their product out there. Past Sins is on Amazon dot com and as I had mentioned earlier I have received good reviews on the book. I was on a “horror chat forum” on Amazon and gently pushing my book. (And as I mentioned, the book is vampire fiction.) In the course of the chat I asked a generic question if anyone was familiar with the Highgate vampire case. I proceeded to mention that as a former law enforcement officer I had always been very curious about this case and the actual identities of the alleged victims in Sean Manchester’s book “The Highgate Vampire.” I also mentioned that after years of being unable to ID the actual identity of “Lusia”, that I had stumbled upon a radio podcast show where David Farrant was interviewed and he mentioned her identity as “Jacqueline Cooper.” I also said,

“During the course of my study, I came across something called the "Highgate Vampire" case that supposedly took place in the UK. This case involved what wasdescribed in some quarters as an actual "vampire" haunting, and a lot of characters named in the investigation were still around.

The case began about 1968-69 at the Highgate Cemetery in north London, and the person most associated with the "Highgate Vampire" is a man named Sean Manchester. Later, after a several year investigation, Manchester claims he staked the vampire.

Now, I will be the first person to admit that on the surface ... this comes across as sheer lunacy. However Manchester is now a Bishop in the "Old Catholic Church" apparently recognized in the UK, and he has written several books on the case including "The Highgate Vampire" published by Gothic Press ... ISBN 1 872486 01 0. When I was writing "Past Sins", in chapter 5, I mentioned this alleged case in general terms. Have any of you heard of the Highgate case and what is your opinion concerning whether there could be a kernel of truth to the legends concerning the "undead?"

It was only a day or so later and I was checking my Yahoo email and I saw a note to me from someone called “FoBSM”. For some reason that struck me as familiar, but I had not yet finished my first cup of coffee and was still a bit fuzzy. I opened it and read,

To be continued...

Don's Inquiry Continued

Don's report is continued from here.

About 1995 or so, a buddy of mine, Dean Lamana, was a editor with Cinescape Magazine and he used to send my wife and I a free subscription. This magazine covered all the happenings in the entertainment field and other media.

I recall reading one issue that mentioned a new John Carpenter movie in production that was involved with a Vatican sponsored group of “vampire hunters.” I was excited because I could not recall another movie dealing with the mythos of vampires that was worth a damn. It was about one year later when my wife and I were at the movies that I saw a trailer for Carpenter’s film “Vampires”, and I told my wife I was going to be at the very first showing when it was finally released. In the meantime I discovered that it was based on a book by a Texan named John Steakley titled “Vampires.” I went out and bought the book. After reading it, I waited impatiently for the movie. When the film was released, sure enough I was at the first showing. I liked the film a lot, then I remembered the Highgate case and I jumped on my computer.

Going on the “net” I discovered a number of places that discussed the Highgate vampire incident, giving the locations of the alleged events, naming the principal players, and alleged happenings. Okay, I will say it once again … I was intrigued. My wife Vicki and I were invited to the UK in 1997 to speak at the BUFORA UFO conference in Sheffield,UK. We ended staying with John Spencer and his lovely wife Anne, and all in all had a wonderful time. I recall mentioning Highgate to John and although he of course had heard of it, he didn’t have any great insight into the case as he had not investigated it himself, and I would be remiss if I did not mention he was very skeptical.

We got back to the U.S. and at that time my wife Vicki and I were mainly concerned with our publication, UFO Magazine. A couple of years passed, and being a writer I decided to finally start my novel. Like I mentioned earlier, I enjoy good horror in my “off time” and I found little to my liking. I thought I had a winner for a “hook” for my still unwritten novel. “What IF … what if “vampires” were REAL … and the CIA got their hands on one? What might they attempt with a genuine “undead creature?” Then I again recalled the Highgate vampire and I decided to start some serious research.

I had discovered that a book had been written on it (The Highgate Vampire) by a fellow named Sean Manchester. I had come across his name on the web, and I also discovered another fellow named David Farrant who had written another book, similar in title, “Beyond the Highgate Vampire.”

I got in touch with John Spencer, and I asked John if he would be willing to contact the Sean Manchester group and ask them if I could interview Manchester. By this time I was aware that a great schism existed between Manchester and Farrant. Even knowing that fact, I had no idea how deep the rift was … or how much vitriol existed between these two.

About a week or so passed and John got back in touch with me and he told me that the Manchester people were not interested in speaking with me. I found that somewhat odd, my name was fairly well known in some quarters, I had well over 6 years as a national radio broadcaster, and our magazine with my work was all over the UK. The upshot was I never did speak with Manchester.

I did some online searching and while I did not find his book anywhere in the United States, I was able to order it via Amazon dot com in the UK. I also ordered another tome written by Manchester, “The Vampire Hunters Handbook.” (And I must state for the record that during this time, I was still willing, with proof, to acknowledge something very strange might have happened at the Highgate cemetery.)

Now recall, I was attempting to examine this in the same manner I had used to investigate homicides, manslaughter cases, robberies, shootings, and other felony crimes. I knew the methodology, the protocols that any police officer would use to investigate a crime or criminal act.

After a week or so of waiting, both books arrived from Amazon UK. I dropped everything and immediately read “The Highgate Vampire” and then the second book “The Vampire Hunter’s Handbook.”

I started this process attempting to keep an open mind. I suppose I should state that with 10 years on the streets as a cop, and two combat tours that I did in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam conflict I felt pretty confident that if there were such creatures as “actualhonest-to-God vampires”, I might have gotten a glimmer of such being the case. Granted, now I was very up-to-date on the phenomenon of cattle mutilations, especially the aspect of blood loss, but still no connection could be made to an actual vampire. I should mention one other aspect of research I conducted when I first became actively involved in the research of UFOs. I don’t know but this might be a reason why the vampire mythos intrigued me as much as it did.

Back in 1988, it was mutilations that first pulled me into the field, and when first becoming an active researcher I was confronted with a very weird and troubling aspect that involved human beings that were mutilated like the cattle I had investigated. I wrote a paper on this and spoke about it at the 1989 International MUFON conference in Las Vegas. I pursued this for almost 3 years but other than finding a number of cases of human mutilation I was not able to break through whatever secrets were being kept on this aspect of mutilation research. After almost three years of banging my head against this brick wall I dropped this line of inquiry.

However let us go back to Manchester’s book. I knew that if this were real, (actual vampires) and make no mistake that is what he claimed, the way to pursue this was to find out who his alleged victims were. (Then the next step would be to use forensic science and examine what the “ME” (Medical Examiner) might have said on the death certificate.) One alleged victim that was named in the book was a, then, young woman named Elizabeth Wojdyla. There is a photograph of this woman on page 61 of the second printing (REVISED EDITION) 1991 of “The Highgate Vampire.” As I discovered while tracking this book down, the original edition, printed in 1985, had been revised and a number of photographs in the earlier book had been removed.

To be continued...