Slouching Toward the Ecker Report Conclusion

Here's the previous "issue".

The next area I covered with Farrant was whether or not Manchester was an actual “man of the cloth.” Farrant’s organization contacted the “Old Catholic Church” in Holland, the United States (and on Manchester’s website he states that the Vatican, and churches in the U.S. and Holland recognize his status) and the Old Catholic Church in the U.K. which, according to Farrant, claimed that Manchester did not have any status with them. (And I will add that when I was researching this case I also contacted the U.S. Old Catholic Church in Los Angeles, Florida etc. and they were not aware of any Bishop Sean Manchester. When I informed the several clergy why I was making an inquiry, concerning vampirism, well they were not amused.)

[The original report reproduced a transcription of the letter of by Rev. Illtyd Thomas, mentioned in this post. To elaborate further, it specifically declares: "I, The most Recd. Iltyd Thomas, Servant of Our Lord and Saviour Lord Jesus Christ. By the Grace of God, Bishop in The Old Catholic Church of Utrecht Succession, who did give you Holy orders, to the above named Sean Manchester and again who on the 14 October 1991 did bestow upon him Episcopal Consecration which in itself was null and void as Sean Manchester had not declared he had been involved for some years in the occult which is strictly condemned by Christianity and Christendom. " -ed.]

There is more about that but a newspaper article from the Daily Mirror, dated Thursday November 5 1970 is more precise. The article reads,

"WIFE was “Terrified” by Black Magic threat on the phone."

“A young wife received a terrifying telephone call from a man who made Black Magic threats to her, a court heard yesterday.

The man who made the call, she alleged, was Mr. Sean Manchester, president of the British Occult Society.

The wife, Mrs. Gillian Bradish said that at the time of the phone call, her husband was standing bail for David Farrant who was recently acquitted of being found unlawfully in Highgate Cemetery late at night.”

Later in the article it states,

“Mrs. Bradish told North London magistrates yesterday that Mr. Manchester said over the phone: “Do you believe in Black Magic? Unless Bradish gives up bail for Farrant, something odd will happen to you and the children.”

The article ends with “Manchester, 25, of Holloway-road, Holloway was ordered to keep the peace for a year in the sum of 200 Pounds.

[A scan of the article was also included in Don's original report. Interestingly, the article also states that "he [Farrant] was looking for a vampire, he [Farrant] told his court hearing." in Highgate Cemetery. -ed.]

After the Farrant interview was completed and aired, I tried to get Manchester to sit down to an interview to give his rendition concerning the Highgate case. By this time I had no doubt that “vampires stalking the earth” was absolute nonsense. The following is another email I sent to Manchester via his “National Secretary.

“Dear Ms.Garforth-Bles,

Since you seem to speak for Bishop Manchester I am contacting you to extend an invitation to him on my behalf to be interviewed on my show. (By himself of course, not with Farrant.)

I know you have suggested that I contact Bishop Manchester on his public website but I do not do things that way. Since you have described yourself has his National Security I am contacting you. Feel free to give Bishop Manchester my email address and ask him to send a note if he would appear.”

“She” insisted that in order to contact Manchester I would have to write to him on his public boards. I never did hear from him directly. After they had sent along the audio file with Farrant, mentioned on the show I sent this along.

“Dear Ms.Garforth-Bles,
First, allow me to thank you for the audio wave file of Farrant asserting the reality of a vampire in the Highgate area. I will certainly ask about that.

Now, as to Bishop Manchester. I am not comfortable with your telling me that he would refuse to do a interview when I have not heard from him myself. I realize that you are his Secretary but if he does not wish to appear I prefer he let me know himself so as I am sure that he is aware of my invitation. And the invite is certainly still open.

Regards;

Don Ecker-Host
Dark Matters Radio

Later of course they placed a two page rebuttal on Manchester’s website whining and sniveling about the show and the “falsehoods” they claimed not only Farrant but also myself perpetrated upon the listening audience. But of course, I had to find it. They didn’t have the “balls” to forward it to me.

To be continued...

Now Stop...Ecker Time!

Continued from this post.

Now you say you want to follow up her cause of death?
Well sir, again, here is where fact and fiction get mixed up.

Jacqueline Cooper was his live in lover and common law wife.
His first wife, Marie, divorced him on grounds of adultery and named Jacqueline Cooper as Co-respondent on the Decree Nisi Absolute.”

“Jacqueline is listed under a series of surnames, one being Jacqueline Manchester, although they were never married.

So you see sir, Lusia was actually his common law wife who he had used for a series of publicity stunts around the same time.”

Now, when I had requested what John Spencer might be able to “dig up” concerning this death and burial, John found nothing. This is what Farrant’s research had to say regarding the burial of Lusia. (And once again, the Manchester group, nor Manchester would speak to me concerning any of this information. Pretty odd for someone that alleges that the dreaded undead are stalking the land.)

“In his book, he claims that after he killed her, he buried her in the Great Northern Cemetery. Not true.

One of our researchers got in touch with the administration department of the cemetery prior to their renovation which saw hundreds of old graves bulldozed for a housing complex to be built over. She confirmed that no woman called Lusia or Jacqueline Cooper had been buried in the year stated in his book. Furthermore, no woman matching the age that Lusia would have been, was buried in any grave in that time frame.

Realistically, what we have here, is a man claiming to have killed his common law wife and buried her in a cemetery. Were it true, then he would have been arrested for publicly admitting his crime.”

I asked Farrant on the show about the decades long feud that has existed between Sean Manchester and himself and as he said “I could hardly deny that, it is a matter of public record.”

I mentioned on the air that I had invited Manchester to do a show, but that according to Manchester’s National Secretary, Katrina Garforth-Bles,

“Dear Don Ecker,

In October 1970, Bishop Manchester announced that he would not engage in any programme, project or debate that includes the interloping charlatan and selfpublicist David Farrant. He is not about to overturn that decision thirty-seven years later.”

According to Farrant this was a rather odd thing to allege because David Farrant stated on the record that Manchester had not only written him while in prison, but when Farrant was released Manchester interviewed him. When I asked him why the FoBSM would tell me the above if that were not the case, he simply stated they were lying.

According to Farrant, the audio clip I had played on the show that Manchester’s “FoBSM” group had sent to me was from that interview and had Farrant making the following statement,

“As to the question of whether a vampire exists in Highgate Cementery [sic], well I can only say yes.”

Farrant went on to state that about 1977-78 during that interview, Manchester told him that he (Manchester) wanted to write a book on the Highgate Vampire and detail David Farrant’s involvement in the case. Farrant stated on the show that Manchester had brought a small tape recorder to his “flat” and requested permission to tape him, then told Farrant what he wanted him to say. (This must be a British thing) Farrant went on to state that over the years this tape was altered using clips from the tape that were mis-leading. One example involved what Farrant claimed was his explanation of “white magic vs. the dark arts.” Farrant went on to explain that he broke down the differences of “Wicca vs. Black Magic” and explained that Wicca had two deities, a male represented by the Sun, and a female represented by the Moon. He said that in early Wicca, Lucifer meant the “Light Bringer” and later in the early Christian Church, in an effort to “demonize” pagan beliefs, turned Lucifer into the Christian devil. Manchester asked him if he “worshipped Lucifer” and Farrant said that in respect to how he just explained Lucifer, that yes he did. Farrant then went on to state that later Manchester took this out of context to discredit him.

One of the really funny anecdote’s as relayed by David Farrant involving Sean Manchester, were rumor’s that circulated that there was a “duel to the death” by swordplay that was supposed to have taken place in France. Farrant alleges that Manchester himself circulated a photograph that showed his “dead body” along with a obituary of Manchester. Farrant told me that in the “obit” and photo of the “dead” Manchester, gore and all was a solicitation for funds so his body could be shipped back to Glastonberry [sic], a place that had been “near and dear” to Manchester. The upshot was when the Highgate CID (Criminal Investigative Divison) showed up at Farrant’s flat and asked him what he had done with Manchester’s body? Farrant was very amused and decided to be “funny” and told them that since Manchester’s death was outside UK jurisdiction they should contact Interpol! He said that the investigators were not amused. “I didn’t know what to tell them” he went on to say “because I didn’t know where his body was!”

To be continued...

Yay! More Ecker!

Continued from the previous.

It's also why he refuses to allow people to host these pictures and threatens them with legal action (copyright) if they do not remove them from their websites.

[Pictures of Manchester's decomposing vampire - which can also be found on the VRS's "Highgate Vampire Picture" page - and the headline of an article called "HEIL! The faker behind a wicked trick on schoolkids", which depicts Manchester, were reproduced in the original report. -ed.]

Back on October 9th 1977, Sean Manchester was exposed by a national newspaper for attempting to create an anti-semetic feeling in a predominantly Jewish area of London. He had basically created a false story to try and get some free publicity, but it back fired in the most bizarre way. I've taken the liberty of uploading these to an online image server. [The links weren't accessible in the report. -ed.]

The rest of the article gives you an insight to the mentality of the man.

I should explain something else here. The date of the expose is very important. You see, Manchester claims to be a man of the cloth; a Bishop. He's not.
I have a letter of his excommunication by the very same man who ordained him.

This is a transcript of the original letter

[The letter was reproduced in the original report. It is titled "Proclaimation from Archbishop Thomas To Sean Patrick Manchester". It declares Manchester's orders as a Bishop invalid, because he "had not declared he had been involved for some years with the occult which is strictly condemned by Christianity and Christendom." -ed.]

Manchester is now claiming that he has excommunicated the man who ordained him.
Impossible and rubbish.
Basically, his entry into the clergy was a tax dodge so he would be exempt from paying taxes. It's the oldest trick in the book.
I digress.
The date that Manchester gives for his various levels of ordination, from his own website, states that he became

"Superior General, Ordo Sancti Graal, 13 April 1973" [I've given a little coverage to this seeming discreprency elsewhere. -ed.]

...1973, yet only 4 years later, he was dressing up as a Nazi and scaring the local Jewish community.

It gets better.

A national magazine called "City Limits", in 1980, featured a picture of Manchester dressed as a Satanist charging a blade for a ritual.
The same picture appeared in a book by French author and Stanaist [sic] for Show, Jean-Paul Bourre around the same time.

[The image is reproduced in Don's original report. It does indeed depict Manchester in satanic garb for the purpose of a ritual. -ed.]

Now if you look closely at the bottom, the caption reads "Lord Manchester charging the sacricial [sic] dagger during a magic tritual [sic]."

[The original caption is in French and reads: "Lord Manchester «chargeant» le poignard du sacrifice, au cours d'un rituel magique". Thus, the English translation is fairly accurate. For another French connection to the Highgate Vampire Case, check this out. -ed.]

Lord Manchester?
Yep, he was using this title in France for quite some time and pretty much lied about who he is/was.

This stems from another falsehood.
Manchester claims to be a descendant of Lord Byron but has absolutely no proof of this whatsoever. He bases this very loosely on the fact that Byron had sex with a housemaid; got her pregnant and that this is his lineage to Byron.
It's incredible given the fact that were it true, he'd have shown off the genealogy report to everyone online by now. His other claims, is that he is of Royal descent along with his wife, Sarah and that he is also related to King Arthur.
The fact that historians doubt Arthur even existed didn't deter him from making such a ridiculous claim. [Similar claims are about about the existence of Robin Hood, but that doesn't stop things like this, either. -ed.]

A man of the cloth being photographed and exposed after his so called ordination?
He once claimed that it's not him in the photo's.
He then changed his mind and threatened legal action as the images were his copyright.

He now claims to be a Bishop, but once again, research has shown that he has never undertaken a single days worth of a Theology degree.
Even the most humble and basic Priest is required to study for three years.
Manchester claims to be an autocephalous Bishop, but this still doesn't explain nonstudy.
He also claims to be the Bishop of Glastonbury.

Interesting, considering there is no such thing; Glastonbury falls under the auspices of the Bishop of Bath & Wells.”

The next point of business was discovering just who Lusia was. I have recounted in earlier posts my reasons for attempting to discover her identity, also a certificate of death, if one existed, and what the Medical Examiner (ME) had to say on the certificate. However, as I was to discover, her place of internment, as identified by Manchester in The Highgate Vampire, the Great Northern Cemetery, no burial matching his description or dates, or matching “Lusia” was discovered. Once again, according to Farrant,

“The second victim, Lusia, was played out as some woman he met briefly, fell in love with, she got turned into a Vampire and he killed her. All very Stokerish in conception with a hint of "ships passing in the night". Just one little problem. This so called stranger was anything but a stranger. She was in fact, Jacqueline Cooper.

To be continued...

The Ecker Report Rides Again

Continued from here.

The following is derived both from the show and our telephone discussions. (And this is again to remind the readers that I tried again and again to give Manchester his chance to appear on the show and “correct the record” with anything he may have disputed.

According to David Farrant,

“Well, it's true that Manchester claims that two girls were attacked by the Vampire; Elizabeth Wodjyla and the ever elusive Lusia.

What he fails to point out, is that the only two alleged victims, were friends of his. Allow me to explain.

Elizabeth was indeed a real girl, but she also happened to be the girlfriend of a close friend of his, Keith McClean [Maclean. Incidentally, Keith also happens to be the Regional Area Secretary of the VRS. -ed.], with who Manchester is still friends with.
It was rather convenient, that his best friends girlfriend should be attacked by a Vampire that he created.

Elizabeth, many years later, and in a phone conversation to an associate said that the whole thing "Was just for a laugh."

Now, as to the fact that “The Highgate Vampire” went through two editions, with the second edition having several photographs removed,

“Manchester released two editions of his book The Highgate Vampire. The second edition omits a number of photographs. One in particular, shows a victim with two bite marks on her neck; the problem is, that it isn't Elizabeth's neck, nor is it Lusia.
If it is Elizabeth as he may claim, then the marks are not consistent with later photo's of her wounds. Manchester failed to realize that one day with the aid of digital technology, we would be able to scan and blow up images to such proportions, that even the finest detail would show.

What the original photo shows, is that the marks were quite clearly made by a marker pen or paint. The reason is that the lower bite mark has been dotted in twice; obviously the first attempt was too great a distance from the top mark. That isn't the only problem. If you look at both pictures of two obviously different women (the jaw line gives this away) you can easily see that the width of the two bite marks is different.
Now if this were a vampire in other words, the bite marks would be the same. If a vampire really existed, their teeth and bite marks would be no different forensically than the host body they inhabited.

It is physically impossible to leave two point like marks in a neck and not leave an impression from the mandible; in short, it's impossible to suck blood using only the maxilla and teeth. One need only look at the animal world to see the case in point. Rather than two "Hollywood" pinholes, the throat would be torn apart.

So to recap:

• Bite marks are inconsistent;
• Elizabeth was his friends girlfriend;
• Elizabeth stated in a phone conversation that it was all "just for a laugh".

Now, I must state for the record that I have never seen the first edition of Manchester’s book, it is almost impossible to find one anywhere. I do have the second edition book, but once again these photographs are missing showing “fang marks.” For what it is worth at this point however, I accept what Farrant told me, if for no other reason than the Manchester group (let me use some police speak here) the Manchester group was “SO HINKY” with the information … I knew something was ROTTEN in Denmark.

I spoke to someone that was extremely familiar with all the “in’s and out’s” with this case and after this person was assured that I would keep his name confidential, he provided me with the following.

“I should explain something else here.
In the late 60's/early 70's, Manchester made a short film on an old cine camera called "The Vampire Exhumed". In it, Manchester played not only the Vampire, but the Vampire Hunter as well. Only one picture exists outside of Manchester's lock & key and it was for the poster of his home movie. The poster shows Manchester dressed as a Vampire looking up at the camera after having bitten the neck of a woman who has been identified as Jacqueline Cooper. The film itself was shown to a small number of people back in the '70's. David Farrant was one of them.

A few months ago, by pure luck, one of the members of David's organization and a fellow author, met a man at a book launch who claimed to have seen this film as well, back in the 70's.
A few months ago, by pure luck, one of the members of David's organization and a fellow author, met a man at a book launch who claimed to have seen this film as well, back in the 70's.
He corroborated the exact details that David had given of what he remembered. David always maintained that there was a small section of home movie at the end of the film that featured what he believed to be Manchester and a woman having sex in a garden or in public on some grass, but as soon as this came on, that Sean would automatically put it out of focus so you couldn't see what was happening.
The new witness brought this up himself and said that the woman was Jacqueline Cooper.
He also shed light on something that has either been a source of amusement or wonder; the infamous Vampire decomposing pictures. Well David has maintained all along that it's Manchester himself under the make up, but he didn't know how the effect was created. This new witness explained that when he had asked Manchester back in the 70's with a lot of praise for the effect, Manchester explained how he did it.
Now it's important that you realize that Manchester had a photographic studio at the time; something he brags about given the chance and a knowledge of photography.

The film is basically time lapse photography played in reverse.
Manchester had a watery flour mixture on his face and a heater & fan set up nearby.
The heat source melted the mixture and the fan blew it off of his face.
Once the time lapse photography was finished, the effect was played in reverse.

As the frame rate was so stilted, you wouldn't be able to see the blow off effect but simply a very basic face morph.

It is a set a 3 pictures from his home movie, that made their way into his book and on his own website.
3 very grainy pictures from someone who is supposed to be a professional photographer. The reason that they are so small, is that blowing up a cine film still, would leave too many artifacts in frame that would give the game away as to their origin.

To be continued...

The Ecker Report Rides High

Continued from the previous page.

Of course much more was to come, but after I had requested getting an interview with Manchester via “KGB” this came to naught. I also asked John Spencer to make some inquiries to the Farrant group, John did and I received a note from his webmaster. I explained my interest to them and asked if I could speak to Farrant and also do an interview with him. After a few days (Farrant was tied up with some other matters) he agreed to my calling him for a short conversation. We agreed on a time and I called him and had a very interesting chat. I questioned him about “Elizabeth Wojdyla” and of course “Lusia.” David Farrant gave me information I would of otherwise not been able to get on this side of the Atlantic ocean. For example, in the first edition of “The Highgate Vampire” there was a photo of “fang marks” on Wojdyla’s throat and in the second edition this was removed. Farrant told me that he was able to find her in the late 1970’s and according to what he told me, Elizabeth admitted to him that the picture was done as a joke with Manchester putting the “fang marks” on her with a “Magic Marker” pen. As far as Jacqueline Cooper, Farrant told me that Manchester had a romantic interest in her and she was named in Manchester’s divorcing his then wife [Marie Manchester -ed.] with Cooper being named as cause.

[Don's original report was originally accompanied by a reproduction of the divorce certificate (No. 11323 of 1970). Indeed, VRS representative, "Demonologist" (note that at least two VRS pages - its homepage and "Highgate Vampire Domain" - link to his blogs, not to mention his frequently speaking on their behalf and claiming to be "personally acquainted" with Manchester himself) makes oblique reference to it in this comment: "Never mind the uploading of a confidential high court document that was obtained through deception by David Farrant and forwarded to Don Ecker whose reproduction of it is in breach of UK law." He doesn't make any claims against its authenticity, but instead notes it as a "confidential high document", thus, we can be assured that it's the real deal. And, it does indeed list Jacqueline Cooper for the reasons mentioned. -ed.]

On July 26, 2007 I interviewed David Farrant, long distance, for my Dark Matters Radio Show. The interview was not quite two hours in length and was enlightening in the depth of information garnered.

By this time I had gathered reams of information on the case, documents, geographical areas of interest, and from contacts in the United Kingdom, information that I would not have otherwise been able to gather because of my distance from the site. The Manchester group, or FoBSM, had been of no help what so ever, except they were very quick to send me news stories of Farrant’s legal troubles over the years including a “news story” about his “de-flowering” a young “virgin” girl.

The following news story was taken from “The Sun”, a British tabloid newspaper, dated October 31, 2006, sent to me by the FoBSM.

[Rather than reprint the article, as Don did in the original report, I'll instead provide this link to it. I should also note that the FoBSM regularly distribute this article and it occasionally finds itself embedded into VRS material. It can even be found in the text that accompanies Sean Manchester's "Dæmon" blog entry for his Metaphysical Meanderings. -ed.]

In this particular email a photograph of Farrant was included of him wearing a “t-shirt” and smoking a cigarette. The t-shirt was a cartoon-ish character called “Bishop Bonkers” taken from a short lived parody titled “Bournemouth Nights” that in a very funny manner, detailed the feud between Manchester and Farrant. This cartoon series ran on a website called “MondoSkepto.” When Manchester found out about the series it was eventually taken down because of his complaints and possible legal actions. The following was also included in the email to me.

[I've omitted the photographs due to potential accusations of copyright violation. Incidentally, the comic was a product of collusion between David and JREF Forum member, CLD (Cecil Lamont-Dwiggins. Most likely not his real name). I was depicted within it as a Manchester sympathiser because I regularly questioned David's claims on the JREF Forum. (see entire thread related to David, here) Indeed, at one point, I was even accused of being Manchester himself. The comics were later collated and published by the British Psychic and Occult Society. David hijacked the JREF Forum thread to give it publicity, generate sales and further line the BPOS's - i.e. his, coffers. -ed.]

David Farrant “advertising a T-shirt distributed and sold by members of the J.R.E.F.F. [James Randi Educational Foundation Forum. -ed.] The T-shirt displays on its front a crude cartoon of Bishop Seán Manchester who is described as "Bishop Bonkers." Talk about infantile!

Is this the best the J.R.E.F.F cronies can come up with in their hate campaign against the bishop? In having David Farrant model their "merchandise" at London's Muswell Hill, however, they have exposed the degree of collusion (behind the scenes) between the J.R.E.F.F. and David Farrant in their mutual vendetta against a man who stands firmly by his faith and his principles.

David Farrant was sentenced to four years and eight months in the UK following convictions for vandalism, desecration and threatening witnessess in a case of sexual assault. David Farrant also has convictions for indecency in a churchyard, theft and illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition. He has spent his entire life living off state benefits and still occupies the attic bed-sitting room he was found while on parole in 1976. David Farrant is a sixty-one-year old publicity-seeker.

One of the foremost inciters of hatred against Bishop Manchester is prominent J.R.E.F.F. member Catrena Hxx of XXXX, North Carolina, USA. She advertises anti-Bishop Seán Manchester items and other material on her websites. She nearly always uses the pseudonyms "The Vampire" (on the J.R.E.F.F.) or "vampire406" on her sites and elsewhere. She is a fifty-year-old female with irrational hatred and contempt for anyone who is Christian or who believes in the supernatural. Last year she also joined David Farrant's personal forum which is devoted exclusively to fabrication, falsehood and malice against the author and exorcist Bishop Seán Manchester.

During the course of the interview I conducted with Farrant, he was open and he was willing to discuss any aspect of the case. He was completely open in our discussion concerning his incarceration in prison, and while he did not discount some type of supernatural influence that may have “haunted” the Highgate Cemetery, he totally denied that there had ever been a vampire haunting the area.

I wanted to know about the two “vampire victims” that were discussed in Manchester’s book. What was the story about Elizabeth Wojdyla and of course Lusia/Jacqueline Cooper? Had they, either of them, been afflicted by anything weird, odd, unusual?

To be continued...