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Via veteran reporter Ben Kaufman's media column in the June 8, 2016 Cincinnati CityBeat, the Queen City's longtime newsweekly:
This is the first part of a series about my corrections requests.

* Reporters at McKnight's and Slate have questioned the veracity of the Deupree House story. So have I.


Since Spring 2003, my father has been thoroughly exposed as a medical charlatan, a serial liar, and a con man in scores of media reports, two of the first being these Sunday front-pagers in the Cincinnati Enquirer (based on research by my wife Karen and me).

source

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Here's my point.

Could there be a veteran journalist in the 'Nati who'd take anything my father said at face value and report it?

Reporter Scott Wegener, WCPO-TV News (source)

According to his bio on the website of WCPO-TV (Cincinnati's ABC affiliate), reporter Scott Wegener has been working in the Queen City since 1986 and has won some journalism awards.

On May 27, WCPO aired Wegener's story, Heimlich maneuver inventor uses it for the first time... at age 96, based on this lie told by my father:



That day and again on June 1, I sent e-mails to Wegener about the error.

I received his confirmations of receipt but no reply.

Reporter Joe Rosemeyer, WCPO-TV (source)

On June 27 I took it to WCPO.com News Editor Mike Canan and the next day, Heimlich's first time using maneuver? Maybe not by Joe Rosemeyer, was published on the station's website.

It's tough to prove someone intentionally lied and Rosemeyer's story included some verbal acrobatics perhaps intended to step around that dead elephant in the room:
Presumably the "irresolvable conflict" could be resolved by asking my father, but the story didn't include any quotes from Dr. Maneuver or any indication that he'd been contacted, so I asked Rosemeyer about that.

He replied, "Phil said Henry had some health problems since last month, so he was calling me back instead."

Is this the first time Dr. Heimlich has ever used the maneuver to save a life?

“Yes, this is,” he said Friday. “I originally did my research studies that led to my developing it, which was in 1974, and I never considered that I would be doing it myself.”

The record is murky in that regard. A BBC article in 2003 quoted the doctor, then 83, describing a similar encounter where he tried the maneuver on a fellow diner, a man, although the story lacked details such as a precise date, location and name. A New Yorker article in 2006 made reference to a similar incident, also without details. But a son, Phil Heimlich, said his father had never mentioned any previous incidents to him. The doctor himself did not return a follow-up call.

Finally, if my father's ill, I wish him a speedy recovery.

And when he's better, I'd encourage reporters to interview him to perhaps resolve the "irresolvable conflict."

And if any reporters need someone on the record calling him a liar, I'm available.

This item has been slightly updated.

The home of Stan Chesley and Judge Susan Dlott is the all-time best seller in the history of the Tristate Multiple Listing Service (MLS). This 21-room French chateau, bought for $11.9 million in 2004, is located at 9005 Camargo Road in Indian Hill. The 29,000-square-foot estate offers a theater/media room, game room, outdoor kitchen, exercise room, custom chandeliers and a wine cellar. Built by former Provident Financial Group executive Allen Davis in 1999, the estate comes complete with garage space for eight cars, separate carriage house and apartments, and 300 acres of surrounding land. (text source) (photo source)

Via 911 call released in federal judge’s home break-in near Cincinnati by Lisa Cornwell, Associated Press, December 9, 2015:

A federal judge who police say was robbed with her husband at gunpoint in their Cincinnati-area home told a 911 dispatcher that three men with guns and masks broke into their house.

Indian Hill police have said the suspects were arrested shortly after the Friday night break-in of the home of Judge Susan Dlott and prominent former trial attorney Stanley Chesley.

...At one point, Dlott said she was bleeding, and police have said Chesley fell down some stairs at one point. Police later said the couple was fine, but unnerved.

However, via this clip from Federal Judge Susan Dlott made chilling 911 call after 3 gunmen attacked her, husband Stan Chesley by Julie O'Neill, WCPO News, December 7, 2015:

Thrown down the stairs by one of the attackers, Chesley suffered a concussion, a broken pelvis and three broken bones in his thoracic spine, according to a neighbor, Michelle Young.

Besides the reporting gap between the AP and WCPO versions, Chesley's physical condition figures into charges that may be brought against the suspects in the break-in as well as the $647,815.64 warrant for Chesley's arrest for failing to appear before a Kentucky, apparently to avoid facing the music for his role in the $42 million fen-phen rip-off.

Via Stan Chesley speaks: Willing to settle fen-phen case by James Pilcher and Sharon Coolidge, Cincinnati Enquirer, November 7, 2015

According to the WCPO report:

"Judge Dlott had opened the garage doors asking them to take one of the cars...or any of the cars they were interested in...and something malfunctioned with the garage door and created a beeping noise," (Lt. Steve Makin of the Indian Hill Rangers) said.

One of the robbers was going back into the house, and Dlott and Chesley ran out of the garage into the woods, Makin said. Chesley was too injured to go far.

In other words, Julie O'Neill reported that a 79-year-old man with a broken pelvis, other broken bones, and a concussion, was still able to run. 

Julie O'Neill (source)

News reports about serious injuries suffered by public figures often identify where the victim was hospitalized, but I was unable to locate any news stories with that information.

Reportedly the break-in happened the evening of December 4 and I started reporting the story five days later. If Chesley had a broken pelvis, three broken bones, and a concussion, it seemed possible, perhaps likely, that he was still an in-patient.

So on the afternoon of December 9, I phoned all the likely hospitals in Cincinnati -- Christ, Jewish, UC, all of the Mercy facilities, Good Sam, and Bethesda North. All stated me that Chesley wasn't registered as a patient.

That afternoon I e-mailed that information to WCPO reporter Julie O'Neill who replied:

I have been told he is now recovering at home which I have reported.

Via O'Neill's update, Judge Dlott confirmed Michele Young's version of events:

Chesley suffered injuries when he was pushed down a small flight of stairs during the ordeal. He and his wife were able to escape and call for help.

Dlott later said Chesley is on bed rest to recover from injuries that include three fractures to his spine, a fracture in his pelvis and a concussion. Dlott said her feet are still bruised and swollen from the incident as well.

I then e-mailed O'Neill:

Do you know when he was discharged and from what hospital?

To which she responded:

No I do not.

She expressed no intention to fact check her own story, so I replied:

I'd strongly urge you to try to obtain those facts.

That's the last I heard from her.

source

So was Chesley "fine, but unnerved" or did he suffer serious injuries?

In an attempt to find out, I've sent e-mails and/or left messages for AP reporter Lisa Cornwell, Michele Young, Judge Dlott, and Captain Mike Dressell of the Indian Hill Rangers, and will post any updates.

UPDATE, 12/14/15, 2:06pm ET:

"Honored Guests" for tomorrow night's "Heroes of Character" event include Steve Raleigh (WCPO-TV meteorologist), Dr. O'dell Owens, Cincinnati State Technical and Community College), and Kim and Bonnie Nuxhall (source)

What does the screenshot above -- which advertises an awards event tomorrow evening arranged by the Character Council of Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky -- have to do with the screenshot below from the March 7, 2014 Washington Post?


Via Cult of Character, a January 9, 2006 In These Times cover story:

(Bill) Gothard, the 74-year-old, unmarried man at the head of the Oak-Brook, Illinois-based Institute in Basic Life Principles (IBLP) – which brings in an estimated profit of at least $63 million annually – has been in the evangelism business since 1964.

...Although legally and fiscally independent, the CTI (Character Training Institute) is for all intents and purposes a “secular” front group for Gothard’s IBLP. In the last decade, the CTI has quietly gained entry into hundreds of elementary, middle and high schools, state and city offices, corporations, police departments and jails.

Though he never uses the term, Gothard’s ideology fits into the framework of the burgeoning “Christian Reconstructionist” movement, which aims to rebuild society according to biblical mandates. Within the Christian Reconstructionist worldview, modern-day chaos is directly attributable to the division of church and state and the consequent degradation of individual character.

...Each of the 49 Character Qualities in CTI’s secular materials have their exact counterpart in IBLP materials. In books like Gothard’s Power of Kingdom Living and The Sevenfold Power of First-Century Churches and Homes, they are typically referred to as “The Laws of the Kingdom.”

The IBLP’s “blue book,” formally titled The Power for True Success, is carried around by many of the IACC officials. It explains the imperative for learning the 49 character qualities this way: “Character reveals the Lord Jesus Christ, since He is the full personification of all good character qualities.” It continues, “understanding character explains why things happen to us, because all things work together for good to conform us to the character of Christ.”

This book is now in the hands of most of the 1,200-strong Cincinnati police force, courtesy of a life insurance salesman and CTI cheerleader named Mike Daly who, along with Phil Heimlich, helped turn Cincinnati into a City of Character.

That would be my brother Phil, a former high-profile Cincinnati elected official who in 1981, according to a Topeka, KS, newspaper, found Jesus in a Big Boy hamburger restaurant.

Via his September 2005 lecture to the International Association of Character Cities entitled -- yes -- Truthfulness in Politics, here's a quick clip of Phil asking if Bill Gothard is in the audience. (H/T to the Cincinnati Beacon.)




Today Cincinnati's WLWT posted this interview with Mary Russell, longtime Executive Director of the local Character Council. She explains the "49 character qualities," but doesn't say anything about the Institute in Basic Life Principles.




Last week I e-mailed multiple inquiries to Ms. Russell and asked if she'd ever communicated with Bill Gothard or any other IBLP representatives.

She said no about Gothard. She didn't respond to the rest of the question.

Here are the recipients for tomorrow's awards ceremony:


Do they or the celebrity guests know about the IBLP and Gothard conections?

Does it matter?

I'll send out some inquiries and report the results.

E.W. Scripps Company corporate slogan (source)

As an experienced source whose work has helped generate lots of news stories, I've never had a reporter refuse to provide me with a copy of a story to which I'd contributed.

Never say never.

WCPO-Digital, a new Internet venture owned by Cincinnati-based media conglomerate E.W. Scripps, requires sources to become paid subscribers in order to read stories in which they participated.

In other words, sources provide their time and information for free to WCPO-Digital reporters, but must pay for the privilege of reading the results.

The policy came to my attention as a result of the February 9, 2014 WCPO-Digital story by staff reporter Lucy May, Henry Heimlich: At 94, Cincinnati's famous, polarizing doctor still working to shape his legacy.

Click the title link and you'll learn the story's behind a subscription paywall.

Here's what Ms. May's colleague, WCPO-Digital staff reporter Dan Monk, and Ms. May tweeted the day the story was published:


Part of Ms. May's story is about my research into my father's bizarre career and my efforts to bring the information to public attention. I was also a principle source for story and Ms. May used quotes from an interview I gave her.

Check out this offer she made to me and Joy Patrick, another source/interview subject for her story:



My same-day acceptance, copied to her editor Christine Graves and the managers responsible for WCPO-Digital:



True to her word, here's Ms. May's snail mail follow-up including the cash:

RIGHT TO LEFT (March 2005): My brother, former Cincinnati city councilman/former Hamilton County commissioner Phil Heimlich; his wife/my sister-in-law, Rebecca Heimlich; Christopher Finney, my father's attorney and former law partner at Finney, Stagnaro, Saba and Patterson; two guys I don't recognize; former Ohio Representative Tom Brinkman (in green suit); former Ohio Attorney General Jim Petro. (source)

Via Henry Heimlich: At 94, Cincinnati's famous, polarizing doctor still working to shape his legacy by staff reporter Lucy May, WCPO-Digital, February 9, 2014. (The story's behind a subscription paywall -- click here for the page with the quote.)

(Dr.) Heimlich also persists in arguing malariotherapy – the practice of injecting patients with a curable form of malaria – should be researched as a possible treatment for AIDS and other diseases.

...A World Health Organization report called Heimlich-backed experiments in the late 1990s that infected AIDS patients in China with malaria one of the “atrocities” committed by doctors in recent memory.

But Heimlich hasn’t backed down on either.

For his staunchest supporters, that’s all they need to hear.

“I can assure you if I had AIDS or another disease he thought it might work with –- shoot me up,” Heimlich’s son, Phil, said of malariotherapy.

The article does not report that Phil is the longtime vice president of the Heimlich Institute, the Cincinnati nonprofit that funded and supervised the experiments on Chinese AIDS patients and other "malariotherapy" experiments conducted on U.S. and foreign patients in Mexico, Panama, Ethiopia, and Gabon.


This item has been updated.

UPDATE: Later the same day I broke the story, it was picked up by WCPO-Digital: Dr. Henry Heimlich: Letter accuses famed doctor of being 'dishonest' in his new memoir by staff reporter Lucy May (behind a subscription paywall)

My parents, Jane and Henry Heimlich, at the wedding reception of the late Edward A. Patrick MD PhD and Joy Lake Patrick (with Joy's son Rick), July 23, 2000 (photo courtesy of Joy Lake Patrick)

The Doctor Is Out, Part I, February 3, 2014: Prometheus Books is poised to (literally) disappear my father's closest career colleague -- the claimed co-developer of the Heimlich maneuver -- from his forthcoming autobiography

Joy Lake Patrick (via Facebook)

Here's Part II, this letter sent today to my father by Joy Lake Patrick, ex-wife of the late Edward A. Patrick MD, PhD. (Click here to download a copy.)