by Colete Blackburn (Sirisa)
Personal information that could
effect the innocent has been removed, such as last names.
The following is from a report
by a private detective that I hired in 1996 to look into the background of
the founders of Morningland. People have asked me why I did this. Frankly
I don't know why someone didn't think of this before. We were all devoted
to these persons and their "cause" for a very long time knowing very little
about their background. It just made sense to me in the process of sorting
all of this out to find out who these people really were. I have left out
identifying information on the persons discussed in this interview to protect
them. I hope that this will help others who are trying to make sense of what
happened in Morningland.
On December 16, 1996 Clara ------(Maiden
name spelling declined although it sounds like -------), New York ------was
reached at her home telephone -------, conversation with her was quite disjointed
and skipped around a lot but the following is the general sense of the conversation.
It should be remembered that CLARA and this investigator are strangers to
each other and the conversation was conducted on long-distance telephone.
- She is the legitimate widow
of DANIEL MARIO SPERATO, a subject of this investigation. She cannot recall
the date of their marriage but it was in a city or town in Pennsylvania.
- She and DANIEL had one child
together (DANIEL, JR.)
- She now lives on the Social
Security survivorship from her husband's death. She knows he died in 1976,
but is not sure where.
- Both her father-in-law LORENZO
and mother-in-law LUCY (LOUISE) are deceased.
- DANIEL abandoned her and their
child on Christmas Eve (she does not recall the year) and left ----------with
PATRICIA (last name unrecalled if she ever knew it) and disappeared. PATRICIA
had been married before and possibly had one child. She does not know PATRICIA'S
married name (allegedly WOOD) and does not know if she divorced or abandoned
her husband, as DANIEL abandoned her, CLARA.
- DANIEL had also been married
and had two children, a boy and a girl, before he married her. He reportedly
had to go to Florida (Possibly a town called Aranda (Phonetic) to get
his divorce inasmuch as for some unknown reason he could not get a divorce
in --------(She believes it may have had something to do with the Catholic
Church). His divorce wife is Genevieve -----------, -------------------------------------,
New York. She reared their two children alone and never re-married.
- Daniel's brother LAWRENCE (LARRY)
SPERATO, would probably be willing to furnish information about DANIEL and
PATRICIA. She believes PATRICIA was also from -------------but she is not
sure and did not know PATRICIA or her family.
- She believes DANIEL'S Sister
ANGELA -------------, who lives on -------------in ------------ (husband
TIMOTHY) would be willing to furnish information regarding DANIEL and possibly
PATRICIA.
- CLARA advised that she would
be willing to furnish additional information but the events discussed happened
so long ago (and she is getting older) that she cannot remember names, dates
and details as well as she once could.
A short time after this interview
was conducted, probably about a month, I spoke to Clara on the phone myself.
My recollection of the conversation is not precise because I did not think
to write down what we had discussed at the time. I remember her telling me
that she had just come from work so apparently she did something to supplement
her Social Security. She was a very pleasant lady who had had to struggle
to support her son by herself. I thought she was very kind to be willing to
talk to me, I told her that I was writing about the church that her husband
had founded. She told me that Daniel had worked in his family's Pizza restaurant
when they were living together and that that is where he met Patricia. She
said that Patricia used to come in and sit at the counter. She did not know
anything about Morningland or her husband being involved in any kind of church.
She did not know what had happened to her husband after he abandoned her,
which would have been in the early 1960's. She felt certain, however, that
his family in New York stayed in touch with him throughout all those years.
She never remarried. I told her that I respected what she had been through
and empathized with her situation because, ironically, I had a very similar
circumstance in my own life with my natural father. She reiterated that I
might be able to find out more from Daniel's siblings. I did try but was unable
to contact them.
Additional Information not from private investigator
Patricia had two daughters before Lynnie (Rada Ami). She abandoned them. So,
between them, Daniel and Patricia abandoned a total of 5 children
before her later abandoning of Lynne and Marcus (Seroth) who came later -
making a total of seven children abandoned.
Neither of them ever made any attempt to contact their children.
Most disciples don't even know they HAD children.