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A "religious cult" in Guthrie may have had connection with
David Koresh and the Branch Davidian sect in Waco, Texas,
a Gurthrie Police official said Friday.
The official, who asked not to be identified, said he received
inquiries from federal agencies about a possible connection
between the Samaritan Foundation, located in the old territorial jail
at 214 West Noble, and the Branch Davidians.
He said the inquiries came before the spring standoff in Waco
between federal agents and Koresh and his followers.
The Samaritan Foundation's existence became public knowledge
Thursday during an emergency child custody hearing in the
courtroom of Logan County Associate District Judge Penny Howard.
Jonathan George, forty-two, of Sommerville, Massachusetts,
was in Guthrie to regain custody of his two children,
Leila Malini George, seven, and Rami Michael George, four.
The children's mother, Nelli George, forty,
had brought them to Guthrie on September 2nd.
The Beirut, Lebanon, native told her husband she wanted
to spend ten days in Guthrie at a seminar.
He said she described it to him as "the chance of a lifetime."
Jonathan George said that once the children's mother arrived in
Guthrie, he had difficulty reaching her or the children
by phone and could only leave messages on an answering machine
belonging to Linda Greene, head of the Samaritan Foundation.
He said he had spoken to the children a total of twelve minutes
since they arrived in Guthrie.
Nelli George testified she decided she did not want to go
back to her husband and filed for separate maintenance.
Jonathan George, a contractor who said he does the fine
finish work for the television show "This Old House,"
then sought help from Massachusetts state courts.
A judge there granted him temporary custody of the children on October 5th.
He came to Oklahoma to get the children.
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Howard ruled Friday that the children were to return to
Massachusetts with their father because the state had jurisdiction
and because it is the children's home state.
During the course of the hearing that began Thursday,
the children's father said he was afraid for them
to remain in Guthrie because of his wife's "bizarre" behavior
that began eighteen months ago.
That was about the time she began receiving literature
from the Samaritan Foundation, he said.
He said she began swinging a pendulum over things,
including the children, to remove evil.
He said she would place a circular drawing under groceries
because the foundation's writings said the Universal Price Code,
also called a bar code, was evil.
She placed the same drawing under the children's pillows, he said.
Jonathan George said the literature his wife had received
was signed with the name Linda Greene.
It referred to zombies, vampires and the Antichrist.
Much of it was violent in nature, he said.
The Oklahoman obtained a copy of the writings,
which caution believers not to talk on the telephone
because vampires can gain access to them.
Another describes President Clinton as "an animal-mutant zombie,"
first lady Hillary Clinton as "a three-virtue type zombie"
and Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein as a "five-virtue zombie."
Jonathan George's attorney, Richard L. Weldon of Chickasha,
said Greene claims in her writings that she is Christ because she
"willingly gave her soul so that all of yours could survive."
Claire Carbone, Jonathan George's sister, said of her sister-in-law:
"That woman is not Nelli. Nelli is a sweet, beautiful mother.
She must be hypnotized."
Carbone said Nelli George is very bright,
speaks Arabic, French, and English and is an accomplished potter.
Nelli George testified Thursday that she and the children
were living at the former territorial jail at 214 West Noble.
She said she shared living quarters and meals with
at least seven other adults and two children.
She described Greene and Greene's husband, Dennis,
as her friends, and said she came to Guthrie to see them.
She denied Linda Greene was her teacher
and denied being a member of the Samaritan Foundation.
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In court Friday, Nelli George said she moved on Thursday
to the Greenes' home, 909 Mockingbird, which is for sale.
She said she and the children planned to live there
in exchange for taking care of the house.
She said Dennis Greene travels
and Linda Greene now lives at 301 2nd St.
After the judge gave her husband permission to take
the children back to Massachusetts,
Nelli George vowed, "They'll be back with me soon."
-Ellie Sutter, October 16th, 1993.