From American Atheist
President Ellen Johnson
President Ellen Johnson
December 1996
The newspapers have reported that the Murray-O'Hairs took $625,000 with them when they left Austin, Texas, in 1995. These reports are true. Over a period of time we were able to reconstruct some of the circumstances and details of their disappearance. Later still, we and our auditors were able to discover that not all Atheist funds were intact, as initially thought. We ultimately discovered that twenty-five thousand dollars were missing from an American Atheists account and six hundred thousand were missing from a Trust Fund account often referred to in the newspapers as the "overseas account." The Trust Fund is a fund that was not to be used for the general operating expenses of the organization. We intended to accumulate a million dollars (which had not yet been reached) and use the interest earned on it to operate the GHQ. This was a longtime goal of the O'Hairs and they worked many years at building up the fund. The bulk of the fund was generated through wills.
The missing funds were properly reported on our IRS Form 990 for the year 1995 and they were filed with the IRS in November of 1996. Amazingly, it was only days later that local Texas reporters called to request copies of our 990s. It was as if the Dallas office of the IRS had sicked them on us directly, as soon as our alarming situation was confirmed (as if they didn't!).
We are working very hard to locate the O'Hairs and the missing money as well. We have learned that the Austin police are doing some investigating on their own. At the time of this writing we are working with our attorney to notify the proper Texas state officials of our desire to recover the funds. We hope to report on that in the next newsletter.
WHY THE SECRECY?
It was my decision to wait before making all discovered information public, in the hope that we would find the O'Hairs first - whether dead or alive. Although we learned about the missing money relatively early, it just seemed that the disappearance could not go on forever. At the time of the discovery it seemed prudent to wait and see while continuing to search for our missing officers. I had to balance the "public's need to know" against the worry that disclosure at that time might jeopardize their security. Then too, there was the question of my own safety. Would someone come after me, thinking I knew where they were with lots of money? Were they hiding for their lives? Could this be a kidnapping? Sounds crazy, you say? Whatever others may think, justifiable or not, these were the considerations that guided me in my decision to delay disclosure. Now that the news is out, the Murray-O'Hairs (if they are still alive) may be the target of any crazy person wanting to steal that amount of money. I had hoped to avoid that.
If you are concerned about the financial integrity of this organization over the past years, I can tell you that the IRS audits us every year. The Murray-O'Hairs personally are audited every year. Financial statements for 1995 are available from the GHQ by written request if you provide an 8"xl0" SASE with 78 cents in postage.
Please keep in mind that the Murray-O'Hairs left behind the entire contents of the office building, one car, all their personal belongings, their pets, their own bank accounts (which they have not touched) and the remainder of the office bank accounts and Trust Fund moneys. This is hard to reconcile with the idea that they were robbing the till so they could escape to Shangri-La. Also remember that on the day that this all began, something happened very suddenly that caused the O'Hairs to flee their home in the middle of preparing breakfast. The image that comes to my mind is that of people fleeing a burning building, grabbing whatever they might salvage.
No one knows for sure what happened in September of 1995. I will be very frank with you and say that I will continue to proceed with deliberation in dealing with the problem of the missing Murray-O'Hairs. At the same time, I am leaving no stone unturned. If the O'Hairs are alive they are entitled to disappear or hide if they want to; but we are entitled to recover the missing funds - and we shall get the funds back. Some of you may not stick with us through this crisis, and some of you will continue to be very supportive. We will be continuing to move forward with this organization, building a foundation for Atheist activism in America no matter what. We are inviting and urging your participation. This organization's for you. Towards that end we still want your input, favorable or not. We cannot respond to every question, suggestion, or complaint; but we do listen.
My heartfelt thanks to all of you who have extended your continued support to those of us on the front lines. We are working as hard as we can under difficult circumstances. My only request is that you don't expect miracles ( ! )
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