The family of a senior Church of Scientology member who set himself on fire has blamed the church for his suicide.
Whitney Hills, 40, shot and set herself on fire after believing she was suffering from cancer and Lyme disease.
Mills had reached the highest level of Scientology, known as Operating Thetan Level 8 or OT 8, and believed he could “transfer into a new body.”
The disturbing details of Mills’ death and his involvement with Scientology have raised questions about the organization’s impact on its members.
However, his family members say he was misdiagnosed and was actually suffering from depression and anxiety, which were not receiving treatment due to the Church’s stance on mental health.
They filed a wrongful death lawsuit alleging that Scientologist doctors took control of her care and “extorted” her for a range of alternative treatments.
“The Scientology defendants brainwashed him into believing that mental health professionals, including psychologists and psychiatrists, and related medical treatments, such as antidepressants and other prescription drugs, were unnecessary and abhorrent,” the lawsuit states.
The church has denied that Mills was ever under its care and has said it does not provide medical advice.
According to the Clearwater Police Department’s investigation, Mills shot herself on May 12 and died a day and a half later at Morton Plant Hospital.
The family of Whitney Mills, a high-ranking member of the Church of Scientology who committed self-immolation, blamed the church for her suicide.
When her brother forced his way into her apartment, he found her incapacitated from a self-inflicted gunshot wound and noticed the smell of burning hair, indicating she had set herself on fire before shooting herself.
Clearwater police investigated Mills’ death and found there were no suspicious circumstances, but a text message she sent to Albertina Mejias, a high-ranking member of the Church, describes “tips” about what she might do next.
His family says his mental health had been deteriorating in the period leading up to his death.
Clearwater police found no evidence of foul play or Scientology involvement in Mills’ death.
A text message sent between church members and Mills suggests how she may have ended her life with the idea of starting over in a new body.
Following an “urgent mental health crisis,” church members ordered Mills to be “quarantined” in February 2022 and placed her under 24/7 surveillance, according to the lawsuit.
During this time, she was reportedly assigned three caregivers who lived with her and reported her situation to the Church.
Mills’ family says that during that time she was told there was a “Scientology assistance where she could ‘drop the body,’ where her spirit or ‘operating thetan’ would leave her body to inhabit another, causing the original body to die.”
The lawsuit claims the concept or aid of “dropping the body” was created by L. Ron Hubbard, the messianic founder of Scientology.
Following his death in 1986, Scientology leaders announced that his body had become an impediment to his work and that he had decided to “abandon his body” to continue his research on another plane of existence, the documents state.
A Church spokesman previously said there was no teaching encouraging “anyone to abandon their body.”
However, Mills’ text messages show she “asked for that help,” the lawsuit claims, adding that her caregivers knew she was having suicidal thoughts and failed to act.
‘Worse, if they actually assisted in the suicide, if they actually provided the assistance in ‘dropping the body’ that was discussed, then they are guilty of murder,’ the documents state.
Mills was sent to treatment with Dr. David Minkoff in the last three months of her life, who “misinformed and misdiagnosed her with Lyme disease and a cancerous ovarian cyst, while largely ignoring her very real psychosis and mental health crisis,” the lawsuit claims.
Clearwater police found no evidence of foul play or Scientology involvement in Mills’ death.
The Clearwater Police Department’s investigation found no evidence of foul play or Scientology involvement in Mills’ death.
Minkoff is also a high-ranking Scientologist whose license in Florida was suspended for a year because of his treatment of Lisa MacPherson, another Scientologist who died in 1998.
He is accused of charging Mills $20,000 for “alternative and highly questionable treatments” for misdiagnosed Lyme disease and an ovarian cyst, according to the documents.
According to a detective’s report, Mills’ mother said she had gone through her daughter’s phone and found a series of messages in which she planned to ask the “Prosecution Director” for a “suicide assistance referral.”
The documents also detail text messages in which Mills appears to reference suicide with his handlers but receives little response.
In a statement to DailyMail.com, the Church said: ‘
The passing of Ms. Mills was a tragic event. As well as affecting her family, it also affected her friends, many of whom are Scientologists.
‘It is downright disgusting that anti-Scientologists have seized upon Ms. Mills’ passing in an attempt to advance their own interests, as evidenced by the blatant falsehoods contained in the complaint regarding Scientology’s beliefs and practices.
‘In Scientology there is no such thing as a ‘leaving-the-body aid’, by this or any other name.
‘There is no such belief or practice. It is pure INVENTION. There is NOTHING in Scientology that can even be considered as such.
Mrs. Mills was at home and was not under the care or supervision of the Church at any time prior to her passing.
‘None of the people who cared for Ms. Mills in her home were members of the staff of any Church. Any claim to the contrary is TOTALLY FALSE.
‘Mrs Mills had many friends, business associates and family members with whom she was in constant contact prior to her passing.
‘The Church’s policy is very clear: if a Scientologist needs medical attention, he or she must consult a doctor.
‘Any and all decisions relating to medical treatment are solely the decision of the individual.
‘The Church does not provide medical advice. Please see Scientology.org’s FAQs on medical care.
‘Public records show that Ms. Mills visited more than a dozen medical professionals in the months before her death.
“It is unfortunate that Ms. Mills’ mother has filed this lawsuit. Based on the information available, it appears that Ms. Mills was under her mother’s care, if anyone was. The Church continues to express its condolences to all those affected.”
DailyMail.com has contacted Dr Minkoff for comment.
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