The Last Closet_The Dark Side of Avalon

by Moira Greyland

  MR. DOLAN: So it was your personal opinion that a boy of 14 to 15 years old was old enough to make decisions about having sex with a 50-year-old man?

  MZB: Yes, I was. I believe so. He was not 50 at the time.

  MR. DOLAN: How old was he?

  MZB: 30. He and I were the same age. I’ve been told since that he was two years older than that, but I believe that that was what his mother told him.

  MR. DOLAN: Did you have any other discussions with [mother of Glenn Frendel] about the sexual relationship between your husband and her minor child?

  MZB: No.

  MR. DOLAN: Did your husband ever pay any money to [mother of Glenn Frendel], as far as you know, to settle any disputes between her and himself regarding sex between himself and her minor child?

  MZB: No.

  MR. DOLAN: When did your husband give a bicycle to this child?

  MZB: I think it was about three months before I came to join him.

  MR. DOLAN: Do you know where this woman lives now, [mother of Glenn Frendel]?

  MZB: No. I don’t even know if she’s still alive.

  MR. DOLAN: Do you know if your husband ever wrote any poems that he published about his sexual relationship with [Glenn Frendel]?

  MZB: I never saw them if he did.

  MR. DOLAN: Okay.

  MZB: I know that he translated some Italian work on the subject because he had me help him with the translation.

  MR. DOLAN: Did you ever—strike that. To your knowledge, was the subject of your husband’s sexual relationship with [Glenn Frendel] the basis for the “Boondoggle”?

  MZB: Yes; I think so.

  MR. DOLAN: Can you briefly describe for us your understanding of what the “Boondoggle” was?

  MZB: There was a young man up in—I think it was in Washington, not D.C., up north in Washington, and he wanted the—to be the recipient of what they call the Big Pond Fund, which sent a man overseas to the convention in England. Walter also had been nominated for that. And Jack Sphere was—the other man was afraid that Walter would get it, so he published this thing about Walter being all of these things, a pedophile, and guilty of this, that and the other, and everything—everything up to and including the Civil War.

  MR. DOLAN: Did you ever publicly defend Walter in terms of his not being a pedophile?

  MZB: Yes, I did.

  MR. DOLAN: And was that during the “Boondoggle”?

  MZB: Yes.

  MR. DOLAN: Can you tell me why you would publicly state that Walter was not a pedophile when you knew that he had been having sex with a minor child?

  MZB: Because, as I said, [Glenn Frendel] did not impress me as a minor child. He was late in his teens, and I considered him—I think he would have been old enough to be married in this state legally, so I figured what he did sexually was his own business.

  MR. DOLAN: The “Boondoggle” was partly—the subject matter was directed partly towards the sexual relationship with [Glenn Frendel] and Walter Breen; correct?

  MZB: As far as I can remember, yes.

  MR. DOLAN: And did you—Was the existence of that sexual relationship part of Walter’s defense in the “Boondoggle”?

  MZB: As I say, it was a long time ago. I don’t emember whether I denied it or whether I said that it was nobody’s business.

  MR. DOLAN: But you did one of the two, either denied it or said it was nobody’s business?

  MZB: That’s right.

  MR. DOLAN: At what point do you personally believe that it’s inappropriate to have sex with a minor child?

  MZB: At this point I have no opinion on the matter.

  MR. DOLAN: Did you ever publish any documentation regarding the “Boondoggle” in any of the fanzines?

  MZB: Not that I remember.

  MR. DOLAN: Did you ever publish anything in the fanzine

  called “The Loyal Opposition”?

  MZB: I don’t remember. I may have, but I….

  MR. DOLAN: Did Bill Donaho publish something that you considered to be a slander about you?

  MZB: Yes, he did.

  MR. DOLAN: And what was that?

  MZB: Well, as far as I remember, there was a cartoon. Bill Donaho is a big blowhard. The only time I ever met him he was very rude to me, and I didn’t like him.

  MR. DOLAN: And what was the subject matter of the cartoon that you felt was a slander of you?

  MZB: It was a picture of some character standing around saying, “Why don’t you two get started while I make up the fire” or something. I don’t remember very clearly.

  MR. DOLAN: Was there anything that Bill Donaho said that led you to believe that he was claiming you were a person who could only drag Walter down to deeper depths of depravity?

  MZB: I have no idea.

  MR. DOLAN: I’m going to show you a document that we’re going to mark as Plaintiffs’ No. 2. (Plaintiffs’ Exhibit 2 was marked for identification.)

  MR. DOLAN: I’m going to ask you to look at the first page of Plaintiffs’ 2. It’s a two-page document from a fanzine entitled “The Loyal Opposition.”

  MZB: Oh, yes. I vaguely remember.

  MR. DOLAN: Would you look at Page 2 where your name appears?

  MZB: Yes.

  MR. DOLAN: Did you write these two paragraphs here? And please take the time to read it, if that will be of help to you.

  MZB: He’s lying in his teeth. The scandal’s so unbelievable that I cannot repeat it here.

  MR. DOLAN: What was the scandal?

  MZB: It was—Well, as I say, it was that cartoon showing—showing David and me and Walter, and Walter was supposedly saying, “Why don’t you two get started while I get things locked up” or something of that sort.

  MR. DOLAN: “Get started” referencing a sexual act?

  MZB: I think that was implied.

  MR. DOLAN: When you said “David,” are you talking about your son?

  MZB: My oldest son, yes.

  MR. DOLAN: That was the item that you were thinking could not be sent through the U.S. mail?

  MZB: Something like that. At that time I had been in—I believed very firmly that obscene matter was not fit to be sent through the mail. There had been a big scandal about it.

  MR. DOLAN: Have you yourself been arrested for sending obscene things through the mail?

  MZB: Yes.

  MR. DOLAN: When was that?

  MZB: While I was living in Texas.

  MR. DOLAN: And what was the documentation that you sent through the mail that was—caused you to be arrested?

  MZB: One that caused me to be arrested was a young man with whom I had been corresponding for many years, whose name was Dean Boggs, had asked me some questions—having no brothers or sisters — about female anatomy, and I drew him a picture to illustrate. It was a picture that one might have found on the pages of an anatomy or biology textbook.

  MR. DOLAN: How old was Dean Boggs at the time that you sent him this graphic drawing?

  MZB: I think he and I were within a few weeks of each other in age.

  MR. DOLAN: How old were you?

  MZB: I think I was about 32. It was the year before I married Walter.

  MR. DOLAN: Did you plead guilty to that charge?

  MZB: Yes, I did.

  MR. DOLAN: In what county of Texas was this?

  MZB: I don’t remember. It was in the county—I think it was up in a town called Rochester. And at the time I was going to college in Abilene, and the hearing was held there.

  MR. DOLAN: Were there any other items that you had sent through the mail that had likewise been intercepted?

  MZB: Not that I can remember.

  MR. WALKER: I don’t think that she testified that anything was intercepted.

  MR. DOLAN: Do you know how the mail was found to be obscene by the authorities?

  MZB: Personally I think they were—strike that. I believe that they illegally examined some of my letters.

  MR. DOLAN: Okay. So, to your understanding, those letters were intercepted by t
he post office?

  MZB: I believe so. At the time I believe that first-class mail was supposed to be in violate. I think the matter was still under question at the Supreme Court at that time.

  MR. DOLAN: Was there any other mail that you know of that was intercepted of yours around that time?

  MZB: I believe they took a book that I had sent to me from France. It was Vladimir Nabokov’s “Lolita,” which was later judged to be quite permissible.

  MR. DOLAN: It’s actually been put on Showtime and HBO last week, as a matter of fact, with Jeremy Irons as the leading man.

  MZB: I saw the old James Mason version.

  MR. DOLAN: Right. If you look at this document in front of you again, in the second paragraph it says in here, “Anyone who defends Walter Breen is worse than Walter.” Do you see where you’ve written that?

  MZB: Where?

  MR. DOLAN: Well, it’s actually in the–

  MZB: Oh, yes.

  MR. DOLAN:—third sentence.

  MZB: I was quoting Bill Donaho.

  MR. DOLAN: Were you at that time defending Walter Breen?

  MZB: Yes, I was.

  MR. DOLAN: And how were you defending Walter Breen?

  MZB: By saying that whatever it was was nobody’s business but his.

  MR. DOLAN: And, to your knowledge, did you ever publicly during that defense of Walter Breen state that it never happened?

  MZB: I don’t remember, but I don’t think so.

  MR. DOLAN: Who’s [Barry Austin]?

  (I believe Barry Austin was Barry Austin.)

  MZB: Oh, he’s a little kid who was living around our property at that time.

  MR. DOLAN: How old was [Barry Austin]?

  MZB: I think he was about 13, 14.

  MR. DOLAN: To your knowledge, did your husband ever have a sexual relationship with [Barry Austin]?

  MZB: I don’t know. At that time I believed Walter was completely impotent.

  MR. DOLAN: My question is not whether you believed Walter was impotent, but did you ever receive any facts or information that led you to believe that Walter was having a sexual relationship with [Barry Austin]?

  MZB: No, I did not.

  MR. DOLAN: Did your daughter ever report that [Barry Austin] had been found in Walter’s bed?

  MZB: She did.

  MR. DOLAN: Did you find that odd?

  MZB: No. Walter had shared a bed with me on many occasions perfectly innocently.

  MR. DOLAN: You knew that Walter was a pedophile at that time?

  MZB: I knew it. Intellectually, yes, I knew it.

  MR. DOLAN: And you knew that he was sharing a bed with a 13-year-old boy at that point; correct?

  MZB: Yes. But, as I say, I believed Walter was impotent and nothing that could bother anyone could happen.

  MR. WALKER: Now, when you say “sharing a bed,” I think she was testifying about one occasion. I don’t think–

  MZB: Same occasions.

  MR. WALKER: I don’t think you’ve asked–

  MR. DOLAN: Sharing a bed one time or more with a 13-year-old boy—we’re going to get into in more detail here.

  MR. WALKER: I just want to make sure the record is clear what you’re asking her. Ask her a good question, and she’ll give you the answer.

  MR. DOLAN: My questions are good. I like my questions.

  MZB: I was starting–

  MR. WALKER: You don’t have to answer. Let him pose a question, and then you can answer.

  MZB: All I was going to say is that on one occasion I shared a house—I shared a bed with about seven other people, but we were all having a party overnight at the—I think it was up at the—what’s the name? I’ve forgotten her name. I drew a blank. The lady and her husband were hosting an overnight party, and there were about 14 people there. And I think about nine of us piled into bed together.

  MR. DOLAN: How many of those were children?

  MZB: Four or five, I think.

  MR. DOLAN: So you’ve shared a bed with minor children before too?

  MZB: Well, they were all little girls.

  MR. DOLAN: At the time were you aware that [Barry Austin] was in Walter’s bed on more than one occasion?

  MZB: No, I was not.

  MR. DOLAN: Did you make any attempts to adopt [Barry Austin]?

  MZB: Yes.

  MR. DOLAN: Through what agency did you attempt to adopt [Barry Austin]?

  MZB: I think it was the Alameda County Children’s Protective Services or something to that effect. It was a long time ago, and I don’t really remember much about it.

  MR. DOLAN: Did you have to undergo any kind of interviews or evaluation for the fitness of being adoptive parents?

  MZB: Yes. We went to a class for counseling for adoptive parents.

  MR. DOLAN: And at what time frame was this that you had heard the report that [Barry Austin] had been in Walter’s bed?

  MZB: I don’t remember.

  MR. DOLAN: Can you give me an estimate or approximation?

  MZB: No; I really can’t. That was a long time ago.

  MR. DOLAN: Was it when you were living at 2221 Prince Street with Walter?

  MZB: Yes.

  MR. DOLAN: Was it prior to your—you and Elisabeth moving out of 2221 Prince Street?

  MZB: I don’t remember.

  MR. DOLAN: Was it in the 1980s?

  MZB: It may well have been.

  MR. DOLAN: Was it before Ken Smith’s molestation was reported?

  MZB: I never heard of Ken Smith. I mean, I’m told now that I know who he was, but I don’t have any clear memory of him.

  MR. DOLAN: Do you recall the fact that Walter was arrested for the molestation of Ken Smith?

  MZB: Yes.

  MR. DOLAN: Was the fact that Walter was in bed with [Barry Austin] known to you before Ken Smith was arrested?

  MZB: Yes.

  MR. DOLAN: Strike that. I’m going to ask the question again. Was the fact that Walter was in bed with [Barry Austin] known to you before Walter was arrested for the molestation of Ken Smith?

  MZB: Yes.

  MR. DOLAN: Was the fact that Walter was in bed with [Barry Austin] known to you before you rented him the premises known as the goldfish bowl?

  MZB: No.

  MR. DOLAN: So you found that out after you had rented him the goldfish bowl?

  MZB: Yes.

  MR. DOLAN: And were you aware that he was found in bed with [Barry Austin] at the goldfish bowl?

  MZB: No.

  MR. DOLAN: Where was he found in bed with [Barry Austin]?

  MZB: I don’t remember.

  MR. DOLAN: Okay.

  MZB: I thought of [Barry Austin] as a little boy that came over the house, and he used to sit on my lap.

  MR. DOLAN: Did you think [Barry Austin] was of the age to make decisions whether or not he could have a sexual relationship with Walter?

  MZB: I was sort of ambivalent about that. [Barry Austin] was like a stray cat that somebody put out on the street, and I think he was surviving any way he could.

  MR. DOLAN: That would include having sex with older men?

  MZB: Probably.

  MR. WALKER: Objection. Asks for speculation.

  MR. DOLAN: I just asked her–

  MR. WALKER: I don’t think that that’s–

  MR. BAKER: Argumentative.

  MR. DOLAN: Did you get the answer?

  THE REPORTER: Yes.

  MR. DOLAN: Was [Barry Austin] surviving by having sex with older men?

  MR. BAKER: Argumentative.

  MZB: I don’t know.

  MR. DOLAN: Did you ever talk to [Barry Austin] [Barry Austin]’s mother?

  MZB: No.

  MR. DOLAN: Did you ever talk to his parents at all about this proposed adoption?

  MZB: Yes. His mother came to see us on one occasion, and she paid more attention to the cat than she did [Barry Austin]. She just said, “Oh, hello, [Barry Austin],” and then she never looked at him or talked to him again.

  MR. DOLAN: Di
d you talk to her at all?

  MZB: Very little.

  MR. DOLAN: So your testimony just given two seconds ago that you didn’t speak to her was incorrect?

  MZB: Yes; I spoke to her formally.

  MR. DOLAN: Did you tell her that your husband and her child had been in bed together?

  MZB: No, I did not.

  MR. DOLAN: Why didn’t you?

  MZB: It didn’t occur to me that it was important.

  MR. DOLAN: Did you ever disclose to her that your husband was a pedophile?

  MZB: I never thought of him that way.

  MR. DOLAN: Did you ever tell her that your husband had a sexual relationship with a minor boy named [Glenn Frendel]?

  MZB: No.

  MR. DOLAN: Did you ever have any knowledge that your husband had been arrested in Atlantic City for lewd and lascivious acts with a minor?

  MZB: No, I did not know that.

  MR. DOLAN: Do you know who Kevin was in New York?

  MZB: Yes.

  MR. DOLAN: Who was Kevin?

  (Kevin Langdon)

  MZB: He was a young man. At that time there were many multiple marriages, and at that time Walter and Kevin formed a triangle. It went on only for a short time.

  MR. DOLAN: Okay. How old was Kevin?

  MZB: I think he was 21 or 22.

  MR. DOLAN: Let’s get back to [Barry Austin] for a minute. Did you ever have to fill out any paperwork to adopt [Barry Austin]?

  MZB: I don’t remember.

  MR. DOLAN: Did you ever disclose to the Berkeley—or strike that—the Alameda County Youth Authority, who you think it was, that your husband was a pedophile?

  MZB: No.

  MR. DOLAN: Did you conceal that from them?

  MZB: I didn’t think about it.

  MR. DOLAN: Did the police ever investigate your husband’s relationship with [Barry Austin]?

  MZB: No.

  MR. DOLAN: To your knowledge, did the Berkeley Police ever investigate your husband’s relationship with minor children prior to this incident with Ken Smith?

  MZB: Not that I know of.

  MR. DOLAN: To your knowledge, did the police investigate the issue surrounding the “Boondoggle”?

  MZB: They did not.

  MR. DOLAN: Did you ever tell your daughter that your husband preferred young boys between the ages of 9 and 10?