by Robert Scott
Janice pointed this out to Phil, who responded, “My daughter’s doing them.”
Janice wondered why Phil’s daughter would be doing the business cards and told Phil that his daughter was not a good speller. In response, Phil said, “She’s a good speller for six.”
Janice thought this was cute, and she kept a batch of misspelled cards.
By 2001, Phil’s parole agent was giving him even more leeway, if that was possible. A report noted: Controlling offense is non-sexual. Offending sexually is more opportunistic or situational than a primary deviant sexual orientation. These cases can be reasonably handled on a control service caseload. This assessment was astounding in light of the premeditation concerning Katie Callaway’s abduction and rape. In that case, Phil already had a room rigged up to meet his sexual fantasies. Just how this was “opportunistic” was not explained in this report.
In 2002, Phil got a new parole agent, R. Rodriguez. And in Rodriguez’s reports were the notations, Subject has (blacked out) and is on (blacked out), and will always test positive for (blacked out). The visits by Rodriguez progressed throughout 2002, with notations such as, Attempted home visit. No one answered the door. Left business card with instructions for subject to call me. Phil did phone Rodriguez and came to the Concord office a few days later. A month later, Rodriguez wrote, Mom showed me their room. (Phil and Nancy’s room) First room off the livingroom. Big house.
Two months later, in October 2002, Rodriguez visited the Garrido home once again on Walnut Avenue. In this report he related, Me—wife. Doing ok. (Phil) will come into office to (drug) test. That very same day, Phil provided a urine sample at the Concord office for drug testing.
In December, Rodriguez went to the Garrido home, no one answered the door, and he left his business card once again. In a later report, Rodriguez drew a sketch of the home. The sketch depicted a living room, kitchen/dining area, two bedrooms next to a bathroom, and Phil and Nancy’s bedroom. There was a small sketch of the back porch and backyard door. But there was no sketch of the backyard or tall wooden fence that seemed to be the end of the backyard.
And so it went through 2004, 2005, and 2006, with home visits, visits to the Concord parole office by Phil, and the usual drug testing. Even when there was a new parole agent for Phil—Juan Castillo—the notations about him were generally very brief and even cryptic at times. Things such as, Subject states all is well. Or, Wife says no contact with police or any problems. More than once, however, there would be reports about Phil, apparently coming from Nancy: He just stepped out. In fact, there seemed to be a lot of occasions when Phil had “just stepped out,” and it was not recorded as to where he had gone. If he had gone beyond a twenty-five-mile limit, without first telling his parole agent, that would have been in violation of his parole. But no agent apparently ever checked on this issue.
Throughout 2006 and 2007 and into 2008, the reports varied little in their notations: April 6, 2006—Garrido registers with local law enforcement as a sex offender. August 23, 2007—Local law enforcement queries Garrido in law enforcement database. March 28, 2008—Local law enforcement queries Garrido in law enforcement database.
Only one notation stood out for its dissimilarity to the rest: November 30, 2006—Garrido’s neighbor reports to local law enforcement several tents in Garrido’s yard with people living in them and that there are children present. The neighbor is concerned because Garrido has sexual addiction. No action taken by responding officers.
That one terse sentence—“No action taken by responding officers”—was going to come back and haunt the parole agents and Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office. But as far as most people were concerned in early 2008, Phil Garrido was just a fairly successful, if eccentric, entrepreneur.
CHAPTER 18
THE BLACK BOX
By the middle of 2008, Phil’s grip on reality was dangerously eroding. He had managed to keep the backyard compound secret for seventeen years, but his own erratic actions were making that more difficult to do as each day passed. He could be seen walking down Walnut Avenue at times, singing loudly or acting strangely. And chief amongst his strange actions was a box that he had invented where he claimed that he could project his thoughts into other people’s minds without saying a word. Over time, Phil would also claim that through this box he could channel the words of angels and even of God.
Phil began writing notes about his “magic box” and developed them into a rough handwritten book entitled Origins of Schizophrenia Revealed. It was the same book he would one day take with him to UC Berkeley, and it dealt with his supposed transformation from being a “sexual predator.” And in a candid statement, he wrote, Not all people who suffer from these types of problems are happy with their behavior and do experience major depression after ejaculation.
Phil said he started looking at things differently when he accepted God into his life: Because of my background I began to examine issues of how certain behaviors cause a great deal of pain in myself and those who are victimized by those behaviors especially our family and my wife. Building from those personal experiences I prepared a way to deal with these issues in my own mind.
Phil wrote that in the past, he would look at an attractive woman and desire to assault her sexually. But in his new way of thinking, he could look at an attractive woman and merely think, See how beautiful she is to look at. By this new means, he could admire her attractiveness without having to assault her sexually. And Phil added that this new outlook helped alleviate the pain he had caused his wife. By “wife,” it wasn’t clear if he meant Nancy or Alyssa.
Phil said by this new thought process, he was able to control his overzealous masturbation. He had masturbated, in part, trying to reach a “high” that could not be attained. And he wrote: I discovered one of the most imaginable freedoms imaginable, it was like the feelings one has when he is with someone new for the first time, except this time it was with my wife. Phil related that his intercourse with her now was like the feelings a person felt when they met someone for the first time, and wanted to be with them every moment of the day.
Phil stated that one day after intercourse, he realized that he no longer had to do the things that had so stimulated him in the past. Those, of course, had meant kidnapping and bondage. And then he wrote, I began to weep, telling her, “I’m sorry for the things I did in the past.” Phil wrote that he was overwhelmed with a feeling he had never experienced before.
Ever since then, Phil related, he had experienced the same feeling. He no longer desired other women whom he saw. He had a new love and desire for his own wife. And in a very revealing statement, he added that in the past, after ejaculation, he no longer wanted to be with that woman or even touch her.
Phil Garrido also decided to start a corporation under the Articles of Incorporation with the state of California. The name of Phil’s corporation was originally called the Phillip C. Knight Institute. In time, however, it would be called God’s Desire. As Phil noted on his incorporation form: The specific purpose of this corporation is to create a religious organization. This corporation is a nonprofit Religious Corporation and is not organized for the private gain of any person.
Phil added that his organization would not be affiliated with any “political party or framework” and was under the Internal Revenue Code, wherein it would not be taxed.
Once again, Phil could not help bragging about what he perceived his mission would accomplish. In a separate paper, he wrote his parole agent at the time, Juan Castillo: This presentation will gain national attention, bringing scientists, physicists, psychologists, educators and religious leaders from around the world, turning their attention towards California on that day. So it is imperative that you be aware that I am moving towards a powerful disclosure concerning my past and how these issues can be managed. It will also help me with full access to any correctional institution anywhere in the United States of America.
As time progressed, Phil Garrido became even more enthusiastic
about the “black box” that he had created. It was about the size of a small suitcase and had two headsets and a microphone attached to it. Originally his conception for the box was to create “whispering voices” that would be like those heard by people with schizophrenia. Eager to try this box out on others, Phil took the black box to Jim and Cheyvonne Molino’s business in Pittsburg. The Molinos were customers of Phil’s in his printing business.
Later, Cheyvonne Molino related about the box, “He said he had a project he was working on and it was the development of a cure for schizophrenia. If a normal person put a headset on—that was attached to the box—they can hear what a schizophrenic walks around hearing in everyday life. That’s how he explained it to me.”
In a demonstration, Phil had Cheyvonne put on a headset, and he put one on as well. Then Phil turned away from her and began whispering into the microphone. By use of the black box, he altered the whispering sounds that she heard.
Phil tried this black box out on other customers of his; and over the next few months, he tinkered with it as well. As time progressed, his claims about the box became much more grandiose. Phil began asserting that he could hear the voices of angels and even God being channeled through the black box.
One of Phil’s customers, Marc Lister, knew about these expanding claims by Phil and also about Phil’s demonstration of the box at various parks around Antioch where homeless people gathered. Lister said that Phil started taking the box to those parks and demonstrating to homeless people about the box’s mystical functions. And Lister added that over time, Phil also had Nancy, Angel, and Starlit accompany him to the parks. Once in a while, even Alyssa was allowed to go along to the parks.
Phil Garrido also started a blog on the Internet and styled himself as the “manwhospokewithhismind.” The fact that all of this ran as one word gave an indication of the frantic pace that he set for himself in this matter. In one posting, Phil referred to a “cultural trance,” wherein large bodies of people accepted something as being true, when, in fact, it was not. As an example, Phil gave the perception that before Columbus proved otherwise, many people in Europe believed that the world was flat. In today’s world, Phil said, everyone accepted the “fact” that no one could produce voices that others could hear, simply by thinking and transmitting their thoughts to others without ever opening their mouths. Phil related that he was going to prove that the opposite was true. By means of the box he had devised, Phil claimed, he could send a person his thoughts without uttering a word.
In humanity’s present condition, Phil wrote, people see what they expect to see. Hear what they expect to hear. Think what they expect to think. By doing this, he claimed, they actually kept themselves from a higher truth.
Phil related that he was going to use an “age-old book, the Bible,” but he would interpret it in new ways. Then he quoted Isaiah 6:9—“Go and tell this people: ‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding, be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’”
In the summer of 2008, Phil made a disclaimer before posting on his Web site, This freedom has not come due to something great about myself, instead this ability is to open doors that will honor the Creator and his eternal purpose for mankind. With that disclaimer in place, Phil wrote that it had all begun for him when God removed a problem from his shoulders. Because of things that had been removed, he said, he was now a free man. Phil did not go into further detail at that time as to what the problem had been.
According to Phil, the posting was to gain the attention of unbelievers, including “scientists, psychiatrists, and educators.” Phil related that the Creator’s work was all over the world and his message was a wake-up call. Then Phil said he was doing this, not to be controversial or challenge anyone’s religious beliefs. Rather, he was going to present his case in a rational and orderly manner.
Phil quoted Jeremiah 9:24 from the Bible—“Let him who boasts, boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, patience and righteousness on earth, for these I delight.”
Phil noted that in August 2008, he went to UC Berkeley’s Free Speech Stage and publicly spoke about his convictions and provided a live demonstration with his magical box. He said the demonstration was a platform to begin making the public aware about the voice of God and its power to save lives.
This mania on the subject showed how far Phil was now willing to go, even if it endangered the elaborate web of deceit he had constructed in his own household. Had one parole agent ever looked at that posting, the agent would have noted that by Phil going to People’s Park, he was traveling beyond the twenty-five-mile limit to which he was confined. If he wanted to go beyond twenty-five miles, Phil was supposed to let the parole office know about his planned trip.
Without parole agent approval, Phil, Alyssa, Angel, and Starlit began taking numerous trips to People’s Park in Berkeley so that Phil could demonstrate his black box. There were always numerous homeless people there, and one of Phil’s main draws was handing out sandwiches and bottles of water to them. Then when he had a captive audience, Phil would demonstrate his black box to the throng by use of an amplification system. It may not have been the “Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes,” but there would always be several people there who shouted back to Phil that they could hear his voice, even though he hadn’t uttered any words to them.
Phil was even breaking down his carefully built web of deceit more than that. He posted that he had sent law enforcement agencies and university departments an invitation about a demonstration and lecture on the device he had created. Phil added an interesting caveat: If you feel the following documents are in any way fraudulent, the California State Courts are open to you. Anyone under the influence of illegal drugs, or if you think you are being led by voices, seek professional help immediately.
Then in another posting, Phil presented his document that had been sent to law enforcement agencies, and he was going to take it to the UC Berkeley campus. The document began that he had a new insight that could help people who were hearing voices to make them stop before they committed a violent act against themselves or someone else. And he cited a recent incident where a deranged woman had thrown her children into San Francisco Bay to drown them. She had apparently been hearing voices that “told her” to do so. Phil wrote that his new insights could have helped her before she had become overwhelmed by her own inner voices and what she perceived to be external voices speaking to her.
Phil related that the document was to open minds of religious leaders, scientists, psychiatrists, physicists, and educators worldwide. And he was sending law enforcement copies of the document so that they could, in his words, “separate church and state.” With that information, Phil said that even law enforcement agents could benefit by reaching a “higher state of qualified control” when dealing with the public.
Included in the package were six Declarations and Affirmations confirming demonstrations of his box, wherein he was allowed to speak in a tongue unknown to mankind. The Declaration of Affirmation stated that the individuals signing it actually watched Phil demonstrate what he could do with the device he had constructed.
The Declaration of Affirmation also stated that the person signing it agreed that they had witnessed Phillip Garrido’s ability to control sound with his mind, and that he had developed a device for others to witness the phenomena. These affirmations came from a variety of Phil’s business customers. Some of them were impressed by the black box; others just signed the affirmations to get rid of Phil and have him quit pestering them on the subject.
Tim Allen, who owned East County Glass and Window Company, said later, “The way he described it is that he could hear people think. He could hear voices. God would talk to him and he could hear the voices through this box, and that I could understand what he was thinking telepathically. I shut my eyes. I really wanted to hear something, but all I could hear were kind of hollow sounds like a shell.”
A few of Phil’s customers told hi
m that they were not going to sign any affirmation and not to bring up the subject again. Maria Christenson said, “I never let him in when he wanted to bring it in. I didn’t want to sign it. He was mad at me because he wanted to bring that box, so I could hear the voices. And I just said no.”
Not content merely to have affirmations, Phil hired a private detective, who had once been a cop, to attest to the validity of all of his statements about the black box. The detective was very skeptical about Phil’s assertions, but he dutifully went along with Phil to a number of Phil’s customers’ establishments. The detective was basically there to witness the people signing their names to the affirmation form.
David Bocanegra, who rarely spoke to his sister, Nancy, since she had married Phil, did so around this time. Nancy was very excited and told David about Phil’s black box from which he could hear the voices of angels and of God. David said later, “It was just really off-the-wall. I couldn’t believe my sister was with this guy!”
And by now, Nancy was part of one more of Phil’s schemes. For months, she had been taking care of an elderly neighbor named Dilbert Medeiros. Just before Medeiros moved to a nursing home, he gave the Garridos $18,000 for a church that they said they were starting. Medeiros later said that this $18,000 was only a loan. The Garridos said it was an outright gift.
Nancy also displayed some bizarre behavior while living on Walnut Avenue. This came in the form of various aliases that she used. Amongst these were Nancy M. Garrido, Nancy P. Garrido, Nancy Garrida and Nancy Garrizo. She also created several false addresses where she claimed she was residing.
