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Correspondence from Grady McMurtry to Ray E. Lindstrom
P.O. Box 2043 Dublin, Calif 94566
Oct 17, 1970
Mr. Ray E. Lindstrom F.B.I., U.S. Department of Justice 11000 Wilshire Blvd Los Angeles, Calif 90049
Dear Mr. Lindstrom,
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.
Dr. Francis I. Regardie [Israel Regardie] tells me that you are the agent in charge of the Brayton case and that you have contacted him in regards to the loss of his library.
On June 25, 1970, my wife and I drove to Los Angeles because a Mr. Glen Hughes, a librarian at U.S.C., told us that a Mr. Stever had contacted him and told him that he could not give an advertised lecture on Aleister Crowley without Mr. Stever's permission as he, Stever, had been given "jurisdiction for Northern and Southern California by Mrs. Brayton." This was very interesting as I am the only one, to the best of my knowledge, that has authorization from Aleister Crowley either for the United States or California (see enclosed xerox of letters of authorization). I wished to confront this Mr. Stever and possibly get some lead on the whereabouts of the Braytons. On June 26 we attended Mr. Hughes' lecture in the Plummer Auditorium in the company of Dr. Regardie. If Mr. Stever was there, he did not identify himself. I did talk with one of your agents, a Mr. Edward Romanoff, but could not enlighten him as to the whereabouts of the Braytons. However I did promise him that if a check of my correspondence revealed an address for a Mr. Stever I would let him know. A check of my correspondence file reveals two letters from a Michael Stever (see xerox copies enclosed), one with an address at
2040 Ava Ave Hermosa Beach, Calif 90254
and one at
726 Loma Drive Hermosa Beach, Calif.
I do not know that this is the person who contacted Mr. Hughes, but they are the only addresses from a Mr. Stever that I have.
On Sep 2, 1970, my wife and I visited a Lt. Thomas Grammer of the Calaveras County Sheriff's Office in San Andreas, Calif, about the robbery and physical assault on Mrs. Sascha Germer, the widow of Mr. Karl Germer, that had taken place on 3 Sep, 1967 in West Point, Calif. At that time I explained to him that from my investigation in my official capacity as Sovereign Grand Inspector General, O.T.O. it was my conclusion that four (4) robberies, including that of Mrs. Germer, had been the work of the Brayton gang. My reason for believing this is that Mrs. Georgiana ("Jean") Brayton had been a student of Mrs. Mildred Burlingame, an O.T.O. member, and was the only one outside the Burlingame family to have a passkey to the Burlingame apartment. When the first robbery occurred, that of January 1966, and Mrs. Burlingame's O.T.O. Rituals were taken, Mrs. Brayton became suspect as there was no forcible entry, a passkey had been used, thus making Mrs. Brayton the only person with both the motive and the opportunity to take them. After this Mrs. Burlingame changed the lock on her door and drove heavy nails into the window frame. The second robbery, that of October 1966, when Mrs. Burlingame's books were taken, was burglary as the windows had been forced. The thieves were very considerate, however. Like true friends they only took one of each book, thus leaving Mrs. Burlingame a number of duplicates instead of taking everything. Again the Braytons were the only ones with a motive who knew where the books were. The motive for stealing the rituals and the books was to set themselves up as an unauthorized lodge of the O.T.O. which they did as
SOLAR LODGE 2627 Menlo Ave Los Angeles, Calif,
from which they operated until their commune at Blythe, Calif., became the scene of a child brutality case (see enclosed xerox BOY HELD IN DESERT BOX). I understand that Mrs. Brayton and certain of her accomplices are now being sought on an F.B.I. fugitive warrant for refusing to stand trial in the case.
The robbery of Mrs. Germer was Sep 3, 1967.
A Mr. Jerry Kay
6040 Elmer Ave No. Hollywood, Calif 91606,
has told us that it was within a week or two after that date that the Braytons dragged a trunk or box of material from the library at 2627 Menlo Ave into the "temple" there (both library and temple were on the 3rd floor of that building) and exhibited, among other things, certain ceremonial robes that, from the description, appear to be the Golden Dawn robes of Aleister Crowley. If so, they could only have come from the robbery at West Point, Calif. I understood that Mr. Kay was dragooned into the Babylon group because he had published an edition of Aleister Crowley's Liber AL vel Legis (The Book of the Law).
We have also been told by Mr. R. Glen Hughes
1961 N. Argyle, Apt. 21 Hollywood, Calif 90028
referred to earlier as "Glenn Hughes") a librarian at U.S.C., that Bob Duerrstein (presumably the Robert Allen Duerrstein on your fugitive warrant) was selling books at an EYE OF HORUS bookstore in Los Angeles that were ex libris CHURCH OF THELEMA. It is my belief that these could have come only from Mr. Karl Germer's library via 1003 S. Orange Grove Avenue, Pasadena, address of the one-time Agape Lodge, O.T.O.
The robbery of Dr. Regardie's library was Feb 18, 1969. I believe you have Dr. Regardie's address.
The reason for suspecting Mrs. Brayton in the case of the West Point robbery, aside from Mr. Kay's statement concerning the exhibition of the ceremonial robes at the Menlo Ave address, is a statement by Mrs. Germer (see enclosed xerox of letter dated Nov. 4, 1967) that it was a woman who led the gang and that they identified themselves as O.T.O. Miss Stella Seckler (now Mrs. Douglas Lurton of Livermore) could not possibly have committed this crime. She is not interested in this type of literature, is married to a Catholic, and there are witnesses that she was elsewhere at the time. I was in Washington, D.C. working for the U.S. Government as you can see from the enclosed vita. Again, only Mrs. Brayton, as the "Ipsissimus" of her unauthorized O.T.O. lodge in Los Angeles, would have had the motive to rob the library at West Point and for the same reason as Mrs. Burlingame's library was robbed.
I have been contacted by
Detective Sergeant Henry C. ("Chuck") Hayes Riverside County Sheriff's Office Indio, Calif,
as to my possible knowledge of the whereabouts of the Braytons, but I have never met these people so was unable to help him
I have been interviewed by a
Mr. Arthur Lyons, Jr. 646 Morongo Road Palm Springs, Calif. 92262,
a writer who covered the Blythe case.
As you know, the trial for the Blythe case took place in Indio in Oct-Nov 1969. It was extensively covered by the Indio DAILY NEWS.
As you will notice in my letter to Lt. Grammer, I gave him a xerox copy of an inventory of Mr. Karl Germer's library, dating from about 1961 approximately when we exchanged inventories. I can do the same for you if you feel it would be of assistance in identifying books or other articles from Mr. Germer's library that may have been picked up by you as evidence in regards to the Blythe case or these robberies.
My interest in this is to establish that Mrs. Brayton is not the head of the O.T.O., and that the Ordo Templi Orientis as an organization is in no way connected with the criminal activities cited above either at Blythe or in the four (4) cited robberies of libraries. I hope that the information I have been able to gather will be of some value to you in completing your case involving the Brayton gang and the robbery of the libraries.
Love is the law, love under will.
Sincerely yours,
Major Grady L. McMurtry Ordo Templi Orientis Caliph
Inc: #1: letters of authorization (xerox) #2: Letter from Michael Stever (xerox) #3: Letter from Michael Stever (xerox) #4: "BOY HELD IN DESERT BOX" clippings (xerox) #5: Letter from Sascha [Germer] dated Nov 4, 1967 (xerox) #6: 1 page vita for myself, re BRIEF OF ACADEMIC HISTORY #7: Letter of Lt. Grammer, Calaveras County Sheriff's Office (carbon)
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