Fort Harrison Hotel - Notable Incidents

Notable Incidents

In December 1926, daredevil Henry Roland scaled the building blindfolded.

The Fort Harrison has been the site of at least three suspicious deaths since 1975, most notably the death of Lisa McPherson, who died after spending 17 days in room 174, of the building. The officially reported cause of death was a blood clot caused by dehydration and bedrest. This was later challenged in court. In 1997, a church spokesman acknowledged that McPherson died at the Fort Harrison, rather than on the way to the hospital. The church later retracted its spokesman's statement.

In February 1980, prior to McPherson’s death, a Scientologist named Josephus A. Havenith was found dead at the Fort Harrison. He was discovered in a bathtub filled with water hot enough to have burned his skin off. The officially reported cause of death was drowning, although the coroner noted that, when he was found, Havenith's head was not submerged.

In August 1988 Scientologist Heribert Pfaff died of a seizure in the Fort Harrison Hotel. He had recently stopped taking his seizure medication in favor of a vitamin program.

In 1997, Clearwater police received over 160 911 calls from the Fort Harrison Hotel, but they were denied entry into the hotel by Scientology security.