Julie Morewood, a fan since
11, joined Donna Presley
Early’s Yahoo group and
counted herself lucky to meet
Donna and Buddy in Tupelo. The
Earlys, charming as could be,
drove Julie and her husband
Andy back up to Memphis and
invited them into their
Rivermark penthouse suite.
They shared several meals,
with the Morewoods paying.
The Morewoods
were delighted that little Nash called them Auntie Julie and
Uncle Andy and were thrilled to be Donna and Buddy’s friends.
Asked to write a letter of endorsement for Donna’s website to
try to counteract growing rumors the Earlys were crooks, they
were only too happy to write one. Ironically, their letter of
endorsement now haunts them. Julie asked Donna if she
knew of anyone who had anything which belonged to Elvis, such
as a scarf, which she could buy. Donna told them her father
wanted to sell a few things which Elvis had given him and
although sought by dealers he would rather sell them to a fan.
Donna and
Buddy desperate to make the sale when the Morewoods said they
couldn’t pay the initial price of 10 thousand dollars the
price dropped to $5,500 with a promise from Donna it would
come with a photo of Elvis wearing it - that was omitted in
the parcel. March, 2003, the Morewoods paid for the TCB from
money that Julie had inherited from her grandmother. it took 5
months before the item arrived.
Now, Loretta
Adam, founder of the Official Dutch Fan Club for Donna Presley
Early, saw a photo of the TCB Julie bought and stopped cold:
That very TCB or one just like it, had been offered to her by
Donna, long after Julie had already paid for it. Loretta was
told the same story, that Elvis had given it to Earl
Pritchett. The price was a firm $10,000 and Donna gave Loretta
just 4 hours to make up her mind on this one-time offer. And
instructed her to delete the message after reading it. Loretta
declined the offer but is haunted by the thought that the
Earlys were willing to cheat her.
As Loretta says,"Money can always be replaced--although it
would take time to replace $10,000--but once faith is gone, it
is gone forever." Like others, Loretta hurts for Elvis and the
Presley name. “Elvis worked so hard and had such a reputation
for love and generosity to everyone he met, not just his fans,
that this is why we are working so hard to see justice done:
To defend the Presley name.” Loretta’s earlier letter of
endorsement, like that of the Morewoods, is also on Donna’s
website, but Loretta has requested that it be removed and her
fan club links deactivated, since she has shut down the fan
club she had for Donna and, along with other outraged Elvis
fans, has vowed not to rest until Julie is repaid. The TCB
turned out to be fake, a replica. There were no diamonds in
it, only fake stones. But alert Elvis fans knew all along Earl
never got a TCB from Elvis. He would not have failed to
mention it in his chapter of Aunt Nash’s book describing what
Elvis meant to him and would proudly have included a
photograph of it in that book. Even Harold Loyd, who was much
closer to Elvis than Earl was, never got a TCB.
Donna and Buddy promised to repay Julie her $5,500 but have
broken repeated promises to do so, saying they are broke, and
unless they are hired as spokespersons for the resurrected
Circle G Resort project, have no prospect of employment. They
are still relying on Elvis fans for their income. Consider the
next victim:
Victim Two: Lucy O’Brien of Arizona
cheated out of $8,000 in an investment
scam. Elvis Presley News played a key
role in getting help for this victim
of Donna and Buddy Early. After a
friend of Lucy O’Brien’s saw the
article, “Presley in Name But Not in
Honor,” they contacted a
law-enforcement official named in the
article. As a result, Memphis
Eyewitness News featured Lucy
O’Brien’s story on a scam alert on
February 26 & 27, 2004. It aired on
two different TV stations, Channel 30
UPN and Channel 24 KPTY, reaching the
Memphis area and parts of Arkansas.
Here is the complete story you will
read only here: Lucy O’Brien, a sweet
retired Elvis fan living in a trailer
in the desert, attended Jamie Coyne's
Elvis Extravaganza in Laughlin,
Nevada, in January, 2002. She had
never heard of Donna Presley, but was
impressed when Donna took the stage
and told how Elvis had helped build a
church for her pastor mother, Elvis'
Aunt Nash, and how she, Donna, had
grown up in the Assembly of God
church. As a Christian, Lucy was moved
by this expression of faith.
Elvis Stardust
Lucy was a flashy dresser, which got
Donna’s attention. Donna gushed over
the pearl-covered baseball hat Lucy
was wearing, saying she planned to
open a boutique someday and wanted to
carry items just like that. The next
day, Lucy gave it to Donna. She
was excited to meet a close relative
of Elvis, and happy to bask in the
reflected Elvis stardust. Sheeven
helped Donna sell her books to fans.
“When I met Elvis’ cousin,” Lucy
says, “I just fell in love with her
because of Elvis.” Donna and Buddy
thought she had money. They invited
her to Memphis for the 25th
anniversary.
January, 2003, Lucy traveled to Las
Vegas for the Elvis Extravaganza at
the Westward Ho. She was at Donna’s
table helping sell books when she
witnessed Donna and Buddy being served
legal papers by a Las Vegas process
server. She did not know that the
Earlys publicly denied being served;
that they were served on 1/04/03 at
the Westward Ho is documented on the
Memphis Circuit Court website
http://tinyurl.com/ngvl - Case No.
CT-006482-02
"God would
want me to do this" After she returned home to Arizona, Buddy
called her. “To what do I owe the honor of this call?” Lucy
asked. “There’s an Elvis memorabilia collection for sale by
Mary here in Memphis. If we buy it, it will make us a lot of
money. Would you like to go in with us?” It sounded
pretty good, so she agreed.
"Can you bring us $4,000 cash? Right away?" Buddy asked. "I
wasn't THAT stupid," Lucy says now. She asked for a written
agreement. Buddy replied “No, Elvis never made any contracts.
He did everything on a handshake.” When Lucy insisted, Buddy
promised to have his attorney write up an agreement to give to
Lucy’s attorney. He never did. They needed her 'half,' $4,000,
immediately. It cost her over $30 to FedEx it next morning
delivery. "Don't do it," her son begged. "It's okay, I
know these people," Lucy replied.
After Buddy received the $4,000, he called asking, "Where is
the rest of the money?" "I thought you were putting up the
other half," Lucy replied, puzzled. Now he changed his tune:
"No, you have to put up all of it. We need the rest of the
money right now. FedEx it tomorrow." "It's in my IRA, it will
take a week to withdraw it." Lucy sent the first
$4,000 check January 15, 2003, and the second $4,000 check
January 30, 2003, incurring over $60 in FedEx
next-morning-delivery charges.
Two weeks after FedExing the second check, Lucy flew to
Memphis. She told Donna and Buddy she couldn’t afford to stay
in a hotel for two weeks, so they invited her to stay with
them at their penthouse. While she was there, they told her
that 'Mary' had changed her mind and decided not to sell her
Elvis memorabilia collection. Yet they wouldn't give her back
her money. They told her it was gone. "What did you
spend my money on?"
Donna and Buddy were not prepared to answer the question.
"Well, I spent $2,000 of it on a truckload of Disney
memorabilia," Buddy offered, though a friend of the Earlys
insists somebody else paid for the truckload of hot goods. The
Disney goods had been donated by Disney to the Ronald McDonald
House, but instead found its way to the black market. The
Earlys tried to sell some of it at a flea market in downtown
Memphis but had little success. They wanted to sell it on eBay
but asked Lucy to put up $400 ‘for an eBay page.’ She refused.
"What about the rest? Where is it?" He had no answer. They had
a big bag of leather. "What are you going to do with that
leather, Buddy?" "We're going to make leather headbands with
Donna's name on them to sell to fans."
They took her to a restaurant on Beale Street. They bought her
a Harley-Davidson watch. “They wined and dined me,” Lucy says.
“With my money and whenever I would ask for my money," Buddy
would tell me, “Lucy, don’t think with your head, think with
your heart!” Lucy’s reply: “I did think with my heart, and
look where it got me!” “As Famous as Elvis”
Donna told Lucy, "I want to sparkle on stage just like Elvis
did." Donna said she loved being on stage and said, "I want to
wear rhinestones and sparkle just like Elvis." Donna told
publicist Barbara Wawrczeck in all seriousness that one day
she planned to be “as famous as Elvis.” Few people knew at the
time that J. D. Stacy had stopped paying the Earlys' rent at
the Rivermark as of November 2002. But it's now clear why
Lucy's money was needed so urgently: To pay their rent at the
Rivermark penthouse.
During her February trip Lucy accompanied Jim Browder on his
tours every day, and met a lot of people, one of whom was
Becky Martin, Elvis' Tupelo classmate who had remained close
to Elvis even after he made it big. Lucy told Becky
about the money she had sent to Donna and Buddy, which was
never used for the promised purpose, and which was now
apparently all gone. Becky was outraged, and when she heard
Bill Kinard might hire Donna to do PR on his Tupelo cemetery
project, she tried to warn him not to get involved with the
Earlys. But they kept missing each other until it was too late
and the Kinards had already hired Donna.
Lucy returned to Memphis again
in July, 2003. This time she
stayed with Becky Martin for
two days and discussed her
plight who suggested she pay a
visit to the Better Business
Bureau and also see an
attorney. The administrative
assistant at the Better
Business Bureau of Memphis,
Dawn Boone, gave her a list of
attorneys. She went through
the list, finally settling on
Charles D. Wright, whose
office was at 150 Court Street
in downtown Memphis. Attorney
Wright wrote two letters on
Lucy's behalf, one to Donna
and Buddy Early and the other
to Jim Browder, who at Buddy’s
request Lucy had loaned money
to help save his truck from
being repossessed. Jim
promised to repay her in full
by September, 2003, but never
did. Mr. Wright charged her
$250 for writing two letters
and was told he could be of no
further help to her. “They’re
street smart,” he said. “They
are not going to pay
you.” Walking Lucy to her car
as the Better Business Bureau
closed for the day, and seeing
her near tears and expressing
a wish that one of the
tabloids would publish a story
about being swindled by a
cousin of Elvis, Dawn Boone
had an idea: Perhaps an
investigative reporter might
be interested in the fan's
story. Lucy called the
reporter but left town without
hearing from him.
Word got back to Donna and
Buddy that Lucy had gone to
the Better Business Bureau and
consulted an attorney, Buddy
resorted to death threats.
September
3rd, 2003, Lucy called Buddy's cell phone.
Buddy said he and Donna were on their way
overseas to help open an Elvis bookstore
but didn't say that he and Donna had been
served earlier that morning with a court
order and that deputies were still at the
penthouse loading repossessed goods onto a
rental truck. He did not tell her then, or
perhaps he did not know, that he and Donna
would never again be permitted to live at
the Rivermark. The locks were changed,
they were denied entry, and it would be
weeks before they could collect any of
their possessions.
After returning from overseas, Buddy
accused Lucy of telling the law where they
lived. Buddy had warned her repeatedly
when she stayed with them never to tell
anyone where they were living. "Why would
I tell anyone where you were living? I
would have no reason to." "Someone has a
hit contract out on our lives," Buddy
explained. "Why would anyone want to kill
you?" she asked. "Because of some
jewelry," he answered.
Buddy started asking about Becky Martin.
"Are you friends with Becky?" he demanded
to know. Lucy wouldn't answer. Why is he
asking about Becky Martin, she wondered.
She didn’t know it then, but it was
because Becky had told Bill Kinard that
her friend had been conned out of $8,000.
And Bill told Donna and Buddy he could not
work with them until all fans were paid
back. Buddy denied owing Lucy anything at
all. December 27, 2003, Buddy called and
again accused Lucy of tipping off law
enforcement where they were living, which
got them kicked out of the Rivermark. "I
swear to God," Buddy declared, "If I ever
find out who told where we were, I may go
to prison for the rest of my life BUT I
WILL KILL THEM!!!!"
Donna and Buddy were furious. No more
would they be living in a luxury penthouse
overlooking the Mississippi River close to
Cybill Shepherd's house. No more would
they live near their favorite restaurant,
the Butcher Shop. No more could they
remain anonymous, living under the names
Jim and Susie Dean at the Rivermark while
enjoying the vibrancy of downtown
Memphis.
Had someone not alerted law enforcement,
the owner of the Elvis Presley Heights
Memorial Gardens and Fans Forever Wall
project would still be paying for the
Earlys’ Rivermark penthouse apartment and
would have bought them a new car as he had
promised. "We will sue you and your
children and your grandchildren," Buddy
threatened as he woke the man in the
middle of the night to taunt him about
severing the PR contract with Donna. If
Buddy is not threatening one person, he is
usually threatening another. His tactics
have successfully silenced at least one
victim, Donna's cousin Edie Hand. Lucy,
however, was innocent. She was not the one
who turned them in.
Despite the threats on Lucy O’Brien’s
life, she courageously went public. She
will probably never see a dime of her
$8,000 retirement money. She has to pay
10% interest on it, money she doesn’t have
to spare. She is telling her story to warn
other Elvis fans around the world that
what happened to her could happen to you.
June
Juanico | Julie Parrish |
Ann Margret
Anita Wood |
Barbara Leigh |
Gloria Pall
Barbara Eden |Deborah
Walley |
Kathy Westmoreland
Priscilla Presley | Dolores
Hart
Britney Spears
