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Rutherford Exposed: The Story of
Berta and Bonnie
by Doug Checketts (aka Farkel)
[click on title above to read the full 27-page intriguing
discussion]
If the statement that soon follows catches your curiosity,
keep reading. It was made by a beautiful woman who wasRutherford's constant traveling companion who did not
work her way up the Bethel ladder (like almost all other
women had to do) yet immediately came into his inner
circle upon entering Bethel. It was made by a woman who
abandoned her own husband of fifteen years to enter
Bethel. It was made by a women who in later years worecrotchless panties and bras which had holes in the nipple
areas. It was made by a women who during all of what I've
described was an anointed sister and pioneer to the end of
her life and was never reprimanded for any of the conduct
I've just mentioned.
What did she say about Judge Rutherford?
She said, "He was like a husband to me in every way."
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Before we get down to the details, let us review what we
KNOW about Judge Rutherford as this gets to PATTERN
of attitude and conduct:
He was a false prophet.
He was a tragic alcoholic.
He was a hypocrite who lived and traveled like royalty.
He was cruel, ruthless and vindictive.
It is my non-medical opinion that he was a narcissist and I
will make comments based upon that assumption. Even if
he wasn't clinically a narcissist, he exhibited a lot of traits
associated with narcissism.
He had no genuine and close friends.
He was a man of hate, bitterness and revenge.
He was a federal lawbreaker who drank and had boozesmuggled for him during Prohibition.
He was a man who scorned, even despised people who
wanted to improve their own character and ethics.
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He was an instigator who intentionally used his followers
as pawns to start riots which hurt them but helped him get
the publicity he craved.
He was a man who despite the fact he had no legitimateclaim to the somewhat lofty title, insisted upon being
called "Judge" for the entire time he ran the WTS.
He was a pathetic, rotten husband and father who was at
least despised by his own son and probably by his own
wife, neither of whom cared enough about him to go to his
own funeral.
He was so disliked by his fellow Bethelites that only four
of them attended his funeral.
He was a man whose prolific writings were so worthless
that none of them are now being printed.
Narcissistic people consider themselves to be exempt from
all the rules that should universally apply to everyone.
As a narcissist, he was a man who considered himself
"above the law of the land" when Prohibition outlawed the
possession and consumption of alcohol.
As a narcissist, he was a man who considered himself
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"above his OWN law" when he told people they could only
gain salvation by preaching from door to door when he
never did it himself as leader of the WTS.
As a narcissist, he considered himself "above the Christianlaw" of decency and honesty when he wrongly and
intentionally vilified and libeled Olin Moyle and Walter
Salter.
As a narcissist, he considered himself "above the Christian
law" to be "no part of this world," when he meddled in
politics in 1934 and praised Hitler while condemning the
very government which allowed him to freely get away with
his shennanigans.
In fact, the question could rightly be asked, "what (if any)rule or code of ethical conduct that he demanded of his
followers did he himself actually obey?"
We are now down to the real question I'm going to ask:
given the gross and unethical conduct of Rutherford I've
just outlined, would he be more or less inclined to breakyet another law, the Christian law against the commission
of adultery? As a true narcissist, did Rutherford consider
himself to be above the law against adultery?
The best evidence for or against this question would of
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course come from eyewitnesses, but most or all potential
eyewitnesses are now dead.
Newly Revealed Evidence for Rutherford's Sexual
Infidelity
The evidence comes from a man who is a long time poster
on this board. He posts as "larc" and many of you like
myself know him and have spoken with him. A number of
you have personally met him. He not only knew the woman
in question (she's now deceased), he has met her numeroustimes. She was a relative, being the aunt of his own mother.
Up until recently this secret of her year's long sexual affair
with Rutherford was kept by the family. They were
ashamed of what she had done. On the otherhand, "larc"has stated that no one in the family ever spoke poorly of
her.
Obviously, this is evidence that no family member is or was
out to "get" her. They have no reason to lie about a secret
they've kept for so long.
This woman was a good friend of Bonnie Boyd before
coming to Bethel in 1938. Bonnie Boyd was Rutherford's
personal secretary. When this woman arrived at Bethel, she
was immediately given a job as Rutherford's personal
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dietician, although she had no experience or training in that
field and Rutherford already had a man in this position at
that time.
Nearly all women have to start out in Bethel as maids orwork in the laundry, which are the lowest of jobs. Why was
she so lucky to get a top-notch job immediately upon
coming to Bethel?
Why did she get to go everywhere Rutherford went,
including traveling first class to Europe six to eight weeks
a year and spending winters in the Beth Sarim mansion?
Why did she become Rutherford's personal dietician
WHILE TRAVELING when Rutherford already had a man
as his personal dietician at Bethel?
Was it merely just because she was so beautiful and
Rutherford had a fondness for beautiful women? Or is
there more?
Her maiden name was Berta Teel. Her married name was
Berta Peale. But before we discuss more about her, we willspend a little time talking about Bonnie Boyd. Bonnie
Boyd and Berta Peale had some strange similarities and
circumstances in their relationships with Rutherford.
Bonnie Boyd-Heath
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Bonnie Boyd came to Bethel with her mother in 1923 and
worked as a stenographer for W.E. Van Amburgh, a top-
ranking Watchtower official. Yet that same year she then
became a stenographer for Rutherford. In about 1931 shebecame Rutherford's personal secretary. According to her
testimony in the Moyle vs. Franz trial on page 1367 she
stated she took all dictation for all books and Watch Tower
articles authored by Rutherford. Her husband William
Heath testified that ONLY Bonnie saw Rutherford's
writings until they were turned over for proofreading and
publication.
Bonnie Boyd had a VERY important position in the WTS.
She also lived in the lavish surroundings and manner as her
boss. The same Moyle case has her testifying that she wenton six to eight week annual trips to Europe with
Rutherford and had done so for twenty years. (page 1382)
Yet Boyd came to Bethel as a GIRL in the Fall of 1923
with her mother and Rutherford died in 1942, nineteen
years later. A few weeks after Rutherford's death, the San
Diego Union on February 18, 1942 quoted her as sayingshe was the "adopted daughter" of Judge Rutherford, and
had been with him continuously since she was 16.
Why would Rutherford take a 16 year old GIRL as a
constant companion? Rutherford considered women as
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inferiors who should keep their proper place as indicated
by his oft stated comment that women were only "a stack of
bones and a hank of hair." (September 15, 1941 WT, page
287) Once again, if Rutherford thought so little of women
WHY did he have as a "constant companion" a 16 year oldGIRL? Because he was generous and caring? No one knew
him to be that.
Bonnie Boyd was one of the four or so "witnesses" who
signed the deed to Beth Sarim in January of 1930. If she
was only 16 in the Fall of 1923 when she came to Bethel,
she would only be about 21 years of age when she signed
the very significant deed to Beth Sarim. What did she, a
very young women do to deserve such an honor of having
her name attached to a deed of that importance?
In 1938 Bonnie Boyd married William Heath, an heir to
one of the founders of the Coca Cola company. Heath was
very, very rich. She continued to accompany Rutherford
along with her new husband everywhere he went. But there
was ONE thing that had changed. Her husband was heir to
part of the Coca Cola fortune and she no longer wascompelled to depend upon Rutherford to live and travel in
his luxury, or worry about being tossed out of Bethel and
back into the Great Depression.
From Olin Moyle's letter to Rutherford:
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"Here again is shown unequal and discriminatory treatment.
One brother left Bethel some time ago for the purpose of
getting married, and, so I am informed, was refused the
privilege of pioneering in New York, apparently as anofficial disapproval of his action in leaving Bethel. On the
other hand when Bonnie Boyd got married she didn't have
to leave Bethel. She was permitted to bring her husband
into Bethel in spite of the printed rule providing that both
marrying parties should have lived there for five years."
Why did Bethel break one of its ever-so-rigid rules and
make an exception for a "lowly" women named Bonnie
Boyd? What made her so SPECIAL that she was able to
avoid the Bethel rules? Was it because of her husband's
great wealth? Women are the lowest form of life at Betheland were worse than that in Rutherford's time! Did Bonnie
"have something" on Rutherford that caused her to be
treated so differently? Was it her new husband's money that
caused Rutherford to break his own rules for her?
The person reporting this testimony from anothereyewitness stated:
"And according to Worth Thornton (a dear friend of mine,
now deceased, was Knorr's 'secretary,' wrote the Informant ?
now KM), Bonnie had slept with half of the Bethelites in
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the 1950?s. The big-shots at the time evidently knew of the
scandal but chose to sweep it under the rug."
Coincidentally, (or is it?) just a MONTH after Bonnie
Boyd was married, Rutherford had a NEW, beautiful andfemale traveling companion who was much younger than
himself: Berta Peale
Berta Peale
Berta met Bonnie Boyd sometime in the early 1930's. Thiswas confirmed by her niece, "larc's" mother. It was also
confirmed in the Olin Moyle trial transcript on pages 1299-
1301. At the time, Berta was a full time pioneer and a
member of the "anointed." During this time she traveled to
Europe with Bonnie Boyd to attend a European conventionof Jehovah's Witnesses.
There she met Rutherford. Her family had very little money.
They moved from North Carolina to Akron, Ohio and her
older brother struggled to support Berta and nine other
people including himself during this time. This was theGreat Depression and hardly anyone had money to eat, let
alone to travel abroad.
Who paid for her expensive trip to attend a convention
overseas where she met Rutherford for the first time? Since
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we know Rutherford financed Bonnie Boyd's trip, can't we
also assume he likely financed Berta's trip?
In June of 1938 Berta abandoned her husband of 15 years
and went to Bethel. This was just ONE MONTH afterBonnie Boyd became MRS. William Heath. Among herself
and her three female sisters, Berta was by far the most
beautiful according to "larc", her grand nephew. He had
seen her a number of times as a youngster. A picture of her
will be added to this article very shortly.
Later in 1938, Berta's husband filed for divorce on the
grounds of abandonment and it was granted in 1940.
Copies of the divorce filing by Alfred Peale for spousal
abandonment and the final decree were sent to Bethel. Yet
the Watchtower Society did NOTHING to punish Berta forleaving her husband without a scriptural reason.
NOTHING!
Not only was she not punished or sent home she was given
one of the two or three most envious jobs conceivable at
Bethel: living and traveling like a Queen with theWatchtower King himself.
Why did Rutherford make her a "dietician" when he already
had one and she was unqualified for the job? The Moyle
trial states that she was a Practical Nurse, but a dietician is
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a specialty unto itself. It was also brought out in the Moyle
trial that Rutherford already HAD his ownprivate nurse,
and ridiculed the notion that Rutherford needed two of
them, since he was obviously healthy enough to travel and
speak so extensively. In contradiction to what was claimedin the Moyle trial, 'larc' stated that Berta's only job
experience prior to entering Bethel was factory work! Why
was she the only of his two dietician's to travel with
Rutherford and stay with him in Beth Sarim? Why did she
get this meteoric rise in privilege immediately upon
entering Bethel?
"Crotchless Panties"
Some years after Rutherford died, Berta continued on as a
pioneer and a "member of the anointed." She paid a visit toher relatives and gave her own sister some lingerie that was
purchased in France while she was still at Bethel. They
were a pair of crotchless panties and a bra with which had
holes in the nipple areas. The relatives were shocked by
this. She was "anointed." She was still a "pioneer." She
wore crotchless panties! When "larc" was 13 he saw hisaunt (Berta's sister Lona) wearing that "nipple" bra. He
reacted like any normal thirteen year old boy: he loved it!
"The Hairpin Story"
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It has been reported before that on one of Rutherford's trips
during the time Berta was working for him, a maid at the
hotel found a woman's hairpin IN Rutherford's bed. His
female "assistant" was staying in an adjoining room with a
door that could access either room. "larc" reported to methat Dr. M. James Penton a famous WTS researcher
discovered that this incident occurred in North Carolina.
Is this significant? Berta Peale was from North Carolina.
Coincidence? Perhaps. But consider the following from a
poster named "cyberguy":
"She was his "personal dietician." He was way-up in years,
she was very young, at least half his age at the time,
probably even much younger! She had a bedroom adjacent
to his, with a directly connecting door to his bedroom, inthe Soceity?s train car that was used to "preach the
kingdom" during da judge's reign. She also went wherever
da judge went, including frequent trips to Europe. Where
were his wife and Son? For all practical purposes, they
were separated and living a long distance apart; da judge
made sure of that!?
"A good friend of mine was an elder in the hall in Long
Beach, California, long after da judge's death, is the source
of this information. She requested that the elders (my
friend being one of the elders) meet with her (she was in
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her 70's), because she wasn't sure if she would receive her
heavenly reward. The elders met, and she told them the
relationship she had with Rutherford over a 15-year period!
She even showed them movies of the two of them, hugging
and kissing, shortly before dropping this "bomb shell!"
"Anyway, the elders made contact with headquarters, and
Nathan Knorr met with Birda [her name was actually
"Berta"], while at a District Convention in California,
shortly afterward. Nathan Knorr, with some other officials
present, said that they long knew of the adulterous
relationship, but for some reason, never said anything to
anyone about it; they also told her that because this was so
far in the past, not to worry about it! (Is this a double
standard or what?)"
Indeed!
"larc's" cousin Sue (the daughter of Berta's sister) told him
that when Berta was young, she was so rebellious that she
was the only one of four daughters her father needed to
spank.
One time, 'larc's' cousin Sue was looking through a family
album with him. There was a picture of a man in the photo
album alongside Berta. Sue told 'larc' that the man in the
picture was a married naval officer. It cannot be shown that
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they had an affair, but it begs the questions: WHY was an
anointed pioneer in a picture with a married man? And why
was she in the company of a military person?
Bonnie and Berta - The Similarities
1) Two women who were the "closest" to Rutherford during
his later life.
2) Two women who were constant traveling and living
companions.
3) Two women who were quickly propelled to the pinnacleof the WT elite.
4)Two women who broke the strictest of WT rules, yet not
a thing was done about it.
5) One woman became a constant companion of
Rutherford's when she was only sixteen years old. She wasaccused by a man not afraid of identifying himself by name
of "sleeping around" in Bethel in the 1950's. Another
women who magically received paid passage to Europe
during the Great Depression and immediately upon
entering Bethel received an elite job that not only was she
not qualified to have, the job had already been filled bysomeone else? Who needed to have TWO Dieticians back
then?
6) One beautiful and poor young women brought into
Bethel who immediately became a "personal assistant" and
"constant companion" only one MONTH AFTER another
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"personal assistant" and "constant companion" became
married.
7) The Great Depression where no one had any money and
would die for the opportunity to live the luxurious life of
Rutherford.8) Adjacent bedrooms with connecting doors for these
women and the Judge in trains and in hotels. The Judge's
habit of working at night in Beth Sarim when the rest of his
housekeeping staff was asleep.
Crotchless panties and provacative bras worn by an
"anointed pioneer" who was also a very rebellious child.
One lonely, horny old immoral drunk with all the power
and money he could ask for who viewed women as only
acceptable "if they kept their proper place."
One absolute dictator who broke all the rules he set for
others who considered himself above such rules.
Testimony from a named informant that Nathan Knorr and
others knew of Rutherford's infidelity with Berta and didnothing about it, thus keeping it covered up.
He had the lack of moral ethics. He had the motive. He had
the victims willing or otherwise. He had the opportunity.
He had the alibi and he had the cover-up. He had the
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people to continue the cover-up.
And now we have uncovered a new story about him.
Remember what Berta said:
"He was like a husband to me in every way."
Farkel
1869..."Judge" Joseph F. Rutherford is born in Missouri to
James Calvin Rutherford & Lenora Strickland.
1887...August H. Balko, Jr. is born in Texas.
1899...Bonnie Boyd is born in Iowa.
1901...Berta L. Teel is born in North Carolina.
1904...William P. Heath, Jr. is born.
1905...Blanch P. ? is born in Missouri.
Timeline by "MerryMagdalene"
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1915...William P. Heath, Jr.'s mother, Susan, becomes a
Bible Student.
1920...William P. Heath, Sr. is Vice President of a Soft
Drink Company in Atlanta, GA.
1921/22...August Balko, Jr. & Blanch P. are married in
Texas.
1923...*Mary M. Rutherford takes up residence in
Monrovia, CA.
*Bonnie Boyd moves to Bethel with her mother @
the invitation of Van Amburgh and serves as Judge's
stenographer.
*Berta Teel marries Alfred Peale.
1929...*Robert J. Martin goes to San Diego and transfers
into his own name the title for 2 lots purchased by Dr.
Albert E. Eckols, then contracts the construction of Beth-
Sarim, "...the Lord having provided the means for the
building of the house so that it would not be a burden onthe Society."
*Princess Bonnie C. Balko is born in Texas.
1930...*The Judge, accompanied by Bonnie Boyd and
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others, takes up residence in Beth-Sarim, as do August &
Blanch Balko and Princess Bonnie.
*William P. Heath, Jr. is Manager of a Bottling
Plant in South Carolina and is married to Dorothy S.
193?...Berta Peale and Bonnie Boyd attend a convention
together in Europe.
1931...Prince Joseph Barak Balko is born in San Diego,
CA.
1932...William P. Heath, Jr. is baptised.
1934...*William P. Heath, Jr. meets the Judge.
*Matthew Howlett becomes Judge's personal nurse.
1937...*William P. Heath, Jr. is invited to Bethel to serve
as the Judge's personal secretary. He and Bonnie Boyd
accompany the Judge on a speaking tour of Europe lasting
6-8 weeks, then they all go to Beth-Sarim for the winter.
1938...*In January, William P. Heath, Jr. gets a divorce
from his wife of about 8 years, Dorothy, and 1 week later
marries Bonnie Boyd in Las Vegas.
*Nurse Matthew Howlett leaves to do zone work in
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Ohio.
*Berta Peale leaves her husband of 15 years and
comes to Bethel to serve as Judge's dietician.
1939...*Berta (Teel) Peale's husband, Alfred, sues for
divorce on grounds of abandonment.
*Matthew Howlett returns to nurse the Judge until
the Judge's death in 1942.
*William P. Heath, Jr. purchases the property for
Beth-Shan and is serving on the WT Board of Directors.
He is also in charge of the ushers at the Madison Square
Garden Convention and arrested by police for hitting a
"mobster" over the head with his cane during the riot that
breaks out. Hayden Covington is brought in to defend himafter Olin Moyle quits.
1940...*The deed to Beth-Shan is conveyed to the
WTBTS, Heath having erected a house there and made
various other improvements.
*Alfred Peale is granted a divorce from Berta.
1942...The Judge dies.
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