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	Sheriff: Monastery Leader's Death Might Have Been Suicide Samuel Greene, Founder of the Christ of the Hills Monastery, Was Facing Child Sexual Assault Charges By Patrick George American-Statesman September 18, 2007 http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/09/19/0919monk.html The death this week of Samuel Greene, the founder of the Christ of the Hills monastery outside Blanco who was facing charges of sexually assaulting children, might have been a suicide, according to the Blanco County sheriff. Sheriff Bill Elsbury said Greene was discovered by his caretaker, a fellow monk, in a trailer near the now-defunct Russian Orthodox monastery Monday. The man called police and said Greene committed suicide, Elsbury said. The embattled monastery leader had apparently mentioned suicide to the caretaker in the past, Elsbury said. "(The caretaker) said (Greene) was seriously considering taking pills," Elsbury said. "It has all the appearances of a suicide. He was scheduled to be in court Friday, he had all kinds of legal problems. He may have been facing a lengthy sentence." Elsbury has been investigating the monastery since the late 1990s. In 1999, the monks were investigated on accusations that they sexually abused a 13-year-old novice monk who lived there. Greene got 10 years' probation for indecency charges, and another monk went to prison. Last year, new child sexual assault and organized crime charges were brought against five of the monks, including Greene. Their former leader was facing probation revocation charges this week. "It was little more than a pedophile factory out there," Elsbury said. He said several monks who were part of an exclusive "inner synod" would "smoke dope and live like kings" while other members existed in poverty. The Russian Orthodox church severed ties with the monastery in 1999. The monks were noted for a Virgin Mary statue that they said wept tears of myrrh and could cure cancer. Before it was revealed as a fraud, it drew thousands of visitors each year and close to $750,000 one year in donations, Elsbury said. "This guy was a con man," Elsbury said of Greene. "He was a land swindler. That was his forte." Elsbury said the four remaining monks are still facing charges, and prosecutors hope to start with trial motions by the end of October. The sheriff's office is working to seize the land the monastery was built on, Elsbury said. Contact: pgeorge@statesman.com; 445-3851.
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