Editor’s note: Andrew J. Harper, who conned multiple women in Australia, was sentenced yesterday to nine months in jail. Here’s what we hear from one of his victims, Rochelle Fisher.
“Rebecca Bell was there, she said the magistrate gave him an absolute drilling, and was not falling for any of his crap. She said the fact that the victims had children made him very angry.
“Also, his lawyer said that he didn’t get any financial gain from his victims, that they were along for the ride and enjoyed it, like staying in hotels etc. And the magistrate said ‘Yes, but, they would not have paid it if he had told the truth.’
“He has been ordered to pay back 22k to victims and hotels, but there is nothing to enforce that order, so he won’t pay it.”
With Harper going back to jail, the women feel vindicated. Still, it’s difficult for them to explain to friends and family how they got into the situation to begin with. Rochelle, who posts on Lovefraud as “Rozzieoz,” wrote the following piece in an attempt to describe the sensation of almost drowning with the con man.
The Beach Where He Said He Would Love Me Forever
By Rochelle Fisher
“Step onto my beach,” he said.
“Your beach?” I asked, in amazement.
“Yes, my beach, I own it. It is all mine but you can share it.”
“Why me?” I asked, “Why am I so special?”
“Because I have been alone for a long, long time and there is nobody else like you,” he answered, as he took my hand and pulled me roughly onto the sand of his beach.
I looked around for other bathers, but we were totally alone. The waves crashed in the distance, seeming to move ominously closer. I decided to ignore the waves and looked at him instead.
“We don’t need anybody else, it will be just you, and me, forever,” he said as he gazed deeply into my eyes, and I chose to believe him.
We walked along the beach, moving further and further away from civilization, closer and closer to the water.
“We don’t need anybody else, it will be just you, and me, forever,” he said, as he pulled me into the shallow water.
I felt nervous.
“I am not sure if I can swim with you.”
I wanted to dive into the water with him and swim forever.
“Yes you can,” he said, “It will be just you and me forever, I will help you swim, I will protect you,” as he pulled me deeper into the water. I chose to believe him. I ignored the waves and looked at him instead.
His eyes mesmerized me, I forgot about the waves, the water, the missing people on his deserted beach, I chose to focus on him.
Because he chose me.
As he pulled me deeper and deeper into the water, the sand beneath my feet started to undulate. Nothing seemed to be very stable anymore.
“I am sinking!” I cried out.
“No, you are not” he smiled at me, all the while pulling me deeper.
“I’m not? Are you sure?”
“Of course not, this is our beach, why would you sink, it is just you and me forever, I won’t let you sink.”
“The sand is moving!” I felt a knot tighten in my stomach as panic set in.
“No, it’s not. Don’t say that!”
“Are you sure? It feels like it is moving.”
“Of course I am sure, it will be just you and me forever and I will protect you.”
I chose to believe him.
The only other option meant sinking into the sand, or drowning. So I clung to him, as the waves swirled around me, faster and faster, spinning me around and around until my head was muddled and I felt dizzy and ill.
“Help, I really am going to drown!” I screamed out to him.
I felt his hands gripping mine, he was my only salvation from certain death.
“Why would I let you drown, I chose you, remember? I could have had anyone, but here I am with you, on our beach, forever.”
He smiled down at me as I floundered in the water, but it was only his mouth that was smiling, his eyes were cold. I gripped his arms, clinging on for dear life, he was the only thing standing between me and certain death.
“Why aren’t you drowning, why aren’t you sinking in the sand ”¦ why?” I looked up at him, my hands still gripping his arms, desperate for him to save me. He was not moving, he stood firm and strong.
I felt my head going under the water.
“Don’t worry, I will save you. I love you, remember, it is just you and me, forever.”
I did not notice him smiling.
Water covered my head. I felt his hands wrap around my wrists and for a second I felt safe. Until the weight started pressing on my head. I struggled against it, but the weight kept pressing, pushing me under. For a second my head came out of the water and I realized ”¦ no ”¦ it could not be ”¦ it was HIS foot pressing on my head.
I tried to cry out, but I could not talk, every time I opened my mouth it filled with water so I coughed and choked.
He stood above me, staring at me with cruel callousness, as his foot pressed my head deeper and deeper under the water.
I sank into unconsciousness. I wanted to close my eyes and sleep forever. I was drowning, on his beach. The beach where he was going to love me forever.
Just as it felt like the last breath was going to exit my body, the pressure and weight lifted and I shook my head out of the water, gasping for air.
I crawled up the beach, dragging my exhausted, battered body onto the sand. If I could just make it onto the beach, he would be there to save me.
I coughed up water for a long time, lying on the beach shaking, spluttering, crying and afraid. Finally the exhaustion overcame me and I fell asleep.
I woke up on the beach. It was empty.
He was gone.
Dear Smartprofessional,
Congratulations! Glad you dodged the bullet!
We have a blog at http://conneddownunder.blogspot.com/ where people can submit a photo and details of their con.
We have a Facebook support group for Aussie victims of cons. Through that, I am in the process of compiling a database of Australian conmen. The database will not be for publication, but will be an excellent reference.
If there had been something like that after AJH left me, I could have sent his photo in, and would possibly have found co-victims a lot faster.
For the database, I need the con’s name (or the name he was using with you), a brief summary of the con- for eg in my case the worst part of AJH’s con was the fact that he had my entire industry believing that we were making a TV show, he pocketed the cash and left me bankrupt.
A photo would also be really great for the database, so that if a con is using an alias, he can still be cross-matched with photo’s on file.
I stress, the database will not be for publication.
I should add, if anyone would like their con included on the Conned Down Under blog, you can email me the details to:
rozzieoz@tpg.com.au
We are finding that a lot of victims are happy for their stories to be told on the Facebook support group, because it is a closed group and private, but there is a lot of fear when it comes to putting something out there on a public website.
That is why we decided to create both the blog and the Facebook group.
Dear Roz,
You say it “will not be for publication.” What does that mean exactly? How would someone access it if it is not for publication? So how would it be of benefit to others looking to see if their con man/person was on that list if no one could access that information?
Ah…ok. What I mean is, it will not go on the blog without their permission. The plan is that the database would be held with Diana, Rebecca and myself and a victim can email a central email address with their story and photo. I will be handling most of that, since I am the one out of the three of us with the most time- my job is very flexible, I am extremely lucky! And of course- I never sleep lol.
So…using our story as an example, i would have sent AJH’s photo to the email address and asked if anyone recognises him. Bec or Diana would then receive an email with the photo, asking them to confirm if it is AJH. I would have received an email back saying that yes, we know who he is and I would have been put in touch with Bec and Diana.
Hopefully, this way, we can bring victims together who can then support one another.
There is a lot of fear associated with going public, and we are fiercely protective of people’s privacy.
If you have any suggestions I would be more than open to hear them, we are flying by the seat of our pants here, all we can do is use our experience to help where we can.
Through the support group, we are actually seeing some really positive results, helping people deal with the media, the police and of course the recovery process.
I would be LOST without LoveFraud though!
Dear Roz,
I see what you mean—the only problem I see with that is that it is more or less just a connection source to you guys and if at some time you guys don’t keep up (or aren’t able to) the connection, the information goes away or access to it does. I don’t have a “better” idea, just understand the problem with privacy etc.
There are some “don’t date him girl” web sites that people can check where a man’s picture and so on is posted for the world to see, but I don’t know if that is such a good idea either.
Oh, there is a woman here named CATHIE who lives in OZ that should be contacting you, her 60+ year old recently widowed mum is being attacked by a con-man and she is very concerned. I told her about you guys and she will contact you when she gets home from work today she said.
Part of the problem with real life “support groups” is we would need a stadium that would hold 100,000 people in each country! LOL You guys are doing an amazing job though and I hope that you succeed in keeping the sucker in prison for a while longer. My own fighting kept my Psychopathic son in prison for another three years but after that the fight is on again as he goes back to the parole board three years from December 2010.
If there ever comes a time where we are unable to keep up, a suitable plan would be put in place. We will apply for government funding or go after corporate donations etc if we have to.
I am committed to this for the rest of my life – I understand what it is like to fight this fight alone and how much it means to find people who totally understand.
It is never over, is it Ox Drover. I feel for you *hugs*
Nah, it isn’t ever over as long as they are breathing…they are either out after some other poor sucker, or they are after you for revenge.
Unfortunately, my P-son will eventually get out of prison at some point in time, my guess is in the next 4 to 10 years, in spite of the best I can do to prevent it. Unfortunately, as well, my P son is one of the higher level psychopaths with a lot of rage and very little fear of anything…I told my other son the other day and I firmly believe this, if P son knew there were nests of machine guns protecting this house, if he were out he would come, even if he felt sure that he would get killed in the process if he thought he could kill my son D and/or me, even at the cost of his own life, he would feel he had “won.”
His sense of being a “success” and being “the center of the universe” of being a “big shot” or “winner”, given his circumstances of being such an utter FAILURE at crime just doesn’t make any sense to me at all, and yet it does.
In the letters he wrote to his ex-cellmate friend he sent to infiltrate our family, he was pontificating about how to manage us and the family finances, and then informing his friend (who had as little experience in managing anything on the outside of prison walls either as he had spent his entire adult life in prison as well) how when he got out and “came home” HE WOULD TAKE OVER AS CAPTAIN OF THE FAMILY SHIP! LOL To this day, I shake my head in wonderment at the grandiose ideas that he has, when the REALITY is so different.
As I was reading on your blog the list of claims of fame and fortune your psychopath made, I got the same sense of wonderment at his sense of ownership and entitlement to the “good things” in life that he wanted but had no idea how to get. I sometimes wonder if they don’t “half-way believe” the things they say. (head shaking here! LOL)
Oxy,
that is fascinating that your son said those words, “Captain of the family ship”.
My own spath brother who lives in the parents’ basement in a storage room, told my mom that he knows that spath sister wants to get rid of him because she thinks he is going to end up inheriting the house. Then he said, “I don’t want this house, I’m going to win the lottery and BUY this house!”
It’s spathspeak! LOL!
The spaths seem to have some kind of obsession with taking over their parents homes. I think it’s a need to wear the skin of the person they see as having the most authority (mommy or daddy) and the house is a symbol of being mom or dad. It’s like an Oedipus story. How freaking bizarre these spaths are!
Sky,
Whatever the reason, it is GREED—I actually laughed at your brother saying he was going to WIN THE LOTTO—that is their “plan” for success—win the lotto or get some kind of job that pays a million bucks a year! LOL
There is a book written in the 70s or so called “The Felon” which is a book about the psychology of prisoners and how they view themselves (now keep in mind that 25% of felons are FULL psychopaths (score of 30+ on PCL-R) and the average score for all prisoners is 22 (normal is less than 5) so these people are all leaning toward psychopathy, but the research this guy did showed a TOTALLY UNREALISTIC IDEA OF WHAT THEY WOULD DO WHEN THEY GOT OUT….they all envisioned that they would get a REALLY GOOD LOOKING GIRLFRIEND, a HOT RIDE, and a GREAT JOB making lots of MONEY. The REALITY however, was the best “job” they could get was flipping burgers, the best woman they could get didn’t have a full set of teeth, and the best ride they could buy was a bus ticket, and that they mostly would go back to crime and be back in prison before long, because their UNREALISTIC IDEA OF LIFE ON THE OUTSIDE WAS ONE BIG FANTASY that reality wasn’t going to even come close to.
I first read this book back when my son was first arrested for murder in 1992, and read it again here not too long ago just to see how MY OWN VIEWS OF THIS BOOK HAD CHANGED as I had come to know psychopaths and my own P-son in particular,, and when I first read it I thought HE would be the exception to that book’s view of what prisoners thought—because my son IS very smart and had family on the outside to support him through college, etc. but you know, the years have PROVEN TO ME that my P-son has EXACTLY that kind of “fantasy future” that he sits in his cell and dreams about HOW WONDERFUL LIFE IS GOING TO BE WHEN HE GETS OUT AND GETS CONTROL OF ALL THE FAMILY ASSETS—and the thing is that if he got out and I gave him a barrel of cash with 10 million bucks in it, he would still go out and get involved in something illegal and criminal. He has to have this HIGH RISK, and exciting (to him) activity, no amount of money would satisfy him, no amount of real success would make him feel OK, he has to be out conning, robbing or scamming and have an AUDIENCE of people who are either afraid of him or look up to him because of his “smarts”—well you can only imagine the kind of low-life that actually LOOKS UP TO HIM. ROTFLMAO SNARK SNARF, SNORT, they have got to be pretty stupid and dumb as well as criminal. LOL
Sure, some of the other convicts who are stupid and low lives themselves may believe his tales of his “super rich grandfather” (that was true, his grandfather was super rich—but wouldn’t have given him a dime if it meant saving his life) and some of the other cons may believe his tales of his exciting life on the outside, but it is all fantasy, none of it is real—but because some 20 year old illiterate street thug that is in prison with him “looks up” to him doesn’t make him a “success” in the eyes of anyone except himself. But he is so egocentric that he actually believes he is a “success.” Talk about self delusion and fantasy!