UPDATE: This effort was put on hold during other action and went active again on 7/26/17.
The story of fraud against Peter Beagle is increasingly reaching his true fans and winning their support. There’s high traffic on many fronts to cover in this update.
Many fans are hearing about Peter’s lawsuit for the first time, and overwhelmingly convinced by the evidence, against denial and pretense spread by his ex-manager. Their message is clear: you can’t abuse a creator and hijack fandom for greed.
“Dear fandom: another of our elder voices has received treatment as a cash cow being milked for one last harvest. He’s been exploited for his fan base, many of whom never received products they paid for…” – (Maggie)
Sharing brings awareness to stop the abuse.
Cochran is desperately trying to hide what he’s done, with crisis management and widespread deletions on social media. He would keep his Golden Goose captive if nobody knew. Sharing is vital to stop the abuse. Please tell fans you know and add hashtags #TakeBackTheUnicorn and #LastUnicorn.
Sharing is the mission of this site. The story isn’t ours – it’s yours. We want nothing more than fairness, and we’ll settle for nothing less. Share if you feel the same. It’s the opposite of Cochran’s mission to enrich himself with predatory greed.
Cochran continues cheating fans without delivering goods.
When Peter’s lawsuit came out, many cheated customers knew it was absolutely true because they were personally victimized. Cochran tried to deflect with glib promises yet again that goods would come “soon” after a decade-plus of false sales (while he’s really spending your money on lawyer fees.) See how easily he lied to victims:
It’s plain to see that he’ll say or do anything to get what he wants. There’s no credibility on his side – only greedy lying.
The Last Unicorn Tour investor lawsuit destroys Cochran’s pretenses about being falsely accused.
Cochran stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from his movie tour investors too. While he attacks Peter for being old, he refuses to say anything about this other lawsuit – because he has no defense. He can’t call them senile. It destroys the smokescreen he’s blowing to hide his exploitation against Peter and fans. This is the scumbag who a few cronies are rallying around in denial.
Wherever you see denial, speak up with questions that destroy it. Point out refusal to acknowledge the investor lawsuit, cheating against fans, and witness reports.
Movie tour workers come out as witnesses to Cochran’s abuse.
We previously shared a movie tour worker’s report of abuse, and here’s a new one. This report spread “like wildfire” according to author Robin Goodfellow. She’s a life long fan (who appears in the DVD special features) – a movie tour volunteer – and a dementia nurse who refutes Cochran’s gaslighting against Beagle:
THE TRUTH ABOUT CONNOR COCHRAN & WORKING THE LAST UNICORN TOUR
One telling detail:
“The show sold out, many movie goers were turned away and Connor wheedled with the staff of the Cineplex to try to let in standing room only, and was turned down due to this being a fire hazard of which Connor complained.”
It’s a perfect illustration of what Connor Cochran stands for: Enriching himself with casual disregard for laws and safety of others, while asking others to look the other way. That’s what he does when people are watching, so think about what he does when they aren’t. Watchdogs are urgently needed.
Fans manipulated by Cochran to twist the story, but it isn’t working.
The more the story spreads, the more Cochran evades, deflects and deceives. If you’ve been cheated or seen his abuse, and say so in public – you’re likely to get persistent internet and phone contact to twist the story the way he wants. His fork-tongued excuses carefully follow a rehearsed script to make him seem innocent.
Robin Goodfellow told us about his attempted phone manipulation:
“Connor Cochran is a scum bag and his magickal phone call to me was nothing more than scare tactics, even though he veiled it as wanting to get orders to people. My friends who were cheated hundreds of dollars on their orders want nothing to do with him and wish no contact with him. I find it interesting that he can’t figure out orders, but was able to find my phone number in two year old emails to the last unicorn tour from my volunteer application.
My partner had originally called this whole thing. He believes Cochran only called me to scare me, and once I hung up on him he kept calling and left that voice mail. I have no interest in hearing what he has to say and believe he is scum. I’ve worked with enough victims of elder abuse and seen enough greedy families eager to see their parents in the ground for want of financial pay off. I wish it was not so common.
Connor was saying on his phone message to me about Peter being toxic to Hollywood. Who cares? This is his legacy. His work. Not yours.” – (Robin Goodfellow)
Here’s another illustration of what Cochran stands for. He conveniently ignores customer pleas about missing orders for months and years, but his manipulative phone call came only 6 hours after her story went out. (Seen that before.)
“Toxic in Hollywood” defamation against Peter.
In his voice message, Cochran claimed Peter’s name is toxic with all the scandal. But the wrongdoing all leads back to Cochran. WHO is toxic? Peter or the scumbag who exploited his career? It’s another piece of an agenda to gaslight, defame and force helplessness on Peter to make Cochran the “savior” dominating his life.
More witness corroboration.
“This woman’s experience echoes mine when I saw Peter S. Beagle and Connor Cochran together. Her whole experience of the Last Unicorn screening reflects mine as well.” – (Melanie)
Literary agent says Cochran “made my skin crawl”.
“This is so heartbreaking. I met PSB on tour and he was absolutely lovely. But after meeting & sort of watching his manager, I knew something was very wrong. I contacted some mutual friends, hoping they could get through since I was still a baby agent w/little pull. I’m hoping one of them was able to help. That manager made my skin crawl.” – (Jennifer)
9 years ago…
@t3dy @ConfusedImp I met Connor, his manager, who creeped the hell out of me. The way tried to protect & control Peter. It was really weird.
— 17 Inch Corncob Hero (@Palle_Hoffstein) April 13, 2016
Evidence vs. Cochran’s manipulation and sympathy-begging.
Comments from Robin Goodfellow’s report:
“Question for Conor Cochran: If Mr. Beagle had severe memory loss issues and cognitive issues, why did you think it was a good idea to take him on film tours? Wouldn’t you want him resting comfortably at home with the finest medical care? Also, from what I hear, it’s not just the Canadian tour that is missing their merchandise–it’s people all over the world. Did everyone in the world mess up their order form?” – (beans)
“This is the part which doesn’t make sense to me as well. I could realistically, looking at the many detailed statements on both sides of this issue, believe either Mr. Beagle or Mr. Cochran to be telling the complete truth… if it were not for one simple fact.
An elderly man in frail health, who is rapidly declining both physically and mentally; who cannot track or recall with any accuracy; who is unable to make his own decisions; who needs others to do what’s best for him, even against his own strenuous beliefs and wishes…
…is in no way the *same* man who can safely be dragged from pillar to post for two years; put to work for 12-16 hour days; housed in guest rooms of fans who want to talk to him when he needs rest; expected to do an arduous job, in short, with little rest and no special medical care.
Yet Conor Cochran expects us to believe both of these things about Peter Beagle, simultaneously. I’m sorry, Mr. Cochran, but that defies reason and common sense. If Mr. Beagle were truly the sick old man who is unable to function mentally or physically without such extreme care as to require removing his agency over his own associates and financial decisions, then there would be only one ethical course to take: keeping Mr. Beagle safe at home, surrounded by family and friends and with good medical care close at hand, and refusing any and all work which required him to be on tour. physically and mentally active for long, grueling days and sleep on strange beds every night. That you chose not to do that tells me that either Mr. Beagle was not nearly as ill as you claim, or that you were not treating him and his medical needs ethically, or both.
There’s one more thing I notice about the behavior of the various parties to the dispute: Mr. Beagle supports his claim with specific evidence — financial documents, medical evaluations, etc. Mr. Cochran supports his claim with character witnesses. Character witnesses can be fooled… even over a period of years. They may believe what they’re told, or what someone sets a situation up to appear as true. Tests are much more rarely fooled, and primary source documents virtually never. I believe that most or all of the parties who signed Mr. Cochran’s public relations document earnestly believed what they wrote… doubtless including Mr. Beagle’s children. However, they would not be the first to mean well and be wrong.” – (Nora Rivkis)
“The only ethical principle which has made science possible is that the truth shall be told all the time. If we do not penalize false statements made in error, we open up the way for false statements by intention. And a false statement of fact, made deliberately, is the most serious crime a scientist can commit.” -Dorothy Sayers, _Gaudy Night_
Of course Cochran could convince some people to like him with a superficial mask of oily charm. His life is dedicated to it. That’s literally the definition of a con artist. “Con men have to seem nice. It’s a necessary skill.” (More below.)
Don’t trust our expose because it’s written from between two purring baskets of rescued orphan kittens. Notice that we’ve been sharing documents and facts about fraud since 2014, predicting the scandal for a year before Peter Beagle’s lawsuit came out and the media caught on.
Cochran tries to tighten power over Peter by proxy, manipulating his children to file for conservatorship.
It’s obviously preferable not to share private details about Peter’s life. But since they’re already exploited in public by Cochran, it’s fair to uncover his controlling agenda. Cochran used universal family drama that can happen to anyone to drive a wedge into Peter’s family.
While Peter was hauled from couch to couch on an elder-abusing death march of a tour, his kids weren’t present. There were months without face to face contact while Cochran interfered with their communication.
Only one kid is blood related to Peter. There were divorces over decades. Into the relationship dynamic came Peter’s partner as an outsider. She stuck by him for 17 years when there was no money. She would have a front row seat for Cochran’s scamming, know where his bodies are buried, and encourage Peter against being a captive golden goose. These are implications of Cochran’s “screaming ugly naked hate” for her. Pitting people against each other would let him divide and conquer.
Cochran intends to force Peter into conservatorship against his will. He can dangle hope that his way is the only way to get a piece of Hollywood money that he promised for so long. But investors won’t touch Cochran now, so he can only string people along with a fake carrot. The kids must have been very upset to see the promises vanish with Cochran’s scandal. He blames Peter, and grudges can motivate as well as money. Whatever the specifics, he’s exploiting upset.
“These are the same kids that let their 70+ year-old Dad go on a hobo tour where he was expected to sleep over at strangers houses that they met online?” – (Gwen)
That’s all hinted by public sources. And here’s one more strike against the chosen conservators: Kalisa Beagle’s financial responsibility got her sued by the Bank Of America. They won a judgement against her for $5,000 that she defaulted on and was forced to pay back. Search case CV166651 at this link.
The BEST Cochran offers is conservators who have to get sued by their own creditors, even ignoring his own history of fraud and abuse.
Last Unicorn Facebook page spreads deception. Widespread deletion of posts and comments. Conlan Press Facebook page has ENTIRE REVIEW SECTION DELETED!
Stay tuned – this is long enough for another update soon. We have screenshots of entire posts with hundreds of shares and comments deleted.
In late March 2016, Cochran deleted the “reviews” section from his company Facebook page after a streak of 1-star reviews from customers who never got what they paid for. Here’s Google’s cache (with lonely 5-stars from his own employees), made previous to newer 1-stars.
Around April 6, The Last Unicorn Facebook page posted Cochran’s statements against Peter to 190,000 followers. It was the official side linking right to Conlan Press. The followers gave strong dispute. Simultaneously the page declared itself a “neutral zone” (that would not post Beagle’s side), refused to admit that Cochran owned the page (marked “official”), and suddenly forgot who did own it, while claiming to be run by “a fan.” Conveniently, that “fan” neglected to mention that he put his position as crisis manager on his professional resume.
One of many similar experiences of evasive deception:
Social media pages using Peter Beagle and his works are false fronts managed by Cochran. Why the sudden fake coyness about management of the Facebook page? It’s an evasive tactic anticipating an injunction against Cochran.
Peter Beagle fires back hard with injunction – and Cochran’s lawyer dumps him.
Peter’s lawyer filed for an injunction to prevent Cochran from abusing Peter’s name, using it as a false front on social media and in business, and continuing to make money from his works without paying him. Search case RG15794528.
Here’s the full text of this strongly provoked response. Sharing Peter’s story helps, and this puts force behind public awareness.
Meanwhile Cochran was dumped by his attorney for abusing court process. He was forced to file attorney substitution on 4/5/16. His new one is Richard Mooney, who previously served Cochran to take over the Last Unicorn Movie rights. That’s the kind of partner who would never upset the apple cart.
The root of the problem.
Here’s a known fact about Cochran’s partner in ripping off Peter. Ex-lawyer Charles Petit had a State Bar hearing where he lost his license for fraud. They explained:
“In regard to the Respondent’s continuing misrepresentations to disciplinary counsel, Dr. Jeckel said ‘it’s lying upon lying upon lying and I think it’s a sign of very serious and unique personality disorder.'”
Look at this self-satisfied piece of shit:
“Right now, Connor is selling as much as he can in the way of ebooks and used books to raise money for one purpose only: so that he can use it to sue Peter with. It’s ridiculous. He has a screaming ugly naked hate for Peter’s longtime partner Peggy – they’ve been together 17 or so years. He’s dragged Peter for eighteen hour days driving from one state to another, sleeping on sofas in fans’ houses rather than in an actual hotel. This is the very definition of “elder abuse” – and as the lawsuit just brought against Connor by Sandbox LLC shows, Connor had taken money from Sandbox ostensibly to finance the same movie tour during which he spent virtually no money on Peter’s comfort… I’d suggest checking (Fans Against Fraud) if you’re interested in a long, ugly history during which Connor has consistently defrauded people, lied about it, and generally shown all the characteristics of an advanced example of Narcissistic Personality Disorder, in which he is always right, no one has more power than he does, and he must always win because he is somehow smarter or better than everyone else. I’m not sure how he’s planning on countersuing Sandbox, but I’m sure his out of control narcissism will find him something he thinks he can use.”
Updates to come:
- More about deception and deletion by the Last Unicorn Facebook page.
- Full text of injunction filed against Cochran.
- Cochran’s scamming led to default judgement against him, with $6,000 seized from his bank account.
‘…his magickal phone call to me was nothing more than scare tactics, even though he veiled it as wanting to get orders to people…’
Well… I listened to it, and I don’t think that phone call was a scare tactic, because he didn’t threaten or hint at taking any action against you. He has to be able to prove that he tried to correct things. Of course, he should try to correct things. All phone calls & messages are recorded on his end, too, I think.
Agreed, I don’t find that phone call to be remotely questionable, though I have found many other things about Connor to be odd. I mean you completely trashed the guy, I think his response was very calm, level headed, and reasonable.
One thing I DO find odd is that Connor repeatedly alludes to the ‘many other things’ that show Peter’s dementia, but he has this ONE story about Peter’s mom’s ashes. I’ve been told it when speaking to him. he uses it everywhere. It sounds incredibly rehearsed (which by itself doesn’t mean he’s lying). Maybe Peter did forget (as normal healthy humans do) that he had the ashes, and this is Connor’s one provable instance of Peter’s dementia?
Here’s what makes the phone call questionable. Context…
Remember this guy has consistently misled cheated customers for over a decade, with a new excuse every year. First “manufacturing problems”, then he has to “redo the layouts” of the products because he picked a new manufacturer, then “Peter’s mom died”, then there were “international paperwork problems”, then the designer had a “car accident…”
No legitimate company does this more than once, or goes on to appeal for more “pre sales” after failing to deliver ones sold 10 years ago. It’s straight up lying and fraud.
It happened to friends of the blogger who got the phone call, hundreds of dollars scammed from them.
Connor’s been skating by outside the edge of public light by separating customers apart from each other’s awareness, making them think that each one is a single case. It’s as predatory as wolves separating the slowest sheep from the herd. He smooth-talks and buys them off and attacks their complaints or even threatens them with retaliation. (Look at his record of threatening and lying about his own employees, like the guy who tried to warn people they wouldn’t get their stuff.)
So it’s creepy that he impresses you as “calm, level headed, and reasonable” while he lies. That’s what a con artist does, getting your confidence is why they exist.
It’s threatening that he kept calling her when she hung up and refused to talk to him. His “nice” facade is like protection-racket guys who compliment a shop for looking nice while you tell them to get out.
And it’s creepy that he trashes Peter in the phone call, defaming him as “toxic in Hollywood” when HE made the scammy deals.
There’s no medical evidence of dementia. Peter’s lawsuit shares health evaluations, and the doctor indicated that Connor tried to fake evidence.
The only person who makes Connor look bad is Connor.
He has been stringing me along since 2009 over a book I pre-ordered. To this day the book has still never been completed, Connor freely admits this in his emails to me. He likes to act as if he is a victim of one unfortunate thing after another and it’s all beyond his control. (Woe is me! Poor Connor!)
The only thing Connor is a victim of is his own duplicity and incompetence.
His nice guy act has slowly slipped away since I began pressing him for a refund. His emails – when he bothers to respond to me – have become more defensive and condescending.
There is no way is hell I would ever allow my 70+ year old Dad to go on a sketchy hobo tour where he was expected to beg for shelter from strangers that his manager met on the internet or in parking lots of the show. Are you kidding me? That sounds like the start of every episode of “To Catch a Predator”. You have no idea how many weirdoes or obsessed stalkers are out there. Or maybe nice enough fans that live in death traps or in violent neighborhoods. No. No. No. Absolutely not. And all just to save a buck? Peter’s “kids” should be ashamed of themselves.
I agree that the “kids are on my side” argument carries no weight.
He insists that the fans have a less than stellar opinion of author, but, at the same time, expects the fans to reject any possibility that the adult kids may be in it for gain; he wants their opinion of the kids to be high. But while everyone has met author (and thinks him perfectly fine) who has met the kids?
You know, there are rotten apples in my family who would take advantage of me in a heartbeat. My mother and I aren’t close at all. In my friend’s family, her adult sister tried to steal a lot of money from her bank account. Blood itself can not make you care about somebody.
Connor’s routine reminds me of Chris Rock’s bit where he goes off on other black folk that expect credit for stuff they are supposed to do, when they brag about stuff a normal man just does. “I ain’t never been to jail.” “What do want, a cookie? You’re not supposed to go to jail!” “Truth is plain: 300,000+ items have been delivered so far….” “What do you want, a cookie? You’re suppose to deliver 300,000 items when you take orders for 300,000 items, that’s what normal people just do.”
And needless to say, I’m sure these deliveries were very late ;)))) And were sent off quite possibly after Peter announced a lawsuit
Exactly!! It’s like you catch someone embezzling… they try to excuse skimming off the top by saying they’ve been with the company for so long. “I’ve put in 3000 hours here….” yeah and you got paid for them, but you didn’t earn that $15000 you stole, thief.
This isn’t a guy who delivered 300,000 things, this is a guy who kept hundreds of thousands of dollars in scam sales.
Also it’s funny how his number keep changing. On Reddit he says 1500 sales are “delayed”, on Twitter it’s 1800… which scam sales were those? 1,000 audiobook CD’s undelivered since 2005, hundreds of “extra deluxe” last unicorn books in 2009… and who ever saw a number for his “Writing Sarek” sales? (They will never materialize since Peter Beagle will have nothing to do with this scumbag again.) That’s just the old stuff!
Now we’re seeing public complaints of missing movie tour stuff… the new stuff on top of the old stuff. (Actually, it was all scam on top of scam on top of scam all the way back to 2005. There is NO excuse for selling something new if the first ones never were made.)
It’s DVD’s, art prints, “Better Beagle Bundles”… and that whole “tour edition” Last Unicorn, boy he made bank on that. It’s well over a year late? Refund them all now, asshole, you can’t take money and pretend it’s “support” or something while offering a product and pretending to be a publisher. This isn’t a goddamn internet crowdfund. We need the FTC on top of this thief, yesterday!