The Piledriver Report 01.09.06: The History of Vince McMahon’s Wrestling Empire: Part Ten
Posted by Ronny Sarnecky on 01.09.2006
This edition of “The Piledriver Report’s” History of the WWF/E takes a look at the testimony of the prosecution’s key witness in the Vince McMahon steroid trial.
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Before I start with this week's article, I just wanted to wish a congratulations to Stephanie McMahon and Triple H on the announcement of Stephanie's pregnancy.
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The next witness was Emily Feinberg. Emily was supposed to be the key witness for the prosecution. Emily was employed with Titan Sports from July 1987 until September 1991. Her first year at Titan Sports, she worked as the secretary for Dick Glover. The following year, she was promoted to Vince McMahon's Executive Assistant. In her testimony, Emily said that she was responsible for drug testing. Emily said that she would tell Vince about tests that came back positive for drugs, such as opiates and barbiturates. However, Vince was only concerned with tests for cocaine that came back with a positive result. Feinberg said that McMahon told her that "the life of a wrestler was very grueling. They needed drugs to get up, drugs to sleep, and drugs to control their roid rages." Emily explained to the court that roid rages were personality flair ups. Wrestlers would get very angry, and were "prone to fighting and being very antagonistic while on steroids." Emily said that when they heard about a wrestler tearing up a hotel room, they blamed it on roid rage. Emily mentioned that she talked to Patterson about the hotel incidents, and he was concerned that it was due to cocaine or roid rage.
When talking about Hulk Hogan, Feinburg said that the Hulkster was their most important star, and received star treatment by the company. Office workers were not allowed to call Hogan at his home. The office would hire limousines to drive him around the towns, and they would provide him with charter flights for him to take back home after the shows.
Emily first heard about steroids from Vince McMahon following her first summer as his Executive Assistant. She learned terms like "juice," "gas," and "rigs," which was a slang term for "needles." She told the court that everybody talked about steroids. Besides discussing it with Vince, she discussed steroids with Pat Patterson on more then twenty different occasions.
In June 1988, Vince asked her to send an untraceable check to Dr. Zahorian for a package that was sent to them. She called Dr. Zahorian, got the address from Anita Scales, and went to Benny Morales of the WWF's financial department for the check.
As part of the evidence, the prosecution examined Emily's old steno notebooks that she kept when she worked for Titan Sports. McMahon's attorneys objected to the steno pads. They claimed that, since Feinberg had the books in her possession from early 1992 when she took them from the office after she left the company until the time she turned the books over to the prosecution, she could have doctored up the notes. The judge in the case excused the jury while McMahon's attorney, Laura Brevetti. Brevetti claimed that many of the pages in the eighty page notebooks were missing. The judge threw out this reasoning, as many people in a work environment throw out pages in notebooks as part of them being used as scrap paper. The judge allowed the steno pads to be entered into evidence.
The prosecution asked about the payment made to Zahorian in June 1988. She said that Vince wanted to send something that was untraceable. The note in her steno book read, "June 20th, 1988: Dr. George Zahorian, Anita Scales, $680.00, send a MO, Doug, not a corporate check." Feinberg said that she called Zahorian to find out how much money needed to be sent to him. She told the prosecution that the order was already placed before she sent the money.
McMahon told her that he needed to get a refrigerator put into his office for cold sodas. One day, while filing the fridge with sodas, Emily noticed that there was medicine in the refrigerator. Vince later told her that the medicine was a steroid that needed to be refrigerated.
The prosecution asked her if she ever purchased steroids for Hulk Hogan. She said "yes," and explained how it worked. When the shipment would come in, Vince would separate the steroids, and give some to his driver. The driver would then take the "package" to Hogan at the Meadowlands, the Nassau Coliseum, and Madison Square Garden. This happened on numerous occasions. On the occasions where the driver didn't take the package to Hogan, Feinberg would Fed Ex the packages to Hogan's home. She said that she never sent the packages to Hogan on her own. Vince would divide up the steroids, and then ask her to send the shipment to Hogan. She said that Vince McMahon started to use steroids while Hogan was filming "No Holds Barred" during the summer of 1988.
The prosecution asked about other note pad entries. December 7, 1988 had a note read "Needles and stuff." Emily explained that note meant that Vince needed needles and steroids. December 20, 1988 read "B-12 and rigs," which meant that Vince needed injectable Vitamin B-12, steroids, and needles. December 29, 1988's note also asked for "B-12 and rigs." An entry on December 30, 1988 asked "rigs at TV? B-12 and rigs again." The translation of this note meant that she needed to find out if Vince needed her to pack steroids and needles for him to take with him to the TV tapings. March 20, 1989 had a note that read "Give Hulk stuff." The note was reminding her to give Hogan steroids. April 10, 1989's note had a one word entry, "rigs," which meant that Vince needed more needles and steroids. A day later, Emily entered a note stating "Call Hulk rigs," which was telling her to call Hogan to see if he needed more needles and steroids. October 11, 1989, "Zahorian 1 ½ rigs, batch of deca, 4 bottles of HCG personal $530.00." This note was translated as Vince needed her to order a certain gauge of needles, more steroids, and four bottles of HCG. October 16, 1989's note read "Zahorian," which meant to call Zahorian to place an order. October 18, 1989, "Zahorian deca Zahorian" was telling her to order decadurabolin from Zahorian. She admitted that Dr. Zahorian sent her steroids, and she passed them down to Hulk Hogan. Emily said that he and Linda heard that Zahorian was being investigated from an attorney friend of theirs, and that he got word to the boys not to use Zahorian anymore.
Her notes included no entries about steroids in the year 1990. In January 1991, Vince wanted anything in the files that related to Dr. Zahorian to be destroyed. On January 25, 1991, he wanted to check the Fed Ex roster to see if there were records of steroid packages that were sent by Zahorian. The two put together a memo stating the steroid laws and letting the wrestlers know that if they were using steroids for treatment of injuries, they needed to carry a prescription with them. The prosecutor told the court that this memo was drafted on the same day that Vince asked for all of the records on Zahorian be destroyed. There was a January 28, 1991 note that listed the message "check roids correspondence." This note meant that Vince didn't want anything in the office that was traceable to Zahorian or steroids. She said that Vince was mad that some wrestlers were still using Zahorian as their steroid supplier. She told the court that Vince had a bunch of steroids left from his last cycle, and asked if she would take them home until "things died down." She thought that she threw them all away, but later found one vial. The vial was then tested. On March 29, 1994, the vial was found to contain decadurabolin. The serial number on this vial was identical to the serial number on a vial of decadurabolin that was bought by William Dunn from Dr. Zahorian on October 18, 1989 when Dunn was working as police informant, indicating the vial came from Zahorian.
On cross-examination, Emily told the court that she had visits from government officials on five different occasions, and around 15 phone calls from them regarding the case. She said that her attorney told her that they should initially contact the government. She testified that she talked to the government the day before she started testifying. She said that she told them about the steroid shipments and distribution for Hulk Hogan. She admitted that the government did not inform her of the questions that she would be asked on the stand. She told McDevitt that she didn't keep any logs of her calls with the government. In early 1990, Vince McMahon contacted hepatitis. Emily admitted that it was at that point that Vince stopped using steroid. Feinberg talked about the vial of decadurabolin that she found after talking to the government. She said that she found it underneath some ski clothes, and was surprised when she saw it. She said that she didn't immediately turn the vial over to the government. However, once she realized that the vial could be a key piece of evidence, she turned it in. Emily told the court that she held on to Vince's steroids when he was using them. She said that the time frame of Vince's final steroid cycle was from October 18, 1989 until December 19, 1989. Her December 1989 notes did not indicate any knowledge about Zahorian being investigated by the government. Emily admitted that she heard about the investigation in the fall of 1990. She said that in December 1989, Vince never asked her to destroy in records. Emily said that she didn't remove steroids from McMahon's office until after he contracted hepatitis. McDevitt then asked Emily about each individual package sent to Feinberg from Zahorian. He wanted to know the answers to a few questions. Did she know the packs contained steroids? Did she order the shipments? Did she talk to Zahorian about the shipments? Did she see Vince give steroids from these shipments to Hulk Hogan? The packages in question were from June 18, 1988, July 21, 1988, and December 21, 1988. She couldn't remember anything regarding the shipments.
Her recollection of a package from April 13, 1989 was just as fuzzy. She couldn't remember if she ordered it directly with Zahorian, or if she saw what was in the package. She didn't know if Vince opened the package in front of her, if he sent parts of the package to Hogan, if Jim Stuart delivered any part of the package to Hogan, or if she Fed Ex'ed it to Hogan.
McDevitt then compared Emily's grand jury testimony to her trial testimony. In her grand jury testimony, she said that she ordered steroids for Hogan three times. However, in her trial testimony, she said that she ordered steroids for him about six to seven times. During her grand jury interview, she said that she saw Vince divide the steroids between his stash and Hogan's, and one time he took some of the contents out and gave them to Jim Stuart. McDevitt said that Emily talked about Stuart's deliveries , but didn't say anything about the Fed Ex shipments during her grand jury testimony. However, in her trial testimony, she talked about the Fed Ex deliveries.
She had no memory in regards to the May 11th, and May 16th packages. When asked about the October 24th package, Emily said that she said Zahorian for decadurabolin and HCG. She admitted to calling Zahorian and ordering needles, a batch of deca, and four bottles of HCG. She never mentioned Hogan to Zahorian. However, she said that some of the package's contents went to Hogan. However, she couldn't remember if it was sent to a local arena, or to his house. She said that she went to the finance department in order to pay for the package. She wasn't sure if this was the shipment of steroids that she took home with her, but said that she did take home 15 vials of steroids. When asked how it was decided how much steroids Hogan would get from the packages, Emily said that it was Vince's decision. McDevitt asked if the shipment was delivered to Hogan. She said yes, but wasn't sure if it was Fed Ex'ed or delivered by Stuart.
McDevitt then talked about the grand jury testimony again. McDevitt said that in this testimony, Emily said that she saw McMahon "physically separate the bottles" and was given some of the bottles to give to Stuart to deliver to Hogan. McDevitt pointed out that the October Nassau Coliseum show was held on October 20th. Therefore, the package could not have been for that show. Emily said that she didn't remember if she talked to Hogan about the October 24th shipment. However, in her grand jury testimony in December 1992, admitted the roids were ordered by Hogan, and that except for the October 24th package, she never ordered steroids from Zahorian.
Emily said that she destroyed the cover letter for the first time she wrote to Zahorian was because she was told to destroy all of the documents. However, she admitted that was the only document she destroyed. Emily told the court that she destroyed drug-testing records in March 1991 because "things were getting too hot," even though McDevitt pointed out that the government had yet to subpoena their records.
McMahon's other attorney, Laura Brevetti, was next to question Emily Feinberg. She tried to get the jury to believe that Emily Feinberg, a former Playboy Playmate, was an actress playing a character in this trial. Emily said that she is not an actress. She said that she was a model. Emily admitted to appearing in a promotional video, but there was no script. Therefore, she did not consider t acting. Brevetti tried to imply that Brevetti was "dressing down" in court to hide her appearance, and that she didn't dress that way when she was working for Titan Sports. Emily countered Brevetti's argument by stating that she has worn that particular outfit many times to the Titan Sports offices when she worked there. Emily said that McMahon admitted to her that Hogan taught him how to use steroids while he was in Atlanta for the filming of Hogan's movie "No Holds Barred." Emily told the court that McMahon never ordered steroids for anyone besides Hogan and himself. She also admitted that Vince never told any wrestlers that they should use steroids. Brevetti mentioned that a note in Emily's steno pad had a message stating "check roids correspondence. She said that the word "destroy never appeared on the note. Emily told Brevetti that Vince wanted her to destroy all records referring to Dr. Zahorian.
Emily talked about the January 25, 1991 memo that was sent to the wrestlers. She said the note was sent to help explain the new laws in making steroid possession illegal. Emily said that she believed that she accompanied Vince McMahon to the Nassau Coliseum card. This testimony countered Pat Patterson earlier claim that Vince only went to house shows that took place at Madison Square Garden. Emily did not recall if she had seen Vince McMahon in possession of steroids in Nassau County after April 13, 1989. Emily told the court that she never opened and divided the contents of a package when it arrived. Nor did she open a package first, as McMahon always opened it first. Brevetti mentioned a note inn Emily's steno notes that talked about Hogan's merchandise. Emily said that she would not have done that. Emily also denied that Vince and Linda were vacationing in Europe together on April 13th. However, it was later proven that the McMahons were in Europe on vacation from April 12-17, 1989. She didn't think that she was in Los Angeles with Vince the next week. Although, it was proven that was when she shot the promotional video in LA. Brevetti tried to prove that the April 11th note regarding Hogan was due to a letter that she sent to Hogan based on his disagreement over whether he or the company should have to pay for two charter flights that he used to take back home from the matches.
The defense entered into court a copy of a letter that was sent to Hogan, which stated that $5,000.00 would be deducted from his next paycheck for the flights. Emily's employment at Titan Sports ended in September 1991, yet she received her full salary for a year after the termination. Her husband, a script write for Titan Sports, left the company in August 1992. The duo were negotiating for continued payment after Emily's husband left the company. Brevetti told the court that Emily's lawyer asked for her to receive payments after 1992. Emily countered that "We (Emily and her husband) were offered the payments." Brevetti said that they demanded it. When Emily said that she doesn't remember a demand, the defense showed a letter that was sent by Emily's attorneys asking for payment. Emily said that it wasn't a demand, but more a part of the negotiation process. Brevetti informed the court that Emily was offered immunity for her testimony. Brevetti talked about Emily's grand jury testimony. In it, Emily said that no packages with steroids were ever Fed Ex'ed to Hogan. Emily finished her testimony with the defense saying that she didn't write down every steroid distribution act in her note pad.
On July 14th, the first witness to take the stand was Detective Gregory Taylor. Detective Taylor was a police officer with the Lower Paxton Police Department in Harrisburg, PA. The reason he was brought to the court room was to show a vial of decadurabolin that was obtained when Bill Dunn bought it from Dr. Zahorian on October 18, 1989 which matched the serial number of the steroid that was in Emily Feinberg's possession.
The next witness that was about to testify was the biggest star in wrestling history. Read next week's edition of "The Piledriver Report" when we examine the testimony of Hulk Hogan.
Sources that were used for this article included "The Wrestling Observer" newsletter.
