M. LaMar Keene

Morris Lamar Keene was a spirit medium in Tampa, Florida, Camp Chesterfield, Indiana, and Lily Dale, New York, where he was known as the "Prince of the Spiritualists." Keene coined the term "true-believer syndrome" in his book The Psychic Mafia in which he confessed that he, and many of his colleagues, were essentially con artists using trickery rather than actually consulting spirits. After publication of his book, he received death threats. In 1979, as he was leaving his office, he was very seriously wounded in a drive-by shooting. He lived the rest of his life under a sort of self-imposed witness protection.