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January 08, 2014

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Franita Tolson

I wonder how Tom died, only because I have a hard time picturing someone who lived this type of life dying of natural causes. What a bizarre and fascinating story.

Michelle Meyer

Franita, you're correct (it seems). From CeCe Moore's blog post, some details about Tom's death and the University of Utah's (non)response to these revelations:

Tom is in an early grave due to alcoholism (perhaps brought on by a guilty conscience?) and the clinic in question is no longer in business. When contacted and informed of Tom’s alleged treachery, the University of Utah claimed that he was, in fact, a “popular donor”. With his criminal background, this seems highly doubtful. When pressed for his donor number, they have been unable or unwilling to supply it to [the wife], [the daughter] or even Tom’s widow, although all should be legally entitled to it if it indeed ever existed. [The wife] was reportedly told that they were unable to release it due to privacy concerns. However, when Tom’s widow requested it, which is her right as his next of kin, she was reportedly told that they did not have that information. (Sperm donor registries were searched under the name of the clinic and the university for any donors fitting Tom's description - none were found.) Further, the university has so far declined to contact the families who conceived at this clinic during the years that Tom worked there and advise them of the situation.

L. Nielson

Tom Lippert was my next door neighbor during the 1990's and I can confirm that he was heavily dependent on alchohol, paranoid and delusional. He also had violent tendencies. Beyond that, he made references to people that he knew could 'hurt' you and told wild stories of 'mafia' type that were after him. Along with other neighbors on our street, we suffered substantial property damage as a result of his own personal terror campaign against us. He was always clever enough to avoid being caught. Eventually we were forced to move. There is so much more to tell about our story as victims of this deranged individual, however the point I'd like to make is that it is easy to think that Miss Cochran felt intimidated in 1975 and was indeed afraid for her and her family's safety. I have no doubt that the threats he made were visceral and real. He must have terrified her at the innocent age of 21.

Nancy Leong

Fascinating story. I have nothing to say, except to thank you for sharing it.

Michelle Meyer

The family members have now gone fully public, identifying themselves as Pam, John, and Annie Branum of Texas. You can watch an interview with them here: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/fertility-fraud-discovered-20-years-later-it-almost-seems-surreal/

The video also includes a brief segment with Tom Lippert's widow, who says she is not surprised at the allegations and suspects that he probably deliberately substituted his semen for clients' multiple times. For more from her, see http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/01/10/utah-sperm-switchers-thomas-lipperts-widow-he-threatened-my-life-every-day/

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