David Marius Guardino
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David Marius Guardino | |
|---|---|
| Born | August 24, 1942 San Jose, California, U.S. |
| Died | May 10, 2007 (aged 64) Fort Worth, Texas, U.S. |
| Occupation(s) | Psychic, fraudster |
| Years active | 1972–2006 |
David Marius Guardino (August 24, 1942 - May 10, 2007) was a psychic of some repute in Oregon, Las Vegas and Tennessee, in the 1980s and 1990s. He pleaded guilty to fraud charges in 1988 and was convicted of tax evasion in 2007.
Born on August 24, 1942, in California, Guardino was the eldest among six siblings to Mariano J. (Monte) Guardino and Harriet Smith Guardino. The family later settled in Oregon, fostering a deeply devout Catholic upbringing for the children. Guardino pursued his education at Southern Oregon College, earning a degree in Philosophy before embarking on a career in social work.[1][2] He eventually moved to Las Vegas when he began to work as a psychic, then to his wife's hometown of Lenoir City.[3]
First using the pseudonym Jamil,[1] David Guardino became known in the 1970s, billing himself as the World's Greatest Psychic and the Psychic to the Stars. From his home in Oregon, he moved to Las Vegas, to Tennessee.[4]
He claimed to possess the power of telekinesis, or psychokinesis to read people's magnetic fields, an ability he believes has been bestowed upon him and other psychics by a divine being.[4] Guardino allegedly used his powers to influence people through spells (he called those "whammies"), such as targeting politicians to pass legislation.[3]
In the early 1980s, Guardino used classified advertising in newspapers to recruit clients, claiming to be a business consultant as well as "the world's greatest psychic". The ad copy claimed he was proficient in predictions and used psychokinesis.[5] The Copley newspaper chain ran regular columns featuring Guardino answering questions from readers.[6][7] In the same period, Guardino promoted the concept of using hypnosis as a birth control method for women.[8]
Guardino claimed to have conducted a séance at Graceland in 1982, during which he communicated with the deceased Elvis Presley. This was contradicted by a spokesperson of the corporation managing Graceland, who said there was never any séance held on the site.[9][10] Other notable people Guardino says he had post-mortem conversations with include Abraham Lincoln, Natalie Wood, Freddie Prinze, Marilyn Monroe, John Lennon and Adolf Hitler.[11][1]