Previously reported by Se og Hor about Shaman Durek

For almost a year, Durek Verrett, 45, has been the girlfriend of Princess Märtha Louise (48). But for eight years, the self-proclaimed shaman was Hank Greenbergs (47) great love. Durek and Hank worked together, lived together - and fought for Durek's life together. The couple were intending to get married - but it ended in a violent break.

Only days after the relationship with Princess Märtha became known, Durek's lawyer tried to silence Hank. But Greenberg refused - his life wasn't for sale.

Se and Hør meets Hank Greenberg at a hotel outside San Francisco. The place is not randomly chosen, this is where Durek Verrett grew up and spent important adolescence with his father and sister. After the break with Durek, Hank has moved to Arizona, and he has flown in to California to meet with Se og Hør.

He kindly welcomes us at the Marriott San Manteo Airport Hotel together with Susana von Radic, Durek's former mentor and teacher. She has sons of the same age as Durek, and they were friends in their adolesecent years. Susana still lives in the same area outside San Francisco with her husband.

Hank meets us with a friendly look and a firm handshake. We talk about everyday things, and our respective flights. And then we discuss the premise of the interview that we film and record. Susana is present during parts of the interview with Hank to support him.

The story of Hank and Durek started in 2008. Hank lived in Los Angeles, and he met Durek in a support group for gay men.

- After a while, Durek and I began to meet also privately. A few months after our first meeting, we went on a trip to Las Vegas together, Hank says.

Here, Durek told Hank that he liked him extremely well and that he wanted them to be boyfriends. Only when they were back in Los Angeles did Hank learn that Durek was seriously ill.

- He said he had kidney failure and had to take dialysis three times a week. And then he said that if I didn't want to be with him due to his health problems, it would be perfectly understandable. But I had my own health challenges, and I saw no reason to let this stop us, Hank says.

Hank Greenberg is HIV positive. He was diagnosed as long ago as in 2002. And he did not hide this from Durek. The 48-year-old is an advocate for HIV-positive people to be open and honest about this to their loved ones, especially sexual partners.

- When I was in my 20s, people lied to me and said they were not infected. I found out much later that I was HIV positive myself. It turned out that I had unfortunately taken some risks. Of course, I wouldn't have done that if I had known better, he says openly.

Although it is impossible to determine for sure when Hank was infected, he is reasonably sure who infected him.

- I was somewhere I shouldn't have been. I was drugged and abused. Six months after this incident, I was diagnosed, he tells Se og Hør.

He and Durek were in love and moved in together. At that time, Hank worked as a mortgage loan originator in a bank in Los Angeles. But when the market became bad in 2008, and he began to work with Durek.

- We became equal partners in the Shaman Durek project, says Hank.

Although Durek was the front figure, Hank was an equally important part of the business. Both were, among others, radio hosts at the radio station "Indie 103.1".

In one of the programs, Durek talked about their relationship:

- Our way of being partners can be an example for others. We put a common stamp on everything we do. It's not just me, it's his stamp on it, too. So if anyone has a problem with something, it's with both of us. We are a united front, he said in the 2010 clip that can be found on YouTube.

The company grew, and Durek became more and more famous. But his health deteriorated, and dialysis limited his life. In addition, he had several complications that tapped the couple for both strength and money.

The doctors had made a special vein in Dureks arm, called a fistula, to make the dialysis process easier. In 2011, this vein burst, and Durek could have died. He received lifesaving help in the ambulance, and spent 22 days in hospital. He then had to undergo two more operations. For a long time after this, he was unable to work. Thus, much of the responsibility for the company fell on Hank.

In the midst of this dramatic time, Durek's sister, Angelina Verrett, 46, decided to donate a kidney to her little brother. They had known for several years that she was a matching donor. But it was not until 2011 that she decided to give her brother the vital organ.

- According to Angelina, Durek had a very bohemian lifestyle before he and I met, where he was with many different men and women. But now he said that with me he was monogamous. Angelina told me she wanted to give away her kidney just as much for my sake, as for his, Hank tells Se og Hør.

The operation itself was covered by the state. But, all the extra costs associated with Angelina's sick period – not to mention the reconvalence for Durek - had to cover themselves. That is why Hank organized several fund raisers, both physically and on the internet. He says they received almost $ 100,000 in total, including $ 20,000 through a fund raiser on the IndieGoGo website - which has later been deleted.

On October 2, 2012, Angelina's one kidney was removed and inserted into her little brother's body. The operation was successful. But the harmonious future Hank envisioned never became a reality.

According to Hank, Durek changed his personality after the kidney transplant.

- Before, he treated me with care and respect. Now it was as if I suddenly didn't mean anything anymore. He said I could only leave if I didn't deal with him. But I had now become financially dependent on the company we had built, and I felt powerless in my own life. Durek and I had had our ups and downs before too. But now he was very controlling and at times manipulative. I felt that in a way he was dealing with mental abuse. In hindsight, I can't understand that I let myself stay, Hank says.

- After he got the kidney, he told me that before the operation he had been unfaithful to me on two occasions. In addition, he said that he did not believe in monogamy, it was only a lie he had told me when we met. Now Durek was determined he wanted him to have an open relationship, with several sex partners, Hank says.

Greenberg first believed that Durek's new thoughts on their relationship were related to finally getting rid of his kidney problems.

- I tried to accept what he said, but it was tough. But I let it pass in the first place, Hank says.

In later interviews, Durek has confirmed that he and Hank disagreed on what their relationship should be.

- I was in a relationship with a man. It was a wonderful experience and I will always love him. But he just wanted to be with men. It's okay, but for me, unconditional love is important, so it didn't work, Durek told Dagbladet Magasinet last year.

Durek still has the ability to fall in love with people of both genders.

- Am I attracted to men? Yes. Am I attracted to women? Yes, but it is based on love. There is masculinity and femininity in both women and men, and I stand for love regardless of gender. That's why I love Märtha because she understands this by me. There are both woman and man in me, there are many things in me. I'm an interesting person, Durek said in the same interview.

And he does not hide that he is fond of sex. In an episode of the podcast "Ancient Wisdom Today" released in October last year, he shared intimate details about his sex life. Here he said that he and his girlfriend - who he does not mention by name - have sex three or four times a day, and that he made sure he did not have orgasm himself.

- We can stay for a couple of hours if you want, I don't care, but I won't come. Afterwards I go and meditate, stretch and do all such things, was among the things Durek said in the podcast. It didn't take many days for the episode to be deleted.

- As I know him, he is sex-addicted, says Hank.

He and Durek stayed together for three years after the kidney transplant. But the relationship declined, as the business flourished. Hank trained as a massage therapist, to expand the services that their company - Heaven & Earth - could offer.

On January 3, 2015, the turning point came. Police were called to the house where Durek and Hank lived in North Hollywood. Se and Hør have a copy of the police documents, which show that Durek was arrested, suspected of mistreating his partner Hank.

- It was a terrible day. From that morning he was just ... I think he wanted me to be upset. It seemed like he had decided that we should argue, Hank says of the dramatic day.

The couple had agreed on a financial deal should they one day split up. And now Hank told Durek that he wanted out of the relationship.

Gradually, the quarrel evolved to become physical.

- Durek attacked me. He grabbed my throat and threw me through the room. I got a shock. In hindsight, my injuries could have been much worse. After all, he was twice the size of me, Hank says openly.

Finally, uniformed police arrived at the door.

- Actually, it was Durek who called the police. He told them I had gone crazy - and he was trying to get me arrested. I think he engineered this situation to get out of the financial deal we had agreed upon, Hank says.

Police report in their report that when they arrived at the scene, both parties cried. In addition, Hank was "apologetic and upset", while Durek was "angry". The police also write that they had to physically separate them in order to take up explanations.

Hank told police officer Morrow that he had been attacked by Durek. While Durek told police officer Martinez that Hank had been injured on a broken chair when he himself tried to throw it after Durek.

There were no independent witnesses nearby when the victim received his injuries. But police officers concluded that "Verret's statements did not match the victim's injuries”.

Hank believes it is important for Durek's aggressive sides to become known.

- Durek can get very angry. If he doesn't get what he wants - and can't talk himself out of it - he can react with being physical, Hank says.

Asked Se og Hør if anyone can confirm this, Greenberg says:

- People have seen me in New York with a blue eye after he hit me in the face. But I told everyone that I had walked to a door in the kitchen ... On another occasion he hit me in the face with a tray, he has forcibly thrown me into a pool - and he has pushed me hard into a re. Things like that, says Hank.

Hank always had a good excuse for others for why he was hurt. He never said that it was Durek who had done something to him.

And even after the dramatic situation when the police moved into their home, Hank decided to bite it. This despite the police documentation.

- Why?

- I saw this as an opportunity to get out of the relationship, he says.

The next day, therefore, Hank went to the prison where Durek sat. Hank paid bail for Durek - with Durek's credit card. Together they went back to their rented house, where they talked calmly about how to handle the break.

 In peace and friendliness, they continued to work together, and Durek is to have paid Hank $ 2000 a month, in line with their financial agreement. They went to Iceland on a job trip. But when Durek wanted to move to Turkey for a period, Hank refused. He went to New York instead, where he continued his education in massage.

At the same time, he wanted to put the bad times behind him. He did not want the police episode to become a permanent stain on Durek's record.

- This why I wrote a letter that Durek should bring to court. Here I asked them to dismiss the case because Durek had been on strong medication for his kidney. The drug use could have fueled his anger, Hank says.

The case was dismissed.

But the financial agreement between the exces was never written down, something Hank should regret dearly.

– Eight months after the break, Durek called me and said he wouldn't pay any more, Hank says.

 - Later I heard that he told mutual friends that we had never had an agreement, and that he had given me some money just as a charity. He also claimed that I suffered from delusions.

When Hank got together with Durek, the self-proclaimed shaman I to have spoken in the same derogatory way about his previous girlfriend.

- He said she was completely crazy and that she was just looking to make life difficult for him, Hank recalls.

But the story of Durek and Hank doesn't end here. When Hank worked as a massage therapist in Chicago in 2017, he himself experienced a bad reaction to new medications.

- There was fog in my brain. It was a scary experience! When I got better, I wrote an email to Durek. I wrote that I might have judged him too harshly, that it might have been Durek's medication that had changed him. And I asked if we could have a friendly relationship again. I mean not as friends, but if we could amiceable, says Hank.

Durek appreciated the initiative, and booked Hank for a massage the next time he was in Chicago.

The ex-couple is to have met again the next day at a mutual friends house. Since then they have not seen each other - but Durek made contact again after he got together with Märtha.

By then, Hank had already been contacted by several media outlets when the relationship between the princess and the shaman became known.

- No comment, I told everyone. No comment, no comment, Hank says.

- Then Durek contacted me. He was pretty angry - and said that if I talked to the press, they would harass me and my family. In addition to spreading lies about me, Hank claims.

Hank received a comprehensive confidentiality agreement from Durek's lawyer Jo-Nå A. Williams, which VG has previously written about.

- I didn't sign it. I called the lawyer and said that I could sign it for our company if Durek repaid the student loan I had to take up while we were together. But signing a confidentiality agreement that applied to every second of the eight years we were together - so I would never be able to talk about that part of my life - was out of the question. My life is not for sale, says Hank.

There was no deal.

- Durek then accused me of blackmail. I just replied "have a good life", Hank continues.

The day after, he got a call from the British newspaper Daily Mail, to whom he commented: "I love Durek dearly and wish him well, but I have nothing good to say about him."

This is how he still feels. Once upon a time, Hank sincerely believed that Durek's intentions and purpose was to help other people. As he worked his way further out of the relationship, doubts came.

Today, he is certain that his ex-fiancée is not a good person.

- I think he has the ability to obtain information about people, whether through his so-called guides - or whether he researches people online. But I think he uses this information to control people. As soon as he wins their trust, they will believe in anything, he says.

He thinks Durek has things in common with modern sect leaders.

- Durek has a lot of fans who believe in him and who he surrounds himself with. It is a kind of cult that is completely brainwashed and that lives and breathes for his universe. They follow him slavishly - and his words are his law. This scares me. I was that way too. Fortunately, I got out, he says.

- Shouldn't you have reacted to this earlier?

- I was completely brainwashed. It was so bad that my parents told me several times that they didn't recognize me. They said I was completely changed. But at that time I didn't understand what they meant. Unfortunately.

Today, Hank lives in Phoenix, Arizona. He is still working as a massage therapist, and is planning a wedding with his new partner, Joseph Colombo.

Hank is happy that his relationship with Durek is over. But he is worried that his ex-boyfriend will hurt others.

- Durek's last girlfriend tried to warn me when we were together, says Hank. - I wish I had listened to her. Now I feel that Princess Märtha Louise should receive the same warning.

- Is that why you have agreed to talk to Se og Hør?

- Yes. I want to warn both her and others against Durek - he is not the man he pretends to be.

Hank is fully aware that Durek is likely to dismiss what he says now, with it just being the lies of a vengeful ex-girlfriend.

- I honestly tried to stay out of this. But lately, I've been told things that indicate that Durek hasn't changed since we were together. And I feel it is my duty as a human being to speak up, says Hank.

One of those who has given Hank new information about Durek, from both the time they were together and the time afterwards, is Susana von Radic.

She first met Durek when he was in his mid-teens. She has sons of the same age - and they were friends in the same area. She feels sad to see the path Durek has chosen for his life.

- To me, it may seem like Durek lacks the feelings you usually have when you say you love someone. He is controlling and manipulative, she says.

In several interviews and podcasts, Durek has told how Susana was one of the most important people in his development to become a shaman.

– I have had wonderful teachers who have helped me develop my skills, such as Susana von Radic and many others that I admire and respect, he said in an interview with the Turkish newspaper Cumhuriyet, which is published on his own website.

- I tried to teach Durek that he should be an honest and good person. It may seem like all this has been lost, Susana says to Se og Hør.

Susana got to know Durek when he was named Derek. She already had an open door for teenagers in the neighborhood - whether they were friends or not by her children. Many needed a little extra care - and a place to be.

Durek and Susana had last contact in November last year. By then, a childhood friend of his, who was also among the youths in Susana's house, had learned that Susana was affected by a rare form of blood cancer. This childhood friend still believes in Durek's healing abilities.

- He called Durek and asked him if he could help me, because I'm dying of this disease. I was told that Durek's reaction was "No, I don't want to help her. She has denied me”, Susana tells Se og Hør.

Susana does not think Durek has healing abilities. But she thinks that everyone who is convinced that he has, should know that he has refused to try to heal her from her blood cancer.

- I think Durek is dangerous for Princess Märtha Louise. He is totally erratic, and he can persuade people to do things that are not good. People are afraid of him - he has brainwashed them into believing that he has these powers. He is a manipulative man, she says.