October 25, 2024 • 10 mins
The Exorcist was a best-selling book and an iconic movie over 50 years ago. But the true story that inspired it is even more chilling…and still unexplained. And the story of the child who at the center of the exorcism is even more amazing.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
No, lie. This is kind of a dark spine shiller
of a story from decades ago. It's one of the
most infamous exorcisms in modern history. It was the inspiration
for one of Hollywood's most iconic horror movies, The Exorcist.
But the real story is even more disturbing and to
this day still shrouded in mystery. I'm Patty Steele. The
(00:22):
terrifying exorcism of a fourteen year old boy who went
on to become a NASA engineer. That's next on the backstory.
We're back with the backstory. We all know the story
of the Exorcist, the terrifying voice, the rotating neck yack,
the projectile green pea soup vomit. But here's a thing.
(00:46):
There's actually a true story that inspired both the novel
and the movie. Okay, it's the winter of nineteen forty nine.
Roland Doe, whose real name Ronald Hunkler, was protected for many,
many years. As a fourteen year old boy living with
his family in Cottage City, Maryland, just outside Washington, d C.
(01:07):
Now at the time, he was devastated by the death
of his much loved aunt, Harriet. She wasn't just an
aunt to him. She also introduced him to the world
of spiritualism and the paranormal. She taught Ronald how to
use a Wigi board to communicate with spirits. Then Aunt
Harriet dies suddenly. Ronald is broken hearted and decides to
(01:29):
use the Wuci board to reach out to her. This
is where it gets really weird. Instead of feeling comforted,
strange stuff begins to happen, small things at first. There
are scratching noises sort of echoing through the walls of
the family's home. The noise is faint at first, but
as the days go on, it gets louder and more persistent.
(01:51):
What is it? It sounds like something or someone is
clawing at the walls from inside them. They call an exterminator,
but they can't stop it, and they begin to realize
that something much much stranger is going on now. It
amps up. Furniture begins moving across the room on its own,
(02:14):
chairs fall over, and all sorts of household objects fly
off shelves with no one touching them. Worse yet, Ronald's
bed shakes violently during the night, as if something is
trying to throw him out of it. The family's terrified
has no idea what to do. Ronald becomes more of
a focus for whatever or whoever is doing something in
(02:38):
this house. He sits in a room, stays perfectly still,
and yet dishes suddenly crashed to the floor, and the
air in the room becomes insanely cold. The family tries
to ignore it, but it only gets worse, so the
Hunklers turn to their Lutheran pastor, Reverend Schultz. He hears
the stories, but like most people skeptical, he decides to
(03:02):
check out what's going on in person by going to
the house. He later said he witnessed something that changed
his life forever. He was sitting with Ronald, he saw
the boy's chair slide across the floor by itself. Books
start flying off the shelves, and then the scratching noise
fills the room. A pastor is shocked and suggests the
(03:25):
family ask for help from the Catholic church. The Hunklers
reach out and Pastor Schultz gives his account, so the
church begins an investigation. They assigned Father Albert Hughes to
the case, and he agrees to perform an exorcism. It
becomes an incredibly harrowing experience for him. Father Hughes meets
(03:46):
with Ronald at Georgetown University Hospital to perform the exorcism,
but as soon as it begins, Ronald's whole demeanor changes.
He becomes violent. He screams, curses, thrashes around. Father Hughes
tries to restrain him, but Ronald breaks free, pulls a
metal bedspring from the bed, and slashes the priest's arm
(04:07):
with it. Father Hughes, who's badly wounded, has to abandon
the exorcism. He later said he had encountered something truly evil,
beyond human comprehension, So what's next. Ronald's situation gets worse.
He becomes more erratic and disturbing. He slips into trances
(04:28):
and speaks in strange voices that sound deep, guttural, and nasty.
He starts reacting violently whenever a crucifix or holy water
is brought near him. Finally, deep scratches appear on his
body that form words across his rib cage is scratched
the name Lewis. His mother has family in Saint Louis,
(04:48):
and she decides she'll move Ronald there temporarily, hoping that
a change of environment will fix things. She and her
husband question when they should leave and watch as the
word Saturday suddenly appears scratched into their son's hip. When
they question how long they should stay, the words three
and a half weeks appear. They claim no one, including Ronald,
(05:12):
had scratched those words into him. Does the move help?
No such luck. At his relatives home in Saint Louis,
it gets even worse. The relatives, who were devout Catholics,
reach out to the church again and are connected to
a Jesuit priest named Father William Bowden. He's asked to
perform an exorcism on Ronald, and he knows it's a
(05:33):
dangerous undertaking. They're rarely performed, but after hearing the stories
and witnessing some spooky phenomena himself, Father Boden agrees to help.
The series of exorcisms begin in March of nineteen forty nine.
They last for several weeks, probably three and a half weeks,
and are documented in meticulous detail by Father Bowden and
(05:56):
another priest, Father Ray Bishop, who keeps a diary detailing
what happens. Those details are enough to send chills down
your spine. The exorcisms take place at the home of
Ronald's relatives and also at the Alexian Brother's Hospital in
Saint Louis. Folks watching include a number of priests and doctors,
(06:18):
say Ronald's behavior is terrifying. His body convulses and contorts,
bending in ways that seem kind of impossible. He speaks
in Latin, a language he's never even study any chance, blasphemous, nasty,
and mocking words. Suddenly, words start appearing scratched into Ronald's
skin again. The words hell and evil appear carved across
(06:41):
his chest and arms, and the witnesses say they saw
these scratches appear in real time. During the exorcisms. Father
Boden and the other priests believe there's a demonic presence,
and they pray and recite ancient rites to drive it away.
They say Ronald's voice would take a low course, growling tone,
and then shift into a high pitched childlike voice, taunting
(07:05):
and ridiculing them. The room would fill with strange smells,
like sulfur and rotting flesh that seemed to come out
of nowhere. He'd scream when they placed crucifixes and rosaries
around him, and when they sprinkled him with holy water,
he'd thrash and convulse like it was burning his skin.
The exorcisms go on for weeks, each lasting for hours
(07:26):
at a time, but the priests refused to give up. Then,
on April eighteenth, nineteen forty nine, during one of the
final exorcism sessions at the hospital, something odd happened. Ronald
was screaming and thrashing when suddenly he stops. The room
is still, and then a different calmvoice says, I am Archangel, Michael.
(07:48):
He commands the demon to leave. The priests say there
was a sudden, violent thrashing from Ronald and a loud,
ear piercing scream, and then it was over. Ronald collapsed,
exhausted but calm. When he woke up, he was at peace,
as if he'd just woken up from a nightmare. He
calmly said he's gone, and that was it. Ronald went home,
(08:13):
back to school, and for the rest of his life
never had another episode. More than two decades later, the
author William Blattie, who had studied the story at Georgetown University,
decided to adapt it for his nineteen seventy one novel
The Exorcist. It was a huge success, as was the
nineteen seventy three movie The film had a twelve million
(08:34):
dollar budget, but has taken in over four hundred and
forty million dollars over the years. But what happened to
Ronald Hunkler? Some skeptics say he may have had epilepsy
or a severe mental illness, possibly schizophrenia, but he had
no history of that, either before or after the alleged possession.
(08:54):
Or maybe he was acting out around all those powerful
religious people surrounding him. But there are questions that don't
seem to have answers, like how did Ronald speak fluent
Latin when he'd never studied the language? What caused the
scratches to appear on his skin as others watched? And
what about the furniture and the other objects moving around
and levitating on their own? Again, the rest of Ronald's
(09:18):
life had no connection to that horrifying past. He grew up,
and he became a prominent engineer for NASA, whose work
on the Apollo space missions of the nineteen sixties included
the first moon landing in nineteen sixty nine. He also
patented technology that helped space shuttles with stand extreme heat.
After Ronald died in twenty twenty one, a close friend
(09:40):
said he was always afraid his coworkers at NASA would
find out about his past. He lived with terrible worry
about it. He retired from NASA in two thousand and one.
While Ronald Hunkler never publicly admitted to being Roland Doe,
he did get married and he named his first son, Michael,
after the archangel the priests claimed had driven out his demon.
(10:07):
I hope you like the Backstory with Patty Steele. I
would love it if you'd subscribe or follow for free
to get new episodes delivered automatically, and feel free to
dm me if you have a story you'd like me
to cover. On Facebook, It's Patty Steele and on Instagram
Real Patty Steele. I'm Patty Steele. The Backstories a production
(10:27):
of iHeartMedia, Premier Networks, the Elvis Durand Group, and Steel
Trap Productions. Our producer is Doug Fraser. Our writer Jake Kushner.
We have new episodes every Tuesday and Friday. Feel free
to reach out to me with comments and even story
suggestions on Instagram at Real Patty Steele and on Facebook
at Patty Steele. Thanks for listening to the Backstory with
(10:49):
Patty Steele. The pieces of history you didn't know you
needed to know.
No, lie. This is kind of a dark spine shiller
of a story from decades ago. It's one of the
most infamous exorcisms in modern history. It was the inspiration
for one of Hollywood's most iconic horror movies, The Exorcist.
But the real story is even more disturbing and to
this day still shrouded in mystery. I'm Patty Steele. The
(00:22):
terrifying exorcism of a fourteen year old boy who went
on to become a NASA engineer. That's next on the backstory.
We're back with the backstory. We all know the story
of the Exorcist, the terrifying voice, the rotating neck yack,
the projectile green pea soup vomit. But here's a thing.
(00:46):
There's actually a true story that inspired both the novel
and the movie. Okay, it's the winter of nineteen forty nine.
Roland Doe, whose real name Ronald Hunkler, was protected for many,
many years. As a fourteen year old boy living with
his family in Cottage City, Maryland, just outside Washington, d C.
(01:07):
Now at the time, he was devastated by the death
of his much loved aunt, Harriet. She wasn't just an
aunt to him. She also introduced him to the world
of spiritualism and the paranormal. She taught Ronald how to
use a Wigi board to communicate with spirits. Then Aunt
Harriet dies suddenly. Ronald is broken hearted and decides to
(01:29):
use the Wuci board to reach out to her. This
is where it gets really weird. Instead of feeling comforted,
strange stuff begins to happen, small things at first. There
are scratching noises sort of echoing through the walls of
the family's home. The noise is faint at first, but
as the days go on, it gets louder and more persistent.
(01:51):
What is it? It sounds like something or someone is
clawing at the walls from inside them. They call an exterminator,
but they can't stop it, and they begin to realize
that something much much stranger is going on now. It
amps up. Furniture begins moving across the room on its own,
(02:14):
chairs fall over, and all sorts of household objects fly
off shelves with no one touching them. Worse yet, Ronald's
bed shakes violently during the night, as if something is
trying to throw him out of it. The family's terrified
has no idea what to do. Ronald becomes more of
a focus for whatever or whoever is doing something in
(02:38):
this house. He sits in a room, stays perfectly still,
and yet dishes suddenly crashed to the floor, and the
air in the room becomes insanely cold. The family tries
to ignore it, but it only gets worse, so the
Hunklers turn to their Lutheran pastor, Reverend Schultz. He hears
the stories, but like most people skeptical, he decides to
(03:02):
check out what's going on in person by going to
the house. He later said he witnessed something that changed
his life forever. He was sitting with Ronald, he saw
the boy's chair slide across the floor by itself. Books
start flying off the shelves, and then the scratching noise
fills the room. A pastor is shocked and suggests the
(03:25):
family ask for help from the Catholic church. The Hunklers
reach out and Pastor Schultz gives his account, so the
church begins an investigation. They assigned Father Albert Hughes to
the case, and he agrees to perform an exorcism. It
becomes an incredibly harrowing experience for him. Father Hughes meets
(03:46):
with Ronald at Georgetown University Hospital to perform the exorcism,
but as soon as it begins, Ronald's whole demeanor changes.
He becomes violent. He screams, curses, thrashes around. Father Hughes
tries to restrain him, but Ronald breaks free, pulls a
metal bedspring from the bed, and slashes the priest's arm
(04:07):
with it. Father Hughes, who's badly wounded, has to abandon
the exorcism. He later said he had encountered something truly evil,
beyond human comprehension, So what's next. Ronald's situation gets worse.
He becomes more erratic and disturbing. He slips into trances
(04:28):
and speaks in strange voices that sound deep, guttural, and nasty.
He starts reacting violently whenever a crucifix or holy water
is brought near him. Finally, deep scratches appear on his
body that form words across his rib cage is scratched
the name Lewis. His mother has family in Saint Louis,
(04:48):
and she decides she'll move Ronald there temporarily, hoping that
a change of environment will fix things. She and her
husband question when they should leave and watch as the
word Saturday suddenly appears scratched into their son's hip. When
they question how long they should stay, the words three
and a half weeks appear. They claim no one, including Ronald,
(05:12):
had scratched those words into him. Does the move help?
No such luck. At his relatives home in Saint Louis,
it gets even worse. The relatives, who were devout Catholics,
reach out to the church again and are connected to
a Jesuit priest named Father William Bowden. He's asked to
perform an exorcism on Ronald, and he knows it's a
(05:33):
dangerous undertaking. They're rarely performed, but after hearing the stories
and witnessing some spooky phenomena himself, Father Boden agrees to help.
The series of exorcisms begin in March of nineteen forty nine.
They last for several weeks, probably three and a half weeks,
and are documented in meticulous detail by Father Bowden and
(05:56):
another priest, Father Ray Bishop, who keeps a diary detailing
what happens. Those details are enough to send chills down
your spine. The exorcisms take place at the home of
Ronald's relatives and also at the Alexian Brother's Hospital in
Saint Louis. Folks watching include a number of priests and doctors,
(06:18):
say Ronald's behavior is terrifying. His body convulses and contorts,
bending in ways that seem kind of impossible. He speaks
in Latin, a language he's never even study any chance, blasphemous, nasty,
and mocking words. Suddenly, words start appearing scratched into Ronald's
skin again. The words hell and evil appear carved across
(06:41):
his chest and arms, and the witnesses say they saw
these scratches appear in real time. During the exorcisms. Father
Boden and the other priests believe there's a demonic presence,
and they pray and recite ancient rites to drive it away.
They say Ronald's voice would take a low course, growling tone,
and then shift into a high pitched childlike voice, taunting
(07:05):
and ridiculing them. The room would fill with strange smells,
like sulfur and rotting flesh that seemed to come out
of nowhere. He'd scream when they placed crucifixes and rosaries
around him, and when they sprinkled him with holy water,
he'd thrash and convulse like it was burning his skin.
The exorcisms go on for weeks, each lasting for hours
(07:26):
at a time, but the priests refused to give up. Then,
on April eighteenth, nineteen forty nine, during one of the
final exorcism sessions at the hospital, something odd happened. Ronald
was screaming and thrashing when suddenly he stops. The room
is still, and then a different calmvoice says, I am Archangel, Michael.
(07:48):
He commands the demon to leave. The priests say there
was a sudden, violent thrashing from Ronald and a loud,
ear piercing scream, and then it was over. Ronald collapsed,
exhausted but calm. When he woke up, he was at peace,
as if he'd just woken up from a nightmare. He
calmly said he's gone, and that was it. Ronald went home,
(08:13):
back to school, and for the rest of his life
never had another episode. More than two decades later, the
author William Blattie, who had studied the story at Georgetown University,
decided to adapt it for his nineteen seventy one novel
The Exorcist. It was a huge success, as was the
nineteen seventy three movie The film had a twelve million
(08:34):
dollar budget, but has taken in over four hundred and
forty million dollars over the years. But what happened to
Ronald Hunkler? Some skeptics say he may have had epilepsy
or a severe mental illness, possibly schizophrenia, but he had
no history of that, either before or after the alleged possession.
(08:54):
Or maybe he was acting out around all those powerful
religious people surrounding him. But there are questions that don't
seem to have answers, like how did Ronald speak fluent
Latin when he'd never studied the language? What caused the
scratches to appear on his skin as others watched? And
what about the furniture and the other objects moving around
and levitating on their own? Again, the rest of Ronald's
(09:18):
life had no connection to that horrifying past. He grew up,
and he became a prominent engineer for NASA, whose work
on the Apollo space missions of the nineteen sixties included
the first moon landing in nineteen sixty nine. He also
patented technology that helped space shuttles with stand extreme heat.
After Ronald died in twenty twenty one, a close friend
(09:40):
said he was always afraid his coworkers at NASA would
find out about his past. He lived with terrible worry
about it. He retired from NASA in two thousand and one.
While Ronald Hunkler never publicly admitted to being Roland Doe,
he did get married and he named his first son, Michael,
after the archangel the priests claimed had driven out his demon.
(10:07):
I hope you like the Backstory with Patty Steele. I
would love it if you'd subscribe or follow for free
to get new episodes delivered automatically, and feel free to
dm me if you have a story you'd like me
to cover. On Facebook, It's Patty Steele and on Instagram
Real Patty Steele. I'm Patty Steele. The Backstories a production
(10:27):
of iHeartMedia, Premier Networks, the Elvis Durand Group, and Steel
Trap Productions. Our producer is Doug Fraser. Our writer Jake Kushner.
We have new episodes every Tuesday and Friday. Feel free
to reach out to me with comments and even story
suggestions on Instagram at Real Patty Steele and on Facebook
at Patty Steele. Thanks for listening to the Backstory with
(10:49):
Patty Steele. The pieces of history you didn't know you
needed to know.
Host
Patty Steele
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