REAL EXORCISMS GONE DEADLY: True Cases of Demon Possession That Ended in Tragedy

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:07):
While many of us think of exorcisms as a thing
for the movies, the fact is that many more real
life casting out of demons take place than we might think.
Even the most well known of such movies, The Exorcist,
was inspired by real life events. And what's more, the
background to these real life encounters with demonic entities from

(00:29):
other realms and their attempts to take over the bodies
of others is that they all differ greatly, both in
circumstance and location. What is particularly interesting about many of
these alleged cases of demonic possession that have led to
attempts to perform extricisms is that many of them have

(00:49):
further reaching and often tragic consequences. Indeed, if we believe
that part of possession is for a spirit to have
a person do their bidding against their will and, at times,
according to testimony, their knowledge, than many of the cases
here could very well be argued to be demonic possession. However,

(01:12):
there is also a fine line to tread, a line
between recognizing mental illness and the medical treatment that could
confront it, and entertaining the possibility that something more unexplained
and even otherworldly, might be behind some of these fascinating,
if grim cases. I'm Darren Marler and this is Weird Darkness.

(01:47):
Welcome weirdos. This is Weird Darkness. Here you'll find stories
of the paranormal, supernatural, legends, lore, the strange and bizarre, crime, conspiracy, mysterious, macabre,
unsolved and unexplained coming up in this episode. Demonic possession.

(02:10):
It's real and sometimes even more terrifying than even Hollywood
can portray. A demon can take hold in a variety
of ways and show itself in a variety of forms,
and sometimes when a case is deemed to need an extorcism,
the spiritual battle that takes place can appear worse than

(02:31):
the possession itself, both during the extorcism and in its aftermath. Now,
bult your doors, lock your windows, turn off your lights,
and come with me into the weird Darkness. While we

(03:05):
clearly would not have the time to examine each and
every case of apparent demonic possession that resulted in extorcisms,
we can look at some of the most intriguing as
well as accounts that had very real consequences, either for
the person possessed or those around them. Perhaps the best
place to start would be with the real life events

(03:27):
that inspired arguably the most famous film portraying possession and extorcism,
The Exorcist. The movie was based on the book of
the same name by William Peter Bladdie, and his inspiration
came from two very real cases of demonic possession. It
is claimed that one of the encounters occurred in nineteen

(03:48):
forty nine in Cottage City, Maryland. Several newspaper articles appeared
telling of the apparent demonic possession of a young boy,
most often referred to as Robbie. In most articles, not
only had Robbie become possessed, but he eventually underwent an
exorcism thanks to a Jesuit priest. According to most accounts,

(04:10):
Robbie was from a German Lutheran family that had been
introduced to spiritual interests through his aunt Harriet, including the
use of a Wisa board. However, following the death of
his aunt, the entire family, including Robbie, began to experience
terrifying encounters and a surge of strange paranormal activity. Objects

(04:33):
would suddenly lift into the air as if by a
pair of invisible hands, and strange noises could often be
heard in the property. Furniture would also move across the
floor completely under its own volition. Even more alarming were
the episodes of levitation, where the young boy would float
in the air unaided. It is thought by some researchers

(04:56):
that the newspaper's source of information was the family's own pastor,
Luther Miles Shultz. Instead, it was Schulz who the family
turned to when the strange events began happening. One researcher
and author who has extensively investigated the case is Thomas B. Allen,
who would detail his findings in the book Possessed, the

(05:18):
True Story of an Exorcism, and it is his research
that provides much of what we know about the case today.
A place a link to that book in the show notes.
Following the start of these unsettling events, the family reported
them to their pastor, Luther Miles Shultz and asked him
for his help. He agreed and arranged to have Robbie

(05:40):
stay at his home for the night so he could
observe him. This also gave Shulls the chance to see
if the strange activity followed the young boy to his house.
This would, apart eliminate the possibility that events had been
orchestrated by the boy or the family. It was reported
that Shulls did indeed witness strange activity on the night

(06:00):
Robbie spent at the house. He claimed to have seen
furniture and ornaments and other household items moving by themselves,
as well as strange, unnerving noises. Ultimately, he advised the
family that they should contact a Catholic priest and seek
them to perform an extorcism. It is here where the

(06:21):
story becomes a little murky. According to most accounts, several
extorcisms were attempted over the following days and weeks, with
most sources stating that at least one of these was
performed by a Catholic priest, Edward Hughes. The exorcism was
said to have taken place at the Jesuit Georgetown University Hospital.

(06:42):
It is said that during the evening, Robbie, who was
restrained for his own safety and everyone else's, freed himself
and broke a bedspring from the mattress before proceeding to
use it to slash Hugh's arm. Following the attack, the
extorcism was immediately brought to a close. Following this first
extorcism attempt, the family decided to take matters more into

(07:05):
their own hands. They took Robbie with them to Saint
Louis to visit relatives and to consult with a priest
and professor at Saint Louis University. After learning of the case,
it was brought to the attention of Jesuit priest William Bowderen,
who made arrangements to visit the family while they were
in Saint Louis. He too, would claim to have witnessed

(07:25):
many strange events while in the house, including objects being
thrown through the air and the bed shaking furiously of
its own accord. Perhaps most disturbing, however, was the time
the young boy would speak in a strange language in
a voice that sounded unlike his own. After having witnessed
the strange events, voter And arranged for another extorcism to

(07:48):
be performed, this time at the Alexian Brothers Hospital in
Saint Louis. Incidentally, one of the last surviving people who
witnessed the events was Jesuit priest Walter Halleran, who was
called in to assist voter And with the extorcism. Remarkably,
he would later attest to seeing such words as evil
and hell appear on the young boy's body during the extorcism.

(08:13):
There were, he would further claim, many other scratches and
markings that appeared on his body as if out of nowhere.
Those present also witnessed the mattress of the bed shaking uncontrollably.
At one point, Robbie lashed out and broke Hallarin's nose.
The extorcism appeared to have worked, however, and according to
the account, Robbie blended back into anonymity and was never bothered,

(08:37):
at least to the best of public knowledge, by such
paranormal phenomena. Again, speaking decades later before his death, though,
Hollerin stated that although he was there and that the
events did happen, he could not go on the record
to state that the boy was definitely possessed because he
didn't feel he was qualified to do so. To some people,

(09:00):
this was a discrete sign of skepticism on Hallarin's part.
Whether that is the case or not is not fully known.
The case, though, is hard to pin down as completely
factually accurate. Perhaps the best place to start when examining
the validity of such claims is with the family's pastor,
Luther Miles Schulz, and the fact that he had an

(09:21):
intense interest in parapsychology. While this isn't necessarily proof that
he might have gone into the case with a biased
mind and intentionally or not reported on things that were
proof of strange phenomena, it is certainly a charge that
has been leveled by skeptics, not least in light of
the refusal by Hollerin to confirm on record that the

(09:44):
young boy was possessed by an evil spirit. It is
perhaps worth noting that parapsychologist JB. Rhin was also at
least partially skeptical of the events reported by Schulz, specifically
those at his home, stating that it was possible, but
he unconsciously exaggerated some of the events that evening. We

(10:05):
should also note, however, that strange paranormal happenings were witnessed
by many people, with around forty people being present for
the eventual Lecturecism alone. One researcher who took an interest
in the case and was ultimately very skeptical of the
claims was Mark of Sasnik. He would highlight that Halarin,
despite what had been reported, had not heard the boy's

(10:28):
voice changed to one that was not his own, and
that Absasnik suspected that the Latin phrases and words he
used were likely once he had heard from the priests themselves.
He essentially believed that Robbie was merely an attention seeking
prankster who had orchestrated the events. Opsasnik would even highlight
the words and scratches that suddenly appeared on the young

(10:51):
boy's body. He noted how none of those present, including Hallarin,
checked Robbi's fingernails to see if he had in fact
made the scratches himself. That something happened would appear to
be not in doubt. Whether those events were of a
true paranormal nature is perhaps open to debate. True or not,

(11:12):
Though the reports of the events still served to inspire
the movie The Exorcist, truly unsettling events from sixteen thirty
four in Louden also served to inspire Bladdy. According to
most accounts, several nuns claimed they were possessed by evil
spirits following persistent illicit dreams they had concerning a particular

(11:36):
priest named Urban Grandier. It's claimed that during the extorcism
of these nuns, they made many blasphemous statements and even
made sexual motions. Toward the priests themselves. These actions sound
almost identical to some of the scenes in the movie
and were undoubtedly responsible for influencing them. Perhaps of even

(11:58):
more concern, Grandier was eventually arrested and accused of wrongdoing himself,
being subject to various torture methods of the church coming up.
It's another famous and questionable case, one that is altogether

(12:22):
a lot more harrowing and one that even disturbs me
after hearing how it ends. That's next on Weird Darkness.

(12:54):
The apparent possession and exorcism of Annalise mckel in Bavaria,
West Germany and nineteen seventy five and nineteen seventy six
also inspired several movies, perhaps the most well known being
The Extorcism of Emily Rose in two thousand and five,
almost three decades after the ultimately tragic events unfolded. Mckel

(13:16):
grew up in a Catholic family who were particularly strict
in their beliefs, but largely had a normal upbringing. Then,
for no reason that could be determined, when she was
sixteen years old, she suddenly blacked out at school. Following
this episode, she appeared to be in a permanent daze
or trance. When she finally returned to normal, she claimed

(13:40):
to have no recollection that anything strange had happened. The
incident was largely forgotten about until a year later, when
she again awoke in a strange trance like state, this
time convulsing and even wetting the bed once more. She
recalled no memory of the episode when she came to time,

(14:00):
but her family now looked to seek medical help. She
was ultimately diagnosed with temporal lobe epilepsy. This condition causes blackouts, seizures,
and on occasion hallucinations. With regular medication, her condition could
be controlled and she continued her education at the University
of Wurtzburg. However, as her first year unfolded in nineteen

(14:23):
seventy three, the drugs began to fail increasingly and she
became more and more withdrawn. Even worse, she was beginning
to hallucinate strange devil faces watching her, as well as
hearing voices telling her she was damned. It was during
this time that Annalise began to increasingly believe that a

(14:46):
demonic entity had possessed her, one that was becoming more
and more powerful as the days and weeks went on,
and what's more, she believed it was a problem that
medication couldn't help with. It was noted by those around
her that Anelise was increasingly unable to enter Christian buildings

(15:07):
or even be mere Christian symbols such as a crucifix.
In part due to her own rantings, as well as
the observations of friends and family, others began to consider
that she might in fact be possessed by some evil force.
Both Annalise and several family members approached multiple priests to
examine the case and perform an extricism. However, all would decline,

(15:31):
stating that it was in her best interests to continue
with medical treatment and that she should return to the
doctor to alter her medication. Perhaps because of this refusal,
or perhaps whatever entity had taken control of her, If
indeed that was the case, her mental state and overall
condition began to deteriorate rapidly, and she would act in

(15:53):
the most extreme way. She would, for example, tear her
clothes from her body at random moments, or carry out
hundreds of squats without stopping. On other occasions, she would
hide under the table or behind furniture, often making animal noises.
One particularly grim incident saw her bite the head off

(16:16):
a dead bird. As a result of this continuing and
escalating behavior, the family sought the help of another priest.
Only this time the priest in question, ernst Alt, agreed
that she was possessed by an evil spirit and claimed
that an exorcism was warranted. It would be a claim
that would be examined years later in a court of law.

(16:40):
Ernest Alt would seek permission from his local bishop, Joseph Stangel,
to perform an extorcism on Analise. His request was granted,
It was to be performed by another priest, Arnold Wrens,
and most importantly, it was to be carried out in
absolute secrecy. What followed was a ten month period during

(17:00):
which dozens of exorcisms were performed, with some of these
lasting upwards of four hours at a time. Some of
the revelations of these extorcisms were as bizarre as they
were thought provoking, not least the assertion put forward by
Annalise herself that she was possessed by no less than
six demons, each of which she named Lucifer, Cain, Judas Iscariot,

(17:27):
Adolf Hitler, Miro and a disgraced priest named Fleischmann. She
further claimed that these entities were jostling between themselves to
fully take over her body. As intriguing an idea as
it might be that such specific historical figures might be
behind attempts to possess a person, it may be a

(17:48):
red flag that Annalise's problems were more mental than paranormal,
or at least her perception of them. This is something
will return to shortly. Perhaps more unnerving, though, was the
repeated ideas from Analse that she should die to quote
atone for the wayward youth of the day in the
apostate priests of the modern Church. As the extorcisms went on,

(18:13):
Analise's condition continued to decline. She would eat less and less,
eventually stopping altogether. She had to be restrained physically so
for most of the extorcisms, and she even broke the
bones in her knees from the vast numbers of hours
she spent knelt praying. In total, sixty seven separate exorcisms

(18:35):
were carried out on Analse before her death on July one,
nineteen seventy six. It was determined that she had died
from dehydration and malnutrition, essentially intentionally or not. She had
been starved to death and a little over eighteen months
after her tragic demise, the circumstances around her death, and

(18:58):
more specifically, the those who were around in her final months,
would find themselves at the center of a legal court trial.
Following the investigation into her death, her parents, as well
as the two priests, ernst Alt and Arnold Wrens, were
arrested and charged with negligent homicide. In short, their actions
and failure to intervene and seek medical assistance, particularly when

(19:22):
the young woman stopped eating, had directly resulted in her death.
The case came to trial in March nineteen seventy eight
and had captured the interest of the entire country, and
the picture painted by the prosecution was not a pretty one.
They claimed that it was clear that Annelise was not possessed,

(19:42):
and that her belief that she was possessed came from
a combination of her temporal lobe epilepsy, which remember, she
had been diagnosed with, and her upbringing in such a strict,
unforgiving religious environment. While the defense argued that the extorcisms
had been legal and protected under the count T's rights
to religious beliefs, even the bishop who had authorized the

(20:04):
extorcisms to go ahead, distanced himself from them, stating that
if he had been aware of Annalise's medical diagnosis, he
would not have given permission for them to go ahead.
All of those accused were found guilty of the charges.
What's more, they were each given suspended prison sentences. What's
interesting about this, especially as the case that sparked intense

(20:28):
debate in the West German media about the church's outdated
attitude to what was essentially mental illness, is that these
sentences were much more than what the prosecution had asked for,
which was merely a fine and a guilty verdict. It
showed how seriously the authorities were looking at such attitudes
from the Catholic Church, and almost certainly as a result,

(20:50):
the number of extorcisms authorized in the country dropped dramatically. Ultimately,
whether Analyse was possessed or not, and it was the
process Cushin's assertion that she wasn't, there were ample occasions
where intervention from either her parents or either of the
priests could have saved her life, even in the final days.

(21:12):
In a strange twist of sorts, though decades after the case,
on June sixth, twenty thirteen, the house in which Annalis
lived and where she endured the months of torturous extorcisms,
suffered a significant fire, and while the damage was repairable
and judged to be a case of arson, many rumors

(21:32):
began to swirl that the flames were caused by her
spirit and must still reside within the walls of the building.
Around the same time as the Analise mackel case across
the English Channel in Osset in West Yorkshire in England,
another similarly disturbing encounter unfolded. The incident involved a butcher,

(21:54):
Michael Taylor, who had been displaying questionable behavior throughout much
of nineteen seventy four. Although most knew him as a kind,
married man and the father of five children, he also
suffered from bouts of depression, in part due to his
persistent back trouble. Although the Tailors were not particularly religious,

(22:14):
many of the local town were, and a friend of
the family suggested they join them at a church group meeting,
the Christian Fellowship Group, in an effort to help Michael's depression.
Much to his wife, Christine's surprise, Michael appeared to take
to the group, attending regularly and being an active contributor.

(22:35):
He particularly struck up a relationship with the group's twenty
one year old pastor, Marie Robinson, who was ten years
his junior. In fact, he spent so much time with
Marie that his wife would eventually confide in other members
of the group that she believed he had desires of
having an affair with her. When it came to light
that he and Marie had engaged in several private rituals

(22:57):
involving only the two of them, Christine Zane only became
all the more concerned, even more so when she learned
that these rituals only took place when there was a
full moon. As Michael spent less and less time at
home at an increasing amount of time with Marie, Christine,
feeling more and more desperate, put her concerns to Michael

(23:20):
at one of the group meetings in front of all
those present. It is at this point when the tale
really takes a dramatic turn. Michael would claim that an
evil influence had cast a shadow over him, before going
on to launch a volatile verbal assault on Marie. At
one point, he went to physically attack her and had

(23:41):
to be restrained by other members of the group for
her part, Marie would say that she saw his whole
features change right before her eyes, and that he had
become almost besteal with a really wild look in his eyes.
Perhaps amazingly, Michael would later claim to have no memory
of the incident. Ultimately, the group forgave him for the

(24:03):
outburst and the matter was officially at least put to bed. However,
the worst was still to come. Despite their efforts to
forget about the bizarre episodes, it quickly became apparent to
all those in the group that there was something wrong
with Michael. What's more, rather than getting better or even stabilizing,

(24:25):
he was clearly becoming worse. When local ministers were asked
to overlook the situation, the genuine question of whether he
might indeed be possessed by a demonic entity was discussed,
and ultimately it was decided that an extorcism would be
in his best interests. Two of the ministers themselves would
perform the extorcism, Peter Vincent and Raymond Smith, which took

(24:49):
place just short of midnight on October fifth, nineteen seventy four,
at Saint Tham's Church in Barnsley. Throughout the extorcism, Michael
would react violently convulsing, spitting, and screaming obscenities. The extorcism
lasted right into the next morning, during which time some
questionable activities were carried out, such as pushing a crucifix

(25:13):
forcibly into his mouth and drenching him repeatedly with holy water.
After several hours of this, Michael had become almost animalistic,
lashing out and even growling at anyone who approached him.
Several members of the group were present and later attested
to such events. They claimed there were over forty spiritual

(25:35):
entities inside Michael, and that while they had managed to
cast out most of them, several remained. After eight hours
of the session, the two priests had to halt the
proceedings due to exhaustion. They suggested that both Michael and
Christine should rest and they would begin the extorcism again
the following day. It was an extorcism that never happened.

(25:59):
Just before ten am on October seventh, p. C. Ian
Walker was driving his patrol car down the street upon
which the tailors lived. To his shock, there in the
middle of the road, naked, looking confused and covered in blood,
was Michael Taylor. As Walker stopped the car and cautiously
approached Taylor. He lay on the ground and curled up.

(26:21):
Walker recalled he was saying, repeatedly, quote, it is the
blood of Satan. By the time Walker had taken in
more of the activity on the street, he noticed another
police car already parked outside the property. He learned that
neighbors had called the police due to a disturbance coming
from the Taylor house. When the policeman walked toward the property,

(26:43):
he suddenly saw his inspector rush out the front door.
He stood there a moment and then doubled over and vomited.
He would offer to Walker that he quote didn't want
to see this one, continuing that he had never seen
nothing like it before. He would further elaborate that whatever
Taylor had done, he had ripped at her and that

(27:04):
there was not much of her left. When Walker stepped inside,
despite his inspector's warning, he realized that the her in
question was Christine Taylor, Michael's wife. The living room was
a scene of absolute chaos and destruction, with blood splattered
and washed upon almost every wall and surface. There was

(27:28):
also what appeared to be brain matter on the floor.
Close by was the body of Christine Taylor and the
family dog. Each of them was barely recognizable. It would
later come to light that around nine thirty am, only
minutes before the arrival of the police car and then
p C. Walker, Michael Taylor had strangled his wife before

(27:49):
tearing and clawing at her face, almost tearing it off completely.
Both of her eyes were completely gouged out, and her
tongue was ripped from her jaw. Parts of the bone
of the face were clearly visible from what must have
been a frenzied attack. Their unfortunate pet dog had seemingly
suffered a similar brutal attack, with damage to all four

(28:11):
of its limbs. Needless to say, Michael was arrested and
taken into custody. Once there, he would begin to reveal
just what had happened and why. When they asked Michael
to tell them what had happened, he began by telling
them of the extorcism the previous day. According to police records,

(28:31):
at his statement, he would state that those who had
performed the extorcism had danced around him and kept him
in the church all the way through the night. Then
he would state the power was in him and that
he couldn't get rid of it, and neither could they.
It was perhaps the last part of that initial response
that was the most chilling. He would offer to the

(28:51):
officers that it was too late and that he was
quote compelled by a force within me to destroy everything
living within the house. During the course of the questioning,
he would claim that he loved his wife deeply and
could remember nothing whatsoever about the attack. However, when he

(29:12):
was asked how he felt right then at that moment,
he would reply, perhaps ominously, that he felt released and
that the evil in her has been destroyed. He was
swiftly charged with Pristine's murder and remanded in custody to
await trial. The crime quickly drew national attention from the newspapers,

(29:33):
and given the background to the case, combined with the
recently released film The Exorcist, many people took an intense
interest in the upcoming trial. The trial itself began in
March nineteen seventy five, and Michael, again testifying in his defense,
claimed that he had no memory of killing his wife
and that he was under the influence of dark, evil forces.

(29:56):
He further offered whether sincere or not that his wife,
whom he claimed to have loved, dearly was also possessed
by an evil entity. His defense also turned their attention
to the Christian Fellowship prayer group, who they essentially likened
to a cult, and went further claiming that the group
had lit the fuse of the eventual horrific murder with

(30:19):
their warped religious ideals. Defense lawyer mister Agnall would be
particularly blunt when he stated that, quote, we submit the
tailor as a mere cipher. The real guilt lies elsewhere.
Religion is the key. Those who have been referred to
in evidence in those clerics in particular, should be with
him in spirit now in this building, And each day

(30:39):
he is incarcerated in broad Bore, and not least on
the day he must endure the bitter reunion with his
five motherless children. Powerful words, no doubt, Might they be accurate?
Might the private rituals between Marie Robinson have been a
catalyst of sorts that resulted in murder? Just what were

(31:00):
these rituals and why did they take place? And what
of the eager nature with which the local ministers went
ahead with an exorcism. An exorcism that appears to be
more in line with the methods of the inquisition of
the dark ages. Whatever the case, Michael Taylor was ultimately
found not guilty of murder due to reason of insanity.

(31:23):
He was sentenced to two years and broad More Secure
Hospital legally declared insane by the state. After these two years,
he was transferred to Bradford Royal Infirmary and was ultimately
released back into the public in the early nineteen eighties.
We have to ask if Michael Taylor was suffering from
genuine insanity. Was he really rehabilitated to a satisfactory degree

(31:47):
in just four years and above all else, was he
really possessed by an evil entity that temporarily took over
his thoughts and actions for its own ends, or were
these blackouts genuine signs of mental illness on Taylor's part.
It is perhaps worth noting that Taylor was brought back
before the court in two thousand and five on the

(32:10):
charge of indecently touching a teenager and was ultimately ordered
back into psychiatric care once more. What's interesting about this
grim affair is Taylor had said to the police when
he was arrested that it was all his fault and
asked if he was going back to Broadmoor for killing
his wife he had, by all accounts, continued to display

(32:31):
on behavior when he returned to live in Asset following
his release back into society, and he would seemingly continue
to suffer from depression, even attempting to commit suicide on
at least four separate occasions. Was Michael Taylor mentally unwell,
so much that at one stage he blacked out and

(32:52):
brutally murdered his wife, a woman he maintained he deeply
loved decades after her murder. Or was he really subjected
to the powers of some dark force that overtook him completely,
leaving him no memory of the attack his body had
been used to carry out. It is a case that
continues to fascinate many in different fields, from those of

(33:14):
psychiatry and criminology, and those who contemplate that the notion
of demonic possession has more validity to it than many
people would like to even consider. Incidentally, the attempted extorcism
of Michael Taylor was the last such ritual connected to
the Anglican Church, at least officially, which came under quite
an attack from commentators and the general public. And while

(33:37):
they stand their ground as well as distancing themselves from
the notion of extorcisms, there's little doubt that the entire
episode reflected badly on them. Much earlier than the other
extorcisms we've examined so far, is another such casting out
that took place in nineteen twelve in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with

(33:59):
the extorcism of Anna Ecklund. In truth, although the first
extorcism took place in nineteen twelve, the bizarre events stretched
back some years. Perhaps the first rumblings that strange events
were heading their way came as far back as the
late eighteen nineties, when Anna was still a teenager. During
this time, she would suddenly begin withdrawing from any religious

(34:23):
symbols or books, and could not physically bring herself to
even step into a church. Even worse, she had also
began to describe particularly detailed sexual acts and use foul language,
seemingly at random. Furthermore, she would often speak in languages
that she didn't know, including Latin and German. A decade later,

(34:45):
in nineteen oh eight, and after a steady continuous decline
in her behavior, another apparent revelation swept through the Milwaukee community.
According to this new information, the girl's father and her
aunt practiced witchcraft. And it was they who were responsible
for her blasphemous behavior. Ultimately, several medical professionals examined Anna,

(35:06):
but could find no physical or psychiatric reason for her displays.
By nineteen twelve, with all other apparent avenues exhausted, the
family and local community would turn to the church for help.
An exorcism was granted and was performed by Father Theophilus Reisinger. Initially,
it appeared as though the extorcism had been a success. However,

(35:28):
after several months, the strange happenings surrounding Anna returned, and
they were even worse than before. Local rumors swirled that
Anna's father and aunt were once again behind the strange
encounters of the terrified young woman, claiming that put some
kind of spell or curse on her from afar. These

(35:49):
bizarre experiences would go on for almost twenty years until
in nineteen twenty eight, Anna, desperate for help, turned to
Father Reisinger for help. Once more, Reisinger would agree to
help Anna, He would also request several other priests adept
in extorcism, to help him in his attempts to cast
out this evil presence once and for all. The exorcism

(36:13):
would take place on August seventeenth, nineteen twenty eight, at
a Franciscan sister's convent, and according to the records of
the event, the activity was immediate and intense. Anna immediately
reacted badly to the holy water and recoiled away from crosses.
Even more unsettling, she would often make hissing noises like

(36:34):
a cat about to strike, and at one point was
claimed to have walked up the walls like a spider
before being forced down and restrained on the bed. Even
once restrained, she still managed to levitate a considerable distance
from the bed. Throughout the extorcism, she would let out
howls and screams, and she would vomit an ominous liquid.

(36:58):
Even more alarming, though, were the physical chain to her
appearance that were witnessed by those present. Her head and
lips swelled noticeably, while her eyes bulged in their sockets
in an unnatural way. Some people reported that her entire
body appeared to increase in size right before their eyes
before returning to its normal dimensions, and this happened on

(37:20):
several different occasions. There were three separate exorcisms in total,
which took place over a period of twenty three days
during the course of those sessions, the priests believed that
at least four different spirits were seeking to take possession
of Anna's body, with one of these claiming to be
Bills above himself. However, it was two of the lesser

(37:43):
known spirits that were perhaps most revealing. It was believed
that they were the spirits of her father and aunt,
who had since passed away. It would appear, despite the
intense nature of the exorcisms, that they were ultimately successful.
Suddenly sat up as if she'd been snapped out of
a trance. Her case is perhaps one of the most

(38:06):
credible on record, and certainly one that warrant's further study
up next. It's a two thousand and eight case where
the church actually turned the demon possessed person away, handing

(38:28):
her off to mental health practitioners at first. Anyway, without

(38:55):
a doubt, one of the most intriguing cases of apparent
demonic possession hapened in more recent times in two thousand
and eight, when a woman in New York, referred to
in reports as Julia, approached her church claiming she was
possessed by an unknown spirit. Unable to help, the church
would turn to psychiatrists for their opinion on the matter.

(39:17):
One such person who learned of the case was doctor
Richard Gallagher, the Associate professor of Clinical psychiatry at New
York Medical College. He would interview Julia and investigate the
background to her claims. Amazingly, he began to suspect that
Julia wasn't making the whole thing up, nor could mental
illness explain the bizarre happenings. For example, Julia would often

(39:41):
respond to his questions in voices that were clearly not
her own. She would also behave in drastically different ways
to her usual demeanor. Strangest of all, any kind of
religious artifact or symbol caused her to recoil. Gallagher also
noted that Julia would go into trance like states, and

(40:01):
it was often while in these states that vile language
and threats were made, often in voices that were clearly
not hers. He would elaborate that these voices were often
guttural and vaguely masculine. Perhaps most disturbing to doctor Gallagher, though,
was that during phone conversations he would have these same
strange voices would appear on the line out of nowhere,

(40:24):
and then disappear again. Convinced more than ever, that Julia
was experiencing something of a paranormal nature, and exorcism was arranged,
which Gallagher attended. What he witnessed that evening would turn
his belief system on its head. As the exorcism progressed,
Gallagher witnessed Julia levitate, while the room itself would become

(40:46):
intensely hot. Items would also fly off shelves, while Julia
herself would speak in different languages and even demonstrate personal
details of those in attendance even stranger. When normal war
was sprinkled over her, she was unconcerned, But when the
same thing was done with wholly blessed water, something that

(41:07):
she had not known, she reacted violently. Perhaps most remarkable, though,
was that after the extorcism, she appeared to be free
of whatever demon or spirit had taken hold of her.
Although he couldn't explain them, doctor Gallagher, a man of
mainstream science, was convinced that the encounter was something truly

(41:28):
out of the ordinary and unexplainable. As we can see, then,
while there are certainly some cases where possession may not
have been the cause of some of the bizarre behavior
we've examined, others cannot so easily be dismissed. Of course,
whether that means that the notion of a person being
overtaken by an evil spirit or entity is accurate or

(41:51):
whether it's the result of the complexities of the human
mind remains open to debate. Perhaps the idea of demonic
possession is so far removed from the twenty first century
thought process that the notion is immediately dismissed without consideration. Indeed,
what was and currently still is, at least to some

(42:12):
still regarded as essential dark magic and occult powers may
one day eventually be explained by science. Of course, whether
that means our understanding of possession shifts our collective scientific
perspective is perhaps yet to be determined. The cold, hard
fact of the matter is that belief in demonic possession

(42:32):
remains in place right across the world, if only to
some people, and more often than not, many people who
claim or are believed to be possessed are subjected to harsh,
often unforgiving, and tragic rituals, rituals from which they sometimes
don't survive. Thanks for listening. If you'd like to learn

(43:06):
more about the dangers of demons and what to do
about them, I presented a half hour message on this
topic back in November of twenty twenty two in my
other podcast, Church of the Undead. I'll place a link
to the episode in the show notes if you'd like
to listen to it. If you like Weird Darkness, please
share it with someone you know who loves the paranormal
or strained stories, true crime, monsters, or unsolved mysteries like

(43:29):
you do. All stories on a Weird Darkness are purported
to be true unless stated otherwise, and you can find
links to the stories or the authors in the show notes.
Demon Possession and Extorcisms was written by Marcus Louth for
UFO Insight. Weird Darkness is a registered trademark copyright Weird Darkness.

(43:50):
And now that we're coming out of the dark, I'll
leave you with a little light Ephesians six, verse twelve.
For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but
again aginst the rulers against the authorities, against the cosmic
powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of
evil in the heavenly places. And a final thought, the

(44:12):
dmon is a liar. He will lie to confuse us,
but he will also mix lies with the truth to
attack us. His attack is psychological Damien and powerful William
Peter Bladdie, author of the Exorcist. I'm Darren Marlin. Thanks
for joining me in the weird darkness.

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