March 5, 2025 • 27 mins
In a remote Romanian monastery in 2005, a chilling ritual led to the death of a young nun—and shocked the world.Was it a case of religious zeal gone too far, or something even more sinister?
This is the story of the Tanacu Exorcism: a haunting collision of faith, fear, and fatal consequences.
On this episode of ClueTrail, we explore the tragedy that gripped Romania, the trial that followed, and the questions that still linger.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
Welcome to Clue Trail , the podcast where every story
is a mystery and every clueleads you deeper into the
unknown From unsolved crimes andpuzzling disappearances to
hidden histories and curiouscoincidences.
We piece together the fragmentsto uncover the truth or raise
even more questions.
Some clues lead to answers,others to even greater mysteries
(00:30):
.
But one thing is certain everytrail tells a story.
Are you ready to follow it?
Let's begin.
Today we are taking you to aremote monastery in Romania
where fear, faith and tragedycollided in one of the most
infamous exorcism cases inRomanian's history the Tanaco
(00:55):
exorcism.
It was 2005 when a young nun,irina Kornice, was subjected to
a brutal ritual at the hands ofa priest and his fellow nuns,
believing she was possessed by ademon.
What followed was a shockingseries of events that led to her
tragic death and a case thatgripped an entire nation.
(01:19):
Was it an act of religiousconviction or a case of medical
misdiagnosis?
Join me as we unravel theunsettling details of Tanakwe
exorcism, the trail thatfollowed and the haunting
questions that still remain.
This is an episode you won'twant to miss.
Stick with us till the end.
(01:40):
There are some twists.
Let's begin.
Stick with us till the end.
There are some twists.
Let's begin.
Romania is a secular state,which means officially there
isn't a specific religion thatis being favoured, however,
(02:03):
religious beliefs in Europe,with over 70% of the citizens
identifying as ChristianOrthodox.
In year 1054, after manydifferences in theology and
ecclesiastical authority, thechurch was split in Eastern
Orthodox and Western, which youwould know as Catholics.
(02:24):
This is known as the GreatSchism.
At its core, orthodox religionemphasizes the mystery of the
Trinity Son, father and HolySpirit and the incarnation of
Jesus Christ and, similar toCatholics, orthodox are taught
from a very young age if you dosomething wrong, you'll burn in
(02:46):
the flames of hell.
Orthodox believes in saints andHoly Mary and more often than
not, children will be named by asaint, which happens to be
celebrated near the date whenthe child is born.
Religion is taught to childrenfrom a young age and people go
to church most Sundays anddefinitely on the big religious
(03:07):
holidays.
People take fasting veryseriously as well, especially
before the main celebrationssuch as Easter or Christmas.
There are normal churches in thecities and villages, and then
there are monasteries, and thereare so many villages, and then
(03:28):
there are monasteries, and thereare so many.
As of 2015, which is quiteoutdated now, there are over
16,000 churches in Romania andaround 430 monasteries.
What does that mean?
Well, it means there are morechurches than hospitals,
orphanages and centers helpingthe ones in need in the country.
Every single village would haveits own church and in each city
(03:49):
there would be a church inalmost each neighborhood.
There are 544 hospitals inRomania and around 10,000 GPs.
Basically, the power the churchholds is incredible and the
amount of money being handled inthese institutions is not a
small amount.
So when something as awful asour case today happens, this
(04:15):
will not be a small thing.
The case was all over the news.
The church officials were underthe heat, rightly so.
The church officials were underthe heat, rightly so.
So in one of those 430monasteries the case today took
place.
Tanaku Monastery is based in asmall village in Vaslui, which
(04:37):
is a city in the northeast ofthe country.
There isn't anything specialabout Tanaku.
It's a small, quiet villagewith a strong community,
religion being an importantfactor in their lives.
This monastery was fairly new,built in 2000, not recognized
yet by the Orthodox Church, asit was recently converted from a
(04:59):
church to a monastery, whichmeans now, instead of having one
priest who would perform thereligious services and so on,
there would be also nuns livingthere.
Tanako establishment was builtprivately by a lawyer from Yash
and at first the buildingpermissions were denied by the
church as he was missing aspiritual leader and a
(05:22):
fire-beard exorcistextraordinaire, father Daniel
Petru Corogiano.
There is honestly nothingextraordinary about him.
He was 35 years old when he wasa priest at Tanaco.
He was originally from avillage in Vaslui called Portari
and after being chased awayfrom several other monasteries
(05:43):
in his 20s he decided to attendthe Theological University in
Yash, which is basically thecollege where young men go to
become priests.
He didn't finish his studiesdue to his poor grades, but that
didn't stop the process of himbecoming a priest, with the help
(06:05):
of the lawyer which needed apriest for his church.
So, with a lot of persuasionand probably some big-sized
donations to the higher-ups inthe church, corogiano became a
priest and took his post atTanaco.
He became very well known inthe community by becoming the
go-to exorcist in the area.
The locals were particularlyimpressed of his efficiency in
(06:27):
the trenches, fighting the devilout of those who apparently
were possessed.
Not long after, the nunsestablished the monastery, led
by Nicoleta Arcaliano, theirmother superior.
Her nun name is Nanne Onila.
She was coming from a devotedreligious family from Monteni de
Sus and she became a nun earlyin her childhood.
(06:49):
Not much is known about theirlives at the monastery until the
tragedy in 2005, but usuallymonasteries are known to be very
structured and centered aroundpraying, work and community
living.
Usually the daily routines willstart with early morning
prayers before dawn, followed bywork around the monastery and
(07:12):
gardening, cooking, maintainingthe grounds and so on.
Some of the monasteries havemassive farms where the nuns
would work and produce goodswhich then are sold, and then
proceeds go back into themonastery.
Then we have the afternoonservice, which includes more
prayer before dinner, and thenin the evening there is one more
praying session before all thenuns go back to their rooms.
(07:35):
So it's a pretty simple andstraightforward lifestyle which
is actually sought by peoplemost likely.
The structure and the sense ofcommunity is something that
people find comfort in.
Monasteries are happy toreceive new members if the space
allows them, and Tanaka was nodifferent.
(07:56):
So when Irina Kornice was askedby a friend she knew for many
years to start a life as a nunat this monastery, she accepted
the structure and closecommunity like a big, loving
family would be something thatIrina, unfortunately, didn't
experience a lot in herchildhood.
(08:19):
Irina Kornice, born in 1982, hada hard childhood.
Her father has experiencedmental struggles and when Irina
was two, he took his own life byhanging.
Irina was present when thishappened.
She witnessed this horrificevent.
One year later, at the tenderage of three.
(08:41):
Irina and her younger brotherwere abandoned by their mother
and spent almost all theirchildhood in an orphanage.
She grew up in really hardconditions in this orphanage and
she was under constant fear.
She had to learn to fight toprotect herself from physical
and sexual attempts from otherkids in the orphanage, as well
(09:02):
as the staff sexual attemptsfrom other kids in the orphanage
, as well as the staff.
In 2001, after she finished highschool at the age of 19, irina
got a contract as a babysitterand cleaner for a family in
Germany For the next four years.
She would work in Germany,regularly visiting her younger
brother in Romania.
That was also the case on 5thof April when, on vacation in
(09:24):
Romania, she went with herbrother to visit one of the nuns
at Tanaco.
This nun was their friend atthe orphanage, so they were keen
to reconnect.
Her friend convinced Irina toremain at the monastery which,
after many requests, shereluctantly agreed to.
She was going to try thislifestyle.
(09:46):
Whilst at the monastery, irinadecided to go in for a
confession with Father Corogiano.
This confession was quitebrutal, though Father Corogiano
was very tough on Irina.
To add, she was later accusedby one of the nuns that she
wasn't honest in her confession.
Well, this confession issupposed to be private, so how
(10:08):
does she know Irina wasn'thonest?
This nun said Irina engaged inmasturbation with her friend,
the other nun, whilst they spentsome nights together.
I have to mention here that theway Father Korodjan was leading
the nuns was extreme.
He would often chastise themfor any small infraction.
(10:29):
He was no different with Irina.
Basically, after her confessionand combined with the
accusation from the fellow nun,he pretty much told her she is
committing unforgivable sins andshe will pretty much end up in
the pits of hell.
Committing unforgivable sinsand she would pretty much end up
in the pits of hell.
As part of joining the convent,although not official yet,
(10:53):
irina was supposed to give upher hard-earned money through
all the work in Germany and shewas going to use them to buy a
house that was about 3,500 euros.
Irina was quite unhappyexperiencing all this so early
in her stay at the monastery andno doubt she started to believe
she had committed grave sinsand would end up in hell.
This stress and all this fearshe was getting instilled it
(11:15):
might have just very well beenthe trigger to what will happen.
Just a few days later, on 9th ofApril, is when Irina
experienced her first psychoticepisode.
This episode was extremelyviolent.
Irina would use some stones tohurt herself, she would throw
herself on the ground and shewas hearing voices as well.
(11:36):
The nuns and the priest managedto restrain her for her own
benefit, to stop all theself-harm and call the ambulance
, which was the right thing todo.
They called the ambulance threetimes and they just didn't show
up On the last call.
The ambulance operator justtold them to get Irina to the
(11:56):
hospital with their own vehicle.
Since they didn't have one,they had to go around and find
someone to help.
Since they didn't have one,they had to go around and find
someone to help, and if youlistened to our episode on the
Hoosh Monster, you would knowthat not everyone had a vehicle
during that period, especiallyin villages.
(12:17):
They somehow managed toscramble and get a car to take
them to the hospital, but itwasn't quick.
The care she got in the hospitalfor the next two weeks was
abysmal, I must say.
She consistently experiencedpsychotic episodes and at no
certain point she got betterduring her stay.
Meanwhile, her brother, vasile,and father Corogiano traveled
(12:41):
to Vasile's adoptive family torequest 1,000 euros out of the
3,500 she had with them.
This was to help with theexpensive of her care in the
hospital.
Right, so Vasile and FatherCorogiano managed to get the
1,000 euros out of the moneyleft with that family in order
to get Irina some adequate care,adequate care she did not
(13:04):
receive.
Although she was hospitalized inthe psychiatry wing of the
hospital and the medical staffnoted she had fits and she would
hear voices she wasself-harming as well they didn't
think it was necessary toperform a psychiatric exam to
confirm her diagnosis.
She was, however, prescribedZyprexa, which is a 90s
(13:26):
psychotic medication that cantreat several mental health
conditions like schizophreniaand bipolar disorder, and she
was prematurely released out ofthe hospital on 24th of April.
She was given enough medicationfor one month and, according to
her doctor, she was told toreturn in 10 days for a checkup.
Irina never returned, whichwould be related to the fact
(13:49):
that under medication, she wouldhave felt much better, so she
didn't feel the need to Back atthe monastery.
Now, on 8th of June, shedecided she would continue to
stay there and recover, and shetraveled back to Vasily's
adoptive family to collect herclothes and her money, which
were left safely with them.
For some reason, irina was ableto collect only 500 euros out
(14:12):
of the 2,500 left, which nodoubt would have put more stress
on her.
Those people taking advantageof a woman who had such a hard
life so far and keeping herhard-earned money is disgusting,
definitely not very orthodox ofthem.
On 11th of June, after runningout of medication, working hard
(14:34):
in the monastery and havingissues with her money being
withheld and probably constantlybeing bickered by the priest
that she is consistentlycommitting sins, irina suffered
her second psychotic episode.
Father Corogiano decides totake her back to the hospital,
but the request of her brother,which was extremely
(14:55):
disappointing on the lack ofcare provided in the hospital in
the first instance, asks thatthey keep Irina a few more days
at the monastery and prayinstead.
The next days are absolute hell, as Father Corogiano, alongside
with the nuns, decided thatIrina is not having a psychotic
episode, but instead she ispossessed by the devil and it's
(15:18):
time to start an exorcism.
According to them, at thispoint she was refusing to eat or
sleep.
She would have been completelypanicked from hearing voices and
all that.
All her life just took acomplete turn and you have these
nutcases trying to exorcise you.
This is mental.
(15:38):
They decided to restrain Irinawith a towel to stop her from
harming herself, tied anothertowel around her face to cover
her mouth and left her in one ofthe rooms, and then on 13th of
June, two days before her tragicpassing, she is moved into the
church.
She was restrained with chainswhich were wrapped in towels so
(16:02):
she doesn't get hurt.
She was laid on what was amakeshift table, with her hands
laid out like on a cross in themiddle of the church and her
mouth covered.
According to the nuns and thepriests, her mouth was covered
so she doesn't speak.
Profanities during thereligious service.
What followed was endless hoursof praying.
(16:24):
By this point, they absolutelybelieved she is possessed by the
devil and the priest was tryingto exorcise her.
Only they know what happenedthose days in the church.
But what Irina must have gonethrough was as close to hell as
it can be.
She was experiencing such aviolent psychotic episode and on
(16:45):
top of that, she was alsorestrained and probably so
scared.
According to the nuns and thepriest, on 15th of June Irina
showed signs of improvement.
She started recognizing themand she was fed tea and bread.
But not long after having thisfood she passed out and wouldn't
wake up.
That was when they called theambulance.
(17:13):
This time the ambulanceactually arrived and, according
to the doctor which arrived withthe ambulance, she had a weak
pulse and didn't breatheproperly.
They informed the hospital andrushed with her there.
She also received about sixvials of adrenaline on the way
there.
When they arrived at thehospital, the emergency doctor
tells them straight away thatIrina has been dead for 24 hours
(17:34):
and they killed her.
She calls the police afterthese accusations are made are
made.
Police started an investigationstraight away and, for whatever
reason, they decided the nextday, on 16, to release to the
press details about this case.
Well, how could you possiblyknow within a day what happened?
(17:57):
It's even unsure if they had aconversation with the nun's
priest brother and so on at thatpoint.
Anyway, the news spread likewildfire through the news
outlets and no doubt the publicmind went straight away to some
horror film.
Irina was buried six days laterin the village.
She was originally from FatherCorogiano and all the nuns were
there and prayed.
(18:18):
Father Corogiano and the fournuns were arrested on 22nd of
June, a week after Irina's death.
They were detained until 28thof July due to the nature of the
case.
Meanwhile, all five wereexcluded from the church by the
church officials, whichapparently was breaching the
(18:39):
orthodox rules for priests.
As he cannot be excluded fromthe church until he had the
chance to speak for himself infront of the church, they also,
after much pressure from thepublic, condemned his actions
publicly.
After they were released, theinvestigation continued and in
2007, the trial began for themurder of Irina.
(19:02):
According to the prosecution,irina was forcibly restrained by
Corogiano.
He grabbed her by the neck andthroat and held her whilst the
nuns restrained her, but I guessif Irina was harming herself,
this could have been for her ownbenefit.
Combined with everything elseis making it worse.
Irina was also deprived of foodand water all those days.
(19:27):
According to them, irina wasrefusing any.
But this is just their side.
The prosecution accused them ofperforming a barbaric ritual
that is not recognized orpracticed in the Orthodox since
early ages, and instead ofgetting her medical help.
They misdiagnosed her anddecided she has the devil inside
(19:48):
her.
They were honing in the factthat their actions through
starvation, holding her tied up,withholding water and
physically restraining her iswhat caused her death.
So obviously we assume now thatthis was done based on medical
expertise and it was confirmedthat the cause of death of Irina
was the aforementioned Well,the post-mortem was as useful as
(20:11):
the exorcism performed by thesenutcases.
There was nothing mentionedabout the contents of her
stomach.
This would have proven whatthey said about feeding her that
day, which I think content ofstomach being investigated is
one of the basic thingshappening in a post-mortem.
The only mention in thepost-mortem was that Irina was
(20:32):
severely dehydrated and shebecame comatose on the third day
of the ordeal, which is whenthe priest called the ambulance.
So according to this, thepriest and nun's action led
directly to Irina's death.
Now the defense came sayingthat yes, they have performed an
exorcism, but they tried tofeed Irina and gave her water
(20:54):
and she refused and they got amedical expert to look into
medical care.
In a receipt when the ambulancearrived, if you remember, the
doctor which arrived with theambulance reported back to the
hospital that Irina had a pulseand she is breathing.
The medical expert testifiedthat Irina's death was due to
poor medical care and that shewas administered too much
(21:17):
adrenaline, which made her heartstop.
Remember those six vials thatwas then fought back by the
prosecutors, as they were saying, according with the post-mortem
and the lack of puncture froman injection in her arm.
Basically, they haven'tmentioned that it was one.
Irina was dead when the doctorarrived and she couldn't have
possibly given doses ofadrenaline.
(21:40):
This post-mortem was a completeshitshow and that pathologist
should be ashamed.
Nothing really of any greatimportance was covered by both
sides and the trial ended.
It was now up to the judge, andI do believe it was a bit of a
witch hunt right now, due to thepublic pressure, and in
February 2007, they were foundguilty of Irina's murder.
(22:04):
The priest was sentenced to 14years and three of the four nuns
were sentenced between five toeight years.
After an appeal, corrigiano'ssentence was reduced to seven
years, and that was that.
Everyone debated for a while.
Some were of the belief thatthe priest is innocent and is a
(22:25):
man of faith, and othersbelieved he was a fanatic who
let superstitions take a woman'slife, but in the end, people
forgot.
Well, that was until 2013, whena doctor comes out with some
shocking tellings.
This was Dr Dan Giorgio, apathologist, which was employed
(22:47):
at that time by the defense toreview Irina's post-mortem.
Irina was exhumed at therequest of the defense and the
doctor was able to confirm thatthere was indication that
adrenaline was given.
There was the puncture mark onher arm and also the reason why
Irina's heart stopped was fromthe high doses given to her.
(23:09):
Irina was very weak at the time.
The ambulance came, which is nosurprise.
Her heart gave in.
So why did Irina die?
Well, I think it was a chain ofevents.
Firstly, it's the poor care shewas given in the hospital, the
state Irina arrived in at thatER, the fact that even in the
(23:31):
hospital, she was restrained forher own good.
How could they let her go aftertwo weeks and only with one
month of medication only?
Her doctor later declared he isnot feeling guilty as she was
given proper care and she wasasked to come back 10 days later
.
She was a patient whoexperienced an incredibly
(23:51):
psychotic episode for the firsttime in her life, even in the
hospital, being restrained, andhe had the trust that she would
return.
They should have done more forIrina.
Second, there were thoselunatics at the monastery.
You are free to express yourreligious beliefs however you
find fit, but when you arestarting to cross the line and
(24:14):
now diagnose clearly sick peoplewith being possessed by the
devil and then go ahead and putthem through the hell that they
put Irina through, this is whenthis becomes a big problem.
And lastly, irina was in theend killed by a medical error
done by the doctor on theambulance.
I doubt this was doneintentionally in any way.
(24:34):
It was either lack of trainingor just poor decision taken in
that moment.
Potentially the doctor wasn'taware of what Irina went through
over the past days, beingrestrained and malnourished.
This would have made her bodyvery weak and she couldn't fight
anymore.
Maybe if the doctor had allthese facts presented to her,
(24:56):
then maybe she would have takena different decision and Irina
would still be alive.
The priests and nuns completedtheir sentence and are now
believed to live secluded livesin monasteries across the
country.
The tragedy of Tanak is morethan just a story of fate gone
too far.
It's a chilling reminder ofwhat happens when religious
(25:19):
belief and mental illnesscollide in the absence of
understanding.
Irina Kornich wasn't possessed.
She was a victim of an outdated, brutal response to something
that should have been treatedwith compassion and medical care
.
And one thing is certainIrina's cries for help went
unheard, lost in the prayers ofthose who believed they were
(25:42):
saving her soul.
Instead, they sealed her fate.
That's a wrap for today'sepisode.
Thanks so much for tuning in.
We appreciate every single oneof you.
If you enjoyed the show, don'tforget to follow us on social
(26:04):
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(26:27):
Thank you.
Welcome to Clue Trail , the podcast where every story
is a mystery and every clueleads you deeper into the
unknown From unsolved crimes andpuzzling disappearances to
hidden histories and curiouscoincidences.
We piece together the fragmentsto uncover the truth or raise
even more questions.
Some clues lead to answers,others to even greater mysteries
(00:30):
.
But one thing is certain everytrail tells a story.
Are you ready to follow it?
Let's begin.
Today we are taking you to aremote monastery in Romania
where fear, faith and tragedycollided in one of the most
infamous exorcism cases inRomanian's history the Tanaco
(00:55):
exorcism.
It was 2005 when a young nun,irina Kornice, was subjected to
a brutal ritual at the hands ofa priest and his fellow nuns,
believing she was possessed by ademon.
What followed was a shockingseries of events that led to her
tragic death and a case thatgripped an entire nation.
(01:19):
Was it an act of religiousconviction or a case of medical
misdiagnosis?
Join me as we unravel theunsettling details of Tanakwe
exorcism, the trail thatfollowed and the haunting
questions that still remain.
This is an episode you won'twant to miss.
Stick with us till the end.
(01:40):
There are some twists.
Let's begin.
Stick with us till the end.
There are some twists.
Let's begin.
Romania is a secular state,which means officially there
isn't a specific religion thatis being favoured, however,
(02:03):
religious beliefs in Europe,with over 70% of the citizens
identifying as ChristianOrthodox.
In year 1054, after manydifferences in theology and
ecclesiastical authority, thechurch was split in Eastern
Orthodox and Western, which youwould know as Catholics.
(02:24):
This is known as the GreatSchism.
At its core, orthodox religionemphasizes the mystery of the
Trinity Son, father and HolySpirit and the incarnation of
Jesus Christ and, similar toCatholics, orthodox are taught
from a very young age if you dosomething wrong, you'll burn in
(02:46):
the flames of hell.
Orthodox believes in saints andHoly Mary and more often than
not, children will be named by asaint, which happens to be
celebrated near the date whenthe child is born.
Religion is taught to childrenfrom a young age and people go
to church most Sundays anddefinitely on the big religious
(03:07):
holidays.
People take fasting veryseriously as well, especially
before the main celebrationssuch as Easter or Christmas.
There are normal churches in thecities and villages, and then
there are monasteries, and thereare so many villages, and then
(03:28):
there are monasteries, and thereare so many.
As of 2015, which is quiteoutdated now, there are over
16,000 churches in Romania andaround 430 monasteries.
What does that mean?
Well, it means there are morechurches than hospitals,
orphanages and centers helpingthe ones in need in the country.
Every single village would haveits own church and in each city
(03:49):
there would be a church inalmost each neighborhood.
There are 544 hospitals inRomania and around 10,000 GPs.
Basically, the power the churchholds is incredible and the
amount of money being handled inthese institutions is not a
small amount.
So when something as awful asour case today happens, this
(04:15):
will not be a small thing.
The case was all over the news.
The church officials were underthe heat, rightly so.
The church officials were underthe heat, rightly so.
So in one of those 430monasteries the case today took
place.
Tanaku Monastery is based in asmall village in Vaslui, which
(04:37):
is a city in the northeast ofthe country.
There isn't anything specialabout Tanaku.
It's a small, quiet villagewith a strong community,
religion being an importantfactor in their lives.
This monastery was fairly new,built in 2000, not recognized
yet by the Orthodox Church, asit was recently converted from a
(04:59):
church to a monastery, whichmeans now, instead of having one
priest who would perform thereligious services and so on,
there would be also nuns livingthere.
Tanako establishment was builtprivately by a lawyer from Yash
and at first the buildingpermissions were denied by the
church as he was missing aspiritual leader and a
(05:22):
fire-beard exorcistextraordinaire, father Daniel
Petru Corogiano.
There is honestly nothingextraordinary about him.
He was 35 years old when he wasa priest at Tanaco.
He was originally from avillage in Vaslui called Portari
and after being chased awayfrom several other monasteries
(05:43):
in his 20s he decided to attendthe Theological University in
Yash, which is basically thecollege where young men go to
become priests.
He didn't finish his studiesdue to his poor grades, but that
didn't stop the process of himbecoming a priest, with the help
(06:05):
of the lawyer which needed apriest for his church.
So, with a lot of persuasionand probably some big-sized
donations to the higher-ups inthe church, corogiano became a
priest and took his post atTanaco.
He became very well known inthe community by becoming the
go-to exorcist in the area.
The locals were particularlyimpressed of his efficiency in
(06:27):
the trenches, fighting the devilout of those who apparently
were possessed.
Not long after, the nunsestablished the monastery, led
by Nicoleta Arcaliano, theirmother superior.
Her nun name is Nanne Onila.
She was coming from a devotedreligious family from Monteni de
Sus and she became a nun earlyin her childhood.
(06:49):
Not much is known about theirlives at the monastery until the
tragedy in 2005, but usuallymonasteries are known to be very
structured and centered aroundpraying, work and community
living.
Usually the daily routines willstart with early morning
prayers before dawn, followed bywork around the monastery and
(07:12):
gardening, cooking, maintainingthe grounds and so on.
Some of the monasteries havemassive farms where the nuns
would work and produce goodswhich then are sold, and then
proceeds go back into themonastery.
Then we have the afternoonservice, which includes more
prayer before dinner, and thenin the evening there is one more
praying session before all thenuns go back to their rooms.
(07:35):
So it's a pretty simple andstraightforward lifestyle which
is actually sought by peoplemost likely.
The structure and the sense ofcommunity is something that
people find comfort in.
Monasteries are happy toreceive new members if the space
allows them, and Tanaka was nodifferent.
(07:56):
So when Irina Kornice was askedby a friend she knew for many
years to start a life as a nunat this monastery, she accepted
the structure and closecommunity like a big, loving
family would be something thatIrina, unfortunately, didn't
experience a lot in herchildhood.
(08:19):
Irina Kornice, born in 1982, hada hard childhood.
Her father has experiencedmental struggles and when Irina
was two, he took his own life byhanging.
Irina was present when thishappened.
She witnessed this horrificevent.
One year later, at the tenderage of three.
(08:41):
Irina and her younger brotherwere abandoned by their mother
and spent almost all theirchildhood in an orphanage.
She grew up in really hardconditions in this orphanage and
she was under constant fear.
She had to learn to fight toprotect herself from physical
and sexual attempts from otherkids in the orphanage, as well
(09:02):
as the staff sexual attemptsfrom other kids in the orphanage
, as well as the staff.
In 2001, after she finished highschool at the age of 19, irina
got a contract as a babysitterand cleaner for a family in
Germany For the next four years.
She would work in Germany,regularly visiting her younger
brother in Romania.
That was also the case on 5thof April when, on vacation in
(09:24):
Romania, she went with herbrother to visit one of the nuns
at Tanaco.
This nun was their friend atthe orphanage, so they were keen
to reconnect.
Her friend convinced Irina toremain at the monastery which,
after many requests, shereluctantly agreed to.
She was going to try thislifestyle.
(09:46):
Whilst at the monastery, irinadecided to go in for a
confession with Father Corogiano.
This confession was quitebrutal, though Father Corogiano
was very tough on Irina.
To add, she was later accusedby one of the nuns that she
wasn't honest in her confession.
Well, this confession issupposed to be private, so how
(10:08):
does she know Irina wasn'thonest?
This nun said Irina engaged inmasturbation with her friend,
the other nun, whilst they spentsome nights together.
I have to mention here that theway Father Korodjan was leading
the nuns was extreme.
He would often chastise themfor any small infraction.
(10:29):
He was no different with Irina.
Basically, after her confessionand combined with the
accusation from the fellow nun,he pretty much told her she is
committing unforgivable sins andshe will pretty much end up in
the pits of hell.
Committing unforgivable sinsand she would pretty much end up
in the pits of hell.
As part of joining the convent,although not official yet,
(10:53):
irina was supposed to give upher hard-earned money through
all the work in Germany and shewas going to use them to buy a
house that was about 3,500 euros.
Irina was quite unhappyexperiencing all this so early
in her stay at the monastery andno doubt she started to believe
she had committed grave sinsand would end up in hell.
This stress and all this fearshe was getting instilled it
(11:15):
might have just very well beenthe trigger to what will happen.
Just a few days later, on 9th ofApril, is when Irina
experienced her first psychoticepisode.
This episode was extremelyviolent.
Irina would use some stones tohurt herself, she would throw
herself on the ground and shewas hearing voices as well.
(11:36):
The nuns and the priest managedto restrain her for her own
benefit, to stop all theself-harm and call the ambulance
, which was the right thing todo.
They called the ambulance threetimes and they just didn't show
up On the last call.
The ambulance operator justtold them to get Irina to the
(11:56):
hospital with their own vehicle.
Since they didn't have one,they had to go around and find
someone to help.
Since they didn't have one,they had to go around and find
someone to help, and if youlistened to our episode on the
Hoosh Monster, you would knowthat not everyone had a vehicle
during that period, especiallyin villages.
(12:17):
They somehow managed toscramble and get a car to take
them to the hospital, but itwasn't quick.
The care she got in the hospitalfor the next two weeks was
abysmal, I must say.
She consistently experiencedpsychotic episodes and at no
certain point she got betterduring her stay.
Meanwhile, her brother, vasile,and father Corogiano traveled
(12:41):
to Vasile's adoptive family torequest 1,000 euros out of the
3,500 she had with them.
This was to help with theexpensive of her care in the
hospital.
Right, so Vasile and FatherCorogiano managed to get the
1,000 euros out of the moneyleft with that family in order
to get Irina some adequate care,adequate care she did not
(13:04):
receive.
Although she was hospitalized inthe psychiatry wing of the
hospital and the medical staffnoted she had fits and she would
hear voices she wasself-harming as well they didn't
think it was necessary toperform a psychiatric exam to
confirm her diagnosis.
She was, however, prescribedZyprexa, which is a 90s
(13:26):
psychotic medication that cantreat several mental health
conditions like schizophreniaand bipolar disorder, and she
was prematurely released out ofthe hospital on 24th of April.
She was given enough medicationfor one month and, according to
her doctor, she was told toreturn in 10 days for a checkup.
Irina never returned, whichwould be related to the fact
(13:49):
that under medication, she wouldhave felt much better, so she
didn't feel the need to Back atthe monastery.
Now, on 8th of June, shedecided she would continue to
stay there and recover, and shetraveled back to Vasily's
adoptive family to collect herclothes and her money, which
were left safely with them.
For some reason, irina was ableto collect only 500 euros out
(14:12):
of the 2,500 left, which nodoubt would have put more stress
on her.
Those people taking advantageof a woman who had such a hard
life so far and keeping herhard-earned money is disgusting,
definitely not very orthodox ofthem.
On 11th of June, after runningout of medication, working hard
(14:34):
in the monastery and havingissues with her money being
withheld and probably constantlybeing bickered by the priest
that she is consistentlycommitting sins, irina suffered
her second psychotic episode.
Father Corogiano decides totake her back to the hospital,
but the request of her brother,which was extremely
(14:55):
disappointing on the lack ofcare provided in the hospital in
the first instance, asks thatthey keep Irina a few more days
at the monastery and prayinstead.
The next days are absolute hell, as Father Corogiano, alongside
with the nuns, decided thatIrina is not having a psychotic
episode, but instead she ispossessed by the devil and it's
(15:18):
time to start an exorcism.
According to them, at thispoint she was refusing to eat or
sleep.
She would have been completelypanicked from hearing voices and
all that.
All her life just took acomplete turn and you have these
nutcases trying to exorcise you.
This is mental.
(15:38):
They decided to restrain Irinawith a towel to stop her from
harming herself, tied anothertowel around her face to cover
her mouth and left her in one ofthe rooms, and then on 13th of
June, two days before her tragicpassing, she is moved into the
church.
She was restrained with chainswhich were wrapped in towels so
(16:02):
she doesn't get hurt.
She was laid on what was amakeshift table, with her hands
laid out like on a cross in themiddle of the church and her
mouth covered.
According to the nuns and thepriests, her mouth was covered
so she doesn't speak.
Profanities during thereligious service.
What followed was endless hoursof praying.
(16:24):
By this point, they absolutelybelieved she is possessed by the
devil and the priest was tryingto exorcise her.
Only they know what happenedthose days in the church.
But what Irina must have gonethrough was as close to hell as
it can be.
She was experiencing such aviolent psychotic episode and on
(16:45):
top of that, she was alsorestrained and probably so
scared.
According to the nuns and thepriest, on 15th of June Irina
showed signs of improvement.
She started recognizing themand she was fed tea and bread.
But not long after having thisfood she passed out and wouldn't
wake up.
That was when they called theambulance.
(17:13):
This time the ambulanceactually arrived and, according
to the doctor which arrived withthe ambulance, she had a weak
pulse and didn't breatheproperly.
They informed the hospital andrushed with her there.
She also received about sixvials of adrenaline on the way
there.
When they arrived at thehospital, the emergency doctor
tells them straight away thatIrina has been dead for 24 hours
(17:34):
and they killed her.
She calls the police afterthese accusations are made are
made.
Police started an investigationstraight away and, for whatever
reason, they decided the nextday, on 16, to release to the
press details about this case.
Well, how could you possiblyknow within a day what happened?
(17:57):
It's even unsure if they had aconversation with the nun's
priest brother and so on at thatpoint.
Anyway, the news spread likewildfire through the news
outlets and no doubt the publicmind went straight away to some
horror film.
Irina was buried six days laterin the village.
She was originally from FatherCorogiano and all the nuns were
there and prayed.
(18:18):
Father Corogiano and the fournuns were arrested on 22nd of
June, a week after Irina's death.
They were detained until 28thof July due to the nature of the
case.
Meanwhile, all five wereexcluded from the church by the
church officials, whichapparently was breaching the
(18:39):
orthodox rules for priests.
As he cannot be excluded fromthe church until he had the
chance to speak for himself infront of the church, they also,
after much pressure from thepublic, condemned his actions
publicly.
After they were released, theinvestigation continued and in
2007, the trial began for themurder of Irina.
(19:02):
According to the prosecution,irina was forcibly restrained by
Corogiano.
He grabbed her by the neck andthroat and held her whilst the
nuns restrained her, but I guessif Irina was harming herself,
this could have been for her ownbenefit.
Combined with everything elseis making it worse.
Irina was also deprived of foodand water all those days.
(19:27):
According to them, irina wasrefusing any.
But this is just their side.
The prosecution accused them ofperforming a barbaric ritual
that is not recognized orpracticed in the Orthodox since
early ages, and instead ofgetting her medical help.
They misdiagnosed her anddecided she has the devil inside
(19:48):
her.
They were honing in the factthat their actions through
starvation, holding her tied up,withholding water and
physically restraining her iswhat caused her death.
So obviously we assume now thatthis was done based on medical
expertise and it was confirmedthat the cause of death of Irina
was the aforementioned Well,the post-mortem was as useful as
(20:11):
the exorcism performed by thesenutcases.
There was nothing mentionedabout the contents of her
stomach.
This would have proven whatthey said about feeding her that
day, which I think content ofstomach being investigated is
one of the basic thingshappening in a post-mortem.
The only mention in thepost-mortem was that Irina was
(20:32):
severely dehydrated and shebecame comatose on the third day
of the ordeal, which is whenthe priest called the ambulance.
So according to this, thepriest and nun's action led
directly to Irina's death.
Now the defense came sayingthat yes, they have performed an
exorcism, but they tried tofeed Irina and gave her water
(20:54):
and she refused and they got amedical expert to look into
medical care.
In a receipt when the ambulancearrived, if you remember, the
doctor which arrived with theambulance reported back to the
hospital that Irina had a pulseand she is breathing.
The medical expert testifiedthat Irina's death was due to
poor medical care and that shewas administered too much
(21:17):
adrenaline, which made her heartstop.
Remember those six vials thatwas then fought back by the
prosecutors, as they were saying, according with the post-mortem
and the lack of puncture froman injection in her arm.
Basically, they haven'tmentioned that it was one.
Irina was dead when the doctorarrived and she couldn't have
possibly given doses ofadrenaline.
(21:40):
This post-mortem was a completeshitshow and that pathologist
should be ashamed.
Nothing really of any greatimportance was covered by both
sides and the trial ended.
It was now up to the judge, andI do believe it was a bit of a
witch hunt right now, due to thepublic pressure, and in
February 2007, they were foundguilty of Irina's murder.
(22:04):
The priest was sentenced to 14years and three of the four nuns
were sentenced between five toeight years.
After an appeal, corrigiano'ssentence was reduced to seven
years, and that was that.
Everyone debated for a while.
Some were of the belief thatthe priest is innocent and is a
(22:25):
man of faith, and othersbelieved he was a fanatic who
let superstitions take a woman'slife, but in the end, people
forgot.
Well, that was until 2013, whena doctor comes out with some
shocking tellings.
This was Dr Dan Giorgio, apathologist, which was employed
(22:47):
at that time by the defense toreview Irina's post-mortem.
Irina was exhumed at therequest of the defense and the
doctor was able to confirm thatthere was indication that
adrenaline was given.
There was the puncture mark onher arm and also the reason why
Irina's heart stopped was fromthe high doses given to her.
(23:09):
Irina was very weak at the time.
The ambulance came, which is nosurprise.
Her heart gave in.
So why did Irina die?
Well, I think it was a chain ofevents.
Firstly, it's the poor care shewas given in the hospital, the
state Irina arrived in at thatER, the fact that even in the
(23:31):
hospital, she was restrained forher own good.
How could they let her go aftertwo weeks and only with one
month of medication only?
Her doctor later declared he isnot feeling guilty as she was
given proper care and she wasasked to come back 10 days later
.
She was a patient whoexperienced an incredibly
(23:51):
psychotic episode for the firsttime in her life, even in the
hospital, being restrained, andhe had the trust that she would
return.
They should have done more forIrina.
Second, there were thoselunatics at the monastery.
You are free to express yourreligious beliefs however you
find fit, but when you arestarting to cross the line and
(24:14):
now diagnose clearly sick peoplewith being possessed by the
devil and then go ahead and putthem through the hell that they
put Irina through, this is whenthis becomes a big problem.
And lastly, irina was in theend killed by a medical error
done by the doctor on theambulance.
I doubt this was doneintentionally in any way.
(24:34):
It was either lack of trainingor just poor decision taken in
that moment.
Potentially the doctor wasn'taware of what Irina went through
over the past days, beingrestrained and malnourished.
This would have made her bodyvery weak and she couldn't fight
anymore.
Maybe if the doctor had allthese facts presented to her,
(24:56):
then maybe she would have takena different decision and Irina
would still be alive.
The priests and nuns completedtheir sentence and are now
believed to live secluded livesin monasteries across the
country.
The tragedy of Tanak is morethan just a story of fate gone
too far.
It's a chilling reminder ofwhat happens when religious
(25:19):
belief and mental illnesscollide in the absence of
understanding.
Irina Kornich wasn't possessed.
She was a victim of an outdated, brutal response to something
that should have been treatedwith compassion and medical care
.
And one thing is certainIrina's cries for help went
unheard, lost in the prayers ofthose who believed they were
(25:42):
saving her soul.
Instead, they sealed her fate.
That's a wrap for today'sepisode.
Thanks so much for tuning in.
We appreciate every single oneof you.
If you enjoyed the show, don'tforget to follow us on social
(26:04):
media to stay updated on allthings Clue Trail.
You can find us on Instagram,facebook and TikTok on Clue
Trail Podcast.
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(26:27):
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