this
is
true
father
albert
hughes
was
my
parish
preist
he
confermed
me
and
gave
my
first
holly
comution.
i
heard
of
this
when
i
was
in
catholic
school
long
before
the
movie &nb
sp;
chico
Priest
performs
real
exorcism
in
St.
Louis:
the
truth
behind
the
movie
By
Corey
Stulce
Assistant
Lifestyle
Editor
There
is
a
story
that
usually
gets
mentioned
around
Halloween
in
St.
Louis.
Like
many
tales,
it
is
blown
up
and
out
of
proportion,
and
the
details
are
shaky
at
best.
The
only
true
rumor
usually
heard
is
that
it
was
a
boy
who
was
possessed.
This
is
the
true
story
of
the
exorcism
that
took
place,
partly
in
St.
Louis.
The
novel
and
film
"The
Exorcist"
were
both
very
popular
years
ago,
and
they
were
partly
based
on
the
events
which
took
place
nearly
fifty
years
ago.
Many
of
the
details
were
"Hollywood-ized,"
so
in
1993,
author
Thomas
B.
Allen
released
a
book
called
"Possessed".
In
it
he
wrote
in
great
detail
about
the
exorcism
which
took
place
in
1949.
The
story
begins
with
the
boy
and
his
family
living
in
Mt.
Rainier,
Maryland.
According
to
Allen,
the
boy's
aunt
had
started
to
teach
him
how
to
use
a
Ouija
board.
Soon
after,
she
died.
A
few
nights
after
her
death,
the
family
started
to
notice
strange
sounds,
first
a
dripping,
and
then
a
scratching
sound
under
the
floorboards.
The
family
was
convinced
that
it
was
the
dead
aunt
attempting
to
contact
them.
They
spoke
to
her,
and
asked
for
a
sign.
A
wave
of
pressure
was
sent
into
the
members
of
the
family
and
then
into
the
floor.
Soon
after
this
night,
stranger
things
began
to
happen.
Items
would
move
around
the
room.
The
mattress
the
boy
was
on
would
shake
slowly
at
first,
and
then
violently.
His
desk
would
fall
over
at
school.
At
first,
everyone
thought
these
were
pranks,
but
they
started
to
become
convinced
otherwise
after
the
events
continued
for
some
time.
The
family
called
in
Reverend
Luther
Schultze,
a
Lutheran
minister,
because
they
now
believed
there
was
a
poltergeist
tormenting
their
son.
The
boy
was
now
having
awful
nightmares
where
he
would
tear
at
the
sheets
and
thrash
in
agony
all
night.
Scratches
started
to
appear
on
the
boy's
body,
and
that
is
when
Schultze
decided
it
was
more
of
a
job
for
the
Catholics.
Father
Albert
Hughes
attempted
to
take
on
the
exorcism.
One
night,
after
he
was
tied
down,
the
boy
was
able
to
free
one
of
his
arms
from
restraint.
He
somehow
got
a
bedspring
loose,
and
cut
a
huge
gash
into
Hughes'
arm.
Hughes
left
the
exorcism
and
soon
after
had
a
breakdown.
The
family
decided
that
they
needed
to
get
away
from
home,
and
maybe
a
trip
to
stay
with
family
in
St.
Louis
would
help
the
boy's
condition.
Strange
events
continued
to
take
place
in
St.
Louis,
however,
and
the
family
decided
the
boy
needed
more
religious
help.
Father
Raymond
Bishop
was
called
in
to
help.
He
contacted
a
close
friend,
Father
William
Bowdern,
to
assist
him.
Neither
man
was
very
familiar
with
the
act
of
exorcism,
so
they
began
studying.
Meanwhile,
the
boy
was
fine
during
the
day,
but
at
night
was
still
having
terrors.
He
was
falling
deeper
into
possession.
Bowdern
was
told
by
the
Archbishop
not
to
discuss
the
case
with
anyone.
He
asked
Walter
Halloran,
an
academic
at
St.
Louis
University,
to
drive
him
to
the
house
where
the
boy
was
staying.
Bishop
kept
a
diary
of
the
events,
in
order
to
help
in
future
exorcisms.
Bowdern
started
the
exorcism
by
reciting
prayers
from
"The
Roman
Ritual".
Once
he
began,
the
boy
needed
to
be
held
down
much
of
the
time.
The
boy
would
scream
out
in
pain
at
the
prayers.
Each
time
the
name
of
God
was
mentioned,
in
any
form,
deep
scratches
or
welts
would
appear
on
the
boy's
chest
and
stomach.
At
one
point,
the
word
HELL
was
scratched
onto
the
boy's
chest,
but
upside
down
so
when
the
boy
looked
down
he
could
read
it.
The
boy
would
spit
at
the
people
in
the
room.
"He
was
an
utter
marksman
at
a
distance
of
four
or
five
feet,"
said
Halloran.
"His
eyes
were
closed,
and
he'd
spit
right
in
your
face."
The
prayers
would
continue
until
dawn
for
many
nights,
and
then
the
boy
would
fall
into
a
natural
sleep.
The
boy
was
getting
worse.
The
demon
inside
him
was
now
singing
and
yelling
at
the
priests
in
the
room.
He
would
curse
and
make
sexual
references
about
the
men
in
the
room.
There
were
also
a
couple
of
incidents
in
the
daytime
when
the
possession
showed
itself.
Halloran
took
the
boy
one
afternoon
to
get
some
fresh
air.
He
took
him
to
an
area
to
see
the
stations
of
the
cross.
"Because
of
the
state
of
possession,
he
took
off
running,"
said
Halloran.
"He
ran
to
the
bluffs,
towards
the
edge,
where
there
was
a
big
drop
below.
I
finally
caught
him.
I
have
no
idea
if
he
would've
awakened
before
he
got
to
the
edge
or
not."
To
give
the
family
some
rest,
Bowdern
took
the
boy
to
Alexian
Brothers
Hospital
for
a
night.
That
night,
the
boy
was
tied
to
the
bed,
and
the
exorcism
continued
without
any
outbursts
from
the
boy.
Soon
after,
the
possession
went
back
to
its
previous
state.
One
night,
the
boy
broke
Halloran's
nose.
In
Bishop's
diary
he
was
also
recorded
as
saying
to
Bowdern,
"I'm
in
hell.
I
see
you.
You're
in
hell.
It's
1957."
The
remark
seemed
to
have
some
effect
on
Bowdern.
The
priests
moved
the
boy
back
to
Alexian
Brothers
Hospital.
He
started
to
demand
to
know
when
the
demon
would
leave
the
boy's
body.
Again,
scratches
would
appear
on
the
boy's
body.
One
spelled
HELL,
the
other
SPITE.
Numbers
also
appeared
on
his
chest,
but
the
priests
had
learned
not
to
trust
the
devil.
The
voice,
which
was
not
the
boy's
but
came
from
his
body,
said,
"I
will
not
go
until
a
certain
word
is
pronounced,
and
this
boy
will
never
say
it."
On
an
evening
night
the
still
conscious
boy
said
he
wanted
to
pray.
The
priest
had
taught
him
many
Catholic
prayers
during
the
ordeal,
and
they
began
to
recite.
They
placed
religious
medals
around
his
neck,
and
a
crucifix
in
his
hand.
The
boy
complained
that
the
medals
became
hot
and
hurt
him,
but
they
would
not
remove
them.
His
tongue
began
to
flick
around
like
a
snake,
and
he
started
spitting.
It
was
reported
that
there
was
a
sudden
silence
in
the
room.
A
voice,
unlike
the
priests
had
ever
heard,
came
from
the
boy
saying,
"Satan!
Satan!
I
am
Saint
Michael,
and
I
command
you,
Satan,
and
the
other
evil
spirits
to
leave
the
body
now
in
the
name
of
Dominus.
Immediately!
Now!
Now!
Now!"
Bishop's
diary
said
that
after
those
words
were
spoken,
the
most
violent
contortions
of
the
exorcism
began.
After
the
boy
stopped
twisting,
he
sat
up,
and
calmly
said,
"He's
gone".
The
boy
spoke
of
his
dream
where
an
angel
with
a
sword
battled
a
demon
of
fire,
and
spoke
one
word,
"Dominus".
Bowdern
was
convinced
that
"Dominus"
was
the
word
which
the
boy
could
never
say
to
escape
the
demon.
The
exorcism
had
taken
a
great
toll
on
Bowdern.
According
to
his
great-nephew
Steve
O'Brien,
he
had
lost
over
forty
pounds
throughout
the
ordeal.
He
did
not
die
in
1957,
however.
He
lived
until
1983.
O'Brien
said
that
Bowdern
talked
about
the
devil
predicting
that
he
would
die
a
violent
death.
Bowdern
did
suffer
a
hemorrhage,
which
did
not
kill
him
instantly,
but
left
him
suffering
for
some
time.
The
boy
is
still
alive
today,
but
does
not
live
in
St.
Louis.
The
information,
including
his
real
name,
has
never
been
released
to
the
public,
in
order
to
protect
the
family.
The
room
in
Alexian
Brothers
was
locked
for
many
years,
until
the
wing
was
torn
down.
A
worker
broke
the
door
down,
and
discovered
Bishop's
diary
in
a
desk,
which
Halloran
confirmed.
Halloran,
who
became
a
priest,
is
also
still
living,
and
he
stated
that
he
would
be
willing
to
participate
in
another
exorcism,
if
he
was
called
to.
It
would
not
be
on
top
of
the
list
for
things
he
wanted
to
do,
though.
