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- [00:01]
Jake Brennan
This episode is brought to you by Disgraceland All Access and the listeners who support this show through Patreon and Apple Podcasts. You can become a supporting member of Disgraceland and receive ad, free and exclusive content by signing up today for just $5 a month before prices go up at the end of October. To become an all Access member, go to Disgracelandpod.com I was recently researching a subject for one of our podcast episodes whose home was broken into and the algorithm started to then send me all these horrifying clips of home break ins and I got pulled into the wormhole and naturally started questioning my own home security system at the time. And what I found out was that my system wasn't very preventative. And that's because most home security systems aren't very preventative. They're actually designed to only react and take action once someone has already broken in. And that ain't good. SimpliSafe on the other hand, my new security system stops crime before it even starts by confronting potential threats the moment they appear. These break in videos online are horrifying and they're happening in neighborhoods all over. You need your home security to be dependable, and my question is, can a home security system really call itself security if it only responds once the intruder is already in your home? SimpliSafe is the way to stop someone from actually entering your home. Their AI powered cameras detect threats while they're outside before they intrude and they alert real security agents who take action while the intruder again is outside, not in your house. I'm now using Simplisafe and I'm telling you that you guys should too. It's super easy to set up. They sent me all the components in one box. I was able to hook it up by myself. Made my wife happy, and now my home is protected and I've got rapid response. I've got a security system I can depend on in a great, easy, intuitive app that helps me monitor my home no matter where I'm at right now. My listeners can save 50% on a SimpliSafe home security system at simplisafe.com Disgracepod that's simplisafe.com DisgracePod there's no safe like SimpliSafe. All right, guys, if you haven't heard me talk about groons before, you're about to right now. There's a reason I'm talking about groons. You know I love groons. They're a convenient, comprehensive formula packed into a snack pack of gummies to get you through your day. Guys, this is not a multivitamin, a greens gummy or a prebiotic. It's all of these things. And it's all these things at a fraction of the price. And it tastes great. And also, I'm not standing over my counter with green powder flying all over the place in my kitchen trying to make a drinker. You know what I'm saying? Gruns is a totally different thing. Daily snack pack of gummies. Because you can't fit the amount of nutrients Gruns fits into just one gummy. Plus, I'm telling you, I'm watching what I'm eating these days and I look forward to eating Gruns. They taste great. It's a treat. With 6 grams of prebiotic fiber, which is three times the amount of dietary fiber compared to the leading greens powders. For context, that's more than two cups of broccoli. And it tastes better than broccoli. There's the Groonie Smith apple flavor. Okay, that's my new go to. That's the Gruins fall flavor. I'm here for it. It's only available through October. It's got the same full body benefits that you know and love from Groons, but this time tastes like you're walking through an apple orchard in a cable knit sweater. Getting those New England vibes, all that warm apple cider, you know, those apple cider donuts. Maybe you're buying a little corn on the cob for later that day. You know what I'm talking about. Grund's ingredients are backed by over 35,000 research publications. I love Groons. They taste great, they are super convenient, and they are chalk filled with healthy benefits. Grab your limited edition Groony Smith apple Groons, available only through October. Stock up because they will sell out. Get up to 52% off. Use the code. Disgraceland. Disgraceland is a production of Double Elvis. This is a story about a movie. It's a movie we've all heard of. And most of us, I'm guessing, have seen the Exorcist. It's actually a story about a story connected to that movie. It's the story of possession. It's the story of murder. A story about depravity and lies. And it's a story about evil. But it's also about loneliness and identity. About a film so impactful it caused people to faint and vomit when they first saw it. And yes, it's a story about a movie that contained a great score. Great music, unlike that music I played for you at the top of the show. That wasn't great music. That was a preset loop for my melotron called Diabolical Dance MK1. I played you that loop because I can't afford the rights to the Most Beautiful Girl by Charlie Rich. And why would I play you that specific slice of George Costanza singing cheese? Could I afford it? Because that was the number one song in America on December 26, 1973. And that was the day the Exorcist opened in theaters. A film that sickened everyone from Catholics to agnostics living in denial of the existence of true evil. On this episode, demonic possession, cold blooded murder, hauntings, curses, sickened audiences and the Exorcist. I'm Jake Brennan and this is Disgrace. Sam Exorcism, the religious or spiritual practice in which a demon or another evil entity is driven out of the body of a possessed person, is very real. Or so saith the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, who have an entire page on their website dedicated to the centuries old custom. On this page is written there are instances when a person needs to be protected against the power of the devil or to be withdrawn from his spiritual dominion. At such times, the Church asks publicly and authoritatively in the name of Jesus Christ, for this protection or liberation through the use of exorcism. Father Vincent P. Lampert is a 61 year old Catholic priest and currently the designated exorcist of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Indiana, Indianapolis, a position he's held for over two decades. At the time of his appointment to this role back in the early 2000s, he was one of only 12 officially appointed Catholic exorcists in the country. Now, in 2024, there are 175. According to Father Lampert, however, true cases of demonic possession are extremely rare. We're talking 1 in 5,000 of all cases that appear to require an exorcism. More commonly, the Church recognizes problems such as infestation, which is the presence of evil in a location or in an object like a voodoo doll, demonic vexation, which is a physical attack, and demonic obsession, which is a mental attack. That's not to say that demonic possession never happens, because it does. Ask Father Vincent Lampert. He has seen demonic possession with his own eyes. He's watched people levitate. He's seen their eyes roll into the backs of their heads, the guttural noises, the foaming at the mouth, the unspeakable odors, tongues slithering like snakes and faces twisted into agonizing lumps of flesh. When the time comes to perform an exorcism, when the Psalms and the Gospels are recited, when the water is blessed and sprinkled, when the priest breathes on the face of the afflicted. In order to assert the power of the Holy Spirit at that time, one must be strong in the presence of pure evil. And one must also remain strong to carry forth the work that must be done. Doing that work, driving out the devil, that's the easy part. Father Lampert will tell you so. He'll also tell you that the hardest part of an exorcism is convincing someone that they actually need to let God in. Ronnie Hunkler shut the front door of his house and locked the deadbolt with his key. He tossed an overnight bag in the car, put it in drive, and left his darkened home behind for the night. The NASA engineer hated this day. Halloween every year. He was freaked out. Not by the little kids in costume. He was freaked out that a random stranger would show up uninvited on his doorstep only to discover who he really was. Not just another geek working the Apollo program. His career would be of interest to no one. When his secret, his past, was brought into the light, it started. Small noises, scratches. A knocking coming from inside his wall or under his floor. This was years ago, way back in January of 1949, when Ronnie was just 14 years old. He was an only child living with his folks in Cottage City, Maryland, a small, quiet town just outside of the nation's capital. Ronnie and his family were mourning the recent death of his aunt. It hit Ronnie particularly hard. He got a Ouija board and tried to contact her on the other side. She didn't answer, but something. Ronnie was sitting on his bed when he felt it. A hand, a claw, Something there under his mattress. It went from one end of the bed to the other, scraping at his legs. Ronnie jumped. And then the bed began to shake. And not just vibrate. It rattled violently. Ronnie quickly got to his feet and the shaking stopped. And out of nowhere, the bed sheet flew off the mattress like it had been pulled by someone. There was no one else in the room. Soon it wasn't just the bed. Chairs would shake or move when Ronnie sat in them. A portrait of Jesus Christ hanging on the wall rattled whenever he came near it. Doctors, psychologists, shrinks, no one could help. So Ronnie's parents turned to the church first, to a Lutheran minister down the street. He observed it all. The shaking bed, the moving furniture, the deep red scratches that were beginning to appear on Ronnie's body. It was obvious to the Lutheran minister what needed to be Done. But he couldn't do it. Ronnie needed the help of a Catholic priest. In February, Father Albert Hughes asked the Catholic Church for permission to perform an exorcism on Ronnie Hunkler. And the church granted his request. Father Hughes strapped Ronnie to his bed, put a rosary around Ronnie's neck and made the sign of the cross with holy water. And then he began. The power of Christ compels you. Ronnie was hot. Something inside him began to flail. The power of Christ compels you. The thing inside Ronnie was agitated. It was angry. It squirmed and crawled all over Ronnie's skin. It fought against the restraints as Father Hughes carried on. The power of Christ compels you. A noise was coming from Ronnie's throat. A voice, but not Ronnie's voice. Instead, something high pitched and horrifying. It was then that one of Ronnie's hands broke free. He grabbed an exposed piece of of the mattress spring and ripped it off. Then he thrust the sharp metal into the priest's shoulder. The ritual had to end. Father Hughes, however, was not the only one wounded. There were more red scratches on Ronnie's body, clearly spelling out words. One read hell and another read Louis. L O U I s as in St. Louis, as in the city where Ronnie's dead aunt was from, the city where his parents now believed he was supposed to go. In St. Louis, Ronnie stayed with family while two local Jesuit priests, Walter Halloran and William Boderen, carried on with the exorcisms. Once again the rosary and the crucifix and other holy relics were laid out. Once again the prayer was recited. And again the thing inside Ronnie, it fought back. It screamed and spat at the priests. It laughed in their faces. In the power of Christ, Satan was in control. Satan had the power. Satan had the boy. And to prove it, Satan put Ronnie in a trance and made him piss all over the bed he was lying in. How about that, Father? Satan pisses on your holy water. But the two priests kept at it. The rosary, the crucifix, the relics. And then on Monday, April 18, 1949, the day after Easter, Ronnie woke up immediately and began having a seizure. Three men had to hold him down while Father boden called upon St. Michael, most glorious prince of the celestial host, St. Michael the Archangel. Defend us in the conflict with which we have to sustain against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the world, of this darkness, against the spirits of wickedness in high places. Ronnie continued to convulse while a blood curdling scream rang from his throat. Present our prayers to the Most High that without delay they may draw his mercy down upon us. Rani was burning up. The stench of rotting flesh filled the room as Father Bowden carried on. Seize the dragon, the old serpent which is the devil, and Satan bind him and cast him into the bottomless pit. The seizures stopped. Rani, the bed, the furniture, the entire room was still. Ronnie blinked his eyes and turned to look at Father Bowder. And standing next to him where he lay, calm, cool, collected, and once again speaking with his own voice, Ronnie simply said, he's gone. All these years later as an adult, Ronnie could still remember that moment like it was yesterday. He could still remember how he told the priest of the vision he had while in the thralls of demonic possession. A vision of a battlefield full of blood and smoke and fire, of St. Michael himself riding atop a mighty steed, charging directly up to Satan and smiting the devil down with one stroke of his sword. But the story of Ronnie's possession and exorcism didn't belong to him anymore. It had since served as the inspiration for the Exorcist, both the 1971 best selling novel and the 1973 blockbuster film. Not that anyone knew it was Ronnie's story. His real name was never used in the press. Instead he was known as Roland Doe, which was just the way he liked it. And this was the reason why once again, on Halloween night, he was fleeing his own house in fear. Because he was at peace now, spiritually and emotionally. And if the world discovered that he, Ronnie Hunkler, was that exorcism kid, then he'd never know true peace again. I used to think that I was the type of person who was responsible, like super responsible when it came to finances and had a handle on everything. Until my wife and I were talking and we had to make a payment. There's a. There was a school bill coming up for our kids and we were trying to figure out if the money had gone out yet from our accounts and we couldn't find it. We couldn't locate the transaction. And then we started to try and just list our accounts. You know, it's not like we have a ton of financial accounts. You know, there's a couple of us checking accounts, 401ks, education account, those sorts of things, of course, savings. And we couldn't do it. We had such little clarity into our financial reality that we couldn't list out all of our accounts. That's why I started using Monarch. Feel organized and confident in your finances with Monarch an all in one personal finance tool brings your entire financial life together in one clean interface on your laptop or your phone. Using Monarch, it's been one of those moments. Like the lights are on. I can see everything right now clearly. Finally, I found out exactly where my money was going, noticed which investments weren't working for us, and my wife and I developed a great view into how much we were actually saving and how much we were actually spending. And we can get a clear glimpse of this every single week with Monarch. Monarch makes it easy. You link your account in minutes, it automatically categorizes your spending, gives you visuals make sense at a glance. It's built for people with busy lives who don't have time to be in a spreadsheet. Don't let financial opportunity slip through the cracks. Use code disgraceland@monarch.com in your browser for half off your first year. That's 50% off your first year@monarch.com with code disgraceland hey everyone, I'm Josh Radner and I am so excited to tell you about How We Made youe Mother a Rewatch podcast looking back at How I Met yout Mother, and I'm here with Craig Thomas, who co created the show along with Carter Bayes. Hi Craig. Hey Josh. Somehow it has been 20 years since the show premiered. That's I'm going to check the math on that. Ten years since it went off the air, and we thought that made this a perfect time to look back, see what the hell we did and why the show still seems to resonate with fans around the world today. Follow and listen to How We Made youe Mother wherever you get your podcasts.
- [19:58]
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- [21:03]
Jake Brennan
William Peter Blatty was in the right place at the right time. First as an English undergrad at Georgetown university, where in 1950 he learned about the exorcism of the local boy known as roland Doe just one year prior. The story haunted him for the next 20 years and eventually it influenced his excellent writing in his 1971 horror novel the Exorcist. William Blatty was in the right place at the right time again when that novel of his was single handedly turned into a bestseller by a blackout drunk named Robert Shaw. Let me explain. Robert Shaw. That's Captain Quint from Jaws. Though this was a few years before Jaws, Robert Shaw was scheduled to be the featured guest on that night's episode of the Dick Cavett show, which at the time was known for its late night long form interviews and some ways a precursor to podcasts. But I digress. Robert Shaw however, had knocked back one too many gansets or whatever he was drinking beforehand and was currently shit faced in the Dick Cavett show green room. William Blatty was sitting in his apartment six blocks away when his telephone rang. He was surprised to hear a member of the Cavett show team on the other end asking if he wanted to be that night's guest in Robert Shaw's place. His novel the Exorcist up to that moment had been a complete flop. No one was buying the thing. He recognized what this opportunity meant, that an appearance on this late night long form interview show could change his life. So yeah, Vladdy said yes faster than Linda Blair's possessed head could do a 180. Sorry, I'm getting ahead of myself. But only thing was Here he had 15 minutes to get to the studio. So he ran all six blocks from his apartment, sweating his ass off, where as Robert Shaw slept one off in the next room, Peter Blatty spoke to Dick Cavett about a shocking new book. For 40 minutes the next week, The Exorcist was the number one book on the New York Times bestseller list. Thank you Captain Quinn. Again, this was the early 70s. It's right after Altamont, it's after Charles Manson, it's after Rosemary's Baby. The American public, it had grown up, it had lost its innocence, it had become disillusioned. And at this moment in time, the American public was more than ready to have the shit scared out of it by a very disturbing story of demonic possession. At the center of that story was an 11 year old girl, Reagan, which was one of the many ways in which Peter Blatty's novel differed from the true life tale of Roland Doe, AKA Ronnie Hunkeler, from which the Exorcist was conceived. The book sold millions. Among the many people who loved it was the director, William Friedkin, who wanted to turn the book into a movie. And when it came to turning the Exorcist into a movie, Friedkin knew he was the guy for the job. Now, there's something you should know about William Friedkin here, because despite his many accolades at the time, he has since become somewhat of an underrated underdog who isn't as routinely celebrated as many of his peers. He was a grizzled, foul mouthed Chicago kid who didn't give a fuck about anybody else that walked the face of the earth, as one Hollywood producer kindly put it. In the early 1970s, William Friedkin was motivated by three things. One, he wanted to make a better movie than his buddy Francis Coppola. Coppola, of course, had just made the Godfather, so good luck. Anyways, Coppola was currently the hottest ticket in town. That very fact, it put a fire in Friedkin's belly. This kind of unofficial competition, this creative back and forth. It's what made the Beatles and the Beach Boys great in the 60s, and it's what made cinema great in the 1970s. Two, William Friedkin was emboldened and empowered by his recent success. Friedkin had just won the Oscar for Best Director for his incredible film the French Connection, which, as he loved to tell Steve McQueen to his face, had a way better car chase scene than Bullitt. In Friedkin's eyes, that Oscar win was a mandate. I'm glad that people deified directors, he once said, because I make more money that way. And when it came to making money, William Friedkin knew how to do that because he had made movies that entertained people, that people wanted to go see. A movie wasn't made to hang on a wall in a museum. A movie wasn't art. A movie's primary purpose was to entertain. And if you didn't do that, you didn't do your job. And finally, number three, and this is the big one. William Friedkin wanted his film adaptation of the Exorcist to feel real, just like his previous film, the French Connection had felt real. For that film, Friedkin created the gritty, propulsive, almost documentary feel of New York City, in part by hiring a camera operator who had shot the Cuban Revolution right alongside Fidel Castro. That's 100% true. By the way, go look it up. In Friedkin's estimation, if the Exorcist was cheesy, it would bomb. Plain and simple Hollywood being a fickle mistress and all that. He knew that his Oscar wouldn't mean shit anymore if he wasn't making Warner Bros. Money. So he made sure the movie felt real. The makeup, the practical effects, the disgusting sores and cuts covering the face of then 13 year old Linda Blair, her spinning head, the pea green vomit that she spewed all over the priest trying to the ridder body of a demon. Friedkin obsessed over minor details. He went over budget and over time while his buddy Francis Ford Coppola wrapped production on the Conversation, the masterpiece he made between the first two Godfather movies. Meanwhile, Friedkin's attention to detail on the Exorcist drove a lot of people crazy. So did his temper. He tossed phones across the room. He blew his fuse regularly. He fired staff at at will, even giving his longtime production designer the axe and then ordering the entire set to be rebuilt. And attention to detail. Friedkin's attention to detail didn't come without a little pain. In the scene where the mother, Chris MacNeil, played by Ellen Burson, is thrown off the bed by the demon inhabiting her daughter, Friedkin rigged a unit around Burson's body that literally yanked her and tossed her to the floor. And Burstyn landed on her coccyx. And that's the bone at the base of your spinal column causing her incredible pain. The scream that comes from Ellen Burstyn at that moment in the film is very real. In the film's final scene when Father Karras, having just spoiler alert here, jumped out of Regan's bedroom window and is dying on the street and another priest rushes to give him absolution. That priest, a Reagan real priest named Father William o', Malley, wasn't giving Friedkin the performance he wanted. Friedkin thought about that third motivation of his make it real. He looked at Father o' Malley and asked, do you trust me? Of course o' Malley had faith in the director. He wasn't a real actor. What did he know? And at that moment, Friedkin drew back his arm and slapped o' Malley across the face as hard as he could with his hand. O' Malley was frozen in shock. Friedkin told OMalley to do the scene again. This time Omalleys heart was pounding. This time his own hand was shaking as he reached out to the dying priest on the ground. And this time it was real. As real as some of the extras. Friedkin Hired to lend credibility to the world that he was creating. Extras like Paul Bateson, a radiology technician who worked at an NYU lab. That's him with the short hair and the beard, prepping Linda Blair for an angiogram. In a scene which features a dramatic spurt of blood, a visual which to many was the most disgusting in the entire film, Paul Bateson helped simulate a practical effect based on something he did in his everyday life. But just like Ronnie Hunkler, the NASA engineer who was living with an old secret about his childhood demonic possession, Paul Bateson's life wasn't exactly what it seemed. Paul Bateson had a secret, too. The only difference being he wasn't nearly as good at keeping his skeletons in the closet as Ronnie Hunkler. But it wasn't until well after the Exorcist became a nationwide sensation and sent audiences into hysterics that William Friedkin would discover he hadn't just hired NYU's chief neuroradiology technician for his movie, he'd hired a murderer. We'll be right back after this. Word, word, word.
- [29:55]
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- [30:26]
Jake Brennan
Hey, if you feel like today's music culture doesn't reflect what you care about, then you probably need more Disgraceland in your life. Exclusive content like mini episodes on music myths too wild for our main stories. Who really wrote the lyrics for ACDCs back in black album? Why was Judas Priest, drummer, a man convicted of a horrific crime, inducted into the Rock and Roll hall of Fame? The wild story behind the soundtrack to the Exorcist. You can get these stories and more plus ad free listening by becoming a Disgraceland All Access member and signing up with Apple Podcasts or Patreon. Patreon Peeps get to jump into the chat daily with me and the rest of the Disgraceland community. Go to disgraceandpod.com to sign up now for just five bucks a month before prices go up at the end of October. There's been a lot of talk about the so called curse of the Exorcist. Yes, nine people connected to the movie died during or shortly after production. Yes, Ellen Burst had developed a permanent spinal injury following the incident described earlier. And yes, one of the movie sets mysteriously burned to the ground. But those are just a bunch of random coincidences that people were eager to make some kind of sense out of, as people tend to do. We humans must have explanations for things that are not ever meant to be explained, to rationalize why they happened, to reason. The reality is that the Exorcist scared the living hell out of everyone who saw it in theaters when it opened the day after Christmas in 1973. And perhaps because of this, the legend of the film's supernatural powers grew. People literally went into hysterics right in the theater in the middle of the movie. They collapsed, they fainted, they vomited. They left halfway through the film, falling to the floor of the lobby, hyperventilating, only to return the next day, plunk down more hard earned money for another ticket and see if they could make it through to the end this time. Watching The Exorcist in 1973 was like running an endurance race. For many Catholics, however, the real disgust was the blasphemy. A teenage girl masturbating with a crucifix. This was supposed to be entertainment. Still, the Exorcist entertained, in part because it was so shocking that it was impossible to turn away no matter how bad you wanted to. It was like looking directly into the eyes of pure evil. And within a few years, that evil was everywhere. It was out on the streets in New York City. And I'm not just talking about the Son of Sam sneaking up on unsuspecting couples necking in a shipbox on the side of the road. There was also another depraved unknown killer responsible for what were being called the battle murders. From 1975 to 1977, the hacked up body parts of six men were discovered in plastic bags floating in the Hudson River. The shreds of clothing that remained on the body parts all came from the same leather stores in the Village, leading NYPD to come to the conclusion that the victims were all members of New York City's gay community. And By September of 1977, Son of Sam, aka David Berkowitz, had been apprehended, ending one of the city's long lasting nightmares. But New York City could never be rid of all its nightmares. The Bag Murders killer, for one, was still out there, still targeting gay men, if the cops were to be believed. But of course, the Bag Murders were on the minds of men who took their lives into their own hands when they went out to the leather clothes clubs late at night. Like Paul Bateson, who on the night of September 14, 1977, was hanging out at Badlands over on Christopher Street. The last four years, since his minor appearance as a radiology tech and the Exorcist, hadn't been kind to Paul Bateson. He was drinking a lot. He lost his job at nyu and he picked up some other hustles, like the most recent gig as a cashier at a place that showed dirty movies. But he couldn't even hold that down. He was broke, desperate. Tonight he wanted to make a connection, not just sex, something deeper. And he seemed to find one quite easily with another man here at Badlands, Addison Verrell, a journalist who covered movies for Variety. They smoked some weed, did some coke and amyl nitrate, and then around three in the morning, they headed over to the meatpacking district. There they went to another club, this one called the Mine Shaft, where the only clothing required to meet New York City code were shoes, dress shirts, ties, sweaters. None of those things were allowed. Instead, the all male clientele wore jock straps, torn T shirts, and off it even less. Tonight, like most nights, those men were engaged in all forms of sex. In the Mineshaft's bathtub, on its sex swings, and in the back room, where, if you were particularly bold and especially horny, anything at all went. Hours later, the sun was coming up high. Drunk on the Mineshaft's beer and simultaneously exhausted and exhilarated from hours of clubbing, Addison Verrall invited Paul Bateson back to his 17th floor studio apartment in the Village. There they continued to drink, to do drugs, and around 7:30 that morning, they had sex. Paul prepared to bask in the afterglow, but instead found that he was experiencing something else. A feeling of loneliness, of abandonment. Going into this, he had one wanted more than the ecstasy of the flesh. He wanted a spiritual connection of the soul, which is not at all what had just happened between him and Addison, at least not in Paul's eyes. Paul felt like Addison wasn't into it, like he was just going through the motions. Paul's mood suddenly swung. His head was full of disappointment, of weed and coke, of the knowledge that in a few minutes he'd walk out of that front door without looking love, without money, with nothing. Slowly, he began to move his body. He stood up from the bed and walked out to the kitchen. There he picked up a heavy frying pan and then he returned to the bedroom. And without any warning, he swung the frying Pan, and he hit Addison Verrell directly in the head with it. The pan vibrated in Paul's stiff hands and there was a cracking sound and Addison's body hit the ground with a thud. Paul didn't look to see if there was any blood yet. He left Addison moaning and went back to the kitchen. He opened a drawer and found a large knife, and he picked it up in his trembling hand. And again he returned to the bedroom. Addison struggling to move, to understand exactly what was happening, why it was happening. But he could barely see straight through the blurred vision, through the. The pain, through the ringing in his ears. A ringing that was finally silenced when Paul Bateson, the man he just met, the man he'd welcomed into his home, plunged that knife deep into Addison Vero's chest. Paul took Addison's master charge card, his passport, some of his clothes, $57 in cash, and left his one night stand dead in his own apartment. Eight days later, an anonymous man placed a phone call to Arthur Bell, a reporter at the Village Voice who had just written an article about Addison Verrell's still unsolved murder. Arthur Bell wrote this article partially out of frustration that the mainstream press, the press patronized by Joe Q. Hetero, gave zero fucks when it came to all the gay men who were being murdered across the city. It was during this phone call that the anonymous man told the story that I've just told you and confessed that he was the one who did it. He never said that his name was Paul Bateson. That detail came later, thanks to another tip that was called in. And when the cops arrested Paul, he told them a story very similar to the story that the reporter Arthur Bell had been told. Paul later claimed that he delivered his confession while drunk and before the police had read him his rights. He also maintained that he wasn't the one who called Arthur Bell in the first place. Didn't matter. A judge ruled the police had properly upheld Paul's constitutional rights and thus his confession, as well as a subsequent Village Voice article Arthur Bell wrote after receiving that anonymous phone call were admissible in court. Prosecutors tried to pin the bag murders on Paul Bateson as well. But in the end, he was convicted solely of the murder of Addison verrell, and in 1979 was sentenced to at least 20 years behind bars. 24 years later, in 2003, according to the New York Department of Corrections, Paul Bateson was released on parole. Five years after that, in 2008, his parole ended. His last known place of residence was Freeport News York, a village on Long Island. An entry in the United States Social Security Index indicates that a man with his name died in 2012, but it's unknown, unconfirmed. Just like the killer being the notorious Bag Murders, Paul Bateson vanished into the background. And so too did evil, passing between the visible and the invisible, from one host to another. Paul Bateson's life was finite. Evil, on the other hand, never really goes away. It just quietly moves on when no one's watching. Hey guys, brief interjection here to mention that you may have heard me talk about at the top of the show, the great soundtrack for the Exorcist. The story about how this soundtrack came to be is wild. It's kind of unbelievable actually, and it didn't really fit into this narrative. So we've got it this week as a special mini episode which you can listen to by becoming a Disgraceland All Access member on Apple, Apple Podcasts or Patreon. Also, this week for All Access members, we are unveiling our new monthly Disgraceland video podcast called Gimme Danger. This is a Disgraceland variety show of sorts. It features me, Seth and a bunch of the discos video conferencing in and talking with us and you know, talking about music and true crime serial killers who inspired great music, great music inspired by serial killers, the most dangerous years from music history and more. More. So stick around after this episode to hear our trailer for Gimme Danger and go to Disgracesampod.com to sign up to become an All Access member. Alright, back to the show. 2020. 85 year old Ronald Hunkler, the man the world knew only as Roland Doe. The same one whose personal experience with demonic possession at the age of 14 inspired the novel. The Exorcist sensed that something else was in the room with him. He was going to tell his 29 year old female companion. But then he thought better of it. She was already well versed in his fears. Specifically the fear that took hold around Halloween each year that a stranger would find out the truth about him. That he was in fact the inspiration for one of the biggest horror movie franchises of all time. And that would mean attention, scrutiny, questions he didn't even want to think about the questions. He no longer had to fear questions at work. It had been nearly two decades since he retired from NASA, and during his long tenure there, he never told a single co worker about his past. Still, you didn't let your guard down just because you were retired and often alone. You never knew when someone might be around. When you slipped like whatever was here with him now he tried to pass it off as a draft of the house. And the light playing tricks with him. The same lights now growing darker. Everything slowing down. The world on its axis like a record on a turntable, the plug pulled from the wall. The platter getting slower and slower with each passing revolution as that plaster spun. Ronald's secret was safe with him. It was there in his deepest and darkest recesses, buried under years of disguise, a sleight of hand. But there was a secret even deeper than that. And that other secret was this. Ronald Hunkler was a phony. His demonic possession from back in 1949, the one that made the papers, that haunted writer William Peter Blatty, that drove the agnostic director William Friedkin to make one of the most frightening films of all time. It was all a lie. Supposedly Ronald Hunkler had never been possessed. Supposedly he just made it all up. Why I was a bad boy. That was a quote attributed to Ronald, According to his 29 year old companion, who says that Ronald confessed this to her at some point before his death. And speaking of death, Ronald knew it was coming. In fact, that's what was in the room with him now. Presence was disorienting and comforting at the same time. He allowed himself to slip into the cold grip of nothingness. But just before he did, there was a knock at his front door. Once again, Ronald Hunkler felt that old fear, felt the panic. Who was here at his house and what did they want? They want to ask him who he really was. To demand the truth, to blacken his good name. According to Ronald's 29 year old companion, the following is what happened. The door opened and unannounced, in walked a Catholic priest. But neither she nor Ronald had called for a priest. Nevertheless, here he was. And that priest performed last rites as Ronald Hunkler passed from this world into the next absolution. Just like the blessing Father Karras received at the end of the Exorcist. Forgiveness for the sins of a past life. Jake Brennan. And this is Disgraceland. All right, thanks for listening to this episode on the Exorcist. This week's question of the week, guys, it's an easy one. I want to know, is the Exorcist the scariest movie movie of all time? And if so, why? And if not, well, what is 617-906-6638? Leave me a voicemail, send me a text and let me know. You can also reach me disgracelandpod as well on Instagram X and Facebook. Alright, here comes some credits Disgraceland was created by yours truly and is produced in partnership with Double Elvis. Credits for this episode can be found on the show notes page@gracelandpod.com if you're listening as a Disgraceland All Access member, thank you for supporting the show. We really appreciate it. And if not, you can become a member right now by going to Disgracelandpod.com membership rate and review the show and follow us on Instagram, Tik Tok, Twitter and Facebook Disgracelandpod and on YouTube@YouTube.com Disgraceland pod Rocka Rolla He's a bad, bad man Ever wonder about the wildest stories from music history and think what hasn't been revealed? What are the books and the biopics and the documentaries covering up or under reporting? Are you like me and the rest of the Disgraceland community and alienated by today music culture? Do you crave connection with other music obsessives raised on mtv, Rolling Stone, Helter Skelter, True Crime and the dangerous side of Music history? Well then, this message is for you. Disgraceland presents Gimme Danger, a new monthly music and true crime variety show encompassing all things Disgraceland, a one hour video variety podcast co hosted by me, Jake Brennan with Dr. Zeth Lundy. This show will dig into music history's dead notes, the stories behind the songs that inspired or were inspired by serial killers the Doors, Riders on the Storm and the Killing Spree, Hitchhiker, Billy Cockeye Cook, Talking Head Psycho Killer and the Son of Sam, Cheap Tricks, the Ballad of TV Violence and Mass Murderer, Richard Speck and so many more. In Gimme Dan Danger, we also explore the most notorious years in rock and roll history, all the crime and scandal, the years of living dangerously, and try to determine if the art and music was worth the social upheaval and tragedy. Spoiler alert. It was. Finally, each episode invites you, the viewer, onto the show to play true crime or false eyelashes. What's that? You'll find out to watch, listen and be a part of Disgraceland's Gimme Danger. Become a Disgraceland All Access member via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. Sign up@gracelandpod.com this episode is brought to you by Lifelock. It's Cybersecurity awareness month and LifeLock has tips to protect your identity. Use strong passwords, set up multi factor authentication, location report, phishing, and update the software on your devices. And for comprehensive identity protection, let LifeLock alert you to suspicious uses of your personal information. Lifelock also fixes identity theft, guaranteed or your money back. Stay smart, safe and protected with a 30 day free trial at lifelock. Com. Podcast terms apply.