Shock Docs (2020–…): Season 1, Episode 4 - The Exorcism of Roland Doe - full transcript

NARRATOR: We've all seen
or heard about the movie,

Of our Lord Jesus Christ,

who lives and reigns
with the Father

and the Holy Spirit!

[ Grunts ]

But now a mysterious diary

reveals the true story

behind The Exorcist.

I'm hearing it firsthand
from people who saw it,

who saw a bed levitate.

Finally, rare,
unfiltered access into the real



and most frightening exorcism
in America.

The demon said to me,
"You can't get rid of us.

You're not strong enough."

And for the first time,
an eyewitness appears on camera

to expose a shocking secret.

According to the church,
somebody gave their life

for the child.

NARRATOR: What really happened
to the haunted boy in St. Louis

and the devil
that possessed him?

♪♪

♪♪

December 26, 1973.

The day after Christmas.

Audiences wait in long lines



for the much anticipated movie
"The Exorcist,"

but no one
in their darkest nightmares

can imagine
what they are about to see.

I passed out in about
the first half-hour. Yeah.

I don't know what
they should do with that movie,

but I don't want
to see the rest of it.

I fainted like 10 minutes after

the first beginning
of the movie.

NARRATOR: "The Exorcist" follows
the story of a 12-year-old girl

possessed by the devil
and the ghoulish horror

facing the priests attempting
to save her.

It's the power of Christ
that compels you.

The power of Christ compels you!

Let the power of Christ
compel you!

The power of Christ compels you!

NARRATOR: The movie strikes at
one of our deepest anxieties,

the fear of the devil.

When she started talking like
devil coming out of her, bleh,

my legs are just going, nrrrrr!

And I want to go in the lobby
and not watch it

and I had to cover my ears.

I can't even describe it.
It's so horrible.

It just...

I just scared me to death.
Things just like this,

it just really
scared me to death.

I'm just nervous.

Man: Are you going to go back in
and see more of the movie now?

Probably, yeah.

I would say that everything
in the movie can actually happen

because the devil will play on a
person's memory and imagination.

♪♪

So head spinning,
pea soup flying,

people crawling up the wall
like a spider,

levitation, whatever it is,

all of these things
are possible.

♪♪

NARRATOR:
After the release of the film,

the Catholic Church notices
a spike in attendance.

People come to profess their
sins and seek salvation

through the ancient ritual
of exorcism.

Aaaaaaah!

BELANGER:
After the movie comes out,

the church sees this big uptick
in people

thinking they need an exorcism.

And priests are just getting
inundated with requests

for investigations
of demonic possession.

I command you, Satan, enemy
of human salvation

acknowledge the justice
and goodness of God the father.

I was able to learn firsthand
the church's ministry

to those who were up
against the forces of evil

and that were turning
to the church for help,

saw many different
manifestations,

everything from eyes rolled
in the back of the head,

foaming at the mouth,
convulsing on the ground.

One occasion I even witnessed
a levitation.

FRIEDKIN:
Exorcism is a powerful ritual.

This is the belief of the church
that the devil will,

in speaking through the body
of the possessed,

will attempt to tear
down the priest,

to destroy him physically
and emotionally.

♪♪

NARRATOR: "The Exorcist" may be
the scariest movie of all time,

and what makes it
even more frightening...

The story is true.

♪♪

Writer William Peter Blatty
loosely bases his book

and screenplay not about a girl,

but the real life horror of
a 13-year-old boy from Maryland.

He's often known as Roland Doe

to protect his identity.

William Peter Blatty
who writes "The Exorcist" book,

which is published in 1971,

was a student
at Georgetown University.

At the time,
he was an English major

and at least one of the Jesuits
whom he knew

at Georgetown was aware of this
and told him about it.

William Peter Blatty, he had
a lot of privy to documents

that some of us may not have
had privy to that had to do

with possession
and exorcism and so on.

And he had kept newspaper
clippings

from Washington, D.C.,

about this boy just outside
of Georgetown

who had had these things
happening to him.

♪♪

NARRATOR: But the book and movie
only tell half the story.

Now the shocking discovery

of a secret diary

reveals chilling new details

of the real exorcism case

that happened over 70 years ago.

♪♪

January, 1949.

Roland Doe, an only child,

lives with his parents
in Cottage City, Maryland,

a modest suburb outside
of Washington, D.C.

A lot of the people
that he went to school with,

a lot of his former friends,

people he knew growing up
always described him

as being sort of hyper,
sort of troublesome.

It wasn't that
he was a bad student.

He just had a lot of trouble
focusing.

♪♪

Roland forges a close bond
with his Aunt Tillie,

who lives in St. Louis.

Tillie dabbles in spiritualism,

a belief in communicating
with the dead.

She teaches Roland
how to speak to spirits

through a popular board game.

Aunt Tillie no doubt
spoke to him

about some of her
spiritual beliefs.

They used this spirit board
or talking board.

The talking board is a by-product
of the spiritualist movement.

It's got the alphabet
printed on it.

And on that talking board
is a little table

called a planchette.

And one, two, three,
or more people can put fingers

on that planchette, and it moves
and spells out messages.

♪♪

NARRATOR: But Roland and his
aunt have no idea

they're opening a door
to the dark side.

The aunt showed him
how to use the talking board.

And there's a lot of people that
believe that was the invitation

for the demon to step in.

♪♪

♪♪

NARRATOR: It all began in
Roland's home

on January 15, 1949.

Roland's mother hears

what sounds like scratching
noises inside the walls.

♪♪

When Roland's mother first
started talking about

the strange scratchings
to his father,

he actually had someone come
in thinking that they had rats.

An exterminator came in
to check the house,

couldn't find any signs
of anything.

So they're thinking
it's Roland acting up.

He's doing things,
you know, to get attention.

But as time went on,

Roland's mother began to believe
the house was haunted.

♪♪

♪♪

NARRATOR: 11 days after the
first scratching sounds occur,

Roland receives devastating
news.

His Aunt Tillie has died.

♪♪

Soon after her death,

Roland and his mother
hear different noises,

this time in his bedroom.

♪♪

Once Aunt Tillie passes away,
then everything

starts to really ramp up.

They hear what sounds
like troops marching

towards Roland's bed.

Everybody's frightened.

There's knocks and bangs
on the wall.

And Roland's mother screams out,

"Tillie, if that's you,
knock three times."

And they claim
they heard three knocks.

And so at this point, they start
making the connection,

that it must be Aunt Tillie
paying some visitation,

something like that.

If the alarming sounds
truly come from the spirit

of Aunt Tillie,

why would she be tormenting
her beloved nephew, Roland?

Is it possible the boy
might be attracting someone

or something else?

TAYLOR: As things started
to happen in the house,

according to his mother,
they were seeing,

you know, dishes move around,

things fly across the room,

chairs that that would
spin around,

slide across the floor
almost every night

when Roland would go to bed.

At first, everything
would be peaceful,

but then the bed
would start to shake.

♪♪

But then it got worse, till
the mattress was bouncing

up and down, the headboard
was banging against the wall.

And all of these things
were done with this skinny

13-year-old kid huddled
in the middle of this bed.

NARRATOR: Beyond the scary
noises and shaking bed,

Roland awakens
in the middle of the night,

thrashing and screaming in a
voice that doesn't sound human.

And the boy would speak in
a very guttural kind of voice

that didn't quite seem
like the voice of a boy.

Maybe this was
an alternative personality.

Maybe this could
even be a demon.

[ Guttural voice muttering ]

♪♪

TAYLOR: People who had gone to
school with him years later

talked about how they were
starting to hear

in the neighborhood,
about the things that were

going on at night.

They were hearing the yelling
and the screaming

and the banging
that was going on in the house.

♪♪

And their parents
would talk about it.

They just thought there was
something wrong with this kid.

NARRATOR: As rumors rippled
through the neighborhood,

Roland's classmates
witnessed bizarre phenomena

happening around him at school.

While he was in class, sometimes
his book would fly off the desk,

papers would fly
across the room.

There were a couple of instances

where his desk
was actually moving,

almost kind of vibrating
across the floor.

Well, the teachers accused him
of doing it, of course,

because, you know, this was
a kid who was kind of

high strung and pranks were not
out of the ordinary for him.

So they just assumed
he was acting up,

but he swore that he wasn't.

Can you imagine you're having
these horrible things

happening to you,
and you go to school,

and your peers see this,
and everybody thinks

you're just trying to get
attention.

What a horrible thing
to go through.

NARRATOR: As his troubling
behavior escalates,

Roland stops going to school.

Could the boy be losing
his mind,

or has he conjured
an evil spirit

from the depths of hell?

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

NARRATOR: The quaint Maryland
suburb of Cottage City

was once home to 13-year-old
Roland Doe,

a seemingly ordinary adolescent.

But back in February 1949,

Roland's world
is suddenly torn apart.

Every evening,
he bursts into frenzied fits

and when throttled awake
by a rattling bed

and recurring nightmares
of evil spirits.

♪♪

TAYLOR: I think that's when
things started to really get strange,

because it just
seemed impossible

that he was doing these things.

♪♪

He was waking up,
going through these fits,

these contortions
and screams and cries.

♪♪

NARRATOR:
Worried about his health,

Roland's parents
take him to a doctor.

Could their son's
nightly tantrums be the result

of physical illness,
perhaps epilepsy?

Possession could also be signs
that people exhibit

if they have a physical issue,

whether somebody is suffering
from seizures,

Tourette syndrome.

The church wants
to be very cautious

because if I'm too quick
to label somebody

as being possessed, and that
label prevents the person

from getting the true help
that they need,

then I believe
I've done more harm than good.

NARRATOR: The medical doctor
can't find anything

physically wrong with Roland.

So his parents take him
to a psychiatrist.

Perhaps their son
has a mental illness

such as manic depression
or schizophrenia.

This was 1949. So psychiatry
was not real developed,

but nevertheless,
they could find nothing wrong

with Roland at that time.

So they also went
to see a psychologist,

and he couldn't find out
anything wrong with him either.

GOMEZ: I think a lot of
therapists and psychologists

and psychiatrists,
they really are very hesitant

to endorse demonic possession
as a diagnosis.

[ Screaming ]

If someone had childhood trauma
or even current trauma,

that could also mimic signs and
symptoms of demonic possession.

♪♪

NARRATOR: In Roland's case,
no known medical records exist

except for a psychiatrist
describing the boy as normal,

but high strung.

I don't think there is
an available

psychological diagnosis that can
account for all of the things

that have been reported
with this kid.

♪♪

Does that make me leaping
to the conclusion,

"I'm 100 percent sure this is
a bona fide case of possession"?

I don't know.

But do we open the door
for the possibility

is something maybe going on

that's beyond
the scope of science?

♪♪

NARRATOR:
After consulting doctors,

Roland's parents
turned to their minister,

Reverend Luther Miles Schulze,

the pastor at St. Stephen's
Evangelical Lutheran Church.

COOPER: Reverend Schulze
happened to be very interested

in what is called
parapsychology.

That's when these abnormal
things are happening

around a person, and by some
mechanism we don't understand,

internal turmoil
is expressed externally.

♪♪

NARRATOR: Reverend Schulze
wonders if mischievous ghosts

known as poltergeists could be
wreaking havoc in Roland's home.

♪♪

A poltergeist is energy
that causes things to happen,

objects moving around,
lights turning on and off,

doors opening and closing.

The beginning of Roland's case,

that's the things that were
starting to happen.

WILKINSON: Schulze was curious,
but also maybe a bit skeptical.

Initially they wanted to
observe him outside of the home.

So if there was something
happening in the home,

is it just at the home?

NARRATOR: Reverend Schulze
believes poltergeists

typically won't move
from house to house.

So he comes up with a plan.

♪♪

Reverend Luther Schulze made an
arrangement for Roland to come

and spend the night
at his house.

His wife was going to sleep
in the guest room.

They get into their separate
beds, and almost as soon

as the lights are turned off,

the bed starts vibrating.

♪♪

Now, Schulze is still thinking
this could be a prank.

Well, when he realizes it's not
a prank,

this skinny little kid
is making the entire bed shake,

he said, "Okay.
I know how to solve this."

Why don't you go sleep
in the armchair

on the other side of the room?

♪♪

And no sooner than
things had calmed down again,

the chair starts shaking.

It starts bouncing so violently

that the chair actually
tips over

and dumps Roland out
on the floor.

♪♪

NARRATOR:
Stunned by what he's seeing,

Reverend Schulze tells Roland

to lie on a mattress
next to his bed.

And then this mattress starts
sliding around on the floor,

and he slid underneath the bed.

♪♪

Then started bouncing
up and down.

And then smashing his face
on the bedsprings.

♪♪

Schulze said, well, this isn't
this isn't going to work.

NARRATOR: When returning home,

Roland's condition
takes a terrifying turn.

♪♪

The minister claimed that three
scratches appeared

on Roland's body

and that happened four
consecutive nights in a row.

And at this point,
they know this isn't normal.

This isn't psychological
disorder.

There's something diabolical
happening here.

NARRATOR: Reverend Schulze
no longer believes a poltergeist

is pestering Roland.

He said that this was getting
beyond what he could deal with.

He was a Lutheran minister.

He suggested
that the family take him

to see a Catholic priest

because they know more
about these things

and more about possessions.

NARRATOR:
Could the Catholic Church

explain these
frightening manifestations?

Roland's parents reach out
to Father Albert Hughes,

an assistant priest
at St. James Catholic Church.

COOPER: They took Roland to see
this Catholic priest.

What basically happened there
was that the priest reported

that the temperature in the room
all of a sudden became very cold

and he saw the telephone
go sliding across the desk.

And the kid said something
along the lines,

"Why bother me,
you priest of hell?"

♪♪

NARRATOR:
As Roland casts obscenities,

Father Hughes senses
an evil presence in the boy,

perhaps the devil himself.

BELANGER: The devil is one of
the most interesting figures

in mythology, in religion,

in art, in popular culture

because in the Bible,

he's Satan, he's the opposer.

He's the loyal opposition.
He's the other side.

If you believe God is real,

you almost have to accept
that the devil is also real.

NARRATOR: Catholics believe the
devil, also known as Lucifer,

was an angel who defies God
and falls from grace.

References to demonic spirits
appear often in religious texts.

In Catholicism, the devil
personifies pure evil.

The demonic spirit is bent
on creating havoc

and wreaking havoc
in every aspect of your life

and breaking you down.

Breaking you down spiritually,

emotionally, physically,

mentally, psychologically.

Just breaking you down.

NARRATOR: After observing
Roland's behavior,

Father Hughes becomes convinced
the devil is possessing the boy.

But why?

When people are turning to
what I would call

practices of the occult,

doing seances, trying
to communicate with the dead,

those are things that
we should not be doing

because the devil
is an opportunist.

If somebody is experiencing
some type of brokenness

in their lives,

even from a mental perspective,

the devil could try to

enter into the cracks,
if you will...

♪♪

...and fracture
the person even more.

NARRATOR: According to sources,
Father Hughes contacts

Archbishop Patrick O'Boyle
of Washington, D.C.

He thinks Roland
needs an exorcism.

Father Hughes was very upset
by all this,

and he thought right away
that it warranted a trip

to see the archbishop.

A priest can't randomly decide

"I think this guy
needs to be exorcised."

Father Hughes went to the
archbishop,

and very reluctantly,
the archbishop was convinced

that it was okay to go ahead
and do an exorcism.

♪♪

NARRATOR: Sometime between
February 27th and March 6th,

Father Hughes reportedly admits
Roland to Georgetown Hospital

under an assumed name.

While Roland's
strapped to a bed,

Father Hughes reads
the prayers of exorcism,

but it goes horribly wrong.

♪♪

Roland slips his hands
out of the restraints.

The devil doesn't like
to be shackled.

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

NARRATOR: Georgetown Hospital
in Washington, D.C.

becomes the scene of a nightmare
beyond imagination.

♪♪

♪♪

Between late February
and early March of 1949,

Father Albert Hughes,
a Jesuit priest,

attempts to perform an exorcism
on 13-year-old Roland Doe

in the hospital's
psychiatric ward.

But as father Hughes
begins the ritual,

Roland reportedly breaks free
of a hand restraint.

LACHANCE: There's an eyewitness
account from the Georgetown Hospital.

Someone was there while
Father Hughes did the exorcism.

And in the process
of the exorcism,

the boy grabbed a spring
from the bed

and sliced Father Hughes's arm.

♪♪

♪♪

NARRATOR:
According to witnesses,

Roland lacerates Father Hughes'
arm from shoulder to wrist

requiring 100 stitches.

People who knew Father Hughes
said that he was never the same

after this and that he had
a problem with his arm.

♪♪

♪♪

NARRATOR: Days after being
discharged from Georgetown Hospital,

Roland plunges deeper
into despair.

♪♪

When getting ready for bed,

he glances in the mirror
and shrieks with horror.

[ Screaming ]

♪♪

Bloody scratches appear
on his chest

and seemed to form the word
"Louis."

♪♪

Roland's parents believe
the word is a sign.

They have relatives
in St. Louis.

WAIDE: They believe that since the
word Lewis did appear on his body,

that maybe this evil spirit
was sending a message

that you should take Roland
to St. Louis.

In addition to his Aunt Tillie,

who is deceased by this time
in early March of '49,

Roland's father had a brother
who lived in St. Louis.

♪♪

I talked personally with a woman

who was a best friend
of Roland's cousin,

and she told me
that I can't possibly imagine

the sense of chaos

that was going on
with his family at that time.

♪♪

They purely were at the end
of their rope,

maybe willing to do anything.

I mean, they didn't have a plan.

♪♪

When they got on the train
to come to St. Louis,

all they knew is they were
basing this on "Louis,"

and they had relatives here
and thought maybe they could

find some support and relief

and help spiritually
from their relatives.

TAYLOR:
This family, blue collar family,

job in a postwar economy

upended their entire life

to move halfway across
the country

on the off chance
that this might help.

So whatever you believe in this,
something was happening.

Something earth shattering
was happening to this family

to make them do this.

♪♪

NARRATOR: March 8, 1949.

Once arriving in St. Louis,

Roland and his parents
stay with relatives

who are devout Catholics living
in the quiet suburb of Bel-Nor.

♪♪

The family hopes they left
the evil spirits behind,

but the devil reportedly follows
Roland to St. Louis.

♪♪

So they moved to Bel-Nor,

which was the home
of Roland's uncle,

his father's brother.

They were happy to help.

They love the family.
They love Roland.

But now Roland seemed very
different, especially at night.

So he goes to bed,

and immediately things start
happening.

♪♪

He starts screaming, howling.

The bed's moving,
bouncing up and down.

Things are flying around the
room, and this poor kid

is terrified, and so is
the rest of the family.

♪♪

LACHANCE: Roland had a cousin
who was seeing everything

that was going on.

She was going to
St. Louis University.

She was Catholic.

She goes to her professor
who was Father Bishop.

And she tells him,

"I think there's something
spiritually wrong

with my cousin.
Will you come look at him?"

NARRATOR: Father Raymond Bishop
agrees to meet with Roland

and observe
his nightly behavior.

♪♪

March 11, 1949.

Father Bishop arrives at the
home of Roland's relatives.

He brings along
Father William Bowdern,

a respected Jesuit priest
at nearby

St. Francis Xavier
College Church.

♪♪

I am the great niece
of Father William Bowdern,

the Jesuit who was the exorcist.

I grew up with this story
from the time I can remember.

Uncle Bill was probably
one of the finest men

I will ever be
privileged to know.

He had the most rock
solid faith I've ever seen.

♪♪

♪♪

NARRATOR:
As Roland prepares for bed,

Father Bowdern reads
several prayers.

Roland appears calm.

After observing Roland
for nearly an hour,

Father's Bowdern and Bishop
witnessed no dramatic signs

of demonic possession.

But as soon
as the priests leave...

♪♪

...all hell breaks loose.

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

NARRATOR: 8435, Roanoke Drive,
Bel-Nor, Missouri.

♪♪

All is not right in this
seemingly normal suburban home.

♪♪

March 11, 1949.

Sometime after 11:00 p.m.,

Jesuit priests William Bowdern
and Raymond Bishop

finished reciting prayers
over 13-year-old Roland Doe.

♪♪

After observing
no significant signs

of demonic possession,

the priests no sooner leave

when loud noises resound
from the boy's room.

♪♪

A bottle of holy water
on the nightstand

mysteriously hurls
across the room.

♪♪

While Roland tries
to fall back asleep,

a bookcase somehow moves
and blocks the bedroom door.

♪♪

So the priests went back,
and once again witnessed

all of the strange activity.

♪♪

And at this point,
even Father Bowdern

started to believe that perhaps

there was some sort
of demonic activity.

♪♪

NARRATOR:
Knowing little about exorcisms,

Father Bowdern consults
the Roman Ritual.

♪♪

A 17th-century manual
detailing the rules,

prayers, and procedures
of the ancient Catholic rite

of exorcism.

DERMINE: I use mainly
the Roman exorcism ritual.

The exorcism consists mainly
in praying.

Priest: I command thee,
in the name of the Father

and of the Son, I exorcise thee.

Let thou depart!

♪♪

NARRATOR: Exorcism is almost
as old as religion itself.

♪♪

The Bible contains vivid stories
of Jesus performing exorcisms

on the demonically possessed.

When I was first appointed,
I became one of about 12

officially appointed exorcists
in the United States.

Today, I think that number
is around 125.

The pope is an exorcist

because he is the supreme
shepherd of the church.

I think there is examples
of Pope John Paul II

performing exorcisms.

♪♪

It will become
our spiritual drink.

♪♪

♪♪

NARRATOR: According
to the Catholic Church,

Father Bowdern must prove
that Roland is moving along

the classic path
to full demonic possession.

♪♪

The church identifies four
different types

of extraordinary
demonic activity.

There can be
demonic infestation,

which is the presence of evil
in a location or an object.

♪♪

There can be demonic vexation.

♪♪

Which somebody believes they are
experiencing physical attacks

from a demon.

There can be demonic obsession,
which are mental attacks.

♪♪

And then demonic possession
itself,

whereby a demon will take
control of a person's body,

treating their body
as if it were its own.

♪♪

NARRATOR:
Roland reportedly experienced

the first three stages
of demonic activity.

Perhaps an exorcism
can prevent him

from complete
diabolical possession.

♪♪

LAMPERT: When it comes to doing
formal exorcisms

for people who are possessed,

probably around 12 cases
is all that I have done

over the last 15 years.

When it comes to exorcisms
for infestation,

vexation, and obsession,

there would be
thousands of those

that I've done over the years.

♪♪

NARRATOR: Following church
protocol, Father Bowdern

contacts Archbishop
Joseph Ritter of St. Louis.

He requests an exorcism
to be performed on Roland,

but tells the archbishop
to choose another priest.

Father Bowdern didn't really
want anything to do

with this exorcism.

He knew he wasn't
qualified for it.

He didn't feel that he was
in a right place

spiritually to be an exorcist.
But he wasn't given any choice.

The archbishop just simply
told him, "You have to do this."

♪♪

DREYER: When it came back to the
fact that this was going

to be a case of exorcism,
the bishop requested Uncle Bill

specifically to carry
on the exorcism.

He didn't believe
that he should,

but he was requested
by his bishop, and so he did.

♪♪

BELANGER: The Archbishop
grants Father Bowdern

permission to perform
the rite of exorcism.

Now we're talking about
something that's officially

sanctioned by the church,

and this is not something
that the church takes lightly.

NARRATOR: In the eyes
of the Catholic Church,

evil walks the earth,

and only faith can combat it.

In Roland Doe's case,
Father Bowdern realizes

he's about to do battle
with Satan himself.

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

NARRATOR:
This suburban St. Louis home

was once the scene
of unspeakable horror.

♪♪

March 16, 1949.

Jesuit priest
Father William Bowdern

arrives at the residence
of Roland Doe's relatives

to carry out the first exorcism.

Father Raymond Bishop
and Walter Halloran,

a seminary student at the time,

volunteered to assist
with the solemn ritual

of the Catholic Church.

The priests are aware
of the risks.

The devil could also
take possession of them,

but they're determined
to purge the demon

from 13-year-old Roland,

no matter how long
or whatever the cost.

♪♪

Bowdern went through a series
of preparations

in order to do this exorcism.

♪♪

The idea of a big shootout
at noon with this demon,

so to speak,
was not on his agenda.

He wasn't thinking
this way at all.

In fact, he approached the whole
case with fear and trembling.

♪♪

The archbishop instructs
the priests

to maintain the utmost secrecy
about the exorcism,

but Father Bowdern insists
Father Bishop keep a diary...

A rare, detailed testament

to the events
that are about to unfold.

WAIDE: I think Bowdern was
certainly aware from the very beginning

this was an extreme case,

and so I think Bowdern
just wanted to have

some type of documentation
as to what happened.

TAYLOR:
The idea was to take this diary

and make it a how-to manual
for the next priests

that came along that found
themselves in the same boat.

Because people weren't
being trained to be exorcists.

In preparation, Father Bowdern
lays out religious items

needed for the exorcism...
Holy water, a crucifix,

a long purple stole
to wrap around the priest

and the possessed,

and a Roman Ritual,

the official manual of exorcism
rites.

LAMPERT: At its very core,
an exorcism is a prayer.

It's a very special prayer
that is meant to help somebody

who is being afflicted
by the demonic.

♪♪

There's the laying on the hands

on the head of the person
who's possessed,

invoking the Holy Spirit,
breathing on the face.

According to the exorcists'
diary,

as Father Bowdern recites
the prayers in Latin,

the priest shriek with horror...

♪♪

...as bloody scratches suddenly
appear on Roland's body.

♪♪

MAN: These scratches caused
red marks on the body

and caused a small amount
of blood to flow.

Roland recoiled
under the evident pain

as each mark was made.

♪♪

And usually the manifestations
will begin immediately.

♪♪

Because what the church
is doing in the right

is forcing the demon
to reveal itself,

because once the demon
reveals itself,

then the battle against it
begins.

NARRATOR: But the demon
possessing Roland

refuses to divulge its identity.

It really is a battle.
The demon inside of Roland

is fighting back at the priests,

whatever relics are being
placed on or near him.

He's pushing back
in however way he can.

NARRATOR: Then the priests
witness something beyond belief.

♪♪

The word "Hell" appears
on Roland's chest

as if it's been branded
onto his skin with a hot iron.

They were a burned
kind of brand.

I would say that
it was like words

that were appearing from
underneath onto the surface,

but they were very red
and rashlike.

The priests had been
observing the boy's hands

at all time
and realized there's no way

Roland could have made
those markings on his own body.

Father Lampert,
who's experienced

in the rite of exorcism,

believes it's the devil's way
of inciting terror.

♪♪

The manifestations are
really meant to instill fear

either in me or in other people
that are present

because the devil wants
to convince us

that he has the upper hand.

Another case of when the demon
manifested,

their eyes actually turned green

and their pupils became slanted
like a serpent.

And the demon said to me,
"You can't get rid of us.

We've been here too long,
and you're not strong enough."

♪♪

NARRATOR: After almost nine
hours of hostile resistance,

Roland collapses
and falls asleep.

LACHANCE: Father Bowdern
really didn't think

the possession set in
with Roland,

which is interesting,
until the first exorcism began.

That's when they think
the possessor really took hold

for whatever reason.

NARRATOR: the exorcism provoked
the devil within Roland,

and now the demon
refuses to leave.

The priest's realize it will
take more than one night

to purge the evil spirit
from the boy.

♪♪

In a movie, when an exorcism
takes place in 15 minutes,

it loses a lot of its reality
because, you know,

when you hear about them
in real life,

they go on for months.

Some that allegedly
have gone on for years.

♪♪

NARRATOR:
After two nights of exorcisms,

Roland Doe spends the day
like a typical 13-year-old

and acting as
if nothing has happened.

His relatives think
the exorcisms are working,

but that evening,
his mood suddenly changes.

♪♪

When the priests arrive to
continue the exorcism rituals,

Roland transforms into a rabid
creature,

snarling and biting
the man holding him down.

TAYLOR: Father Bishop
and Father Bowdern would borrow

some relics, pin them to
Roland's pillow,

hoping any of these things
would have a positive influence

on what was going on.

♪♪

NARRATOR: Amid the hysteria,

Roland suddenly
makes vomiting gestures

and asks for the window
to be opened.

Roland said that he believed
that the demon was leaving him

and actually had them
throw open the windows

so that he could purge it
from his body,

figuratively and literally
get rid of this demon.

♪♪

MAN: He said sweetly,
"He's going. He's going.

Finally, there he goes."

♪♪

If a person during the exorcism
feels that he must vomit,

he does vomit
during the exorcism.

It happens quite frequently.

Quite frequently.

And it's a form of liberation.

NARRATOR:
As Roland falls asleep,

Father Bowdern leaves the house
for the night

thinking the boy finally
purged the demon.

But he is dead wrong.

♪♪

MAN: About 2:00 a.m.,

Roland felt strange sensations
in his stomach,

and in a few moments,
he began to call out fearfully.

"He's coming back!
He's coming back."

Father Bowdern
was called at 3:15 a.m.

WILKINSON: If you have someone
possessed by the devil

and there's an exorcism
being performed

and that's unpleasant
for the devil,

they might might want
to throw you off the trail.

The sense that,
"Well, this is over.

"This is ending," only
for the priest to leave

and things to begin again.

LAMPERT: The demons are doing
these things

to try to get the upper hand,

and I did work with somebody who
was possessed by seven demons.

The weakest of the demons
are always the first to go.

But a demon that's more dominant
will be the last to go.

♪♪

NARRATOR: Roland's nightmare
is far from over.

As the exorcisms continue,

eyewitnesses both in and outside
the inner circle of priests

witness an otherworldly sight
that rattles them to the core.

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

NARRATOR: Bel-Nor, Missouri,
will forever be linked

to the most chilling exorcism
case in America

and inspiration for the horror

classic "The Exorcist."

♪♪

♪♪

March 20, 1949, day five.

13-year-old Roland Doe
and his parents are staying

in a St. Louis suburb with
relatives.

They're hoping Catholic exorcist
Father William Bowdern

can expel the demon
that's possessing Roland.

♪♪

But Father Bowdern
and the assisting priests

continue to confront
disturbing behavior.

During one of
the nightly exorcisms,

Father Walter Halloran recalls
a startling sight.

♪♪

♪♪

TAYLOR: I started interviewing
Father Halloran

toward the end of his life.

He said "One night, I was down
at the end of the bed"

and I watched the bed levitate
eight inches off the floor.

♪♪

And slam back down again.

I'm hearing it firsthand
from people who saw it,

who saw a bed levitate.

Could there be
a natural explanation for it?

Maybe as unbelievable
as believing it's a demon.

I don't know.

But that's some strange things
that were going on in there.

And they were seeing it
every single night.

♪♪

NARRATOR: Levitation also is
rumored to be witnessed

by someone outside
the inner sanctum of priests.

Roland's family
reportedly invites scientist

and mathematician Frank Bubb
to observe the possessed boy.

Bubb worked on the top-secret
Manhattan Project,

creating the world's
first atomic bomb.

♪♪

The professor, he saw something
there that deeply disturbed him.

♪♪

♪♪

Supposedly, what he saw
was a nightstand levitate.

He would later be reported
to say something along the lines

that we still had a lot
to discover

regarding electromagnetism.

♪♪

♪♪

NARRATOR: Scientists have found
ways to levitate objects

if placed in a strong enough
magnetic field.

But Roland's family wonders

if levitation also can be
a tool of the devil.

♪♪

Roland's family were
all there in the house,

and he was becoming more and
more volatile as this went on.

So Father Bowdern
and Father Bishop

thought that perhaps moving him
to another location

might help things.

♪♪

NARRATOR: Father Bowdern
transfers Roland to the rectory

at St. Francis Xavier College
Church

on the campus
of St. Louis University.

But Roland's haunting outbursts
draw unwanted attention.

Students were talking about
what was going on

at the rectory at night
because the lights were on,

the windows were thrown open,

and people are out
walking around in the evening.

They're hearing screaming,
animal noises,

shouting,
and all kinds of things.

And it was attracting
attention on campus.

[ Roland screaming ]

♪♪

♪♪

NARRATOR:
Inside the church rectory,

the priests keep a detailed
diary of the horror

as Roland displays the telltale
sign of possession...

Unnatural human strength.

Sometimes they can get
incredibly strong.

It's unclear if it's adrenaline

or just superhuman
kind of a strength.

But often times we'll have
to put hands on,

and sometimes it has been known
to happen

that they'll kind of break
free of the restraints

and even the people
holding them.

And you have to be very careful.

♪♪

NARRATOR: As Father Bowdern
repeats the exorcism prayers,

three men can barely
restrain Roland

as he wildly swings his fists
and throws a punch...

♪♪

...to Father Halloran's face.

The priests now believe
that the demon

behind Roland's
violent bloody attacks

is just getting started.

♪♪

♪♪

NARRATOR: St. Louis, Missouri,
March 23, 1949.

After a week
of grueling exorcisms,

the priests move Roland Doe
to the rectory

at St. Francis Xavier
College Church

to continue the nightly rituals,

but the boy's diabolical rage
and superhuman strength

become almost too powerful
to control.

BELANGER: During this exorcism,
little 13-year-old Roland

is fighting, he's punching.

And at one point...

♪♪

...he breaks
Father Halloran's nose.

He's that strong.

Something inside of him
has given him

unnatural strength and rage.

♪♪

Something evil
is happening in the room.

♪♪

There were several times
when he got loose

and would hit people,
punch people, slap people.

Once he actually punched
one of the priests in the groin

and paralyzed him with pain.

Roland was just completely
out of control.

♪♪

NARRATOR: What's happening
during the exorcisms

of Roland Doe
are typical terrors

when clergy and laypeople of all
faiths attempt to expel the evil

from a person possessed
by the devil.

GOMEZ: Myself and my colleagues
have been injured

during exorcisms many times.

We've been pushed, we've been
hit, and we've been bitten.

We've been scratched. I've had
my hair pulled several times.

I've been locked in rooms.
I've been burned.

So, yeah, it happens frequently.

By the power of Christ,
release him!

LAMPERT: To me, restraining
people during an exorcism

was pointless because if it's
truly something demonic,

the only one that's going to be
able to restrain the demon

is the power of God himself.

I command you, Satan,
prince of this world,

acknowledge the power
and strength of Jesus Christ.

I was doing an exorcism
one time,

and when the demon manifested,
it lunged at me.

I think I jumped back five feet.

My heart was pounding
a mile a minute,

but immediately went right back
towards the person

and laid my hand on their head
and began praying.

♪♪

NARRATOR: These same
frightening conditions

were what priests confronted
in 1949 in St. Louis

as they tried to drive out
the dark force

within a 13-year-old Roland Doe.

♪♪

But what could
they have done so far

to finally turn
the demonic tide?

♪♪

♪♪

Unable to subdue the nightly
fits in the church rectory,

Roland returns to the home
of his relatives

in a suburb of St. Louis.

For the next five days,
the boy remains

suspiciously calm and quiet.

LACHANCE: There was about a
five days reprieve, and that's unusual.

And it makes everybody stand
back and go, "Oh, is this over?"

And then, all of a sudden,

things went completely
backward again.

There was a night when Roland
wanted to write things down.

Now, his uncle was an architect

and had these
huge sheets of paper,

and he was writing out messages
and words.

NARRATOR: According to
the exorcists' diary,

Roland's family frantically
calls the priests to come over

and help decipher what the
possessed boy is trying to say.

♪♪

MAN: I will stay 10 days,

but will return
after the four days are up.

I am the devil himself.

♪♪

WILKINSON: So they were trying
to interpret what did that mean?

It looked like Roman numerals,
and there was speculation

at that point about
the timeline of the exorcism.

Is it going to be 10 days?
What does the 10 represent?

LACHANCE: Father Bishop thought
the boy was going to be possessed

for 10 more days.

♪♪

So the devil was definitely
playing with him.

♪♪

NARRATOR: On day 17,
after over a dozen exorcisms,

Father Bowdern suggests
that Roland

should be baptized
as a Catholic.

♪♪

A baptism is a form of exorcism

because
it rejects the powers of Satan.

TAYLOR: Because Roland had been
raised a Lutheran,

it was thought that perhaps by
instructing him in Catholicism

that it might help
to ease the exorcism along.

♪♪

But on the drive to the church
for the baptism,

Roland falls into one of his
deviant spells.

His aunt and uncle are
driving him to the church

when, all of a sudden,

Roland in the back seat
just goes into a rage, a fit,

and he leaps to the front seat,

tries to grab
the steering wheel,

saying, "You're going to
try to baptize me?

You're going to try to
offer me communion?

It's not going to work."

And his uncle is forced
to pull the car over

for fear that he's going to
kill all of them.

He put all of their lives,
including his own, in danger

to try to avoid
going to that church.

♪♪

NARRATOR: 13-year-old Roland
curses and spits

as he is dragged into the church
rectory for the baptism.

♪♪

Father Bowdern demands Roland
to renounce Satan,

but the boy slips deeper
into his hysterical state,

repulsed by the holy water.

[ Roland screaming ]

BELANGER:
He's just fighting and kicking.

Three men are doing all they can
to try to hold him down,

and it's decided that
they're just going to have to do

a shortened version
of the baptism ritual

just to get it done.

♪♪

♪♪

NARRATOR:
Three days after the baptism,

Father Bowdern makes
a radical decision...

Roland should return home
to Maryland.

♪♪

TAYLOR: Father Bowdern suggested
that the family go back to Maryland.

♪♪

He would go with them,
and he would find a hospital

or a convent or a monastery

where he could be treated
under medical conditions,

because at this point, you know,

this kid has been
going through this,

and it's not wearing well
on him.

Physically,
he's becoming thinner.

He's not eating.

He's despondent, and his
behavior is wild and crazy.

And so Father Bowdern said,

"I will find some place
in Maryland

where someone can continue
the exorcism."

BELANGER: They're trying to find
some institution or hospital

where they can keep him,
but no one wants him.

No one wants to touch this case
because of how complex it is.

Whether it's psychological
or diabolical,

no one wants to seem to deal
with poor Roland.

NARRATOR:
Unable to find anyone to help

near the boy's home state
of Maryland,

Father Bowdern decides
that their only option

is to go back to the Midwest

and make one more desperate
attempt to save Roland Doe.

TAYLOR: Father Bowdern realized
that he was going to have

to take Roland back to St. Louis

and he was going to have
to continue this himself,

because after all this time
around Maryland and D.C.,

no one would take him.

So he decided that
the best thing for him to do

was to take him to a hospital,
and he knew just the place.

♪♪

NARRATOR:
Upon returning to St. Louis,

Roland is admitted
to the psychiatric ward

at the
Alexian Brothers Hospital,

which is run by an ancient order
of Catholic monks.

WAIDE: The brothers were known
for taking care

of the really extreme cases
of both physical

and also mental illness.

And so that's where he ended up
staying in the psychiatric ward

at Alexian Brothers here
in St. Louis.

TAYLOR: The Alexian Brothers
Hospital had a secure

psychiatric facility
where Roland could be taken

out of the public eye and
everything would be kept secret

because the Alexian brothers
were known for their secrecy.

♪♪

NARRATOR: But soon after,

hushed whispers
echo down the corridors

about a special patient
in the psychiatric wing.

♪♪

In his only interview,
a dying Alexian monk

breaks his silence and divulges
his darkest secrets

of what really happened during
the terrifying final chapters

in the exorcism of Roland Doe.

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

NARRATOR: April 10, 1949,

After more than three weeks
of unsuccessful exorcisms,

Roland Doe enters
the Alexian Brothers Hospital

at the beginning of Holy Week,

one of the most sacred
and celebrated times

in the Catholic Church.

But the week turns into
sheer hell for the priests

and monks tending
to 13-year-old Roland.

Before his death,
an Alexian brother

breaks his vow of silence

and speaks about the exorcisms
he witnessed firsthand.

TAYLOR: In 2014, I got
the opportunity to interview

Brother Greg Holewinski.

An Alexian Monk
who had never talked about

his participation
in the exorcism,

and he was dying of cancer.

And he wanted to tell his story.

♪♪

The first night I went up,
there was a boy laying in bed,

there were three priests
that were the exorcists.

During the prayers
of the possession,

the priest wears the stole.

It's a fine silk ribbon.

The devil, using the boy's hand,
reached over and snatched...

♪♪

...that silk cloth,
and within a split second,

it was a thousand threads.

NARRATOR: Then Brother Greg
witnesses a frightening sight.

HOLEWINKSI: You could feel
the powers of the devil.

They saw the boy's
body levitate.

♪♪

I was at the foot of the bed
and had my arms crossed over

from his ankle to his knee.

♪♪

I was frightened.

What I saw was real,
what I touched was real.

It was an experience
that I would never forget.

Anybody with common sense
just walk in seeing that

knows that couldn't be faked.

♪♪

After the second night,
the boy...

...and the devil
had possession of him.

Suddenly, the devil
threw this decanter.

♪♪

And it crashed
into a thousand pieces.

I've been through storms,
hurricanes, tornadoes

and whatnot,
but this thing was the worst.

There's no reason he would
have lied or made this story up.

You know, here we are 65 years
later at the time,

and he'd never talked
about it before,

but what happened
had never left him.

♪♪

NARRATOR:
A few days before Easter,

Father Halloran takes Roland

to an outdoor retreat center
on a high bluff

overlooking
the Mississippi River.

He thinks the fresh air
might help Roland.

♪♪

The expansive grounds
include statues

depicting the stations
of the cross,

the path Jesus endured
on the way to his crucifixion.

There was a path that goes
along the bluff that's

the various stations
of the cross.

And so while
they were out there,

Roland seemed very interested
in the stories of the stations.

When they get
to the 14th station,

where Jesus is being placed
into the tomb...

♪♪

...something snaps in Roland.

He starts going into a fit,
a seizure.

He starts running.

NARRATOR: Father Halloran
chases after Roland,

who charges straight towards
the edge of the cliff.

♪♪

Whatever demon has seized
Roland's soul

is leading the boy and the
priest toward a violent death.

♪♪

♪♪

NARRATOR: April 13, 1949.

♪♪

After nearly a month
of nightly exorcisms...

♪♪

...Father Walter Halloran
takes 13-year-old Roland Doe

outdoors for fresh air.

♪♪

They walk the grounds of
the White House Retreat Center,

which features statues
depicting Jesus

on the day of his crucifixion.

But Roland snaps

and falls into
one of his spells.

He takes off and heads toward
the edge of a steep bluff.

♪♪

Father Halloran has to
chase him down

because he could kill himself
if he runs off.

And Father Halloran eventually
has to tackle him

to get him back under control.

♪♪

NARRATOR: Roland comes out
of his crazed trance

and doesn't remember
what happened.

LAMPERT: People that I've worked
with who have been possessed,

some of them will tell me
that they're aware

of what's going on.

But just like they're trapped
in their own body

and they're powerless
to stop what is taking place.

Other people tell me
that once the demon takes over,

they no longer have any
awareness of what took place.

NARRATOR: As Roland's
demonic state worsens,

Father William Bowdern shows
signs of stress and fatigue.

Oozing boils cover the priest's
frail, emaciated body.

♪♪

TAYLOR: These priests
went through long periods

where they had to fast and pray,

and during the course
of these exorcisms,

Father Bowdern lost
almost 40 pounds.

These men were exhausted.

LACHANCE: Father Bowdern,
who is on the side of the bed

praying for the boy,
and he felt weak,

but he's fighting
for the life of this young boy.

When you think about what he
went through, what he did,

that he could love this child
so much

that he would pretty
much sacrifice himself for him.

♪♪

LAMPERT: If I just did exorcisms
every day of the year,

I think I would reach the point
where it would have an impact

on my own mental health
and physical health as well.

I've known exorcist priests
over the years

who've actually
left the priesthood.

They just reached the point
where they just felt like

they were so broken
that they just couldn't go on.

♪♪

♪♪

NARRATOR: On Holy Saturday,
the day before Easter,

a monk places a statue
of Saint Michael the Archangel

in Roland's room.

Saint Michael symbolizes
protection from evil forces.

Michael represents
a dragon slayer figure

and is often depicted that way,

sort of a soldier
and triumphant over the devil.

And so he's often invoked
as sort of a protector figure.

♪♪

Prayers that were dedicated
to Saint Michael

seemed to be
particularly effective.

Roland seemed to really react
in a different way.

♪♪

NARRATOR: Do the monks believe
Saint Michael the Archangel

could finally save Roland
from Satan's wrath?

♪♪

♪♪

The day after Easter marks
more than one month

since Roland's first exorcism.

Father Bowdern uses every weapon
in his holy arsenal

to exorcise the demon.

Roland complains
the religious medals

around his neck burn his skin.

But Father Bowdern refuses
to remove them.

Instead, he forces a crucifix
into Roland's hand,

which makes him go
into convulsions.

♪♪

Oftentimes when a relic

is placed on a person
who is possessed,

you'll hear screams
that somehow it's burning.

So it's the confrontation

between the holy
with the demonic.

♪♪

At that point, Roland turns
violent and he's shaking

and he screams,
and in a deep, masculine voice,

as Father Bowdern demands to
know who's inside of Roland...

[ Screaming ]

Father Bowdern was evidently
trying to get the demon

to express to him, "Tell me
your name. Who are you?"

NARRATOR: According to the Diary
of the exorcisms

kept by Father Bishop,
the demon speaks through Roland

and provokes Father Bowdern
with a haunting threat.

MAN: He has to say one more
word, one little word.

I mean, one big word.
He'll never say it.

I am always in him.

I may not have much power
always, but I am in him.

He will never say that word.

[ Groaning ]

The demon said, "I'm not going
to leave until Roland's said

a certain word."

NARRATOR: In a pivotal showdown
between good and evil...

Until he said it,
it would stay with him.

...what word could release
Roland...

[ Roaring ]

...from the devil's grip?

♪♪

♪♪

NARRATOR: April 18, 1949.

After more than a month long
battle,

Father William Bowdern engages
in a decisive exorcism

of 13-year-old Roland Doe at
the Alexian Brothers Hospital.

♪♪

A demonic spirit
speaks through Roland

and claims the boy refuses
to say a word

that might finally set him free.

DISTORTED VOICE: One more word.

He'll never say it.

I am always in him.

♪♪

NARRATOR: But according to
the exorcists' diary,

Roland suddenly defies
the demon possessing him

and commands the evil spirit
to leave.

♪♪

MAN: Roland was in a seizure,
but lay calm.

In clear, commanding tones,
and with dignity,

a voice broke into prayers.

♪♪

ECHOING VOICE: Satan.

Satan, I would seek Michael.

And I command you, Satan,

and the other devil spirits
to leave the body

in the name of Dóminus
immediately.

Now! Now! Now!

♪♪

NARRATOR: Father Bowdern
realizes Dóminus is the word

that the devil claims
Roland would never say.

"Dóminus" is the Latin
word for "Lord."

LAMPERT: Dóminus, our Lord,
it's forcing the demon

to recognize the lordship
of Jesus Christ,

and by doing that,
it's showing a sign of weakness,

and then it's going to be
compelled to to depart.

♪♪

NARRATOR:
Suddenly, Roland erupts

and experiences
the most violent convulsions

of the entire period
of exorcisms.

♪♪

In his delirious state,

Roland claims to have
a prophetic vision.

TAYLOR: On the final day
of the exorcism,

Roland envisioned himself
outside of a cave

with an angel with
a flaming sword

that he believed
was Saint Michael.

WAIDE: He sees this vision of
Saint Michael the Archangel

with a sword and a pitchfork,

pushing these demons
back into the fiery pit of hell.

♪♪

And this angelic figure,
Saint Michael,

smiles at Roland
and says the word Dóminus,

which is the word that the devil
said Roland would never say.

NARRATOR: After several minutes
of uncontrollable spasms,

Roland relaxes and falls still.

♪♪

MAN: After seven or eight
minutes of violence,

Roland, in a tone
of complete relief, said,

"He's gone!" Immediately,

Roland came back to normal.

♪♪

Suddenly, this spell,
this seizure that Roland

was going through just stopped.

He just went silent.

And he looked up at the priests,
and he said, "It's over."

♪♪

At an exorcism, once the
person says they want help,

then that connection
with the demonic can be broken,

even though the demon
might be trying to say,

"No, no, no, no,
it can't be broken.

You've made a pact with me."

NARRATOR: While the priests
and Alexian monks celebrate,

Father Bowdern remains
skeptical.

Has the demon truly left
for good?

TAYLOR:
Father Bowdern wasn't so sure.

He'd seen this before.

This was not the first time
that Roland

or the demon in Roland told him
that it was over.

So he had prayed for a sign
to be sent

so that he would know
it really had come to an end.

And then suddenly,
there was this massive boom...

♪♪

...that shook the building.

In fact, one of the monks there
believed that their furnace

had exploded, it was that loud.

♪♪

NARRATOR: Moments after the
mysterious blast reverberates

throughout the hospital,

priests report an image
of Saint Michael

illuminating the dome above
the altar

at nearby St. Francis Xavier
College Church.

♪♪

TAYLOR: Father Bowdern knew
that was the sign

that he had been waiting for,
and that it really was over.

That was the end
of the exorcism.

♪♪

♪♪

Roland stayed in St. Louis
for a couple of weeks,

and then returned home
to Maryland.

He did contact Father Bowdern
one last time,

he wrote him a letter,
told him how happy he was,

he was back in school, that he
had just gotten a new dog.

And things seemed to be
going okay for him.

NARRATOR: After examining
all of the evidence

gathered in Maryland
and St. Louis,

the Catholic Church
reportedly refuses to confirm

or deny Roland Doe was a genuine
case of demonic possession.

COOPER: There were 48
eyewitnesses who signed off

on this final
ecclesiastical document

reporting that these abnormal
things had occurred.

Now, that's not a signing off
saying absolutely

I know with 100% this was
a case of demonic possession.

But we saw some
really weird stuff

that happened around this kid

that we don't know
how to explain naturally.

♪♪

NARRATOR:
Despite the church's conclusion,

the priests who were there
believe Roland Doe

was an undisputed case
of demonic possession.

♪♪

WAIDE: Father Bowdern soldiered
through this whole ordeal

and said virtually nothing
to family members about it

until his dying days.

But he did say that he believed,

you know, that he was dealing
with a true demonic possession.

If you've ever had anyone
in your life

whose word you implicitly
believe,

this was the guy, was
Uncle Bill, was Father Bowdern.

He wasn't an exaggerator.
I think with his common sense,

he would never think
to exaggerate anything.

WILKINSON: Do you choose to
believe that this was something

that was real and that happened
as it's reported?

Do you choose
to remain skeptical?

It boils down to, do you trust
the veracity of the witnesses?

TAYLOR: I have doubts
about parts of the story,

but I do think
something happened.

Whether you want to believe
it was a demon

or some sort of presence or some
sort of psychological problem

that was instantly cured
somehow,

whatever it was,
it was expelled.

♪♪

NARRATOR: While the final report
of the exorcism

remains locked away
in the Roman Catholic archives,

speculation
and questions persist.

Now, an investigator talks
on camera for the first time

about a possible cover up
surrounding the exorcism case.

What happened to
the real Roland Doe

and the demon
that allegedly possessed him?

♪♪

♪♪

NARRATOR: The 1949 exorcism case
of Roland Doe

is supposed to be
kept top secret.

While most involved
remain tight-lipped,

stories eventually
leak to the press

and reported details
about the boy's life

after the exorcisms
are revealed.

Roland remains Catholic.

He goes to a Catholic Jesuit
high school,

Gonzaga Prep.

He marries,
had several children.

He evidently named
his first child Michael

after Saint Michael.

TAYLOR: He did very well,
went to college,

literally became
a rocket scientist,

went to work part-time
with NASA.

He has a couple of patents for
scientific devices to his name,

including shielding
they used on rockets.

So he has lived a very full
and long life,

never troubled by anything
that had happened to him

during that time period.

♪♪

I had always said I would never
put his name into print,

and I think his privacy
needs to be respected.

♪♪

NARRATOR: The real Roland Doe,
now in his 80s,

has never spoken publicly

and will most likely take
his secrets to the grave.

BELANGER: I don't blame him.

I don't blame him for
keeping silent on it.

And it's possible
he doesn't even remember.

It's possible
if he really wasn't himself,

he would have
no recollection of it.

So what is there to say
at this point?

But we do know he lived a life.

♪♪

While Roland Doe may have put
the exorcisms behind him,

eyewitnesses and residents
of St. Louis

claim physical reminders
of his ordeal

continue to haunt the city.

♪♪

In 1978, the psychiatric wing
of the Alexian Brothers Hospital

is scheduled to be torn down.

Before leveling the building,

construction workers
make a chance discovery.

The construction crew
found a particular room

that was locked.

They found a desk in the room,

and inside was this booklet

that had been put together
that mentioned an exorcism.

And it turned out that
it had been a copy

of Father Bishop's diary
of the exorcism.

And that's how the story
eventually became public.

That's how we have access
to the diary now.

♪♪

NARRATOR: The diary
might not be the only

eerie vestige of the exorcism.

Investigator Stephen LaChance
says he's discovered

a possible conspiracy
in the case.

He claims an unnamed
church official

provided him access
to a medical facility

near the old
Alexian Brothers Hospital.

LACHANCE: I was taken to a
hospital. I was taken through security.

There's a little elevator.
We were taken up.

It was the third
or fourth floor.

It was completely deserted.
There was no one there.

I walked up to the door,
and I started to pull the door

and they stopped me
and they said,

"You can't open it."
And I said, "Why?"

They said,
"Put your ear to the door."

And I put my ear to the door

and there sounded like there
was things...

flying against the wall,
crashing.

And they asked me,
"Do you know where you are?"

And they said, "This is the
place where the priests stayed."

For decades, rumors persist that
once the devil left Roland Doe,

it must have possessed
someone else.

Now, I believe that
Roland Doe's demon

went from Roland into a priest.

♪♪

And the priest took the demon
over from the boy,

which is not uncommon.
It has happened before,

and I believe they housed
the priest in a hospital

until his death in 1983.

And I believe
that's where I was.

During exorcisms, the entity
will try to leave

the afflicted individual
and go into other people

who may be present
at the exorcism,

including the exorcist himself.

NARRATOR:
In an ultimate act of sacrifice,

is it possible a priest
took possession of the devil

to save Roland and then spent
the rest of his life

locked in a mental hospital?

LACHANCE: According to the
person from the Catholic Church

that I was with, that was indeed
what had happened.

So there you go.

That's one of those St. Louis
things that you're not going

to hear anywhere else,
and I think it's sad

that somebody
gave their life for the child.

NARRATOR: If the story is true,
perhaps William Peter Blatty

knew this
before writing the climax

to his screenplay,
"The Exorcist."

In the shocking scene,
a priest takes the devil

into his own body
and then ends his life.

♪♪

♪♪

The St. Louis exorcism

inspired one of the most iconic
horror films of all time.

♪♪

Yet the real case of Roland Doe

and its strange
aftermath remains unresolved.

♪♪

We're still talking about
this case because it was made

into one of the greatest
horror movies of all time,

and then you find out that
there's a story behind the story

and that it's real?

You're never going to
stop talking about it

because that's what
profound stories do.

They stay with us.

LACHANCE: How can a child go
from being innocent and pure

to a monster?

I think that's interesting.

And I think with people,
that's where the curiosity lies.

TAYLOR: I think for other
people, they see it as a warning.

Why why in the world
would a 13-year-old boy

be possessed by some evil
or demonic presence?

Why? What did he ever do?
Nothing.

This is just a kid
living his life in 1949.

There's that fear of
if it can happen to him,

it could happen to me.

It could happen to anyone.

If it's real,

then this could happen to
anyone, any time, any day.

NARRATOR: For those who believe,

the exorcism of Roland Doe
endures as a haunting warning

evil walks among us,

and the devil's greatest trick

is making us believe
he doesn't exist.