The Real-Life Horror Behind 'The Exorcism of Emily Rose': The Anneliese Michel Story

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[00:01:34] The case featured in this episode has been researched using police records, court documents, witness statements, and the news.

[00:01:43] Listener discretion is advised.

[00:01:46] All parties mentioned are innocent until proven guilty, and all opinions are my own.

[00:02:10] Hey everyone, my name is Nikki Young, and this is Serial Napper, the true crime podcast for naps.

[00:02:16] I'm back with another true crime story to lull you to sleep, or perhaps to give you nightmares.

[00:02:22] Tonight, I'm kicking off another season of Serial Nightmare, a Halloween series that I do every year for the month of October.

[00:02:30] So everything that I release this month will either be Halloween-related or more on the spooky side, but of course, always true crime.

[00:02:38] Have you ever seen the 2005 supernatural horror movie, The Exorcism of Emily Rose?

[00:02:44] Well, tonight, I'm talking about the true story that inspired the hit flick.

[00:02:49] Annalise Michel was a deeply religious young lady from Klingenberg, Bavaria, who had suffered from epilepsy and mental health issues for several years.

[00:02:58] Despite undergoing multiple medical treatments, her condition worsened, leading her family and two local priests to believe that she was possessed.

[00:03:09] To rid her body and soul of the demonic entity, 70 exorcism rituals were conducted in secret at her home.

[00:03:17] Though she was a physically sick young lady, her medical treatments were completely stopped, as her family and the priests focused on the exorcism rites.

[00:03:27] These sessions took place in her bedroom, and they were intended to rid her of demonic possession.

[00:03:34] However, Annalise's health, it severely deteriorated, and she ultimately succumbed to maltrition and dehydration, weighing just 68 pounds at the time of her death.

[00:03:46] The case of Annalise Michel drew significant attention, especially in Bavaria, a predominantly Catholic region.

[00:03:54] The state prosecutor argued that her death could have been prevented if medical intervention had been sought, even if only in the final week of her life.

[00:04:04] Her parents and the priests, they were charged with negligent homicide for failing to call a doctor, despite her worsening condition during the exorcism rituals.

[00:04:14] But some still believe that Annalise died from possession, not neglect.

[00:04:20] So dim the lights, put your phone down, and listen to the story and real audio recorded tapes from Annalise's exorcism before you decide what you think really happened.

[00:04:32] So let's jump right in.

[00:04:35] Annalise Michel was born into a deeply devoted Catholic family in Bavaria, located in southern Germany.

[00:04:41] Before we talk about her early life or her family, I think it's important to talk about the culture of where she lived.

[00:04:49] Around two-thirds of the population in Bavaria identify as Christian, with the vast majority of them being Catholic.

[00:04:57] And that is significant.

[00:05:00] The practice of exorcisms began around the 16th century, and they were much more common many centuries ago.

[00:05:07] The events that we're talking about tonight happened in the 70s, and by this time, exorcisms were incredibly rare.

[00:05:16] Of course, there was a ton of interest in them due to the movie The Exorcist being released around that time,

[00:05:22] but Catholic priests were not out there performing this ritual on the regular.

[00:05:27] Still, according to an article published in the Washington Post, there was a survey conducted in 1974 by the Freiburg Institute for Borderline Psychology,

[00:05:38] which concluded that 63% of practicing Catholics in Germany at the time said that they believed in the devil and his ability to show his existence here on Earth.

[00:05:48] As well, in 1976, the German press agency surveyed bishops from 22 Catholic churches to find out whether or not exorcism was still a commonly accepted practice.

[00:06:00] Three of those bishops said yes, and all three of them were from Bavaria, where Annalise hailed from.

[00:06:07] Her family in particular was devoutly Catholic.

[00:06:11] Before she was born, Annalise's father, Joseph, had considered training to become a priest.

[00:06:16] It was a family affair.

[00:06:19] Three of her aunts were already practicing nuns.

[00:06:22] Her mother, Anna, had experienced her own spiritual crisis at an early age,

[00:06:27] which made her commit herself fully to religion in order to save her soul.

[00:06:32] It's said that in 1948, an unwed Anna birthed a child named Martha, which brought great shame to her family,

[00:06:40] so much so that when Anna married Joseph, she was forced to wear a black wedding veil rather than the traditional white one,

[00:06:48] signaling to everyone that she was not pure.

[00:06:52] The idea that an innocent child would grow up believing that they're the product of sin is heartbreaking.

[00:06:58] What's even more tragic is how little Martha died when she was only 8 years old due to complications from an operation where doctors attempted to remove a kidney tumor.

[00:07:09] In her short life, she would have been shamed for being born out of wedlock,

[00:07:14] but if she had the chance to grow up, she wouldn't have stood a chance with the parents that she was given.

[00:07:21] When Annalise was born in 1952, it was grilled into her brain from an early age that she was to devote herself to God,

[00:07:30] to remain chaste, and to atone for the sins of her family.

[00:07:34] They attended church twice a week, every week, and made Catholicism at the center of pretty much everything that they did.

[00:07:41] For this reason, when she grew into a teenager, Annalise was not like the other girls her age.

[00:07:49] She didn't spend time on her looks, wearing makeup.

[00:07:52] She didn't drink, smoke, or attend parties.

[00:07:55] Instead, she prayed for the poor and sick.

[00:07:59] It's said that she spent many nights sleeping on her cold bare floor to atone for the sins of the drug users she had seen sleeping at the train station.

[00:08:07] Her mother would say that she was deeply sensitive and obedient.

[00:08:13] When she was 16 years old, Annalise started to have some alarming health issues.

[00:08:19] What began as a normal day at school ended with her completely blacking out and walking around in a trance-like daze.

[00:08:27] When she finally snapped out of it, she had no recollection of what had just happened.

[00:08:32] It was believed to be the first of several seizures that she would experience.

[00:08:36] Later that evening when she went to bed, she reported suddenly waking up because she felt like she couldn't breathe.

[00:08:43] She couldn't move or speak, and it felt like something was pushing down on her, holding her down.

[00:08:49] She also wet herself.

[00:08:51] It was a terrifying experience that Annalise tried to initially brush off.

[00:08:56] But it wasn't long before it happened again.

[00:08:59] This time, she went to go see a doctor, a neurologist named Dr. Siegfried.

[00:09:05] She had an EEG scan done, which is a test that detects abnormalities in your brainwaves.

[00:09:10] And everything came back looking normal.

[00:09:13] After being evaluated and reviewing her symptoms, the doctor believed that she may have been suffering from nocturnal cerebral seizures.

[00:09:22] According to the Epilepsy Foundation,

[00:09:25] The seizures can look like a simple arousal from sleep, at times confused as a nightmare or night terror.

[00:09:32] They can also be more involved movements like twisting, turning, pelvic thrusting, peddling, grimacing, wandering, startling, and vocalizations like screaming, moaning, or crying.

[00:09:45] The doctor also believed that she was experiencing grand mal seizures, known today as tonic-clonic seizures.

[00:09:53] According to the Mayo Clinic,

[00:09:55] Tonic-clonic seizures have two stages.

[00:09:58] In the tonic phase, a loss of consciousness occurs.

[00:10:02] The muscles suddenly contract and cause the person to fall down.

[00:10:06] This phase tends to last about 10 to 20 seconds.

[00:10:10] In the clonic phase, the muscles go into rhythmic contractions.

[00:10:14] They alternately flex and relax.

[00:10:18] Convulsions usually last 1-2 minutes or less.

[00:10:22] Symptoms can include smelling a particular smell, experiencing vertigo, having confusion, bad headaches, a loss of bladder control, and screaming.

[00:10:33] These are all of the things that Annalise would experience over the next few months.

[00:10:38] And people were taking notice.

[00:10:40] She was displaying some very odd behavior that just couldn't be ignored.

[00:10:46] Sometimes, she'd be found in a trance-like state with her hands outstretched in a claw position, just stuck that way.

[00:10:53] And her eyes would dilate to the point of being almost completely black.

[00:10:58] Can't imagine finding someone in this state.

[00:11:00] It would be so scary.

[00:11:01] One time, she recalled a sudden smelling of a sweet scent.

[00:11:06] Something that smelled like violets while she was knelt down praying.

[00:11:09] And then, she had an overwhelming sense of euphoria.

[00:11:13] An experience that she actually attributed to having a strong connection to God.

[00:11:18] One of the scariest symptoms Annalise experienced was that she began seeing grimacing faces.

[00:11:26] She thought that she was seeing the devil himself.

[00:11:29] She also began hearing whispering voices telling her that she was damned.

[00:11:35] Because many of these symptoms presented themselves while she was praying, she believed these voices to be true.

[00:11:41] Annalise fell into a deep depression, so severe that at times she contemplated suicide, which would have been completely against her religious beliefs.

[00:11:53] As part of her treatment, she was given anti-convulsion medication and she was referred to speak to a psychiatrist,

[00:12:00] where she talked at lengths about how she felt that her will was no longer her own.

[00:12:05] Yet her condition continued to worsen.

[00:12:08] When she seemed to become intolerant to being around or touching Christian symbols, like a crucifix,

[00:12:15] she and her family began to believe that she may be possessed by a demon.

[00:12:21] They begged the clergy at their local church to help rid Annalise of her demonic possession.

[00:12:27] But the church refused, instead insisting that she should continue to seek medical attention.

[00:12:33] It was probably attributed to her epilepsy.

[00:12:36] The situation peaked when she began to rip her clothing off, crawl around on all fours barking like a dog,

[00:12:44] and eating spiders from the floor of her home.

[00:12:47] It's reported that she went as far as to bite the head off of a dead bird that she had found.

[00:12:52] And after urinating on the floor, she began to lick it up.

[00:12:56] Her mother, Anna, was desperate to get help for her daughter, and after being rejected by priest after priest,

[00:13:04] she finally found someone who agreed to help.

[00:13:07] His name was Father Ernst Ault, and he fully believed that Annalise was experiencing a demonic possession.

[00:13:14] Because her medical treatments didn't appear to be working, he dismissed the idea that she had epilepsy.

[00:13:21] Instead, he petitioned Bishop Joseph Stengel for permission to perform an exorcism, which he granted.

[00:13:29] It's time for a quick break and a word from tonight's sponsors.

[00:13:33] Hang on, I'll be back before you know it.

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[00:15:37] Now back to our story.

[00:15:41] Two local priests, Ernst Ault and Arnold Renz, were given permission to move forward with the exorcism.

[00:15:48] Under one condition.

[00:15:50] It must be performed in absolute secrecy.

[00:15:54] Even in the 70s and even in the deeply religious region of Bavaria, the validity of exorcism was highly controversial.

[00:16:03] Remember, the movie The Exorcist, it was released in 1973.

[00:16:07] So this was very much a hot topic at the time.

[00:16:10] To avoid any unwanted attention, the ritual must be kept hidden from the public.

[00:16:16] That's what the bishop wanted.

[00:16:18] All of Annalise's medical treatment was halted.

[00:16:21] The very first exorcism performed on her in the privacy of her family home happened on September 24, 1975.

[00:16:30] Over the course of the next 10 months, Annalise would be subjected to around 70 exorcisms, each lasting up to four hours.

[00:16:39] 42 of these sessions were recorded on tape, which captured Annalise speaking in other voices.

[00:16:45] Voices that are alleged to belong to as many as six different demons, including Lucifer, Cain, and even Adolf Hitler himself.

[00:16:55] I'm going to play a clip for you now from one of these sessions.

[00:16:59] A pre-warning, it's pretty disturbing, so if you need to skip ahead, I completely understand.

[00:17:04] The next time.

[00:17:07] What is the name of the church?

[00:17:07] That's not what I'm saying.

[00:17:09] No!

[00:17:12] No!

[00:17:14] No!

[00:17:16] No!

[00:17:19] No!

[00:17:19] No!

[00:17:21] No!

[00:17:22] No!

[00:17:22] No!

[00:17:23] No!

[00:17:25] No!

[00:17:26] No!

[00:17:27] No!

[00:17:29] No!

[00:17:39] No-no!

[00:17:42] No!

[00:17:45] No!

[00:18:10] The first time I listened to this

[00:18:21] haunting clip, I had goosebumps all over my arms. It's chilling. Some of you listening might hear a woman

[00:18:28] clearly possessed by a dark entity, maybe a demon, while others will believe that they're listening to

[00:18:34] the voice of a very sick young woman. You can make your own determination. On the tapes, Annalise can

[00:18:41] be heard screaming obscenities or making growling noises, all while she's being held down by her

[00:18:47] mother and father or chained to her bed or a chair. When Annalise claims to be possessed by Hitler,

[00:18:54] she says with an authentic Austrian accent that, quote,

[00:18:58] People are stupid as pigs. They think it's all over after death. It goes on.

[00:19:04] When she speaks for herself, she tells the priests that she needs to die to atone for the sins of

[00:19:11] 70s youth. As the weeks turned into months and Annalise's health continued to deteriorate while

[00:19:18] two priests struggled to rid her of her demons, she stopped eating food and drinking water.

[00:19:24] In photos that were taken of her, she appears frail, bruised, battered, and truthfully,

[00:19:31] she almost looked like she's a rotting corpse. It's awful that these sessions continued for

[00:19:37] nearly a year, and no one stepped in, not even her mother or father. Nobody put a stop to what

[00:19:44] was happening to seek medical attention for Annalise. It's very clear that she was suffering,

[00:19:50] and she was painfully close to death. One of her last sentences spoken would be, quote,

[00:19:56] Mother, I'm afraid. Eventually, on July 1st, 1976, at just 23 years old, her body just gave up the fight,

[00:20:05] and she passed away. At the time she died, she weighed just 68 pounds, so it's no surprise that

[00:20:13] when an autopsy was conducted, it reported that she had died due to malnutrition and dehydration.

[00:20:19] These exorcisms had been happening for almost a year, and Annalise was starving herself the

[00:20:25] majority of that time. Because of the horrific condition her body was in when she passed away,

[00:20:31] a police investigation was launched in order to determine if anything criminal had happened.

[00:20:36] Then, it was learned that if Annalise had been given medical attention just one week before she

[00:20:42] passed, she may have actually survived. Her death was completely preventable.

[00:20:49] So, her parents and the two priests who performed the secretive exorcism,

[00:20:55] they were arrested and charged with negligent homicide.

[00:20:58] If any of these four individuals had called a doctor, Annalise could have been saved.

[00:21:04] The parents were defended by one of Germany's top lawyers, who was notorious for defending Nazi war

[00:21:11] criminals, while the two priests, they were defended by church-paid lawyers.

[00:21:15] Their defense was that not only is exorcism totally legal in Germany, but that the country's

[00:21:22] constitution, it protects citizens' rights to exorcise their religious beliefs.

[00:21:28] During the trial, the recordings of Annalise speaking in different tongues was played for the courts.

[00:21:34] The defendants believed that these recordings could save them from a conviction, because it showed proof

[00:21:41] that the young lady was in fact possessed by demons.

[00:21:44] When both of the priests took the stand, they remained steadfast in their belief that she was

[00:21:50] possessed, and that her death, it actually freed her soul from the demons. So, I guess it had worked.

[00:21:57] Annalise's parents also testified that they too believed that their daughter was possessed.

[00:22:02] However, they didn't think that her soul was freed at all. After a nun informed them of a vision that

[00:22:07] she had about their daughter, that because her buried body was completely intact, not rotting,

[00:22:13] this was a sign that she was still being possessed. So, they had her body exhumed.

[00:22:18] They wanted to be sure. The exhumation confirmed that her body had decomposed as normal.

[00:22:25] Nothing out of the ordinary was going on. Both Annalise's mother and father, Joseph and Anna,

[00:22:30] they sat quietly in the courtroom when listening to the authorities and medical professionals testify.

[00:22:36] The only time that Anna could be audibly heard in the court was when she groaned,

[00:22:41] oh dear God, when a doctor testified why he believed her behavior was actually as a result of epilepsy,

[00:22:48] not demonic possession. So, clearly, they were doubling down on their actions, believing that

[00:22:55] they were justified. Even if convicted, the priests weren't expected to serve any jail time.

[00:23:01] If anything, a guilty charge would be a warning to the church, and the priests,

[00:23:06] they would receive a monetary fine. Annalise's parents would also not receive any jail time,

[00:23:12] because according to the German courts, they had already suffered enough. Which,

[00:23:17] I'm not really sure how I feel about that. If you were to take religion out of the equation,

[00:23:22] the medical neglect alone, it's typically enough to send someone to jail. It's tragic how they lost

[00:23:29] their daughter, but let's be real, they weren't bystanders in the situation. Either way,

[00:23:35] people were worried that if all parties were found not guilty, it could open the floodgates to more

[00:23:40] exorcisms being performed. This trial was one that was reported on and watched closely by people all

[00:23:47] around the world. Ultimately, the priests were found guilty, and they were surprisingly sentenced

[00:23:53] to six months jail time and three years of probation. But, of course, they never served a single day in

[00:23:59] jail. Many people believed that the courts were actually protecting the church,

[00:24:04] and siding with them, even over all of the medical professionals who testified against them.

[00:24:10] It's been almost 50 years since Annalise Michelle died in secrecy in her home in a little town in

[00:24:17] Bavaria. Her father and the two priests who tried to rid her of her demons, they've all since passed

[00:24:23] away. I couldn't find any updated information about her mother, Anna, but as of 2005, she was still

[00:24:31] living in the home where her daughter died. If she is still alive, she would be over 100 years old.

[00:24:38] Annalise was buried in a graveyard just behind their home, in view from Anna's window. Though she

[00:24:45] continued to talk about how much she missed her daughter dearly, she also said that she never

[00:24:51] regretted what she did. Until her very last days, she's believed that the exorcism was justified.

[00:25:00] In an article posted by The Telegraph, she was quoted as saying,

[00:25:04] I know that we did the right thing, because I saw the sign of Christ in her hands. She was bearing

[00:25:11] stigmata, and that was a sign from God that we should exorcise the demons. She died to save other lost

[00:25:18] souls, to atone for their sins. Much of the people who still live in the town would disagree with that.

[00:25:25] There is a sense of deep shame over what has happened there, behind the walls of that home,

[00:25:31] without anyone knowing until it was too late. The church carries some of that shame too. In 1984,

[00:25:39] a group of bishops from Germany made recommendations to the Vatican for some changes to the exorcism

[00:25:45] rite. Their petition was, of course, denied, and no changes were made at that time. However,

[00:25:51] in 1999, they did update the exorcism rite for the very first time since the 17th century.

[00:25:59] They added in a requirement. Priests who were to become qualified in the exorcism ritual

[00:26:05] must first undergo medical training, which makes absolute sense and I guess is progress.

[00:26:13] Since then, Annalisa's story has been used as the basis for the Hollywood hit horror movie

[00:26:18] The Exorcism of Emily Rose. A lot of people enjoyed this film, myself included, and if you're looking

[00:26:24] for a really good flick to watch on Halloween, I highly recommend it, but of course there has been

[00:26:30] some criticism as well. Some people were concerned that this movie might fuel more interest and actually

[00:26:36] drive the demand for exorcisms. And actually, it's important to remember that though the movie is

[00:26:43] loosely based on the truth and is a fictionalized story, exorcisms are very much a real ritual performed

[00:26:50] still to this day. According to an article by the Washington Post, as of 2005, quote,

[00:26:56] there are about 70 practicing exorcists in France and just as many employed in Italy. In July 2005,

[00:27:03] a congress in Poland was reportedly attended by 350 practicing exorcists. Annalise Michel's exorcism

[00:27:13] happened in private, away from prying eyes, behind the walls of her home. How many others have been

[00:27:20] performed and continued to be performed under this veil of secrecy? The answer might just be the real

[00:27:28] horror story here. That's it for me tonight. If you want to reach out, you can find me

[00:27:33] on Facebook at Serial Napper. You can find my audio on Apple or Spotify or wherever you listen to

[00:27:40] podcasts. I post all of my episodes in video format over on YouTube, so go check it out. And if you're

[00:27:46] watching on YouTube, I'd love if you can give me a thumbs up and subscribe. I'm over on ex, formerly

[00:27:53] known as Twitter, at Serial underscore Napper. And I post things on TikTok, Serial Napper Nick,

[00:27:58] and that's all one word. Until next time, sweet dreams, stay kind, especially in the comments. Bye.