Rhode Island Cases

Private Residence

East Providence, RI - March 24, 2018

The client, of East Providence, RI contacted E.C.P.S. making various claims about demonic possession. She has reached out to several other teams, including priests, shamans, and energy practitioners for help with her situation, some of whom she was paying for their services. She claimed to hear voices, felt physical sensations, and had precognitive premonitions daily.  She also claimed to experience periods of time where she was not in control of her actions – i.e. throwing her dog off a bridge into a river and putting cigarette butts through pictures of loved ones. These claims were ongoing for 5-6 years.

Empath Report

David Bray

We arrived at the home around 6:00 PM and I immediately began picking up on energy from the property. At first, I could not identify exactly what I was feeling but I determined it was a nervous type of energy. I believe I was picking up on the client and her family’s energy as they were awaiting our arrival.

The client's home was clean and organized. There was nothing out of the ordinary that seemed to catch my attention. I did notice there were religious artifacts throughout the home along with some family pictures. Most of the curtains were opened so sunlight was entering the home as well. Upon further inspection, there were no mirrors facing each other and there were no other classical signs that would indicate the formation of negative energy. In fact, I received no feelings of negativity, malevolent or demonic, throughout the entire house.

The only energy I picked up on was in the 3rd floor bedroom and it was not negative in nature. Prior to the investigation, while we were eating dinner, I received the name “Rodrigues.” It was unknown to us then who this name was referring to until we saw that her daughter’s last name is “Rodrigues” and that she resides in the 3rd floor bedroom.

Melissa conducted the interview with the client. Prior to our visit, I told the client over the phone that we wanted to speak with her family as well, but her husband and daughters left when we arrived. The only family member we were able to interview was the client’s son, who resides in the basement. When Chris and I interviewed him, he told us that he believed his mother’s “issues” stemmed from yelling and negativity within the home as opposed to demonic possession. He also claimed that he never experienced any paranormal activity.

Upon talking with the client, we discovered that she had been sexually assaulted in her late teens by her mother’s boyfriend. This horrible experience has led to significant trauma in which she has sought out therapy for. She agreed to let us speak with her psychiatrist and medical doctors if the need presented itself.

Spiritually, the client has reached out to several other paranormal teams, shamans, religious clergy, and energy workers, some of whom received payment for their services. We quickly advised her to stop all monetary spending to these types of people. Upon contacting some of these individuals, they could not provide us with any answers and their certifications were questionable at best.

When the client and I spoke on the phone, I told her how our team operates. Before we deem anything as paranormal in nature, we must rule out all possible logical solutions, for that is how the scientific method works. Although the paranormal field does not adhere strictly to scientific principles, it is important for the collection and documentation of evidence. The Catholic church will not perform a legitimate exorcism without true evidence of demonic possession. With this knowledge, she agreed to our visit.

When we first began the investigation, we decided to start with a “ball of light” session in the living room, in which the client was a participant. As soon as we began, she began to speak out in a different tone. However, it is important to note that no provocation was used, and the ball of light exercise was a pseudo-session or control experiment. Therefore, the voice that came out of her began speaking inappropriately in response to no stimulus. Upon evidence review, we discovered that almost every time she spoke out in a different voice, she would look around to see if there was a reaction. When we tried to use religious provocation, it had the opposite effect and the client had no reaction; suddenly the voice was gone. She is also fully aware of the voices, the conversations, and the events that take place during this timeframe. True possession victims experience “blackouts” and have no recollection of certain events.

When presented with formal logic, the client became very agitated with me. I tried to show her the inconsistencies within her claims to try and make rational sense of what she was saying she is experiencing. It was not my intention to seem rude or doubtful, as I fully believe that she believes she is experiencing paranormal activity. When I asked her if she believed a demon could read her mind, she said yes. However, nowhere in the Bible does it say that demons have that power, but it does tell us that God is the only one with that ability. The concept of free will also baffled her, for just because someone, demons included, tell you to do something or that something bad is going to happen, it does not mean it will. God is the only one who knows what decisions you will make and how your life will turn out, and that is what the Catholic faith teaches us.

The following day, she purposely tried to debunk my logic by researching demonic possession on the internet, but it should be noted that the internet is not generally a good source of information. Instead of agreeing with our statement that we do not believe she is possessed, she continues to affirm that she is. She is seeking validation and exhibiting a confirmation bias on the matter. She wants someone to reassure her that is she possessed instead of focusing on the truth.

We have worked demonic cases before and much of what the client is experiencing is not demonic in nature. Demonic oppressions are extremely rare, and possessions are even rarer. She exhibits no major signs of either oppression or possession. Her accent does not change, she does not speak other languages, has no knowledge of personal history or secrets, and shows no physical manifestations either. She also wears crosses and goes to church. When a person becomes truly possessed, they either receive an exorcism quickly or pass away. She claims that she has been possessed for over 5 years which is extremely unlikely. However, she has convinced herself otherwise. When I showed some footage of our visit to a psychology professor of mine at Southern Connecticut State University (SCSU), he did not believe she was showing signs of demonic possession and insisted that her body language resembled that of patients who have undergone sexually traumatic experiences.

Our approach to this investigation was to find out what happened to the client 5 years prior, when all of this started. She could not give us a definitive answer and claimed that the voices started at random. After trying different approaches, we finally discovered that she believes she saw her attacker at the end of her street one day… about 5 years ago.

Traumatic events can alter our neurochemistry and I believe that the client’s trauma has done just that, and that the solution lies within continued psychiatric care, inner healing, and a supportive atmosphere. E.C.P.S. will never venture outside its scope of practice and for now, there is not much we can do. If she begins to show signs of demonic oppression or possession, then we will return and find a spiritual solution to her problem. However, we are highly encouraging her to listen to our advice and trust in our expertise; to be open-minded and to search within for healing for anything is possible through Jesus Christ.

Medium Report

Chris O'Connor

Our team arrived at the client’s home around 6:00 PM. We found the home in good order with no excessive clutter and a relatively clean appearance. The home was built in the 1920s based on property records listed on the internet.

The home had a minimum number of religious artifacts; a few crucifixes, rosaries, and a burning candle with a glass of water next to it. The house was decorated for the Easter holiday.

Melissa conducted the interview process with the client. She is in her late 40s and appears to be in relatively good physical health. Dave and I did a walkthrough of the house and the outside of the property to pick up on energy or spirits that may want to communicate with us. The outside of the property did not reveal anything.

The walkthrough of the house did not reveal anything either. I detected no energy shifts and the home generally felt at ease.

One piece of information that came out during the interview was that the client had a traumatic incident as a late teen. She was sexually assaulted by her mother’s boyfriend. She understood that this man was also practicing the occult and believes that perhaps a curse was put upon her.

Our intention was to interview the family that lived in the home. Unfortunately, the daughter and granddaughter left before we got there (although knowledge was given that we wanted to speak to them). The client's husband/boyfriend was present originally but avoided speaking with us. Her son, who sleeps in the basement, agreed to speak to Dave and me.

Our discussion with her son was interesting to say the least. He feels his mother’s “issues” lean towards a mental issue rather than a paranormal issue. He feels her issues are due to the constant shouting within the household and believes all the yelling rattled her brain. He also states that he has not experienced any paranormal activity.

I did pick up on two human spirits that were attached to the client though. The first spirit was an angry grandmother figure. I couldn’t make out what was being said but it was very loud, and the words came fast. This spirit was also associated with the sounds of broken dishes. When asked about this person and the sounds of broken dishes, the client was avoidant of the subject. I could not get a clear answer other than the spirit may be her mother.

The other spirit I picked up on was a male. I asked her when the last time she saw the “evil” man was, and she claimed she had never seen him but hears his/their voices. I saw this man as average weight and height. He didn’t show definitive description of himself, but he emanated a very negative energy. I did not perceive him to be demonic or a “demon.”

Our team did a “ball of light” session with the client. Her behavior changed once she knew that she was the focus of our attention. She came out with statements like “You are not going to get my name,” “Motherfucker,” and “Get out!” None of these statements were said in response to provocation and most of the time they were said inappropriately. They were completely random in nature. I don’t know her very well but when she swore, the words seemed forced. She either doesn’t swear often or she was trying to get a reaction from us. Many times, I noticed while reviewing video evidence, she would act out and then look to see if one of us had a reaction.

During the session I received the name “Sylvester.” I asked the client if this name had any significance and again she was evasive and tip-toed over the question.

I chose to open the English to Portuguese translation tool off the internet via my phone. The client's ethnic background is Portuguese. I chose statements such as “Evil, get out,” and “You must leave this home in the name of Jesus Christ!” I played the translation and there was no response. If this was a demon, I would expect a reaction; not necessarily crosses flying across the room but some sort of energy change. There wasn’t a change or reaction from the client in any way.

She stated during the interview process that this had been happening for around 5 years. Our team took the approach of finding out what happened 5 years prior. We asked many questions and she could not produce an answer. Many of our conversations told us that she had seen the man that assaulted her at the end of her street. 

It was when I received a vision of prison. I asked her about this and she stated that when she saw her attacker, she also saw a man in prison attire and another man that appeared to be in prison guard attire. I asked, “When did you see all this?” She stated, “About 5 years ago.” Later, during our research, I found out she was arrested for domestic battery. She did not bring this information to my attention throughout the night.

We wrapped up the evening around 11:00 PM.

The team and I did not collect any evidence through audio, video, or pictures. The visions and spirit energy I picked up could not be collaborated, therefore can only be used as subjective information.

I am not a psychologist or psychiatrist but through my medical training, I have been trained to identify possible psychoses. In my opinion, because this activity began shortly after the client saw her attacker, the activity cannot be considered paranormal. It is clear to me that she needs to continue with or seek appropriate medical attention. E.C.P.S.’ policy is that we will not step over a possible or potential medical issue and directly deem something as paranormal as the reason for a client’s claims. Once all medical possibilities have been addressed and resolved, if she is still experiencing activity, E.C.P.S. will return and pursue a solution for her.

Objective Findings:

Investigators: David Bray, Chris O'Connor, Melissa Whited

Photos:

No photographic evidence was found.

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Audio:

No audio evidence was found.

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Video:

No video evidence was found.

Assessment:

Paranormal Level: Grade 0 - All subjective paranormal activity has been debunked and no evidence has been collected for documentation. There are no objective paranormal findings of any kind.

This case is officially considered non-paranormal. We have determined the client’s issues to be medical-based and E.C.P.S. will never cross that line. It is important to make sure that teams do not enable people with psychiatric conditions by reinforcing their psychoses.

Plan:

Case Closed

Case closed – non-paranormal. The client has been harassing us for quite awhile now with threats and spontaneous text messages and voicemails.