WEBVTT - Season 06 Episode 3 Extra: Return to Sunder

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<v Speaker 1>This show is sponsored by Better Help Online Therapy. Visitbetterhelp

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<v Speaker 1>dot Com. Forward slash Unexplained one zero because honestly, being

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<v Speaker 1>a human can be exhausting. Welcome to Unexplained Extra with

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<v Speaker 1>me Richard McClane Smith, where for the weeks in between episodes,

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<v Speaker 1>we look at stories and ideas that, for one reason

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<v Speaker 1>or other, didn't make it into the previous show. In

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<v Speaker 1>last week's episode, Under the Influence, we trace the story

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<v Speaker 1>of the apparent demonic possessions of David Glatsal and Arnie

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<v Speaker 1>Johnson that were said to have occurred in Connecticut in

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<v Speaker 1>the early nineteen eighties. Much of the story, as it

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<v Speaker 1>has come to be known, is largely derived from the

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<v Speaker 1>nineteen eighty three book The Devil in Connecticut, written by

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<v Speaker 1>Gerald Brittle. Brittle was given the supposed full account of

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<v Speaker 1>the Glatsal families and Annie Johnson's bizarre experiences by some

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<v Speaker 1>of the respective family members, and Lorraine and Ed Warren,

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<v Speaker 1>who claimed to have witnessed much of it for themselves.

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<v Speaker 1>In twenty six, with the book due to be republished,

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<v Speaker 1>Carl Glatsaw jor David's older brother, who was fifteen at

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<v Speaker 1>the time in question and who never once believed his

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<v Speaker 1>brother was actually possessed, sued Brittle and Lorraine Warren for

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<v Speaker 1>their depiction of what apparently took place. Although Carl didn't

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<v Speaker 1>dispute much what physically happened, he claimed that elements were

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<v Speaker 1>exaggerated and in some cases entirely invented, to support the

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<v Speaker 1>Warren's insistence that David was being possessed by demons. In fact,

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<v Speaker 1>as Carl Junior stated, David's problems, which he believed were

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<v Speaker 1>most likely the result of some form of psychiatric illness,

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<v Speaker 1>had begun as far back as nineteen seventy nine, a

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<v Speaker 1>full year before the book suggests or thor Or Old.

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<v Speaker 1>Brittle argued in response that having only written the book

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<v Speaker 1>after recording hours and hours of testimony from the Glasso

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<v Speaker 1>family themselves, he wholeheartedly stood by everything he said in it.

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<v Speaker 1>The case was eventually dismissed. As for Arnie Johnson's conviction

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<v Speaker 1>for the murder of Alan Bonno, his case is often

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<v Speaker 1>presented as an example of how a defendant attempted to

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<v Speaker 1>use demonic possession as a legal defense strategy. However, in reality,

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<v Speaker 1>this line of defense wasn't actually allowed by the judge

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<v Speaker 1>and so was never genuinely put to the test in

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<v Speaker 1>a trial by jury. As such, it is interesting to

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<v Speaker 1>wonder what the outcome may have been had this been allowed.

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<v Speaker 1>After all, as Johnson's lawyer put it at the time,

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<v Speaker 1>for anyone claiming a Christian belief in God, as all

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<v Speaker 1>of the jury did, there is the very awkward truth

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<v Speaker 1>that they would most likely believe in the existance of

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<v Speaker 1>the devil too. In effect, for someone of that belief,

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<v Speaker 1>the distinction between what was and wasn't an act of

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<v Speaker 1>the Devil could never truly be satisfactorily established. Back in

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<v Speaker 1>the sixteen seventies, on the island of Sicily, one Benedictine

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<v Speaker 1>nun found herself confronted with the same uncomfortable dilemma after

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<v Speaker 1>a series of terrifying experiences left her in no doubt

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<v Speaker 1>that she was being tormented by the devil. A gentle

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<v Speaker 1>pink haze descended across the dusty land as the carriage

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<v Speaker 1>continued its climb into the hills toward Palmer on the

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<v Speaker 1>southern coast of Sicily. Inside, fifteen year old Isabella gazed

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<v Speaker 1>longingly at the distant shimmering Mediterranean as they climbed, relieved

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<v Speaker 1>to finally be over the fever that had so blind

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<v Speaker 1>I did he first three months at the monastery. Palmer

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<v Speaker 1>was established in sixteen thirty seven with the building of

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<v Speaker 1>the Church of Madonna del Rosario by Isabella's father, Julio Tomassi,

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<v Speaker 1>the first Prince of Lampaduza, and his twin brother Carlo.

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<v Speaker 1>A short time later, Julio's own palace was erected, taking

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<v Speaker 1>pride of place in the center of the commune. Then,

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<v Speaker 1>in sixteen fifty nine, having decided that he and his

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<v Speaker 1>family should dedicate their lives to God, Julio made the

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<v Speaker 1>decision to donate his palace to an order of Benedictine

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<v Speaker 1>nuns to serve as their monastery. The following year, Isabella

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<v Speaker 1>Tomassi took her place amongst the nuns, alongside her sister Francesca,

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<v Speaker 1>who joined the year before. Almost immediately that'd been complications,

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<v Speaker 1>a strange nervous ailment that wouldn't settle in the end,

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<v Speaker 1>Isabella was sent back home to Agrigento to recuperate. Three

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<v Speaker 1>months later, in October sixteen sixty, she returned. It had

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<v Speaker 1>been a long and arduous journey from Agrigento, over six

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<v Speaker 1>hours in total, in the cool autumnal air, sat alone,

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<v Speaker 1>with nothing but her thoughts for company. Her heart was

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<v Speaker 1>soon warmed, however, by the sight of Francesca, now Sister

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<v Speaker 1>Maria Sarafica, waiting for her at the foot of the

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<v Speaker 1>monastery steps to welcome her back to her true home

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<v Speaker 1>under God's roof. Isabella stepped out into the soft light

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<v Speaker 1>of dusk and gazed out again toward the sea, still

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<v Speaker 1>sparkling in the distance. Then turning back, she looked to

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<v Speaker 1>the large cross perched high on top of the convent roof,

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<v Speaker 1>then slowly followed her sister up the steps. Free from

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<v Speaker 1>the troubles of those first few months, Isabella soon settled

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<v Speaker 1>into the cloistered life. Then, in May sixteen sixty two,

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<v Speaker 1>under the watchful eye of her uncle Carlo, she was

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<v Speaker 1>formerly baptized into the Order, taking the name Sister Maria

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<v Speaker 1>Crossofissa della Concezioni. Like all her fellow nuns, Sister Maria's

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<v Speaker 1>time was spent largely in prayer, reading scriptures, and taking mass.

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<v Speaker 1>Of all her pastimes, however, by far her favorite was

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<v Speaker 1>singing in the choir, feeling the words and melodies flow

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<v Speaker 1>through her, lifting her ever higher and closer to God

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<v Speaker 1>and for the first few years, all was well, as

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<v Speaker 1>documented in a series of letters that sister Maria wrote

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<v Speaker 1>to her brother Giuseppe Tomassi, who was living in Rome

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<v Speaker 1>at the time pursuing his own religious studies. But sometime

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<v Speaker 1>around the beginning of sixteen seventy six, something strange began

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<v Speaker 1>to occur. At first, it manifested as an unsettling sense

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<v Speaker 1>of loneliness within the then thirty year old sister Maria

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<v Speaker 1>and the steadily building feeling that her experience of life

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<v Speaker 1>was not the same as the other sisters around her,

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<v Speaker 1>and before long the visions started to emerge. It was

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<v Speaker 1>small things at first, seen out of the corner of

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<v Speaker 1>her eye, that portrait of the Madonna and Child, for example,

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<v Speaker 1>that she could have sworn was staring directly at her.

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<v Speaker 1>Other times, she was convinced that her guardian angel had

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<v Speaker 1>revealed itself to her. And then one day Christ himself

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<v Speaker 1>appeared to her, nailed to the cross, as real as

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<v Speaker 1>if she was standing next to him at gold Gatha herself.

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<v Speaker 1>Unable to keep it all to herself, news soon spread

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<v Speaker 1>of sister Maria's apparent miraculous visions. In response, senior officials

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<v Speaker 1>eager not to draw the attention of the Spanish inquisition

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<v Speaker 1>treated her to a series of violent interrogations, demanding that

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<v Speaker 1>she confessed to making it all up. But Sister Maria

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<v Speaker 1>would not budge. It was all real, she insisted. But

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<v Speaker 1>then something else began reaching out to her. It started

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<v Speaker 1>as a voice, at first, coming to her in the

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<v Speaker 1>depths of night, when she felt most alone and isolated,

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<v Speaker 1>telling her that she was wrong to worship God and

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<v Speaker 1>that she should reject him. It was a voice she

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<v Speaker 1>didn't recognize, but knew instantly the devil had come for her.

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<v Speaker 1>Many nights, Maria would scream at the voice to leave

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<v Speaker 1>her alone. As her fellow sisters grew more and more

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<v Speaker 1>concerned for her well being, but Maria refused to tell

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<v Speaker 1>them the truth, terrified what they might think if they

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<v Speaker 1>found out she was in communication with Satan. Even when

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<v Speaker 1>she did attempt to confess it to the priest, the

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<v Speaker 1>moment she entered the confession box, she would flail in agony,

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<v Speaker 1>as if her skin were being ripped apart from head

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<v Speaker 1>to toe. Even merely approaching the altar and the chapel

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<v Speaker 1>left her screaming in agony, often to the point that

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<v Speaker 1>she would faint from the pain of it. Night after night,

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<v Speaker 1>the devil tormented her, appearing to her in hellish visions,

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<v Speaker 1>while her blood curdling screams could be heard ringing out

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<v Speaker 1>through the deserted halls of the convent. On the morning

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<v Speaker 1>of August eleventh, sixteen seventy six, as the rest of

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<v Speaker 1>the convent assembled for choir, they soon realized that Sister

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<v Speaker 1>Maria was nowhere to be seen. With two nuns sent

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<v Speaker 1>to Sister Maria's room to investigate, they arrived to find

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<v Speaker 1>her sat on the floor in complete silence, her eyes

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<v Speaker 1>dark and slack with the weariness of a night without sleep,

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<v Speaker 1>and her face and hands covered in ink. And beside

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<v Speaker 1>her on the floor underneath a long feathered quill, stiff

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<v Speaker 1>and blackened with ink, a single piece of paper covered

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<v Speaker 1>in a bizarre language of strange, indecipherable symbols. Then Sister

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<v Speaker 1>Maria looked up. Finally, it's a letter from the devil,

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<v Speaker 1>she said, having clearly suffered some kind of ordeal, Sister

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<v Speaker 1>Maria was ordered to spend some time in bed to recover.

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<v Speaker 1>Later that day, with the other nuns becoming increasingly troubled

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<v Speaker 1>by the existence of the strange letter, Sister Maria was

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<v Speaker 1>visited by the head of the convent, Abbess Maria Seraphica,

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<v Speaker 1>who wanted to learn more about where it had come from.

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<v Speaker 1>A Sister Maria explained the devil had visited her again

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<v Speaker 1>in her room, demanding that she reject God. When she refused,

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<v Speaker 1>the devil dragged her to Hell, where she was then

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<v Speaker 1>tortured by demons and forced to suffer the pains of

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<v Speaker 1>all the damned until eventually she blacked out. The next

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<v Speaker 1>thing she knew, she awoke to find herself lying on

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<v Speaker 1>her bedroom floor next to the mysterious leg, with no

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<v Speaker 1>recollection of how it came to be there and no

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<v Speaker 1>clue as to what it said. Abbas Sarafica looked again

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<v Speaker 1>at the strange symbols scrawled across the thick paper, like

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<v Speaker 1>nothing she'd ever seen before. There was one word, however,

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<v Speaker 1>that she did recognize, the last one, which read simply

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<v Speaker 1>oime Alas. It was clear then to Abbas Sarafica what

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<v Speaker 1>had taken place So valiant was Sister Maria's efforts to

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<v Speaker 1>resist the devil's words that he was forced to take

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<v Speaker 1>over her body and use it to write a diabolical

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<v Speaker 1>confession which he tried to have her sign with her name. However,

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<v Speaker 1>in a final effort of divine strength, Sister Maria had

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<v Speaker 1>once again resisted writing only the word alas instead. Deeply

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<v Speaker 1>troubled by what might be written in the unknown message,

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<v Speaker 1>Abbess Seraphica had the letter displayed to the public in

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<v Speaker 1>the hope that some one might be able to decipher it,

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<v Speaker 1>but no one could. Over time, Sister Maria's reputation as

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<v Speaker 1>somewhat of a mystic continued to grow, culminating in sixteen

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<v Speaker 1>seventy eight in a tortuous forty nine hour session in

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<v Speaker 1>which she claimed to visualize the entire passion of the

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<v Speaker 1>Christ through his own eyes, from his welcoming to Jerusalem

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<v Speaker 1>through to his nailing on the cross, with Sister Maria

0:14:39.280 --> 0:14:43.200
<v Speaker 1>screaming out as each nail was thrust sharply into bone,

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<v Speaker 1>and on through to the resurrection. It is said that

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<v Speaker 1>when she finally came to the imprint of a cross,

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<v Speaker 1>as if burned on to her skin, was found in

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<v Speaker 1>the center of her chest. When she died in sixteen

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<v Speaker 1>ninety nine, the age of fifty four, it is said

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<v Speaker 1>that that same image of a cross once again appeared

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<v Speaker 1>on her chest for hundreds of years, the Devil's Letter

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<v Speaker 1>and its mysterious unknown language remained indecipherable. In nineteen sixty

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<v Speaker 1>the Benedictine nuns of what by then had become known

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<v Speaker 1>as Palmer de Montechiaro went as far as to offer

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<v Speaker 1>a month long vacation at their monastery to anyone who

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<v Speaker 1>could propose a solution, but once again, the letter refused

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<v Speaker 1>to give up its secrets until that was in twenty seventeen,

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<v Speaker 1>thanks largely to the dark Web. After three hundred and

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<v Speaker 1>forty years, a breakthrough was finally made. After hearing about

0:15:57.560 --> 0:16:02.400
<v Speaker 1>a top secret algorithmic codebreak software apparently doing the rounds

0:16:02.440 --> 0:16:05.880
<v Speaker 1>on the dark Web, a team from the Ludum Science

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<v Speaker 1>Center in Catania, led by director Daniel Abbarte, decided to

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<v Speaker 1>get hold of it. In need of something to test

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<v Speaker 1>it out on, Abarte, who'd long been intrigued by the

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<v Speaker 1>mystery of the Devil's Letter, had the perfect suggestion. After

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<v Speaker 1>conducting some research on the life of Sister Maria, the

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<v Speaker 1>team soon discovered that she was in fact an expert

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<v Speaker 1>linguist who devoted much of her time at the convent

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<v Speaker 1>to studying ancient Greek, Arabic and the Germanic Runic alphabet,

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<v Speaker 1>amongst other languages. After priming the software in accordance with

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<v Speaker 1>what they knew about Sister Maria's linguistic skills, they ran

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<v Speaker 1>the letter through the program. Incredibly, it worked. The eleven

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<v Speaker 1>lines of strange text were found to be created from

0:16:58.920 --> 0:17:04.160
<v Speaker 1>a mix of Arcade, Greek, Arabic and Runic letters and graphisms.

0:17:05.640 --> 0:17:09.640
<v Speaker 1>Once to cipher, they found in the letter a proclamation

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<v Speaker 1>that God was nothing but a human invention, with the

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<v Speaker 1>writer calling Jesus and the Holy Ghost dead weights and

0:17:18.200 --> 0:17:28.000
<v Speaker 1>urging Sister Maria to abandon her faith. If you enjoy

0:17:28.080 --> 0:17:30.720
<v Speaker 1>Unexplained and would like to help supporters, you can now

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<v Speaker 1>do so via Patreon To receive access to add three episodes,

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<v Speaker 1>Just go to patron dot com forward slash Unexplained Pod

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<v Speaker 1>to sign up. Unexplained. The book and audiobook, featuring ten

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<v Speaker 1>stories that have never before been covered on the show,

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<v Speaker 1>is now available to buy worldwide. You can purchase through Amazon,

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<v Speaker 1>Barnes and Noble, and Waterstones, among other bookstores. All elements

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<v Speaker 1>have Unexplained, including the show's music, are produced by me

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<v Speaker 1>Richard McClain smith. Please subscribe I been rate the show

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<v Speaker 1>in touch with any thoughts or ideas regarding the stories

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