WEBVTT - S04 Episode 1: Alone With Everybody (Pt 2 of 2)

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<v Speaker 1>Alone with everybody. Part two. Bill defintely wiped away the

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<v Speaker 1>paint with the cloth and tried once more, this time

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<v Speaker 1>taking extra care as he dipped the brush before again

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<v Speaker 1>attempting to correct the line from the upper thigh to

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<v Speaker 1>the knee. He stood back to get a better look

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<v Speaker 1>and was immediately disappointed. Damn it, he thought, as he

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<v Speaker 1>grudgingly wiped the paint away again. Though the week since

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<v Speaker 1>the house had been exercised in July had been comparatively calm,

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<v Speaker 1>the family's financial situation was becoming increasingly desperate. Things appeared

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<v Speaker 1>to be looking up, however, when Bill was commissioned out

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<v Speaker 1>of the by his neighbor Susannah, to paint a portrait

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<v Speaker 1>of her favorite horse, Echo. Bill wasn't entirely sure if

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<v Speaker 1>it had been out of sympathy or genuine interest, but

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<v Speaker 1>either way he was grateful not only for the money,

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<v Speaker 1>but also the chance to finally put his mind at

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<v Speaker 1>rest and move on from the stress of the previous year.

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<v Speaker 1>It was a fairly simple piece to complete by his standards,

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<v Speaker 1>constructed in two parts, the first being the composition of

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<v Speaker 1>the backdrop, which Bill had decided on himself after spending

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<v Speaker 1>the day scouring the local countryside for the perfect setting.

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<v Speaker 1>With that completed, he had then set about painting in

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<v Speaker 1>the horse on top, using a recent photograph provided by

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<v Speaker 1>his neighbor. All was going well until it came to

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<v Speaker 1>finishing up the back leg. No matter how many times

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<v Speaker 1>he tried, the brush just wouldn't do what he wanted.

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<v Speaker 1>In the end, despite countless efforts, Bill was eventually forced

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<v Speaker 1>to admit defeat, hoping that his neighbor wouldn't notice. Thankfully, Susannah,

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<v Speaker 1>who was clearly very fond of the animal, was delighted

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<v Speaker 1>with his efforts, and so it was with some distress

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<v Speaker 1>when she informed Bill a few weeks later that Echo

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<v Speaker 1>had died. It began soon after Susannah had hung up

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<v Speaker 1>the painting, watching the horse in the paddock one afternoon,

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<v Speaker 1>she noticed he was limping and clearly in some considerable pain.

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<v Speaker 1>A subsequent check up with the vet revealed a peculiar

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<v Speaker 1>injury to one of its hind legs, which had caused

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<v Speaker 1>it to swell up inexplicably. Echo's condition deteriorated rapidly over

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<v Speaker 1>the next few days, until one morning he simply wandered

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<v Speaker 1>out into the fields, keeled over and died. Having returned

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<v Speaker 1>home after burying the animal, a devastated Susannah found herself

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<v Speaker 1>reminiscing in front of Bill's painting when she noticed something

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<v Speaker 1>peculiar At the precise spot where the horse had developed

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<v Speaker 1>his injury. Bill's multiple attempts to get the leg just

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<v Speaker 1>right had left it looking oddly swollen. Then she noticed

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<v Speaker 1>something else that sent a sharp chill along her spine.

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<v Speaker 1>The backdrop that Bill had randomly chosen was the precise

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<v Speaker 1>spot where Echo had been found dead. A few nights later,

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<v Speaker 1>Bill and Liz were woken at home by that familiar sound,

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<v Speaker 1>like heavy footsteps lumbering about the house. The thing, it seemed,

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<v Speaker 1>was back in August, it was the turn of Reverend

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<v Speaker 1>Roy Matthews of the Holy Trinity Church in Abergavenny to

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<v Speaker 1>try and put an end to the couple's troubles. Arriving

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<v Speaker 1>with three colleagues, he immediately set about getting a feel

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<v Speaker 1>for the property, extraordinarily without any prompting from Bill or Liz.

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<v Speaker 1>He also came to the unsettling conclusion that a plaintive

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<v Speaker 1>elderly woman, as well as two young men and one

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<v Speaker 1>other much darker and distinctly inhuman entity, were haunting their home.

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<v Speaker 1>The couple were left a little disappointed, however, when the

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<v Speaker 1>best the reverend could offer was to get together and

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<v Speaker 1>pray whenever they sensed the atmosphere growing oppressive. Soon after,

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<v Speaker 1>whilst clearing space in his studio, Bill discovered a photograph

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<v Speaker 1>of an elderly woman hidden amongst some old furniture. When

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<v Speaker 1>he showed it to Liz, her face dropped in astonishment.

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<v Speaker 1>The woman, who turned out to be Marion Hoben, the

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<v Speaker 1>landlord's mother and former occupant of heel Fannog, was the

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<v Speaker 1>same ghostly figure she had been seeing. In December nineteen ninety,

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<v Speaker 1>the couple's second child, Rebecca, was born, arriving like a

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<v Speaker 1>spark of fire to illuminate the incessant gloom. But it

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<v Speaker 1>wasn't long before the darkness was beginning to press in

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<v Speaker 1>once more. Shortly after the birth, Liz had just returned

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<v Speaker 1>to the house after taking the babies for a stroll

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<v Speaker 1>when she sent something moving across the kitchen doorway, calling

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<v Speaker 1>out for Bill, she got no ply, despite now clearly

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<v Speaker 1>seeing the outline of a tall figure hovering just inside

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<v Speaker 1>the door. Hurriedly, she gathered up the children and whilst

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<v Speaker 1>keeping her eyes firmly fixed on the figure in the kitchen,

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<v Speaker 1>quietly backed out of the house. A few days later,

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<v Speaker 1>Liz and Bill packed their things and moved into Lizz's

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<v Speaker 1>mother's house in nearby Cowbridge. The quiet market town of

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<v Speaker 1>Cowbridge was a welcome respite from the isolation of Hilfanov,

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<v Speaker 1>and though money was still an issue, with demand for

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<v Speaker 1>Bill's work struggling to pick up, it wasn't long before

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<v Speaker 1>they felt a sense of normality being restored for a

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<v Speaker 1>short while. At least it was Liz who noticed it first,

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<v Speaker 1>that sudden familiar fee of being watched, as if a

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<v Speaker 1>wispy tendril of darkness were reaching out to them from

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<v Speaker 1>out of the depths of the countryside. One evening, having

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<v Speaker 1>put the children to bed, Bill, Liz and her mother

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<v Speaker 1>were just sitting down for dinner when a weird crackle

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<v Speaker 1>of static came through on the baby monitor. That wasn't static,

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<v Speaker 1>thought Liz with horror, it was a voice. Immediately she

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<v Speaker 1>rushed to the bedroom and switched on the light, but

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<v Speaker 1>found only her two children fast asleep in their beds.

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<v Speaker 1>A few days later, having heard all about Lizz's troubles,

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<v Speaker 1>a neighbor suggested she make contact with local reverend David Holmward,

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<v Speaker 1>having reached out to him. Holmward arrived at Lizz's mother's

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<v Speaker 1>home a few days later along with his associate and

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<v Speaker 1>Anita to discuss the couple's predicament. By the time he

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<v Speaker 1>left at two am, he was in no doubt as

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<v Speaker 1>to the source of their affliction. It was simple, he

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<v Speaker 1>told them, you are being stalked by demons. That night,

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<v Speaker 1>as David and Anita drove home through the narrow, winding

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<v Speaker 1>country roads, something shot toward them from out of the

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<v Speaker 1>dark and smashed into the windscreen with a mighty crack.

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<v Speaker 1>The pair screamed as David slammed on the brakes and

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<v Speaker 1>brought the car to a shuddering stop by the side

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<v Speaker 1>of the road. Catching their breath, they looked up to

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<v Speaker 1>find the shattered windscreen covered in blood. Cautiously, David stepped

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<v Speaker 1>out into the road, and there, illuminated by the glare

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<v Speaker 1>of the headlights, he found the twitching body of a

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<v Speaker 1>dead owl. The message was clear, he thought, stay away

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<v Speaker 1>from the house. It was two weeks later that David

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<v Speaker 1>and Anita were back on the road, keeping their eyes

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<v Speaker 1>fixed on Bill's car up ahead as he led them

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<v Speaker 1>through the winding country lanes toward their destination under the

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<v Speaker 1>shadowed edges of the Northern Beacons. But as they turned

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<v Speaker 1>a corner, David was gripped by a sudden pang of anxiety,

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<v Speaker 1>as if something were pushing down hard on his chest.

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<v Speaker 1>Anita could only watch in terror as he struggled to

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<v Speaker 1>keep control of the vehicle, before finally bringing it to

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<v Speaker 1>a skidding stop by the side of the road. Immediately,

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<v Speaker 1>David reached out for Anita's hand, and there they sat,

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<v Speaker 1>repeating the Lord's prayer over and over until they were

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<v Speaker 1>certain a disturbance had been left. Moments later, they pulled

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<v Speaker 1>into the driveway of hiel Fannock. The plan was simple

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<v Speaker 1>to get in and out as quickly as possible, confiscating

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<v Speaker 1>anything that could be serving as a conduit for the

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<v Speaker 1>demonic forces which David believed were plaguing the home. From

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<v Speaker 1>incense burners to books on the paranormal and Buddhism, all

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<v Speaker 1>of it was thrown into a box and taken out

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<v Speaker 1>to the car. Upsettingly, for Bill, it was largely his

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<v Speaker 1>own artwork that was of most concern to the evangelists.

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<v Speaker 1>It was this, above all else that David believed to

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<v Speaker 1>be empowering whatever demons were stalking the family. Bill could

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<v Speaker 1>only watch with dismay as one offending article after another

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<v Speaker 1>was removed and promptly escorted from the house. But what

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<v Speaker 1>will you do with all, he asked, We will burn it,

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<v Speaker 1>of course, came David's prompt reply. The following morning, with

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<v Speaker 1>the help of his son, David dug a shallow pit

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<v Speaker 1>in his garden into which all the tainted items were dumped,

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<v Speaker 1>covered in lighter fluid, and set on fire. The pair

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<v Speaker 1>watched as the flames jumped and licked ever higher, spitting

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<v Speaker 1>and crackling as the fire feasted on the myriad items. Then, slowly,

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<v Speaker 1>David became aware of another sound, seeming to emanate from

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<v Speaker 1>deep within the flames, a hideous screeching sound, as if

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<v Speaker 1>something inside the fire were being burned alive, but it

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<v Speaker 1>would all be in vain. Despite his best efforts, David's

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<v Speaker 1>attempted exorcism would ultimately prove ineffective when only a few

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<v Speaker 1>weeks later the hauntings returned with a vengeance. Unable to

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<v Speaker 1>afford a move away and with all avenues seemingly exhausted,

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<v Speaker 1>Bill and Liz had no choice but to try and

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<v Speaker 1>learn to live with it all. And so they did,

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<v Speaker 1>doing all they could to ignore the disembodied footsteps and

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<v Speaker 1>strange spectral visions. As ever, Bill sought solace in his painting,

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<v Speaker 1>and with one painting in particular, with which he was

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<v Speaker 1>becoming increasingly immersed, a peculiar canvas of past all colors

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<v Speaker 1>and tubulus strands that seemed to wrap and snake around themselves.

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<v Speaker 1>It was like nothing he had painted before. But such

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<v Speaker 1>endeavors only ever provided fleeting moments of comfort, and by

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<v Speaker 1>the end of nineteen ninety three they had all but

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<v Speaker 1>given up hope of ever escaping their horrifying ordeal. Little

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<v Speaker 1>could they have known then that help was just around

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<v Speaker 1>the corner. Are you always taking care of your family?

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<v Speaker 1>Do you often take care of others and not yourself?

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<v Speaker 1>Now it's time to take care of yourself, to make

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<v Speaker 1>time for you. You deserve it. Tele adoc gives you

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<v Speaker 1>visit teledoc dot com forward slash Unexplained podcast today to

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<v Speaker 1>get started. That's teladoc dot com slash Unexplained podcast. Film

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<v Speaker 1>producer Annie McDonald had been wrestling with a documentary idea

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<v Speaker 1>for some time regarding the exploits of apparent psychic and

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<v Speaker 1>self styled ghost hunter Eddie Burkes. Back in August nineteen

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<v Speaker 1>ninety two, Burkes had achieved some notoriety after he claimed

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<v Speaker 1>to have successfully banished the ghost of a sixteenth century

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<v Speaker 1>courtier from the offices of the exclusive British banking institution COOTS. Incredibly,

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<v Speaker 1>not only had Burkes been invited to local the ghost

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<v Speaker 1>by representatives of the bank itself, but they had also

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<v Speaker 1>attested to his success in removing it from their offices.

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<v Speaker 1>When McDonald who also lived near the Breckham Beacons, heard

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<v Speaker 1>about the peculiar goings on at Joel Fannock. She wasted

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<v Speaker 1>little time in contacting listened Bill with a proposition she

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<v Speaker 1>would set them up with Burks if they agreed to

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<v Speaker 1>let her film his process. Though the couple were reticent

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<v Speaker 1>at the thought of letting a documentary crew into their home,

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<v Speaker 1>they also knew they had nothing to lose. It was

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<v Speaker 1>difficult to know quite what to make of the slight,

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<v Speaker 1>bespectacled Burks when he first arrived that early March afternoon,

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<v Speaker 1>dressed unassumingly in his dark green anorak. Nonetheless, Lizz and

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<v Speaker 1>Bill tried to remain optimistic as they invited him, along

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<v Speaker 1>with his friend and writer Julian Cribbs, as well as

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<v Speaker 1>McDonald and her production into their home. Moments later, with

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<v Speaker 1>everyone gathered around the kitchen table, Liz and Bill filled

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<v Speaker 1>them in on all that had happened so far. The

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<v Speaker 1>tiredness and distress etched across the couple's faces as they

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<v Speaker 1>talked showed just how difficult the last few years had been.

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<v Speaker 1>While behind them, long triangular strips of wallpaper hanging limply

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<v Speaker 1>from the wall gave the impression that even the house

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<v Speaker 1>itself was starting to crumble from the strain. When Liz

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<v Speaker 1>finally brought their account to an end, Burkes became suddenly

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<v Speaker 1>distracted and asked to be taken outside to inspect the

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<v Speaker 1>ruins of the old manor house. With the camera operator

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<v Speaker 1>following close behind, the group made their way into the

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<v Speaker 1>garden through a line of trees and onto the crumbling

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<v Speaker 1>ruins behind. Strangely, when they arrived, much to the operator's dismay,

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<v Speaker 1>the camera completely shut down. The battery, despite having been

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<v Speaker 1>almost fully charged only minutes before, had gone completely flat.

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<v Speaker 1>A second camera operated by McDonald appeared unaffected as she

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<v Speaker 1>kept it steady on Burks while he requested quiet from everyone,

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<v Speaker 1>and then promptly fell into a trance. When McDonald had

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<v Speaker 1>first traveled to meet Burks not long after she first

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<v Speaker 1>informed him of the situation at Lisabelle's home, he had

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<v Speaker 1>also entered a trance. When he came out of it,

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<v Speaker 1>he explained that he had been communicating with a young

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<v Speaker 1>man whose soul he said was trapped at hiel Fannock.

0:17:55.240 --> 0:17:58.920
<v Speaker 1>The man had apparently described the experience to him as

0:17:59.000 --> 0:18:02.440
<v Speaker 1>like being caught in a thicket that conspired to entrap

0:18:02.560 --> 0:18:07.040
<v Speaker 1>him every time he tried to escape. The young man

0:18:07.280 --> 0:18:11.120
<v Speaker 1>had apparently also told Burkes that he had been murdered

0:18:11.760 --> 0:18:15.439
<v Speaker 1>sometime in the nineteenth century by a sickening blow to

0:18:15.520 --> 0:18:20.240
<v Speaker 1>the back of the head. Back in the garden. Burkes's

0:18:20.359 --> 0:18:25.840
<v Speaker 1>voice broke the silence. The young man was with them now,

0:18:25.920 --> 0:18:32.480
<v Speaker 1>he said, and was trying to tell him something. This

0:18:32.680 --> 0:18:35.560
<v Speaker 1>was the place, he was saying, where he had seen

0:18:35.680 --> 0:18:39.879
<v Speaker 1>something he shouldn't have, the very thing that had cost

0:18:39.960 --> 0:18:44.880
<v Speaker 1>him his life. As Burkes went on to detail more

0:18:44.920 --> 0:18:49.000
<v Speaker 1>about the boy's murder, Gillian noticed a look of recognition

0:18:49.280 --> 0:18:55.639
<v Speaker 1>spreading across Liz's face. As Liz explained later, during the

0:18:55.680 --> 0:18:58.800
<v Speaker 1>second year of their stay at the house, she had

0:18:58.880 --> 0:19:01.760
<v Speaker 1>learned about the brutal murder of a young farm hand

0:19:02.480 --> 0:19:06.360
<v Speaker 1>that occurred in the mid nineteenth century within walking distance

0:19:06.760 --> 0:19:11.879
<v Speaker 1>of Heolfanock. All this time she had wandered if it

0:19:11.960 --> 0:19:15.040
<v Speaker 1>had anything to do with the strange activity in their home.

0:19:16.560 --> 0:19:19.600
<v Speaker 1>Could it be she thought that this was the young

0:19:19.640 --> 0:19:29.879
<v Speaker 1>man that Burke's had been communicating with. It was a

0:19:29.920 --> 0:19:33.480
<v Speaker 1>cold and misty morning in November eighteen forty eight at

0:19:33.520 --> 0:19:37.240
<v Speaker 1>Coombe Goody Farm, a kilometer away from what would later

0:19:37.280 --> 0:19:42.720
<v Speaker 1>become heol Fannock. When farm servant Elizabeth Phillips rose just

0:19:42.840 --> 0:19:45.760
<v Speaker 1>before dawn and made her way to a nearby brook

0:19:45.960 --> 0:19:50.639
<v Speaker 1>to fetch some water. Approaching the entry gate to the yard,

0:19:51.280 --> 0:19:54.160
<v Speaker 1>she was surprised to find seventeen year old farm hand

0:19:54.560 --> 0:19:58.720
<v Speaker 1>James Griffiths suddenly appear from out of the dark with

0:19:58.760 --> 0:20:03.919
<v Speaker 1>an odd grin on his After muttering a brief good morning,

0:20:04.560 --> 0:20:08.280
<v Speaker 1>he headed off toward the farmhouse, leaving Elizabeth to fetch

0:20:08.320 --> 0:20:12.639
<v Speaker 1>the water on her own. When she returned via the

0:20:12.720 --> 0:20:16.080
<v Speaker 1>gate a few minutes later, she was startled by a

0:20:16.200 --> 0:20:20.280
<v Speaker 1>strange moaning sound that seemed to rise out of nowhere.

0:20:21.960 --> 0:20:25.359
<v Speaker 1>In terror, she hurried back to the house and called

0:20:25.400 --> 0:20:27.800
<v Speaker 1>out for James to help her find the source of

0:20:27.800 --> 0:20:32.280
<v Speaker 1>the noise. When Elizabeth heard it again, coming from somewhere

0:20:32.320 --> 0:20:35.359
<v Speaker 1>toward the back of the yard, she asked James to

0:20:35.400 --> 0:20:39.200
<v Speaker 1>stay put while she went to fetch a torch. By

0:20:39.200 --> 0:20:45.879
<v Speaker 1>the time she returned, however, James had disappeared after failing

0:20:45.920 --> 0:20:48.960
<v Speaker 1>to find a source for the noise. It wasn't until

0:20:49.040 --> 0:20:52.320
<v Speaker 1>much later in the day that Elizabeth caught sight of

0:20:52.400 --> 0:20:56.480
<v Speaker 1>something lying underneath a dunkeep that caused her to cry

0:20:56.520 --> 0:21:02.959
<v Speaker 1>out in horror of legs lying in a pool of blood.

0:21:04.800 --> 0:21:08.800
<v Speaker 1>Having been roused by Elizabeth's screams, farmer John Powell and

0:21:08.920 --> 0:21:12.960
<v Speaker 1>his son rushed to her aid. Together they pulled the

0:21:12.960 --> 0:21:15.520
<v Speaker 1>body from the heap to find it was in fact

0:21:15.680 --> 0:21:22.000
<v Speaker 1>another of their farm hands, the eighteen year old Thomas Edwards. Remarkably,

0:21:22.680 --> 0:21:27.520
<v Speaker 1>the young man was still alive. Remarkable because on picking

0:21:27.600 --> 0:21:31.040
<v Speaker 1>him up to carry him inside, they discovered a four

0:21:31.080 --> 0:21:35.359
<v Speaker 1>inch wide hole in the back of his head, bleeding profusely,

0:21:36.640 --> 0:21:40.959
<v Speaker 1>and beneath him clearly visible on the ground the missing

0:21:41.000 --> 0:21:47.400
<v Speaker 1>pieces of his skull. Thomas clung on for a number

0:21:47.440 --> 0:21:51.040
<v Speaker 1>of hours in a state of severe confusion, before eventually

0:21:51.040 --> 0:21:55.920
<v Speaker 1>succumbing to his injuries. Just as Eddie Burkes had claimed,

0:21:56.560 --> 0:22:00.480
<v Speaker 1>the unfortunate man had been killed by a sickening to

0:22:00.560 --> 0:22:06.320
<v Speaker 1>the back of his head. Four months later, James Griffiths,

0:22:06.359 --> 0:22:09.760
<v Speaker 1>who also went by the name of Thomas Williams, was

0:22:09.840 --> 0:22:13.919
<v Speaker 1>arrested in Ipswich, some three hundred miles away, still wearing

0:22:13.960 --> 0:22:18.800
<v Speaker 1>clothes that he had stolen from Thomas Edwards. Griffiths eventually

0:22:18.800 --> 0:22:21.960
<v Speaker 1>confessed that he had murdered Edwards to steal what little

0:22:22.000 --> 0:22:27.040
<v Speaker 1>money he had in his possession. It was Eddie Burkes's belief, however,

0:22:27.800 --> 0:22:31.159
<v Speaker 1>that Edwards had in fact stumbled upon some kind of

0:22:31.240 --> 0:22:36.000
<v Speaker 1>Satanic ritual and was murdered by Griffiths, acting under the

0:22:36.000 --> 0:22:40.720
<v Speaker 1>instructions of someone unknown to protect the identities of those

0:22:40.760 --> 0:22:45.520
<v Speaker 1>who had been seen. However, no evidence has ever been

0:22:45.560 --> 0:22:50.199
<v Speaker 1>found to support this theory, although curiously not that it

0:22:50.240 --> 0:22:55.240
<v Speaker 1>suggests anything to do with the greatly misunderstood practice of Satanism.

0:22:55.359 --> 0:22:59.359
<v Speaker 1>When Griffiths first confessed committing the murder, he also claimed

0:22:59.359 --> 0:23:02.879
<v Speaker 1>that a woman named Jane Morgan had been the cause

0:23:02.880 --> 0:23:07.159
<v Speaker 1>of it. This name was later retracted from his confession.

0:23:08.760 --> 0:23:12.639
<v Speaker 1>Once convicted of his crime, Griffiths, who had been abandoned

0:23:12.640 --> 0:23:15.640
<v Speaker 1>by his family at a young age and spent most

0:23:15.640 --> 0:23:18.680
<v Speaker 1>of his teenage life drifting from one job to another,

0:23:19.400 --> 0:23:24.959
<v Speaker 1>was sentenced to death by hanging on Wednesday, eighteenth April

0:23:25.480 --> 0:23:30.000
<v Speaker 1>eighteen forty nine. The by then eighteen years old James

0:23:30.080 --> 0:23:33.800
<v Speaker 1>Griffiths was marched to the gallows at Brecon County Jail

0:23:34.359 --> 0:23:37.960
<v Speaker 1>in front of a large crowd of onlookers and hung

0:23:38.000 --> 0:23:49.920
<v Speaker 1>from his neck until death, with liers concluding the tragic

0:23:49.960 --> 0:23:53.879
<v Speaker 1>tale of the farm Hands. Something striking occurred to the group.

0:23:55.400 --> 0:23:58.040
<v Speaker 1>Could it be that perhaps the spirits of those two

0:23:58.080 --> 0:24:01.280
<v Speaker 1>young men were the same spirit that the couple had

0:24:01.320 --> 0:24:06.560
<v Speaker 1>been told on two separate occasions were trapped in the property,

0:24:06.920 --> 0:24:10.800
<v Speaker 1>with the landlord's mother possibly accounting for the third. That

0:24:11.000 --> 0:24:17.080
<v Speaker 1>left only the fourth in human entity unaccounted for. With

0:24:17.119 --> 0:24:20.760
<v Speaker 1>the group back in the kitchen, the quiet Burke's took

0:24:20.800 --> 0:24:25.359
<v Speaker 1>a seat at the table. After confirming that the spirit

0:24:25.359 --> 0:24:28.280
<v Speaker 1>of the young man he had been communicating with had

0:24:28.359 --> 0:24:32.520
<v Speaker 1>now moved on, he closed his eyes and fell into

0:24:32.560 --> 0:24:38.840
<v Speaker 1>another trance. Opening them again, Burke was drawn immediately to

0:24:38.920 --> 0:24:41.639
<v Speaker 1>the spot near the bathroom close to the bottom of

0:24:41.680 --> 0:24:45.880
<v Speaker 1>the stairs, sensing a strange darkness was being harbored there,

0:24:47.240 --> 0:24:51.879
<v Speaker 1>but there was also something else. He closed his eyes again.

0:24:53.720 --> 0:24:56.639
<v Speaker 1>He could see a vision, he said out loud. A

0:24:56.760 --> 0:25:02.719
<v Speaker 1>bright cross was manifesting, bringing light into the house. Something holy,

0:25:02.800 --> 0:25:08.119
<v Speaker 1>he said. Bill got up immediately from the table and

0:25:08.200 --> 0:25:13.120
<v Speaker 1>appeared a moment later holding a large canvas painting. Burkes

0:25:13.240 --> 0:25:17.840
<v Speaker 1>opened his eyes and looked up. Though the background was

0:25:17.880 --> 0:25:22.080
<v Speaker 1>an abstract mesh of dark colors and thick brushstrokes, the

0:25:22.200 --> 0:25:27.240
<v Speaker 1>large white cross in the middle was unmistakable. It was

0:25:27.320 --> 0:25:33.320
<v Speaker 1>just as Burkes had described. Yes, he said quietly, that

0:25:33.480 --> 0:25:40.159
<v Speaker 1>is what's been keeping you safe. Bill had painted the

0:25:40.200 --> 0:25:43.320
<v Speaker 1>White Cross three years previously, over the course of a

0:25:43.359 --> 0:25:47.360
<v Speaker 1>few nights, the imagery having come to him completely out

0:25:47.400 --> 0:25:52.560
<v Speaker 1>of the blue. One evening, Burkes's friend Gillian was instantly

0:25:52.600 --> 0:25:56.240
<v Speaker 1>intrigued to know what else Bill might have unconsciously channeled,

0:25:56.920 --> 0:26:02.000
<v Speaker 1>and asked to see the studio. In amongst what Gillian

0:26:02.119 --> 0:26:06.120
<v Speaker 1>later described as a collection of landscapes and pop art studies,

0:26:07.040 --> 0:26:10.159
<v Speaker 1>there was one painting that stood out against the rest,

0:26:12.000 --> 0:26:17.119
<v Speaker 1>a strange and puzzling picture, unlike anything else in the room,

0:26:17.160 --> 0:26:21.679
<v Speaker 1>comprised of a vast, pastel colored mesh of tubular, tendril

0:26:21.680 --> 0:26:28.800
<v Speaker 1>like things linked together in a bizarre organic circuitry. Looking closer,

0:26:29.440 --> 0:26:34.880
<v Speaker 1>Gillian noticed they were in fact vines, complete with sharp thorns,

0:26:35.920 --> 0:26:40.560
<v Speaker 1>and in amongst them were what looked like internal organs,

0:26:40.600 --> 0:26:45.080
<v Speaker 1>outstretched hands, and even the occasional face peering out with

0:26:45.200 --> 0:26:52.960
<v Speaker 1>pained expressions as if they were screaming. Gillian was instantly

0:26:52.960 --> 0:26:57.600
<v Speaker 1>reminded of Eddie Burkes's first conversation with producer Annie McDonald.

0:26:59.640 --> 0:27:03.639
<v Speaker 1>Was this, she thought, not a depiction of the imprisoned soul?

0:27:04.160 --> 0:27:07.480
<v Speaker 1>As had apparently been described to Burkes by the spirit

0:27:07.680 --> 0:27:11.200
<v Speaker 1>of the deceased young man, had he been calling out

0:27:11.200 --> 0:27:23.560
<v Speaker 1>to Bill for help all this time. Although a possible

0:27:23.600 --> 0:27:28.360
<v Speaker 1>identity to the apparent fourth in human presence was never ascertained,

0:27:29.000 --> 0:27:32.280
<v Speaker 1>Burkes was adamant he had done enough to exercise whatever

0:27:32.359 --> 0:27:35.879
<v Speaker 1>it had been from Liz and Bill's home. In the

0:27:35.880 --> 0:27:39.600
<v Speaker 1>immediate aftermath of his trip to the house, once again

0:27:39.760 --> 0:27:43.679
<v Speaker 1>the family felt a renewed likeness, and though they experienced

0:27:43.680 --> 0:27:47.399
<v Speaker 1>a few subsequent troubles with Burke's returning in June to

0:27:47.480 --> 0:27:52.480
<v Speaker 1>conduct a further exorcism, his intervention appeared to have done

0:27:52.480 --> 0:27:57.480
<v Speaker 1>the trick. That following day after Burkes's second visit, the

0:27:57.600 --> 0:28:01.760
<v Speaker 1>rate of electricity usage dropped the first time since they

0:28:01.800 --> 0:28:06.720
<v Speaker 1>had lived in the house. By nineteen ninety five, the

0:28:06.840 --> 0:28:12.520
<v Speaker 1>family experienced no further hauntings, and Bill's work was starting

0:28:12.560 --> 0:28:18.119
<v Speaker 1>to pick up again. As for film producer Annie McDonald,

0:28:18.960 --> 0:28:22.359
<v Speaker 1>she never did quite get her film of Burke's in action,

0:28:24.200 --> 0:28:27.720
<v Speaker 1>with the battery of one camera having inexplicably died as

0:28:27.760 --> 0:28:33.160
<v Speaker 1>Burke's attempted communication with the spirits, McDonald's second camera appeared

0:28:33.160 --> 0:28:36.680
<v Speaker 1>to be capturing it all fine It was only when

0:28:36.680 --> 0:28:40.040
<v Speaker 1>she returned home later, however, that she had a chance

0:28:40.120 --> 0:28:46.240
<v Speaker 1>to review the footage. Switching on the camera, she ran

0:28:46.320 --> 0:28:48.920
<v Speaker 1>the tape forward to the point where the group made

0:28:48.960 --> 0:28:52.480
<v Speaker 1>their way to the back of the garden, impressed play

0:28:53.880 --> 0:28:58.240
<v Speaker 1>with great anticipation, she watched as Burke's positioned himself by

0:28:58.240 --> 0:29:03.560
<v Speaker 1>the ruins and asked for silence. Then, just at the

0:29:03.640 --> 0:29:09.600
<v Speaker 1>moment of apparent contact, the screen went blank. She fast

0:29:09.640 --> 0:29:14.320
<v Speaker 1>forwarded in desperation, but it was to no avail. The

0:29:14.400 --> 0:29:38.800
<v Speaker 1>rest of the tape was completely empty. If you enjoy

0:29:38.880 --> 0:29:42.200
<v Speaker 1>listening to Unexplained and would like to help supporters, you

0:29:42.240 --> 0:29:46.240
<v Speaker 1>can now go to Unexplained podcast dot com forward slash support.

0:29:47.360 --> 0:29:51.640
<v Speaker 1>All donations, no matter how large or small, are massively appreciated.

0:29:55.480 --> 0:29:58.960
<v Speaker 1>All elements of Unexplained are produced by me, Richard McClain smith.

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0:30:04.440 --> 0:30:07.280
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0:30:07.320 --> 0:30:09.960
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0:30:12.880 --> 0:30:27.000
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