WEBVTT - S01 Episode 6: Demons in Suburbia 0:00:00.040 --> 0:00:02.760 Membership, peace, apply after free trial, cancel anytime. Can I 0:00:02.800 --> 0:00:04.920 be real with you for a second. That goal you 0:00:05.000 --> 0:00:08.280 have to exercise and eat better? You really can do it, 0:00:08.440 --> 0:00:11.200 but nobody is going to do it for you. Nobody 0:00:11.320 --> 0:00:13.280 is going to push you out of bed to work out, 0:00:13.680 --> 0:00:16.239 Nobody is going to make you eat better. But here's 0:00:16.239 --> 0:00:19.800 the thing. Nobody has to because you can do it 0:00:19.960 --> 0:00:22.440 if you have the right tools and a community that 0:00:22.520 --> 0:00:26.120 cares about helping you get results. 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Here's al Go to beachbody 0:00:57.000 --> 0:00:59.880 dot com to claim your free membership and start feeling great. 0:01:10.959 --> 0:01:13.720 We humans can often take for granted that we are 0:01:13.760 --> 0:01:18.280 ultimately responsible for our actions, that the choices we make 0:01:18.480 --> 0:01:23.120 are governed by nothing but our own free will. And 0:01:23.240 --> 0:01:26.440 yet studies have shown that the brain can enact certain 0:01:26.480 --> 0:01:29.399 decisions up to seven seconds before we have even become 0:01:29.440 --> 0:01:34.920 aware that we are making them. The notion of free 0:01:34.959 --> 0:01:37.920 will is explored by the philosopher John Gray in his 0:01:38.040 --> 0:01:43.520 groundbreaking book straw Dogs, a work of startling insight, deposits, 0:01:43.640 --> 0:01:47.000 amongst many other profound notions, that the fallacy of free 0:01:47.000 --> 0:01:49.760 will is merely a concept that helps us make sense 0:01:49.800 --> 0:01:53.520 of the world, that all our acts are in fact, 0:01:53.680 --> 0:01:56.720 nothing but the endpoint in a series of long sequences 0:01:56.760 --> 0:02:02.560 of unconscious responses. To accept that free will is little 0:02:02.640 --> 0:02:05.560 more than an illusion is a little unnerving, to say 0:02:05.600 --> 0:02:09.760 the least. For some, it could be seen as merely 0:02:09.960 --> 0:02:13.880 a fascinating quirk of life, perhaps the existence of the 0:02:13.960 --> 0:02:17.480 seven second delay, merely the consequence of a quantum process 0:02:17.600 --> 0:02:22.040 we are yet to fully understand. But for others, a 0:02:22.120 --> 0:02:25.040 lack of free will might speak of something else, entirely, 0:02:25.960 --> 0:02:31.160 something far more sinister. For after all, if we aren't 0:02:31.200 --> 0:02:34.760 in control of our minds, than just who or what 0:02:35.720 --> 0:02:43.239 is you're listening to unexplained, and I'm Richard McClain smith. 0:02:47.720 --> 0:02:51.040 The following story took place in England in nineteen seventy four, 0:02:51.320 --> 0:02:53.680 and I must warn the listener that it will contain 0:02:53.720 --> 0:02:57.400 some horrific and graphic details. Believed by some to be 0:02:57.440 --> 0:03:00.200 the most shocking account of demonic possession ever to have 0:03:00.200 --> 0:03:03.000 occurred in the UK. The events that took place one 0:03:03.080 --> 0:03:06.080 quiet Sunday morning in a small Yorkshire town have never 0:03:06.160 --> 0:03:09.400 been fully accounted for. It is a chilling mystery that 0:03:09.520 --> 0:03:21.840 remains to this day unexplained. For Britain, the nineteen seventies 0:03:21.960 --> 0:03:26.000 was a time of extraordinary uncertainty as the government lurched 0:03:26.040 --> 0:03:28.679 from right to left. The country found itself struggling to 0:03:28.720 --> 0:03:32.840 adapt to a post industrial age. For some, especially those 0:03:32.840 --> 0:03:35.320 in power, it seemed that nothing less than the country's 0:03:35.440 --> 0:03:40.160 entire social fabric was at stake. For the residents of 0:03:40.160 --> 0:03:43.280 the West Yorkshire market town of Ossit, the landscape had 0:03:43.320 --> 0:03:47.440 been shifting for some time. The town, situated in border 0:03:47.480 --> 0:03:50.000 country where the northwest of the coal fields merged with 0:03:50.040 --> 0:03:52.680 the southeast of the woolen mills, had once been a 0:03:52.720 --> 0:03:56.360 thriving pocket of industry, but, like many northern towns in 0:03:56.400 --> 0:04:01.080 the early seventies, it was facing an uncertain future. For 0:04:01.120 --> 0:04:04.160 one couple in particular, that future was beginning to look 0:04:04.200 --> 0:04:08.280 increasingly bleak. Thirty one year old Michael Taylor and his 0:04:08.360 --> 0:04:11.360 twenty nine year old wife, Christine were described by friends 0:04:11.440 --> 0:04:14.200 as a kind and loving couple and doating parents to 0:04:14.280 --> 0:04:17.120 five young boys who were well liked by the local community. 0:04:19.360 --> 0:04:21.840 After an accident at work, Michael had been forced to 0:04:21.920 --> 0:04:25.320 leave his job after seriously injuring his back, and as 0:04:25.400 --> 0:04:28.680 the country slipped into a full blown recession, opportunities for 0:04:28.760 --> 0:04:32.040 jobs had all but dried up. For a proud young 0:04:32.120 --> 0:04:34.960 father of the seventies, his sense of inadequacy and low 0:04:35.000 --> 0:04:38.480 self esteem was profound, and with the pressure to provide 0:04:38.480 --> 0:04:41.440 for his family starting to mount, Michael began to suffer 0:04:41.480 --> 0:04:46.479 from intermittent bouts of depression. At some point, a local 0:04:46.520 --> 0:04:49.240 friend called Barbara Wardman, called to see how the family 0:04:49.240 --> 0:04:53.080 were holding up. Concerned that the couple's recent struggles had 0:04:53.160 --> 0:04:56.680 left them socially isolated, Barbara suggested their accompany her to 0:04:56.720 --> 0:05:00.839 an upcoming social event that she had organized. Barbara, it 0:05:00.960 --> 0:05:03.960 turned out, had recently become involved with a local group 0:05:04.080 --> 0:05:08.280 calling themselves the Christian Fellowship of Osit. The group were 0:05:08.320 --> 0:05:12.280 part of a growing movement known collectively as charismatic Christianity. 0:05:13.520 --> 0:05:16.080 For Michael and Christine, who had never shown an interest 0:05:16.080 --> 0:05:18.719 in the church, or any religion for that matter, the 0:05:18.800 --> 0:05:22.960 invitation to join Barbara's group seemed a little daunting. Nonetheless, 0:05:23.240 --> 0:05:26.560 later that week, the Tailors attended their first fellowship meeting 0:05:26.960 --> 0:05:30.000 and were surprised by what they found. Rather than the 0:05:30.040 --> 0:05:34.479 stuck up, prickly group of religious eccentrics that they had expected, instead, 0:05:34.880 --> 0:05:39.080 they found a group of friendly, ordinary people just like themselves. 0:05:41.320 --> 0:05:44.039 Leading the congregation was a twenty two year old lay 0:05:44.040 --> 0:05:48.400 preacher named Marie Robinson. The young, charismatic in every sense 0:05:48.440 --> 0:05:50.920 of the word, made a deep impression on the couple. 0:05:52.120 --> 0:05:55.960 That night, under Marie's magnetic tutelage. Lifted by the joyous 0:05:56.000 --> 0:05:59.840 spirit of the group, Michael and Christine converted to Christianity. 0:06:10.000 --> 0:06:12.719 Eager to learn more about their new religion, Michael and 0:06:12.800 --> 0:06:15.840 Christine attended a service conducted by Marie in the town 0:06:15.839 --> 0:06:20.160 of Harbury. During the service, Marie seemed to become suddenly distressed. 0:06:20.839 --> 0:06:24.400 Shaking wildly, she started speaking in a strange language, claiming 0:06:24.480 --> 0:06:28.479 she was possessed by the Holy Spirit, unbeknownst to the 0:06:28.520 --> 0:06:32.320 Tailor's speaking in tongues, also known as glossalalia, was a 0:06:32.360 --> 0:06:37.200 prominent feature of the charismatic movement. Later that night, the 0:06:37.279 --> 0:06:40.560 Christian Fellowship, led by Marie Robinson convened for a meeting 0:06:40.600 --> 0:06:43.719 at the tailor's house. At some point during the service, 0:06:44.080 --> 0:06:48.760 many in the congregation noticed Michael becoming strangely animated, seeming 0:06:48.800 --> 0:06:51.239 to be in the grip of an unknown force. Michael 0:06:51.360 --> 0:06:57.960 started shaking violently before shouting a stream of strange, garbled words. Ordinarily, 0:06:58.240 --> 0:07:01.120 such an outburst might cause sell bration amongst the group, 0:07:01.400 --> 0:07:05.880 but this was something different. The group were greatly disturbed. 0:07:07.120 --> 0:07:10.960 One member, Mavis's smith, sank into an instant depression and 0:07:11.040 --> 0:07:18.040 started to cry uncontrollably. Instinctively, Marie elt in front of Mavis, calmly, 0:07:18.080 --> 0:07:20.720 placed her hands on her head, and proceeded to perform 0:07:20.800 --> 0:07:26.120 what Christine and Michael later discovered was an exorcism. As 0:07:26.160 --> 0:07:30.600 Marie's voice grew louder, Mavis began to writhe uncontrollably, becoming 0:07:30.640 --> 0:07:33.760 more and more animated and swearing at Marie, telling her 0:07:33.800 --> 0:07:38.200 she hated her and to leave her alone. When it 0:07:38.320 --> 0:07:42.000 was finally over, The scared and confused members slowly left 0:07:42.160 --> 0:07:47.680 and agreed to reconvene later in the week. The following day, 0:07:47.880 --> 0:07:50.640 a concerned Marie returned to the tailor's home to check 0:07:50.680 --> 0:07:55.080 on Michael's welfare. Christine, who had sensed that Michael was 0:07:55.120 --> 0:07:58.400 developing an attraction to Marie, suggested the pair be left 0:07:58.400 --> 0:08:02.880 alone to discuss their feelings. When Christine exited the room, 0:08:03.000 --> 0:08:07.680 Michael kissed Marie, who immediately pushed him away. Marie pleaded 0:08:07.680 --> 0:08:10.760 with Michael to think of his love for Christine. When 0:08:10.840 --> 0:08:13.920 Christine re entered, Michael declared that they had won a 0:08:13.960 --> 0:08:17.400 great victory for the Lord. A miracle has happened, he said. 0:08:17.960 --> 0:08:23.000 We have both overcome our passions. But then something strange occurred. 0:08:32.480 --> 0:08:35.600 Michael found himself standing naked, as if in a dream, 0:08:35.640 --> 0:08:39.000 in a place that was not of this world. In 0:08:39.080 --> 0:08:41.840 front of him, with her face turned away, was Marie, 0:08:41.960 --> 0:08:45.480 who was also naked. As she slowly turned her head 0:08:45.520 --> 0:08:48.559 to face him, Michael was horrified to see that her 0:08:48.600 --> 0:08:53.880 eyes had been replaced by two snakelike slits. At once, 0:08:54.280 --> 0:08:58.880 he felt a tremendous evil rise up inside of him. 0:08:59.040 --> 0:09:02.360 For Marie. On at Michael in the room, she recounted 0:09:02.400 --> 0:09:06.200 seeing a strange look come over him, a look that 0:09:06.280 --> 0:09:08.920 she would later claim was nothing less than the face 0:09:09.040 --> 0:09:14.280 of the devil. Suddenly, Michael began shouting in tongues and 0:09:14.400 --> 0:09:18.000 slapped at Marie's head. Christine tried her best to get 0:09:18.040 --> 0:09:20.040 between them, but was pushed out of the way by 0:09:20.040 --> 0:09:23.680 her husband. Michael grabbed Marie by the hair and threw 0:09:23.720 --> 0:09:27.160 her across the room, knocking her out cold. When she 0:09:27.240 --> 0:09:31.040 came two moments later, the usually timid and gentle Michael 0:09:31.280 --> 0:09:33.760 was crouched over her with a look of murder in 0:09:33.840 --> 0:09:38.120 his eyes. Seconds later, having completely snapped out of whatever 0:09:38.200 --> 0:09:46.560 had come over him, Michael collapsed exhausted. Afterwards, Christine ordered 0:09:46.600 --> 0:09:48.599 Marie to stay away from their home, and in the 0:09:48.679 --> 0:09:53.480 days that followed, noticed Michael's behavior becoming increasingly erratic. He 0:09:53.600 --> 0:09:57.720 muttered strange things to himself and became angered by religious iconography. 0:10:00.040 --> 0:10:03.480 Neighbor spotted Michael wandering the local streets in a bizarre state. 0:10:04.080 --> 0:10:06.120 He spat on the ground and told her to look 0:10:06.120 --> 0:10:08.680 on it as milk, telling her to drink it, for 0:10:08.800 --> 0:10:13.000 it was the milk of human kindness. As Christine became 0:10:13.040 --> 0:10:16.560 increasingly concerned for Michael, they turned again to the fellowship 0:10:16.640 --> 0:10:22.400 for guidance. On the evening of October third, they attended 0:10:22.400 --> 0:10:24.920 a meeting led by the Reverend Peter Vincent of the 0:10:25.000 --> 0:10:29.040 Church of Saint Thomas at Gorba in Barnsley. Vincent was 0:10:29.080 --> 0:10:32.400 a well respected figure in the local charismatic movement, having 0:10:32.480 --> 0:10:35.240 introduced it to his own congregation earlier in the year. 0:10:36.360 --> 0:10:39.160 Within minutes of meeting Michael, it was clear to Reverend 0:10:39.240 --> 0:10:44.040 Vincent that something was profoundly wrong. After inviting Michael to 0:10:44.080 --> 0:10:47.280 make confession, he performed a minor exorcism before sending the 0:10:47.280 --> 0:10:52.520 emotionally drained tailors back home. Once they had returned, Michael, 0:10:52.880 --> 0:10:55.640 fearful of what exactly was happening to him, was too 0:10:55.679 --> 0:10:58.679 afraid to sleep, pleading with his wife to stay by 0:10:58.720 --> 0:11:02.160 his side. That night, they made the Sign of the 0:11:02.160 --> 0:11:05.200 Cross repeatedly over each other in an attempt to ward 0:11:05.200 --> 0:11:13.480 off the evil spirits. 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Teledoc is committed 0:11:53.080 --> 0:11:56.800 to facilitating great therapeutic matches, so they make it easy 0:11:56.840 --> 0:12:00.760 to change counselors if needed. For free. Tell doc therapy 0:12:01.120 --> 0:12:05.080 is available through most insurance or employers. Download the app 0:12:05.320 --> 0:12:09.840 or visittelldoc dot com Forward slash Unexplained podcast today to 0:12:09.840 --> 0:12:20.920 get started. That's teladoc dot com slash Unexplained podcast. Two 0:12:21.000 --> 0:12:25.280 days later, on October fifth, Michael returned for another fellowship meeting. 0:12:26.800 --> 0:12:29.760 Alarmed by his behavior, the group suggested he'd be taken 0:12:29.800 --> 0:12:34.240 immediately to see the Reverend Vincent. After being driven to 0:12:34.240 --> 0:12:37.480 the vicar's house, the vicar's wife, Sally, welcomed the couple 0:12:37.520 --> 0:12:39.800 into her home and settled them down in the kitchen. 0:12:40.800 --> 0:12:44.520 A local Methodist minister from Barnsley called Raymond Smith was 0:12:44.559 --> 0:12:47.720 called to provide a second opinion. A short time later, 0:12:47.880 --> 0:12:51.000 Smith Julie arrived at the vicarage with his wife Margaret. 0:12:52.800 --> 0:12:55.920 As they sat down to eat dinner, Michael immediately smashed 0:12:55.920 --> 0:12:58.400 his plate to the floor. When the vicar's cat entered 0:12:58.400 --> 0:13:02.120 the room, screamed at it, pulling fur from its back, 0:13:02.160 --> 0:13:04.160 and throwing it out of the house before he could 0:13:04.160 --> 0:13:09.360 be restrained. Reverend Vincent was utterly shocked. To him, it 0:13:09.400 --> 0:13:15.040 was clear Michael was possessed by something deeply evil. There 0:13:15.120 --> 0:13:20.280 was no other option but to perform a complete exorcism. 0:13:20.320 --> 0:13:23.440 As the others looked around nervously, Reverend Smith was the 0:13:23.520 --> 0:13:28.320 first to speak up. Unconvinced by Vincent's diagnosis, Smith thought 0:13:28.320 --> 0:13:32.199 it best that they consult a doctor first. However, Christian 0:13:32.280 --> 0:13:35.080 was worried that calling the medical services may cause even 0:13:35.120 --> 0:13:39.160 more distress to Michael. Sally agreed. It was clear to 0:13:39.240 --> 0:13:41.920 her that not only was Michael possessed, but that Marie 0:13:42.000 --> 0:13:45.160 Robinson was the culprit, having pledged Michael's soul to Satan 0:13:45.360 --> 0:13:57.480 during one of her unorthodox rituals. The team moved quickly, 0:13:57.760 --> 0:14:01.000 calling in Methodist lay preacher Donald j to assist with 0:14:01.040 --> 0:14:04.960 the exorcism. At once, Michael was taken to Saint Thomas's 0:14:05.040 --> 0:14:07.400 Church and ordered to lie down in the vestry on 0:14:07.440 --> 0:14:09.600 a pile of hassecks that had been laid out on 0:14:09.600 --> 0:14:14.240 the floor. Candles were lit all around, and the three clergymen, 0:14:14.320 --> 0:14:19.120 watched on by their wives, gathered ominously around Michael. A 0:14:19.240 --> 0:14:21.560 bright moon hung in the sky, and as the chill 0:14:21.600 --> 0:14:24.880 of the night descended, the preachers began casting the demons 0:14:24.960 --> 0:14:29.440 from Michael's soul. For over six hours, the priests worked 0:14:30.080 --> 0:14:33.480 casting out demon upon demon as Michael rised and screamed 0:14:33.480 --> 0:14:36.640 into the night, at one point shouting out the demon 0:14:36.760 --> 0:14:40.560 name of incest in a strange guttural voice. A cross 0:14:40.640 --> 0:14:43.560 belonging to Michael was later burned in a cleansing ritual. 0:14:45.680 --> 0:14:48.680 The following morning, as the sun's first rays filtered through 0:14:48.680 --> 0:14:52.040 the windows of the church, the preachers collapsed, exhausted to 0:14:52.080 --> 0:14:57.280 the ground. By Reverend Vincent's count, it had been an 0:14:57.360 --> 0:15:01.640 unqualified success, having cast out less than fifty demons from 0:15:01.680 --> 0:15:06.720 Michael's troubled soul. However, there remained three demons that they 0:15:06.760 --> 0:15:11.720 had not successfully exercised, the demon of insanity, violence, and 0:15:11.840 --> 0:15:17.280 most worryingly of all, murder too exhausted to continue, it 0:15:17.360 --> 0:15:19.760 was agreed that Michael be sent home to rest before 0:15:19.800 --> 0:15:24.960 returning at a later date. With the tailor's children spending 0:15:24.960 --> 0:15:27.800 the night at their grandparents, Christine and Michael returned to 0:15:27.800 --> 0:15:30.960 an empty home shortly after nine am on the morning 0:15:31.000 --> 0:15:36.800 of Sunday, October sixth A neighbor of the tailors later 0:15:36.840 --> 0:15:41.480 recounted seeing Christine shortly after they arrived back. Christine had 0:15:41.520 --> 0:15:44.520 seemed distressed, telling her neighbor that she was worried that 0:15:44.640 --> 0:15:48.200 something might have gotten into her. She had planned to 0:15:48.240 --> 0:15:51.240 rest with Michael a short while before calling for a doctor. 0:15:52.240 --> 0:15:56.240 Soon after. Christine went back inside the house. It was 0:15:56.280 --> 0:15:58.680 the last time she would ever be seen alive again. 0:16:09.960 --> 0:16:13.000 Shortly after ten am, a strange call was received at 0:16:13.000 --> 0:16:17.040 Ossit Police Station. Pc N Walker, who had just clocked 0:16:17.040 --> 0:16:20.000 in for work, assumed it was some kind of practical joke. 0:16:20.640 --> 0:16:23.720 The caller claimed to have seen a naked man walking 0:16:23.720 --> 0:16:27.760 through the streets, covered head to foot in paint. Walker 0:16:27.800 --> 0:16:30.920 and his partner promptly got into their regulation patrol vehicle 0:16:31.080 --> 0:16:34.760 and headed out in search of the mysterious man. Being 0:16:34.800 --> 0:16:37.280 as it was a quiet Sunday morning in a small 0:16:37.320 --> 0:16:42.880 market town, it wasn't long before they found him. The 0:16:42.960 --> 0:16:46.239 two officers pulled over in the car and carefully approached. 0:16:46.800 --> 0:16:51.080 As Walker drew near, his confusion turned to horror. It 0:16:51.160 --> 0:16:53.560 wasn't paint that covered the man from head to toe, 0:16:54.280 --> 0:16:59.400 it was blood. Walker radioed back to Bath and was 0:16:59.440 --> 0:17:02.800 informed that the man he had before him was Michael Taylor. 0:17:05.600 --> 0:17:08.640 Walker's first reaction was to search Michael's body for any 0:17:08.680 --> 0:17:11.480 sign of a wound, but was horrified to discover that 0:17:11.560 --> 0:17:16.159 whoever's blood this was, it wasn't Michael's. Staring out to 0:17:16.200 --> 0:17:20.399 an unimaginable distance, Michael spoke in a quiet, detached manner, 0:17:21.680 --> 0:17:24.480 it is the blood of Satan, he said, I have 0:17:24.600 --> 0:17:31.760 killed my wife. I know I have. With Michael's safe, 0:17:31.800 --> 0:17:34.840 you picked up and despatched to hospital. Walker made his 0:17:34.880 --> 0:17:38.760 way to the Taylor's house. When he arrived at the property, 0:17:39.000 --> 0:17:42.720 a superior officer had already inspected the scene. From the 0:17:42.760 --> 0:17:45.160 look on his face alone, Walker should have known better 0:17:45.200 --> 0:17:48.240 than to enter, but despite efforts to prevent him, pc 0:17:48.359 --> 0:17:51.879 Walker's curiosity got the better of him. What he saw 0:17:52.040 --> 0:17:54.880 would form the basis for every nightmare he has suffered 0:17:54.920 --> 0:18:04.920 ever since. Tracing back from the front door, a clear 0:18:04.960 --> 0:18:07.359 trail of blood could be seen leading out from the 0:18:07.400 --> 0:18:11.080 living room. Through the door frame, he could just make 0:18:11.119 --> 0:18:15.760 out Christine Taylor's lifeless body strewn across the floor. All 0:18:15.800 --> 0:18:20.840 around the room was splattered in blood. Her blood. It 0:18:20.920 --> 0:18:23.360 seemed to cover every inch of her face, as if 0:18:23.359 --> 0:18:25.840 she had been smeared in it. But as he drew 0:18:25.880 --> 0:18:29.679 near the full horror was revealed to him there was 0:18:29.800 --> 0:18:35.040 no face where there should have been eyes. Instead, there 0:18:35.080 --> 0:18:39.720 were two seemingly endless cavities. Her eyeballs had been ripped 0:18:39.720 --> 0:18:43.200 from the sockets and thrown across the room, the flesh 0:18:43.200 --> 0:18:45.920 of her face torn from her skull in a brutal 0:18:46.040 --> 0:18:49.960 fit of mania, and perhaps the strangest of all, her 0:18:50.000 --> 0:18:54.879 tongue had been pulled clean from her mouth. As the 0:18:54.920 --> 0:18:57.560 police searched desperately for a sign of the murder weapon, 0:18:58.080 --> 0:19:00.800 something dawned on them with a profound sense of shock. 0:19:01.920 --> 0:19:05.600 There was no weapon. Michael Taylor had done it all 0:19:05.640 --> 0:19:19.160 with his bare hands. On March twenty fifth, nineteen seventy five, 0:19:19.359 --> 0:19:22.880 at Leed's Crown Court, Michael Taylor was found not guilty 0:19:22.920 --> 0:19:24.920 of the murder of his wife due to what was 0:19:25.000 --> 0:19:29.680 deemed a momentary bout of insanity. Coroner Philip Gill believed 0:19:29.720 --> 0:19:32.800 that Michael had no criminal or evil intent, and that 0:19:32.920 --> 0:19:35.240 he was merely trying to relieve his wife of the 0:19:35.320 --> 0:19:41.439 evil he saw in her. After sentencing, doctor Hugo Mille, 0:19:41.600 --> 0:19:45.520 consultant psychiatrist to the Bradford Group of Hospitals, entered Michael 0:19:45.520 --> 0:19:48.840 Taylor's cell in Leeds Prison. He found the defendant to 0:19:48.880 --> 0:19:52.800 be completely detached from reality, unaware of his surroundings, and 0:19:52.960 --> 0:19:57.080 unfit to remain in prison custody. He was immediately transferred 0:19:57.160 --> 0:20:01.160 to Broadmoor Psychiatric Hospital, where doctor Miln made an initial 0:20:01.200 --> 0:20:06.160 diagnosis of an acute schizophrenic attack, but subsequently reversed his decision. 0:20:06.680 --> 0:20:09.080 It was his belief that one way or another, the 0:20:09.160 --> 0:20:13.119 Fellowship group had created Michael's insanity, and that Michael's fascination 0:20:13.200 --> 0:20:15.720 with Marie Robinson had in some way played a part 0:20:15.760 --> 0:20:20.080 in it. Archbishop of Canterbury at the time, Donald Coggan, 0:20:20.280 --> 0:20:24.480 strongly condemned the reckless approach of the Fellowship. The Reverend 0:20:24.480 --> 0:20:29.480 Peter Vincent, for his part, exhibited no remorse, believing unequivocally 0:20:29.600 --> 0:20:34.280 that Michael had been possessed by an evil spirit. The 0:20:34.359 --> 0:20:37.720 Church of England continues the practice of exorcism to this day. 0:20:46.400 --> 0:20:49.760 Aside from the senseless and avoidable loss of life, what 0:20:49.880 --> 0:20:53.040 strikes me most about this tragic story is the fact that, 0:20:53.119 --> 0:20:56.000 regardless of what you believe, there is no doubt that 0:20:56.040 --> 0:20:59.920 whatever Michael Taylor experienced or witnessed, it all appeared horrifying 0:21:00.200 --> 0:21:04.760 real to him. Although we will never know exactly what 0:21:04.840 --> 0:21:09.119 happened to Michael, conventional wisdom suggests some form of schizophrenia. 0:21:10.720 --> 0:21:13.840 As such, I found myself drawn to a fascinating paper 0:21:14.080 --> 0:21:19.119 titled Quantum Logic of the Unconscious and Schizophrenia. The paper, 0:21:19.280 --> 0:21:24.560 written by theoretical physicists Paola Zizzy and Massimo Pregnolato, explores 0:21:24.560 --> 0:21:27.439 the mechanics of schizophrenia through the framework of what is 0:21:27.480 --> 0:21:31.080 known as the quantum mind. In a trivial sense. The 0:21:31.160 --> 0:21:33.639 notion of the quantum mind derives from the theory that 0:21:33.760 --> 0:21:36.080 since all of everything we know can be reduced to 0:21:36.119 --> 0:21:39.920 the quantum level, it follows that consciousness itself must in 0:21:39.960 --> 0:21:44.359 some way be linked to quantum mechanical phenomena. It is 0:21:44.359 --> 0:21:46.960 a thought that has led some to consider the brain 0:21:47.000 --> 0:21:51.760 as a form of quantum computer, drawing on earlier work 0:21:51.840 --> 0:21:55.760 by psychiatrist and creator of the term schizophrenia, oigen Boiler 0:21:56.040 --> 0:21:59.720 and the work of Sigmund Freud, Zizzi and Pregnolato's paper 0:22:00.040 --> 0:22:03.480 posits the idea that, in a computational sense, the logic 0:22:03.520 --> 0:22:05.840 of the unconscious may well be the same as the 0:22:05.880 --> 0:22:10.080 logic of schizophrenia. While a healthy mind will adopt the 0:22:10.119 --> 0:22:13.520 logic of consciousness as its primary process of thinking, the 0:22:13.600 --> 0:22:18.119 schizophrenic mind instead adopts the unconscious mind at its primary mode. 0:22:19.680 --> 0:22:22.320 By extension, might it then be that not only do 0:22:22.359 --> 0:22:26.439 we all possess the capacity to experience schizophrenic episodes, but 0:22:26.600 --> 0:22:29.919 that such occurrences may be the result of quantum processes 0:22:29.920 --> 0:22:33.440 in the brain, processes that, in theory, could at any 0:22:33.480 --> 0:22:38.120 time be switched from one state to another. Is it 0:22:38.160 --> 0:22:42.760 possible that the extraordinary nature of Michael's experiences, exacerbated by 0:22:42.800 --> 0:22:47.000 the intense delirium of his exorcism, created a fundamental change 0:22:47.000 --> 0:22:51.359 in Michael's mind, a change that converted his darkest unconscious 0:22:51.480 --> 0:22:57.800 nightmares into a physical, conscious reality. It is certainly compelling 0:22:57.840 --> 0:23:00.600 to wonder at what could possibly cause such a gentle 0:23:00.640 --> 0:23:03.840 and loving husband as Michael Taylor to so brutally and 0:23:03.880 --> 0:23:06.959 manically murder his wife in a sudden moment of insanity. 0:23:08.840 --> 0:23:11.600 That the mind might be so fragile and susceptible in 0:23:11.640 --> 0:23:15.800 such a way is a truly terrifying thought. Might we 0:23:15.880 --> 0:23:18.840 too be little more than a quantum leap from madness 0:23:19.560 --> 0:23:23.720 if we are not indeed already there? It certainly puts 0:23:23.720 --> 0:23:28.320 a new spin on that most familiar Biblical adage, Please 0:23:28.359 --> 0:23:36.520 forgive us, for we know not what we do. All 0:23:36.520 --> 0:23:39.760 elements of Unexplained are produced by me Richard McClain smith. 0:23:40.119 --> 0:23:42.560 Please subscribe and rate the show on iTunes, and feel 0:23:42.600 --> 0:23:44.760 free to get in touch with any thoughts or ideas 0:23:44.800 --> 0:23:47.680 regarding the stories you've heard on the show. Perhaps you 0:23:47.760 --> 0:23:49.680 have an explanation of your own you'd like to share. 0:23:50.440 --> 0:23:53.160 You can reach us online at Unexplained podcast dot com 0:23:53.280 --> 0:24:07.199 or on Twitter at Unexplained Pod. Now it's time to 0:24:07.240 --> 0:24:11.520 take care of yourself. To make time for you. Teledoc 0:24:11.600 --> 0:24:14.600 gives you access to a licensed therapist to help you 0:24:14.640 --> 0:24:18.000 get back to feeling your best. 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