Stamford, CT

The following case file is identical as it has been submitted and written for record. Names and locations have been changed to protect the privacy of the individuals involved

Date: January 9, 1999
Case: Stamford, CT

This report is a compilation of events, facts and evidence gathered since the date of the initial interview conducted by Ed and Lorraine Warren, Mike Roberge and John Zaffis on the 2nd of December 1998.

Since December 2nd, investigators have visited and/or stayed overnight a total of 10 nights. Each night will be reported as any major events may have occurred.

Wednesday, December 2nd: Ed, Lorraine, Lee, John and I arrived in the home of Bruce and Shelly. Immediately upon entering the house, most of us noticed the strong, oppressive atmosphere within the house. John began setting up his camcorder while the rest of us got acquainted with the family. Shelly, 37, is a small woman who appears very happy and energetic. She works as a nurse. Bruce, her husband, is 28 and works in the technical field. Their three children are Julie, 16; Jackie 14; and Michael, 9. The spirits present in the house appear to focus their activity on them. Although Julie and Jackie appear to deal with the situation quite well, Michael gets extremely frightened and upset when activity takes place.

The two level house was built in the early 1800’s and has been renovated several times. Story has it that the house at one point in time was a tavern for the locals but no time frame is known and no real evidence to that fact has been uncovered (to my knowledge). Both the interior and the exterior of the house seemed to be cleaned regularly. Bruce and Shelly sleep in the bedroom on the first floor, just inside the front door. The children each have their own rooms located on the second floor. I did not notice any religious items in the house at any point until our visit on the 12th of December.

At approximately 9:45 PM Ed and Lorraine began their interview with the family. The following is all the main, pertinent information given by the family. They have only been living in the house since September 1998 and have had trouble since their arrival. Activity began with Michael complaining of being touched. Quickly, activity increased to Michael’s hair being pulled being poked, and his sheets being pulled off the bed while he was in it. Bruce and Shelly did not pay much mind to the complaints assuming it was due to the overactive imagination of a 9 year old.

Shortly after the initial events took place, Shelly’s mother came to the house for a visit and stated that during the night, she saw three human spirits standing just outside the family room on the first floor.

The following night, Jackie complained to Shelly that she felt she had been "punched" from under the bed, through the mattress. Following that, as she sat on the bed talking on the phone, the entire foot of the bed, frame and all, began to move side to side as if someone were standing there lifting it and shaking it. That is when Shelly realized that maybe there actually was some truth to what she had already been told.

Shelly claims that she had felt an "evil" presence in the house since the day they initially looked at the house before purchasing it. She explained away the uneasy feelings due to the fact that the house had recently caught fire and the fire damage was still visible on the outside walls. When her children began complaining of these supernatural events taken place, Shelly again began to realize the feelings she was having may, in fact, be legitimate. She then made the decision to call Ed and Lorraine.

While the family was giving their statements, Lorraine, Lee, John and I did a walk-through of the house. Very little, if anything was felt on the first floor and the basement did have slight but nominal feeling of a presence. The second floor was an altogether different story. As we walked up the stairway to the second floor the feeling of multiple spirits was becoming more and more prominent with every step. At the top of the stairs is a small hallway and Jackie’s bedroom, the "green room". Upon entering, an immediate feeling of overpowering pressure could be felt. What was in that room at that time was not human.

Off the hallway were Julie’s bedroom and Michael’s bedroom. Also there is a "plant room", used by Shelly to maintain a small forest of different types of plants and trees. The hallway itself had the feeling of presence but this appeared to be human. Julie’s room had a small amount of pressure, as did Michael’s, to a slightly higher degree. The plant room was by far the clearest and most peaceful room in the entire house.

We completed our walk-through and re-joined Ed and the family in the kitchen; they were still giving their statements. Lee sat down at the kitchen table with Lorraine and within minutes began to shudder, swaying from side to side. She asked for a pad of paper and a pencil and immediately began scribble words. She had begun automatic writing; one of the human spirits wanted to communicate.

Ed and the spirit began conversing. Transcripts of full conversation are on record. Some of the pertinent information from the conversation are as follows: The three spirits there were Geoff Roberts, Mary Roberts (Geoff’s wife) and Emma. We do not know who Emma is or where she fits into the scheme of events but Geoff owned and lived in this house in 1888. It was also found, on record, that Geoff Roberts did actually own and live in the house in 1888. It was also discovered that Mary was the name of his wife. It is unknown whether Mary was with him during this time frame but I believe she was. Geoff was very angry about the family living in the house. As far as he was concerned, it was still his house.

The conversation lasted, on and off, for about 15 minutes and after it ended Ed, Lorraine and Lee decided to leave. John and I were going to stay overnight. After Ed, Lorraine and Lee left, John and I talked with the family until about midnight then retired to the green room. Within only a few minutes, we began to hear raps on the walls. We felt that the raps were no doubt coming from one of the three human spirits in the house. This continued on and off for approximately one hour. We also felt the psychic cold moving throughout the room and different points in time throughout the night. We both also felt a more powerful, hostile presence but it was certainly not making itself known.

Nothing major was continuing so at 3 AM we left the house, I had to be at work that morning.

Friday, December 4th: John and I returned back at the house at 9:30 PM. Once again, immediately upon entering the house we could feel the presence of evil waiting in the background. Bruce, Shelly and Jackie were in the kitchen where we all sat and talked, Julie was still at work and Michael was in bed in the family room, just off the kitchen. We talked until about 11:30, then John and I made our way back up to the green room.

John set up his video camera and I began playing Gregorian Chants. At about midnight, the raps began again. This time we attempted to communicate, stating one rap would mean "yes", two raps meant "no". We began asking questions.

Although the raps were very soft, a few were captured by the camcorder. We did manage to talk to Geoff. The short conversation with him revealed that he was keeping both Mary and Emma there against their will. We tried to talk him into letting them cross over but he refused. We both also got the impression, although it was never revealed to us, that Geoff was being coerced by the inhuman spirit to do what it wanted. Nothing further was revealed that night but the knocks and psychic colds continued on and off throughout the night, finally subsiding at about 4 AM.

This night, similar to the first night at the house, I personally felt very drained after spending any amount of time in the green room. Within an hour of first lying on the floor, I would find it impossible to stay awake or alert… completely opposite from my normal. John, on the other hand, was awake most of the night and claimed that as I neared the sleep state, the rapping increased and died out for a short time when I fell into a deep sleep.

We awoke the following morning at about 8 AM and left the house with no other activity being noted.

Wednesday, December 9th: A group of us were in Carousel Gardens Restaurant but John was not around this night. At about 9:15 PM, both Lorraine and I (without each other knowing) each got feelings that something bad was happening in the house. I walked up to Lorraine and asked her if John was in the house, and told her that I had a bad feeling. She then told me that she also got that same feeling and that John was indeed in the house.

Later, I drove to Stamford and met John, who was already sitting at the kitchen table. I asked, in my non-verbal way, if any thing had happened and John replied with a "no". After about 30 minutes in the house, no activity had taken place and no presence could be felt. John, as far as I could tell, wanted to be in the house alone so I decided to leave, assuming he was wanting to try something that required solitude. I left at 11 PM.

Later, John and I talked about that night and we realized that he really wanted me there but I picked up wrong from him. John and I had that happen to us many times during the course of this investigation. During most investigations, John and I are very much in sync with each other but during this investigation, we were very out of sync, very confused, and almost opposites. We began realizing what was happening; we were purposefully being thrown out of tune with each other to make getting firm answers much more difficult. We were now truly realizing what the entity in this house was capable of doing.

By this point in time we were sure of what was present in the house and why. We knew that Emma and Mary were there. We believe that they were being held back by Geoff, who is very angry and controlling. Geoff, in turn, was there because he also was being held back by an inhuman spirit who was both controlling Geoff and directly affecting the family through its manipulations.

Thursday, December 10th: Ed, Lorraine, John and Lee went to the house with the intent of communicating with Geoff. They got more than they bargained for. Also present that night was Bruce, Shelly, Jackie and Michael (who was already in bed). Later, Shelly’s cousin showed up. Her cousin is a police officer in a local community. He is a very large man who is terrified of the supernatural.

They all sat at the kitchen table while John set up the camcorder. Lee sat at the head of the table with Lorraine next to her and Ed next to Lorraine. Bruce was directly across the table from Lee with Shelly and Jackie next to him. Lee began automatic writing shortly after everyone was situated. "Father" came through first followed by Geoff. The automatic writing did not last long; she soon began channeling both "Father" and Geoff, switching back and forth at various points in time. Geoff began to get very violent, starting with verbal attacks on everyone in the room. The language used was obscene and threw everyone off guard.

Ed decided to have Lorraine recite the St. Michael’s prayer and within seconds after starting, Geoff became extremely violent. The violence rose quickly from obscene language towards Lorraine to physically attacking Ed. Lee, now under complete possession from Geoff leapt from her chair landed on Ed and began punching him in the chest. It took everyone in the room to get her off Ed. Even with Shelly’s cousin helping, it was a struggle.

After the situation settled down, everyone decided to call it a night. Before leaving, Ed asked Shelly’s cousin if he would stay the night with them in the house, for fear of increased activity. He adamantly refused, stating there was no way he would stay. They left shortly thereafter. No more activity took place that night.

The following day, after realizing what Geoff and the inhuman spirit were capable of, Ed decided to contact Father Bishop to have an exorcism performed in the house. He agreed to conduct it and the date was set for Monday, December 14th.

Monday, December 14th: John and I arrived at the house at 12:45 PM. Two other investigators were already there and the rest of the crew had not arrived yet. We set up our video and audio equipment and waited for Father, Ed, Lorraine and Lee to arrive. Only Bruce and Shelly were in the house, the kids were all at family or friends houses. Shelly had, earlier that day, purchased a number of religious items such as Crucifixes, Crosses, Rosary Beads and cross necklaces for Father to bless while he was there.

The rest of the group arrived at about 1:30 PM. Father’s intent was to bless the house, proceed to the exorcism of the house and finalize any other requirements as necessary. It was also assumed that either Geoff or the inhuman spirit was going to possess Lee during the rites so we had all prepared for the exorcism rites to continue on to Lee.

After everyone had said their greetings and Father was introduced to the family, he began his blessing of the house. He walked through each and every room, blessing it and sprinkling Holy Water as he went along. He completed his blessing in a matter of 15 minutes and promptly started the exorcism. The entire ritual was spoken in Latin. Almost immediately, Lee came under possession and started half-yelling that it wasn’t going to work. Her words sounded more as a promise than a prediction.

Father was only a few minutes into the exorcism when Lee, coming in and out of possession, began to get totally unruly. The ceremony quickly turned into the full exorcism of an individual… Lee.

Using body restraints, the five men present during the ceremony restrained Lee to a sturdy wooden chair and took positions around her, serving three functions; to restrain her in case she broke loose from the body restraints, to protect her from injury and to protect Father from her. The exorcism continued, focused now on Lee.

During the course of the exorcism, Lee came, again, in and out of possession and at times, was extremely difficult to manage. Within the first few minutes, she broke free of the body restraints tearing apart one of the chair legs she was restrained to. She literally snapped the wooden leg as easily as if it were a toothpick, she did so with a very eerie grin on her face. We then had her stand up. I was positioned behind her, anchored with my back to the wall, one person was on each side of her and one or two people between her and Father.

At various times through the exorcism, Lee would go into a fit of rage so violent, the five men assigned to restrain her could not maintain control of her. She was tossing us around like we were rag dolls. Father continued for approximately 1 ½ hours before the exorcism was completed.

At about 3:30 PM, Father Bishop, Ed, Lorraine and Lee left, followed by the other two investigators. John and I stay behind for about 30 minutes to get a feel on whether or not the house had been cleared. John felt the house was at peace but I did not. The impression I got was that the exorcism had weakened the inhuman spirit but had not gotten rid of it. We decided we would leave the family alone, not "prompt" them to thinking it was still there, and see what transpired over the course of the next few days.

John and I left the house at about 4:15 PM, after saying our good-byes and waited to see what would happen next.

Friday, December 18th: John received a phone call from Shelly. She stated that activity had taken place the night of the 17th and she was now very concerned about the family’s safety. John and I decided to once again conduct an overnighter in the house and see if we could determine the level of the spirit’s strength.

We stayed, as always, in the green room but this night no activity occurred. It was quiet and there were no feelings of any presence in the room or in the house. We left the house the following morning.

Saturday, December 19th: John again received a phone call from Shelly during the afternoon. She explained that activity was again taking place, now during the day. We arrived back in the house at about 10 PM.

We sat and talked with Bruce and Shelly in the kitchen until about 11:30 PM. Once again, we stayed in the green room and it was very active in the room. Raps were heard from many different locations throughout the room. Prior to this night, the raps that had been heard came mainly from the far wall, about midway up the wall. Now, things had changed. The feeling in the house was different but could not be pinpointed.

At about 1:30 AM I was beginning to get very drained and was having a hard time staying awake. Without warning I felt another presence in the room, it was not the inhuman spirit we were used to feeling. It was Emma and Mary. Although no real communication was done, I knew that they were there to tell us good-bye. From what I was able to decipher from what I picked up from them, the exorcism weakened the inhuman spirit enough that it was not able to maintain control over Geoff, who in turn, released control of Emma and Mary. We have not felt their presence since.

No other major activity took place the rest of the night but John stated that the rapping's continued for about 30 minutes after I fell asleep. We left the house at about 9 AM the following morning.

Wednesday, December 23rd: After another phone call from Shelly, John and I again conducted an overnight investigation. It was now two days before Christmas and we were concerned of the fact that activity may increase due to the amount of time since the exorcism and that Christmas was at hand. Shelly’s mother, who was staying in the house through Christmas, was hospitalized for, as of time of this writing, an unknown reason.

We arrived later than normal, about 11 PM. We talked with Shelly for about 20 minutes then proceeded to the green room. Activity was at a very high level that night. Rapping's were louder, more frequent and were moving throughout the room. We also heard a new sound, the sound of fluttering (as if the fluttering of wings). The unusual part about what we heard is I heard the sound up high, near the ceiling directly above where John was laying. John heard the same sounds at the same time but much lower, almost directly next to him. John associated the sound we heard to what he heard during the infamous Southington case.

Like normal in this particular case, I fell asleep early that night. John was awake most of the night and continued to hear rapping's most of the night. We left about 8:30 AM.

Thursday, December 24th: No investigation was conducted but for the sake of documentation, Julie was involved in a severe car accident. She was hit in the right front side of the car, totaling it. She was only minimally injured.

Monday, December 28th: After reviewing the activity noted by John and I, Ed and Lorraine had contacted Father Bishop once again and the decision was made to conduct a Solemn Exorcism.

Father, Ed, Lorraine, John and the entire family were present in the house. >From the reports given, the exorcism took approximately 1 ½ hours and was conducted with no outward difficulties.

As of January 9, 1999, there has been no known activity taking place in the house. We have been in contact with the family several times since then and by reports from the family, all activity has stopped.

By Mike Roberge