234. The Fatal Exorcism of Joan Vollmer

On February 1st, 1993, a minister was summoned to a house off Dimboola Road in the outback town of Antwerp, Australia. When he arrived, he was greeted by a man named David Klingner, who said, “It’s a long story,” as he led the pastor into the house. Inside, the minister was overcome by a foul stench. Blowflies were buzzing around the house, attracted to the putrid smell of decay. The minister was pretty confident that whoever they had called him for was beyond saving.

​He made his way past a group of people who were calmly eating their lunch at the kitchen table into a bedroom where the swollen remains of 49-year-old Joan Vollmer lay fully dressed on a mattress. The minister immediately phoned the police, and a constable was sent to the house.

When Constable Michael Arnott arrived, he spoke to the dead woman’s husband, 54-year-old pig farmer Ralph Vollmer. After just a few moments, the constable understood the situation as thus: Ralph’s wife had been possessed by ten different demons, and she had died as a result of her “deliverance,” otherwise known as an exorcism.


Join Jen and Cam as they discuss “The Fatal Exorcism of Joan Vollmer.”


Promo by our friend Edward October from Octoberpod AM.
Be sure to catch his newest spooky tale, “The Spirit Doll: A Halloween Fantasia,” on October 24!


Written and researched by Lauretta Allen
Listener Discretion by Edward October from OctoberpodVHS
Executive Producer Nico Vitesse of The Inky Paw Print

Sources:
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/211590852/joan-vollmer
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/the-creepy-australian-country-house-abandoned-after-joan-vollmers-terrifying-death-when-an-exorcist-tried-to-rid-her-of-demons/QSK4KYGCVHVSUMXGBUDKS7C4VA/
https://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/national/the-victorian-woman-who-died-after-a-fourday-exorcism/news-story/884b0b37067ce3bfad090c45c29283cc
https://casefilepodcast.com/case-128-joan-vollmer/https://forgottenillawarra.wordpress.com/2014/08/21/a-terrible-exorcism/
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/127247897https://www.newspapers.com/image/120622909/?terms=Joan%20Vollmer%20exorcism&match=1
https://www.newspapers.com/image/120621692/?terms=Joan%20Vollmer%20exorcism&match=1
https://www.newspapers.com/image/120464050/?terms=Joan%20Vollmer%20exorcism&match=1
https://www.newspapers.com/image/120627676/?terms=Joan%20Vollmer%20exorcism&match=1
https://www.newspapers.com/image/120758486/?terms=Joan%20Vollmer%20exorcism&match=1
https://www.newspapers.com/image/829130835/?terms=Joan%20Vollmer%20exorcism&match=1
https://www.newspapers.com/image/123064357/?terms=Joan%20Vollmer%20exorcism&match=1
https://www.9news.com.au/national/wife-s-exorcism-death-blamed-on-hospital/b4dc635e-5c6e-4feb-9203-f7f60d868637
https://www.newspapers.com/image/120627676/?terms=Antwerp%20exorcism&match=1
https://www.newspapers.com/image/120638985/?terms=Antwerp%20exorcism&match=1
https://www.newspapers.com/image/120622909/?terms=Antwerp%20exorcism&match=1
https://www.newspapers.com/image/120620440/?terms=Antwerp%20exorcism&match=1
https://www.newspapers.com/image/120091899/?terms=Antwerp%20exorcism&match=1
https://www.newspapers.com/image/123004623/?terms=Antwerp%20exorcism&match=1
https://www.newspapers.com/image/123005085/?terms=Antwerp%20exorcism&match=1
https://www.newspapers.com/image/122999279/?terms=Antwerp%20exorcism&match=1
https://www.newspapers.com/image/123064472/?terms=Antwerp%20exorcism&match=1
https://www.newspapers.com/image/123065632/?terms=Antwerp%20exorcism&match=1
https://psychcentral.com/disorders/hypomanic-episode-symptoms#what-is-it
https://www.newspapers.com/image/829130835/?terms=Joan%20Vollmer%20funeral&match=1
https://www.newspapers.com/image/829461106/?terms=Joan%20Vollmer%20funeral&match=1
https://www.newspapers.com/image/120475607/?terms=Joan%20Vollmer%20funeral&match=1 --Interesting opinion piece on the matter
https://www.newspapers.com/image/123499421/?terms=joan%20vollmer&match=1
https://www.newspapers.com/image/122996803/?terms=joan%20vollmer&match=1
https://www.newspapers.com/image/122998443/terms=joan%20vollmer%20guilty&match=1