Anneliese Michel

Born Anna Elisabeth Michel on 21 September 1952 in Leiblfing, Bavaria, West Germany, to a Roman Catholic family, Michel and her three sisters were raised by their parents, Joseph and Anna. She attended Mass twice a week. When she was 16, she experienced a severe convulsion and was diagnosed with temporal lobe epilepsy. In 1973, Michel attended the University of Würzburg. Her classmates later described her as "withdrawn and very religious". ==Psychiatric treatment==

In June 1970, Michel had a third seizure at the psychiatric hospital where she had been staying. She was prescribed anti-convulsion drugs for the first time, including Dilantin, which did not alleviate the problem. She described seeing "devil faces" at various times of the day. Michel's treatment in a psychiatric hospital did not improve her health and her depression worsened. Long-term treatment did not help, either, and she grew increasingly frustrated with her medical care after having taken pharmacological drugs for five years. Her escort in Piacenza was convinced that she was suffering from demonic possession because she was unable to walk past a crucifix and refused to drink the water of a Christian holy spring. Michel believed she could communicate with Mary, mother of Jesus. Michel's family and community became convinced that she was possessed and consulted several priests to request an exorcism. The priests declined, recommended the continuation of medical treatment and informed the family that exorcisms required the bishop's permission. In the Catholic Church, official approval for an exorcism is granted when the subject strictly meets the set criteria and is considered to be suffering from possession () and under demonic control. Intense dislike for religious objects and supernatural powers are some of the first indications. Michel worsened physically and displayed aggression, injured herself, drank her own urine and ate insects. In November 1973, Michel began treatment with Tegretol, an anti-seizure drug and mood stabilizer. She was prescribed antipsychotic drugs during the course of the religious rites and consumed them frequently until some time before her death. Despite taking these neuroleptic medications, Michel's symptoms worsened and she began "growling obscenities, screaming guttural curses, and raving wildly." ==Exorcism==

, who approved the exorcism, in a May 1959 photo A family friend of the Michels requested the elderly Jesuit priest Adolf Rodewyk to visit Anneliese, but he declined due to his old age and put the family in contact with another Jesuit. Renz performed the first session on 24 September. Michel began increasingly speaking about "dying to atone for the wayward youth of the day and the apostate priests of the modern church." Toward the end of her life, Michel began to refuse food. ==Death==

On 1 July 1976, Michel died in her home. The autopsy report stated the cause of death as malnutrition and dehydration resulting from almost a year in a state of near starvation while the rites of exorcism were performed. She weighed , suffered broken knees from continuous genuflections, was unable to move without assistance and was reported to have contracted pneumonia. ==Prosecution==

After an investigation, the state prosecutor maintained that Michel's death could have been prevented as late as one week before she died. In 1976, the state charged Michel's parents and priests Ernst Alt and Arnold Renz with negligent homicide. The parents were defended by famed Nuremberg trials defense attorney Erich Schmidt-Leichner and the priests' defense counsel were paid by the church. Trial The trial began on 30 March 1978 in the district court and drew intense interest. Doctors testified that Michel was not possessed, stating that the manifestations of demonic possession were a psychological effect of her strict religious upbringing as well as her epilepsy. Schmidt-Leichner argued that the exorcism was legal and that the German constitution protected citizens in the unrestricted exercise of their religious beliefs. The defense played tapes recorded at the exorcism sessions, sometimes featuring what was claimed to be "demons arguing" to assert their claim that Michel was possessed. Both priests claimed that six demons identified themselves as Lucifer, Cain, Judas Iscariot, Nero, Adolf Hitler, and an evil priest named Fleischmann. ==Exhumation and aftermath==

After the trial, the Michels asked the authorities for permission to exhume the remains of their daughter because she had been buried in undue hurry in a cheap coffin. Almost two years after the burial, on 25 February 1978, her remains were replaced in a new oak coffin lined with tin. The official reports state that the body bore signs consistent with deterioration of a corpse of that age. The family and the priests were discouraged from viewing Michel's remains. Father Renz later stated that he had been prevented from entering the mortuary. Michel's father, Joseph Michel, died in 1999. In a 2006 interview, Anna Michel stated that she did not regret her actions, saying, "I know we did the right thing because I saw the sign of Christ in her hands". ==In popular culture==

• Three films, The Exorcism of Emily Rose (which focuses on both the court case and the exorcism), Requiem, and Anneliese: The Exorcist Tapes, are loosely based on Michel's story. • The case and the theories surrounding it were discussed during the fourth episode of the first season of the BuzzFeed web series BuzzFeed Unsolved: Supernatural in November 2016. • The case and its history were covered in Case 11: Anneliese Michel, a March 2016 episode of the Casefile True Crime Podcast. • The exorcism was covered in the podcast My Favorite Murder in the episode "The Devil's Number". • The Last Podcast on the Left covered Michel's story in episodes 473 and 474. • The video game Faith: The Unholy Trinity uses audio from the exorcism tapes for a boss fight. • The song "Anneliese" by the Scottish band Hellripper is inspired by the events. • Metal band Ice Nine Kills used some of the recordings of Michel in the intro of their song "Communion of The Cursed" (from the album Every Trick in the Book) ==See also==