270: The Devil and Joan Vollmer | Australia

About this episode

Ralph and Joan Vollmer lived on a farm outside of a small Australian country town. When Joan’s mental health deteriaorated, her feverishly religious husband was convinced she was possessed by the Devil. During a botched exorcism, Joan died. But who was to blame? Books: Read collections of The Evidence Locker Files, available in print and digital editions. Follow us on: YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, X, TikTok For more information, visit: Evidence Locker Website Listen ad-free: Visit our page at Patreon 25% of Evidence Locker Patreon proceeds are donated to support the Doe Network, solving international cold cases. To learn more, visit: https://www.doenetwork.org/ Resources R v Vollmer and Ors [1996] 1 VR 95 — Victorian Court of Appeal (case cited in legal sources) Adrian Howe & Sarah Ferber — “Delivering demons, punishing wives: False imprisonment, exorcism and other matrimonial duties in a late 20th-century manslaughter case” Associated Press, 3 February 1993 — “Australian woman dies after 4-day exorcism” Casefile — Case 128: Joan Vollmer (consulted only as a comparison source; this script was independently restructured and rewritten) Created & Produced by Sonya Lowe Narrated &