The Case Study Concludes - The Moffitt Family Poltergeist Case

 'The wheel of names' mirror writing of April 9, 1990 (one of several wheel diagrams found on the mirror that were photographed).  The name 'Baal' is found in an oval below the wheel.

 

The Moffitt Family poltergeist case is unique in regard to the extent of the communications that took place via anomalous writing with bars of soap on a bathroom mirror in the family's home.  Photographs of paranormal manifestations in Deborah Moffitt's nonfiction book Unwelcomed (2015) provide evidence of the variety of strange phenomena experienced between 1987 and 1992 in Rancho Cucamonga and environs (see preceding articles 1, 2).  What is shown in the photos includes objects knocked from shelves, religious objects thrown around, damage to vehicles, the entity's symbol carved out of the carpet, dirt and rocks in the bed of Deborah's mother-in-law Lee, an apported bent knife found on the stairs, holes found gouged in the wall, and mail found with burnt edges upon retrieval from the mailbox. 

 

"The entity's symbol carved out of the carpet, this spanned over 4 feet long."

Reading about these distressing and inconvenient experiences raises questions in regard to relativity in comparing people's life circumstances.  It is evident from the considerable money spent on expenses for some of the ineffectual visiting would-be ghosthunters that the family was economically privileged despite Deborah's husband Bill Jr. having a heart condition that had ended his dreams of a successful career.  Lee's late father was Andre Cuccia, a member of one of the Cosa Nostra/Sicilian Mafia families in California.  If other readers are like me, they will consider the consequences of experiencers of paranormal phenomena equating manifestations with 'demons.'  Family outings and vacations resulted with evidence of 'Mr. Entity' always being with them.  After a parapsychologist from the east coast and his assistant were brought to the house, Deborah wrote:

In the face of yet another crushing disappointment our desperation mounted.  We began to think ourselves stuck with the entity with no chance of relief.  Still we took turns looking for help in every place we could find.  We held onto the logic that statistically it was an eventuality that we would come into contact with someone who could actually help us.

Deborah mentioned that with the return of paranormal researcher Gary who otherwise was facing the prospect of being broke and homeless, "the entity continued its pattern of diving its attacks between him and Lee" — "attacks" may seem an overstatement, depending on one's impression of the sensibility being expressed with the various clues beyond any incorrect associations and assumptions expressed by Deborah throughout the account.

To show his gratitude for allowing him to stay, Gary resumed his search for people to help us.  He was ecstatic when he found Ellen.

Ellen was a self-proclaimed Voodoo priestess who lived in New Orleans.  Gary reasoned that the portal that gave the entity access to our lives was managed through Santeria, which is in part derived from Voodoo.

It was another exercise in futility: "The only thing that had been banished was the money we spent on their tickets [round-trip airplane tickets for her and a companion]."  Deborah doesn't remember how she found out about Dr. Evelyn Paglini yet the occultist's perspective of the haunting presence being a demon brought reciprocal reviling mirror writing messages.  After the initial visit with the family, Paglini occasionally telephoned them and Bill Sr. would write on the mirror what she instructed.  The family would then wait to see the responses that appeared on the mirror.  "Dr. Paglini would tell Bill Sr. to draw a symbol.  The entity would then counter with one of his own.  In between moves the entity would write insults . . . [including] 'Dr. Piglini.'  It began describing her sexual habits, writing all sorts of filth including her proclivity for fornicating with dogs."

Deborah recalled about Paglini: "She believed the only way we would be safe was to pay it homage . . . We were not going to pay homage to a demon, no matter the cost.  Evelyn then warned us that we were never going to get rid of this demon because one of us was giving it permission to stay."  Evelyn soon thereafter identified Bill Sr. in this capacity.  When confronted, "Bill Sr. laughed and asked how we could believe a stranger over him."  Deborah commented: "No matter who came to help us, the entity always won."

Perhaps the two oddest photos of mirror writing were taken by the family on 2-28-1989.  In both, the same phenomenally rendered symbols are seen on the bathroom framed mirror.  The first photo shows a reflection of the bathroom while Deborah identified what is inexplicably seen in the background of the second photo as the family's kitchen.

In June 1989 there was a visit by a 'paranormal field investigator' named Chacon holding an electromagnetic field meter.  A mirror writing message informed Deborah: "the machine did not detect me you fools" (7-8-1989).  Another legible portion of a July message is shown stating "Chacon is nothing / no juice."

One 1989 photograph of the mirror writing shows the words "he wiped the mirror" with the caption explaining: "Mr. Entity told me Bill Sr. was wiping the mirror." 

A July 4, 1989 mirror writing message noticed by Deborah is identified as signifying "Mr. Entity writing to Bill Sr. to do his own dirty work."  The book photo shows the legible phrase "do your own dirty work."  Deborah interpreted the message as confirming that "Bill Sr. was trying to cement an alliance with the presence plaguing our home." 

A July 9, 1989 mirror writing message is transcribed for a caption: "Andre will stick the spear into Marcel's heart."
 
A book photo with a date that is unclear includes words identified by the author as "My other half old nutsy is back / thank Satan" and also the name "andre" and the word "nuts."
 
Another photo with no date has some legible words: "Andre is a vessel of hate / Andre must . . . of treason / crazy."  
 

Lee is identified as having been left "comfortably well off" due to her parents and thus she was the one who "held the purse strings."  While Deborah and Bill Jr. were happily married, this was not the case with Lee and Bill Sr.  Deborah mentioned in Chapter 19: "Lee's strength was returning in full as she recovered from her previous illness.  She grew more leery with each passing day of her husband . . ."  Also: "Mr. Entity's harassment continued daily . . . One day after being in the bedroom the whole day she remarked to Bill that she felt like she was glued to the bed.  The next morning we heard screams of terror from the bedroom . . . The entity had actually glued her to the bed . . . Thankfully it wasn't one of the more powerful adhesives, but it was very painful to peel away, especially from her hair."  In the same chapter, the family's aged dog Penny is found to have drowned in the pool.

Mr. Entity was proud to take credit for her death.  He wrote that she was old so he put her out of her misery, just like he was going to do to Lee.

At the end of December Gary went back east to stay with family members.  Between January and the beginning of March 1990, Lee was hospitalized several times with Deborah mentioning on one occasion "she was so inflamed they had to cut her wedding ring off before it cut off the circulation to her finger."  Here is Deborah's explanation of what happened to Lee: "Lee was severely allergic to aspirin.  If she ingested it she blew up like a balloon.  The entity began putting crushed aspirin into Lee's food.  Lee would unknowingly eat the tainted food and within fifteen minutes she would start to swell."  The following excerpt shows Deborah's brief account of one of her family's many mysterious situations.

One day Bill Sr. and I went to the grocery store and while we were there Bill Sr. bought a chocolate layer cake from the bakery.  The lady at the bakery put it in a box and tied it up so it would be protected while we drove home.  When Lee saw the box she commented how much she was looking forward to having a piece.  When she opened the box and took the cake out, it was covered in powdered aspirin.

After Deborah had learned she was pregnant again, a message written on the mirror stated "Congratulations.  You are having twins."  A sonogram later confirmed the news.  She gave birth to twins Jeffrey and Jessica in 1990.  The family continued to seek someone who could bring about an end to the haunting.  During a trip to Arizona to consult a 'medicine man,' Bill Sr.'s behavior reached a new level of strangeness.

Suddenly I heard howling coming from the room next door.  Bill and I burst into the room to find Bill Sr. sitting on the edge of his bed howling like a wolf.  His head was tilted back and his eyes were closed.  It was unbelievable.  He was making sounds that I didn't believe capable of him.  I walked over to him with great trepidation and shook him gently.  He just looked at me blankly and laid down again.

Gary returned to stay with the family in June 1990 after asking if he could live with the Moffitts temporarily as he just couldn't tolerate living with his stepfather.  Deborah mentioned a new incident involving Gary that occurred a few days later: ". . . he opened his brand new leather briefcase to find it filled with water.  I'll never understand exactly how it didn't leak prior to him opening it, but when he did I would have laughed if I wasn't the one to have to clean up the mess."

Deborah also recounted anecdotes involving telephone calls.  After the flood from the staircase, there was a telephone call from a plumber who told Lee he'd be right over.  "The problem was that we hadn't called or told anyone about the spontaneous waterfall on our staircase.  Later we found a message on the mirror that said 'that was me on the phone.'"

 

Lee went to several doctor's appointments only to find that they had been canceled.  The strange part was that the ones they had made the appointments with swore that they received calls from the ones who arranged it to cancel.  One day we got a call from Betty out of the blue.  She told us that Gary was a fraud and we couldn't trust him.  When we got another call from her the next day, she seemed to have no memory of the conversation the day before.  When we brought her up to speed on the contents of the discussion, she firmly denied having called the day before.

Deborah reported that after Gary's return: "It was during this time that the entity started back up with his demands for a blood ritual.  He wrote on the mirror again that he wanted us to bring Henri back to the house to perform it."  

The entity explained that we knew Henri as David.  Henri was David's name in a past life from which the entity knew him.

'Light worker' Reverend David made a new visit to the family in mid-July and witnessed a succession of mirror writing messages.  The spear head that had materialized in April was mentioned in the messages.  In the book, Deborah also identified 'Marcel' as the name used for Gary.

The Entity wrote that he wanted  Henri to perform a blood ritual with the spear.  It had to be the spear that drew blood; no other implement would suffice.  He wrote that Gary's blood was to be used and Henri should pierce his heart to get it.  Now this was a novel change.  Never before had the entity demanded the life of any other but Lee.  I again told Mr. Entity a blood ritual was not going to happen. 

 

  

"he must pay for his betrayal / you don't know the real andre" 7-11-1990

The top of a message is legible in another photo: "andre once fucked madame du barry left handed whore . . ."
 
Another photo shows a wheel symbol above what is described in the book as "the entity's symbol" alongside the message "debbie can stop meta not me" with a caption questioning "Who was Meta?"

 

Other 1989 photos included in the book show some legible three word statements: "Bill is me"; and "We love Bill / you will see."

Deborah reported that days after Reverend David's visit, Gary accepted a job as estate caretaker on an island off the East Coast: "For the third time we wished Gary luck and told him to keep in touch."

A unique message left on the wallpaper next to the bathroom mirrors was written in blue crayon:

       Lee

         do not gaze longingly
         at the forest or the trees
         will destroy you     he will
         destroy you

                      a friend

              the holy
               trinity

Deborah commented: Was this really another presence in the house . . . we could only speculate . . ."  She spoke to "the new entity" in the bathroom as she had to 'Mr. Entity':

I politely asked the spirit to do everything to Bill Sr. that Mr. Entity had done to Lee; cut his clothes, destroy his personal items, and harass him.  To my delight it worked.

 

Deborah wrote: “For the first time Bill Sr. assisted in the search for help.”  When Lee suggested he seek psychiatric help so he could let go of the hostility he felt for her, he agreed and began seeing a therapist.

Lee asked her husband to move into one of the guest bedrooms yet he was allowed to return to the room where the rest of the family was sleeping after telling them the entity had tried to electrocute him — he said he woke up laying in a puddle of water while his electric blanket was turned on.
 
A new message in crayon on the wall was photographed on 6-21-1991:

Lee

     why hasten
     your demise
     he wants you
     dead
          . . . . a friend
     I must move on
     as you do not
     heed my words
     may God help
     you

When Bill Sr. told his therapist that the entity had tried to kill him, he was placed in a mental hospital for observation and released two weeks later.  When the family arrived to pick him up, the staff wanted Lee to commit herself so she also could be helped.  This was the last straw for Lee concerning her husband.  She told him he had to leave the house and he did.  "The only way she would even consider taking him back was if the entity left and he mended his ways."

A month later, it was noticeable that the haunting phenomena was less active with Deborah commenting: ". . . the tension that Bill Sr. brought with him wherever he went was gone."

While Bill Sr. would never be permitted to return, Lee allowed Gary to stay at the house again after he telephoned to say that he had been fired from his job.  Again Gary found his clothes being destroyed and his shoes hidden.

Deborah wrote in Chapter 26 that Mr. Entity had been in her life for over five years at this point.  She told the haunting presence that Bill Sr. was never coming back and now Mr. Entity had to go.  The mirror writing response was: "I do not want to go."

Gary resumed his search for someone who could help the Moffitts and he obtained the telephone number for "a woman named Nanette, who purportedly channeled a member of the Great White Brotherhood."  Deborah explained: "This is an organization of 'Ascended Masters,' which are powerful spirits who were once incarnate humans that guide and enlighten the masses through select vessels."

During Nanette's visit, the family and Gary watched as she went into a trance and channeled a 'Brother' who lived in the Far East centuries ago.

Apparently Lee was connected to an ancient evil from a past life.  It was her karma to deal with the entity now and there was no avoiding it.

Gary told the 'Ascended Master' that he could write a book about Nanette and received an affirmative response from the 'Brother.'  Deborah thought that Nanette had been involved with a "poorly acted" performance; however, Deborah seems to have little knowledge and experience with 'channeling' among other paranormal topics.  Within a few days, the family was waving at Gary as he left in Nanette's car yet only five days later Gary returned due to Nanette insisting upon him paying rent.

Deborah reported that "Gary decided to try a different approach to our problem."  He went to the mirror and proposed that the entity leave with him as Gary was now planning on making a new start in England.

Following mirror writing messages are shown in the book: "Gary is me / I am him / not stable enough / all empty vessel / I want to stay here"; and "I will not work with an inferior being / I will defeat him if I must."

 

"no integrity / no homage / no depth / no character / no substance / no word / I will stop him in his pursuit"

During the next few weeks as Gary made arrangements for relocating to England, there were no anomalous manifestations.  Then on the night before Gary's departure, there was a new mirror writing message: "I am ready to leave here when you are Marcel (the name the entity used for Gary).  We now go on with our life.  You are now mine, my servant."  After Gary left in an airport shuttle van, Deborah went to the mirror and saw written in large letters: "Good Bye my family."  

Aloud I said "Good Bye Mr. Entity."  That was the last time I ever spoke to him.  Of course we didn't actually believe he was gone.  After what we had been through over the past several years it was doubtful that he would leave just like that.

The message would be the last communication of 'Mr. Entity' chronicled by Deborah.  Bill Sr.'s passing occurred in 2007 and he had not been in contact for years.  The official cause of death is reported to be congestive heart failure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.  Lee made her transition in 2009 after returning home from a two week hospital stay for double pneumonia.  Deborah heard Lee say "mama" and speak in Tobresh shortly before Bill Jr. told Deborah that Lee had passed.  Deborah reported that Bill Jr. succumbed to his heart condition in 2012.

Gary lived for years in England and Deborah once heard that he was living in Spain.  "Shortly after he left he told me that he found the triangle with the tail carved into his apartment door, but after that he refused to talk about it and denied entirely that Mr. Entity was still with him."

 

 

Update: There are six additional articles in this series: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.