Michael Taylor (born 21 September 1944
) became notable in England in 1974 as a result of the Ossett murder case and his alleged
demonic possession
Spirit Possession is an altered state of consciousness and associated behaviors which are purportedly caused by the control of a human body and its functions by Supernatural#Spirit, spirits, ghosts, demons, angels, or Deity, gods. The concept ...
.
Exorcism
Taylor lived in
Ossett
Ossett is a market town in the Wakefield district, in the county of West Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is situated between Dewsbury, Horbury and Wakefield. At the 2021 census, the town had a po ...
, West Yorkshire, working as a butcher.
In 1974, Taylor's wife, Christine, stated to a Christian Fellowship Group to which Taylor belonged, that his relationship with the lay leader of the group, Marie Robinson, was "
carnal
In psychology, libido (; ) is psychic drive or energy, usually conceived of as sexual in nature, but sometimes conceived of as including other forms of desire. The term ''libido'' was originally developed by Sigmund Freud, the pioneering origin ...
" in nature.
Michael Taylor admitted that he felt evil within him and was encouraged by the group to work the issue out with Robinson. The two entered a bedroom alone where Taylor made a pass at Robinson and was rejected. Upon exiting the bedroom, Robinson related Taylor's behavior to the group, which included his wife, and Taylor eventually attacked Robinson verbally, who screamed back at him.
During the next meeting, Michael Taylor received an
absolution
Absolution is a theological term for the forgiveness imparted by ordained Priest#Christianity, Christian priests and experienced by Penance#Christianity, Christian penitents. It is a universal feature of the historic churches of Christendom, alth ...
, but nevertheless, his behaviour continued to become more erratic.
Robinson approached Taylor and his wife with an offer to perform an exorcism but was rebuffed. As a result, the local
vicar
A vicar (; Latin: '' vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English p ...
, Peter Vincent, known to be an expert in the art of
deliverance
''Deliverance'' is a 1972 American thriller film directed and produced by John Boorman from a screenplay by James Dickey, who adapted it from his own Deliverance (novel), 1970 novel. It follows four businessmen from Atlanta who venture into th ...
called in other experienced ministers in preparation to cast out the
demons
A demon is a malevolent supernatural entity. Historically, belief in demons, or stories about demons, occurs in folklore, mythology, religion, occultism, and literature; these beliefs are reflected in media including
fiction, comics, film, t ...
residing within the man.
The
exorcism
Exorcism () is the religious or spiritual practice of evicting demons, jinns, or other malevolent spiritual entities from a person, or an area, that is believed to be possessed. Depending on the spiritual beliefs of the exorcist, this may be do ...
, which occurred on 5–6 October 1974 at St. Thomas's Church in
Gawber
Gawber is an area of Barnsley in South Yorkshire, England. The area falls within the Darton West ward of the Barnsley MBC. There is a primary school, Gawber Primary School, a preschool, Gawber Pre-School, and a church, St Thomas.
The origin o ...
,
was headed by Vincent, the
Anglican
Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...
priest of St. Thomas's, and was aided by a
Methodist
Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...
clergyman, the Rev. Raymond Smith.
According to Bill Ellis, an authority on folklore and the occult in contemporary culture, the exorcists believed that they had: "In an all-night ceremony...invoked and cast out at least forty demons, including those of incest, bestiality, blasphemy, and lewdness. At the end, exhausted, they allowed Taylor to go home, although they felt that at least three demons—insanity, murder, and violence—were still left in him."
Murder
While at home, Taylor brutally murdered his wife, Christine. He attacked her with his bare hands, tearing her eyes and tongue out and almost tearing her face off,
[ then strangling their ]poodle
The Poodle, called the in German () and the in French, is a breed of water dog. The breed is divided into four varieties based on size, the Standard Poodle, Medium Poodle, Miniature Poodle and Toy Poodle, although the Medium Poodle is no ...
. He was found by a policeman, naked in the street, covered with blood.
At his trial in March, Taylor was acquitted
In common law jurisdictions, an acquittal means that the criminal prosecution has failed to prove that the accused is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of the charge presented. It certifies that the accused is free from the charge of an o ...
on the grounds of insanity
Insanity, madness, lunacy, and craziness are behaviors caused by certain abnormal mental or behavioral patterns. Insanity can manifest as violations of societal norms, including a person or persons becoming a danger to themselves or to other ...
. He was sent to Broadmoor Hospital
Broadmoor Hospital is a high-security psychiatric hospital in Crowthorne, Berkshire, England.
It is the oldest of England's three high-security psychiatric hospitals, the other two being Ashworth Hospital near Liverpool and Rampton Secure ...
for two years, then spent another two years in a secure ward in Bradford before being released.[ The bizarre nature of the case attracted significant publicity.]
In popular culture
Taylor's case makes a prominent appearance in David Peace
David Peace (born 1967) is an English writer. Best known for his UK-set novels Red Riding Quartet (1999–2002), '' GB84'' (2004), '' The Damned Utd'' (2006), and '' Red or Dead'' (2013), Peace was named one of the Best of Young British Nove ...
's novel ''Nineteen Seventy-Seven'', the second of Peace's ''Red Riding
''Red Riding'' is a British crime drama limited series written by Tony Grisoni and based on the book series of the same name by David Peace. The series comprises the novels ''Nineteen Seventy-Four'' (1999), ''Nineteen Seventy-Seven'' (2000), ...
Quartet.'' Taylor, renamed Michael Williams, is exorcised by Father Martin Laws, the series' main villain, and afterward kills his wife Carol by driving a nail into her skull. Jack Whitehead, one of the two protagonists, witnesses the exorcism of Williams and the murder of Carol Williams, his ex-wife, which as in real life takes place in Ossett.
Taylor's case is mentioned in the 2021 film '' The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It'', which is based on another case in which a killer claimed demonic possession, that of Arne Cheyenne Johnson
The trial of Arne Cheyenne Johnson, also known as the "devil made me do it" case, is the first known court case in the United States in which the defense sought to prove innocence based upon the claim of demonic possession and denial of persona ...
, who killed his landlord with a pocket knife in a fit of rage in 1981.
Taylor's case is the subject of Season 2 of the true crime podcas
The Devil Within
which examines the events leading up to and following Taylor joining the Gawber Christian Fellowship and meeting lay preacher Marie Robinson, the event which appears to have been the catalyst for what was to come.
See also
* Trial of Arne Cheyenne Johnson
The trial of Arne Cheyenne Johnson, also known as the "devil made me do it" case, is the first known court case in the United States in which the defense sought to prove innocence based upon the claim of demonic possession and denial of persona ...
* Anneliese Michel
Anna Elisabeth "Anneliese" Michel (21 September 1952 – 1 July 1976) was a Germans, German woman who underwent 67 Exorcism in the Catholic Church, Catholic exorcism rites during the year before her death. She died of malnutrition, for which her ...
* Clara Germana Cele
* David Berkowitz
David Richard Berkowitz (born Richard David Falco; June 1, 1953), also known as the Son of Sam and the .44 Caliber Killer, is an American serial killer and former U.S. Army soldier who committed a series of stabbings and shootings between 1 ...
* Exorcism of Roland Doe
In the late 1940s, in the United States, priests of the Catholic Church performed a series of exorcisms on an anonymous boy, documented under the pseudonym "Roland Doe" or "Robbie Mannheim". The 14-year-old boy was said to be a victim of demonic ...
* Johann Blumhardt
Johann Christoph Blumhardt (16 July 1805 in Stuttgart – 25 February 1880 in Boll) was a German Lutheran theologian, best known for his contribution in thought towards a kingdom-now or kingdom-come theology and his motto and centralization of ...
References
External links
''St. Petersburg Times'':
Exorcism approval rocks Anglicans
{{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Michael
1940s births
20th-century British murderers
English butchers
Exorcised people
British people acquitted of murder
People acquitted by reason of insanity
People from Ossett
Living people
Uxoricides
Year of birth missing (living people)
Demonic possession