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If you hear footsteps in the Hoosac Tunnel, RUN — Transcript

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0:00Today, I'm going to share two stories,
0:02and [music] in each of them,
0:04the story hinges on one really specific,
0:08very strange event
0:10that nobody in the story is really able
0:13to understand.
0:14And so I'm going to tell you these
0:15stories. I'm going to detail those
0:17events, and it will be up to you what
0:19you believe.
0:20But before we get into today's stories,
0:23if you're a fan of the Strange, Dark and
0:24Mysterious delivered in story format,
0:27then you've come to the right place
0:28because that's all we do, and we upload
0:30two, three, even four times [music]
0:31every week. So if that's of interest to
0:33you, right before the next big
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0:42Also, please subscribe to our channel
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0:48Okay, let's get into today's stories.
0:52[music]
1:06On the afternoon of March 20th, 1865,
1:10an explosives expert named Ringo Kelly
1:12held up his lantern as his two
1:14co-workers, Ned Brinkman and Billy Nash,
1:17drilled some holes in the wall at the
1:19end of this tunnel that was deep
1:20underground. So Ringo and Ned and Billy
1:23were part of an excavation team that was
1:25building the Hoosac Tunnel, which would
1:27eventually become a massive five-mile
1:30railroad tunnel that went straight
1:31through the Hoosac Mountain in
1:33northwestern Massachusetts. And so far,
1:36their team had already dug through and
1:37basically blasted away about two miles
1:40of this tunnel. And so now, Ringo and
1:42his two co-workers, they were basically
1:44at that two-mile endpoint deep in this
1:47mountain, and they were setting up some
1:48more explosives to continue to to burrow
1:51deeper into the mountain. Now, they did
1:53this every day, so even though obviously
1:55they're working with something really
1:56dangerous, explosives, the three of them
1:59were very casual as they doing this. I
2:01mean, as they're drilling their holes
2:02and getting ready to to blow up this
2:04section of the tunnel, they're just
2:05laughing and joking and making plans to
2:08get a drink after their shift was over.
2:10And so Ringo watched as Ned and Billy
2:12finished drilling these holes in the
2:13wall, and then they began placing these
2:15tubes of explosives into these holes
2:18that had just been drilled out. And each
2:20of these sticks of dynamite, they were
2:22connected with a lead, basically wiring
2:24that all fed into one sort of main trunk
2:27line or a main wire. And that went all
2:30the way back, way back up the tunnel in
2:32the direction of the mouth of the
2:34tunnel, but not all the way out of the
2:36tunnel that was, you know, 2 miles away,
2:38but pretty far back to where there was a
2:41detonator. And so the idea was when you
2:43press the detonator, you are far enough
2:45back from the actual explosive site that
2:48the blast radius, you know, won't affect
2:50you. And so it was actually Ringo's job
2:52to be the one overall in charge of the
2:55scene, and it was actually his job to
2:57literally press the detonator. And so
3:00once he saw that Billy and Ned were
3:02basically done placing the explosives
3:04and they were kind of like finishing
3:06tying them all off and he could
3:07basically see they were just about done,
3:09he told them that he was going to head
3:11back up the tunnel and go to the
3:13detonator and just sort of prep his
3:15station so that he would be ready to
3:17press the detonator
3:19once Ned and Billy came up there and
3:21joined him. And so the group separates.
3:24Ringo makes his way up. You know, Ned
3:25and Billy, they're they're talking about
3:27the weekend. They're they're finishing
3:28up.
3:29And Ringo, he goes all the way back way
3:31up the tunnel and he eventually reaches
3:33this detonator.
3:35And when he gets there, he had to, you
3:36know, finagle this trunk line and
3:38connect it to the detonator and just
3:39sort of make sure all the pieces were in
3:41the right place. And so he did that. And
3:43as he's, you know, getting himself ready
3:45here, he keeps looking back into the
3:47tunnel, deeper into the tunnel where his
3:49his colleagues are and he can hear them,
3:51but they haven't emerged yet. And so
3:53he's just kind of he's not anxious. He's
3:55just waiting and, you know, looking down
3:57the tunnel and he's, you know, finagling
3:59again with the detonator, making sure
4:00it's it's all good to go. know, it good.
4:04And at some point, just inadvertently,
4:06as he's sort of manipulating the
4:08detonator,
4:09he accidentally presses it. And a second
4:13later, before he can do anything, there
4:15is this massive eruption deep inside the
4:18tunnel as he's now set off the
4:20explosives, and Ned and Billy clearly
4:23are still down there. Like they are
4:25clearly in the blast radius. And he's
4:28like, oh my god, I've killed them. He
4:30doesn't even know what to do. Like this
4:31rush of smoke and dust and debris comes
4:34blazing up the tunnel. He's he's
4:35blocking himself as he's getting hit by
4:37all this debris. And then he stands up
4:40and he's he's thinking like, what do I
4:41even do? Like if they were down there
4:43near enough to the blast site, I mean,
4:45one, they're probably dead, but maybe
4:47they've just been been maimed or they've
4:49been wounded and now they're they're
4:50covered in rubble. Like I have to go
4:52down there and try to save them.
4:55But he's also thinking like this type of
4:56of potential rescue effort could be
4:58could be massive. [music]
5:00And he's like, I need to go get help.
5:02Like I can't possibly potentially remove
5:04the rubble to get to them if they really
5:06are okay. And so he's like,
5:08I have to go back up to the entrance and
5:11get help here.
5:12Because remember like blasts going off
5:14inside of this this tunnel were totally
5:16normal. And so anybody outside the
5:18tunnel would not assume there was an
5:20emergency in the tunnel just because
5:22there was an explosion.
5:24And so Ringo, he hopped on this cart
5:27that basically went up and down the
5:28tracks within the tunnel. It would get
5:30the the the miners basically in and out
5:32of the tunnel. And he began racing up
5:35the tracks. It's like a manual pump
5:37racing up the tracks with this cart all
5:39the way to the entrance to to get some
5:40help. And so he finally after, you know,
5:42this agonizing several minutes of,
5:44[music] you know, he's running through
5:45his head like what he's done. He can't
5:47believe it. He he still can't hear Ned
5:48and Billy. You know, it's silent in the
5:50tunnel.
5:51He finally gets to the entrance. He
5:53comes [music] outside and he sees other
5:55workers nearby. They're unfazed because
5:58again, they know like explosions they
6:00happen in this tunnel. That's normal.
6:02And he's waving. He 's yelling like,
6:03please, you got to help. Like
6:05Ned and Billy, they were in there. I I
6:07set off the explosive to early. They're
6:09they're trapped. You got to help me.
6:11And immediately people did jump into
6:12action. They [music]
6:13they rushed back into the tunnel
6:15alongside Ringo. You know, they they hop
6:17on the cart. They go blazing in. [music]
6:20And sure enough, they get down to that
6:21two-mile mark where the explosion that
6:24Ringo had inadvertently triggered too
6:26early. They they get there
6:28and [music] Ned and Billy are are are
6:30not there. I mean, Ned and Billy, if
6:31they're there, they're they're they're
6:33underneath the rubble.
6:34I mean, they were killed. [music] It was
6:35it was obvious they were dead. Like no
6:37one could have survived. And eventually
6:39after a pretty gargantuan effort by the
6:42other miners, they were able to to pull
6:44away the debris
6:46and they were able to confirm that
6:48Ned and Billy were in fact killed from
6:50this blast.
6:52Now Ringo, of course, just [music] felt
6:55awful about what had happened. I mean,
6:57you know, it was totally an accident
6:59that he had pressed on the detonator. I
7:01mean, it was almost like muscle memory
7:03in some ways because he had done this so
7:04many times before. It's like he just did
7:06this thing that he was so used to doing,
7:08but
7:09you know, obviously with catastrophic
7:11consequences.
7:12And so when his colleagues, [music] his
7:15friends to some degree were were pulled
7:17out of the tunnel,
7:19I mean, Ringo felt an enormous amount of
7:21guilt and he felt like [music] if
7:23anything his his co-workers, the other
7:25miners that were not involved in this,
7:27that were a part of the the rescue
7:28efforts,
7:29they would see what a terrible accident
7:32this was. And of course, you know,
7:34sympathize with with Ned and Billy and
7:36their families of course, but also
7:38sympathize with Ringo. Like this was a
7:40genuine accident. [music]
7:42But Ringo found shortly after the the
7:45bodies were removed from the tunnel
7:48that Ringo really didn't receive any
7:51sympathy.
7:52If anything, people, the other miners
7:54and people in [music] town
7:56began to suspect that
7:58this was no accident,
8:00that Ringo did not accidentally press
8:03the detonator.
8:05Ringo did that on purpose. [music] He
8:06murdered Ned and Billy.
8:08And this became like the story.
8:11And Ringo, I mean, again, he already
8:13felt so awful about what happened. You
8:15know, he certainly wasn't going to, you
8:17know, go on some tirade defending
8:18himself because he did ultimately kill
8:20them, not intentionally, but it was like
8:23this terrible situation for him. And so
8:25he quickly quit his job as a miner. And
8:28then even after that, he couldn't even
8:29stay in town because everywhere he went,
8:31he was persona non grata. He was like
8:34the killer. No one liked him. No one
8:35wanted to be around him. And so
8:37ultimately Ringo, he just left town. He
8:39just had to get away from this this
8:41[music] place that was full of so much
8:42trauma and and pain for him.
8:45And so he leaves town and he he tries to
8:47get jobs in other parts of of the area,
8:49but to no avail. And really it wasn't
8:52because of his reputation. It was
8:53actually just because Ringo himself was
8:55was so tortured by what had happened.
8:58It's like he couldn't think about
8:59anything else besides what happened to
9:01to, you know, his colleagues that he
9:03[music] killed.
9:04He wasn't thinking that he did it on
9:05purpose. Like he knew it was an
9:06accident, but he just felt like I ended
9:09people's lives. Like that's so awful.
9:10How can I do anything at this point
9:12[music] in my life? Like I'm a I'm a
9:13tainted person here.
9:15And so he's just like this tortured
9:17soul. He's he's living by himself, you
9:19know, he's he doesn't really have any
9:20friends. He's sort of just living this
9:22very isolated life.
9:24And before long, it winds up being a
9:26year since the actual unfortunate
9:29accident and he realizes like the the
9:31first anniversary of the deaths [music]
9:33of Ned and Billy is fast approaching.
9:36And Ringo, you know, he's he's moved out
9:39of town, but he's close enough that he
9:41he knows that tunnel is not far from
9:43where he is. [music] And he thinks to
9:44himself,
9:45you know,
9:46even though he'll never be able to take
9:47back what happened, he can't, you know,
9:49undo the fact that he caused, you know,
9:51these deaths,
9:52he thinks, you know what, I should I
9:54should on the anniversary to honor, you
9:56know, the these these two men that I I
9:58[music] killed.
10:00I should go back to the Hoosac tunnel. I
10:02should just go into the tunnel, go back
10:04to the the two mile mark
10:07inside of the tunnel where the actual
10:08explosion had happened. And also by this
10:10point, you know, they drilled much
10:11further into the tunnel, but go to the
10:14the two mile mark and sort of pay his
10:16respects. He's thinking, maybe if I do
10:18that,
10:19I can sort of move on and and not be
10:22tortured by this for the rest of [music]
10:23my life. Because for what it's worth, he
10:25had not gone back inside that tunnel
10:27since the day it happened. So this is
10:28like his chance to
10:30yeah, move on, basically.
10:32And so on the day
10:34uh of the anniversary, Ringo, he he's
10:36not going to go back to the tunnel in
10:38the middle of the day because workers
10:40are there still trying to drill this
10:42massive five mile tunnel through the
10:43mountain.
10:44So he waits until after midnight when he
10:47knows, you know, from having worked on
10:49this tunnel that no one's going to be
10:50there. You know, their equipment will be
10:52there and, you know, technically there
10:53could be some people that are supposed
10:55to oversee it, but
10:56realistically he knew, you know, nobody
10:58was going to be there.
11:00And so he goes, he makes his way back,
11:02he goes to the opening of this tunnel
11:04and, you know, no one's there. And he's
11:06like, okay, I'm going to I'm going to go
11:08inside this tunnel, I'm going to walk
11:10all the way to the
11:11the two mile mark, [music] I'm going to
11:12pay my respects, and I'm going to move
11:14on with my life.
11:16And so he's got his lantern and he's
11:17he's standing there like looking into
11:19this this dark tunnel late at night.
11:21[music] And once he's ready, he begins
11:24walking and he disappears into the
11:26tunnel.
11:27Several hours later, so early the next
11:30morning, if you will, basically at the
11:31start of the next work day,
11:33a worker who worked in the Husick
11:35tunnel, who basically was doing the same
11:37job that Ringo had been doing, you know,
11:39before the accident happened, [music]
11:41this worker shows up and the first thing
11:43he does is he gathers his crew, they hop
11:45on that cart that takes them down into
11:47the tunnel and they begin their commute
11:50deep into this tunnel. They [music] were
11:51at like the three mile mark at this
11:53point. That's where they needed to keep
11:54drilling from. But when they got near
11:56the two mile mark, right as they were
11:58getting close to that point, they have
11:59their, you know, lanterns up, there's
12:01some sparse lighting in the tunnel,
12:03they saw something laying on the ground
12:05in the middle of this tunnel that
12:06looked, you know, totally out of place.
12:09And so they slowed down their cart and
12:10they're trying to figure out what it is.
12:12And then as they walked over, they got
12:13up the cart and walked over and they
12:15looked more closely,
12:17they realized it was a person. And the
12:19person was dead.
12:20And so they're totally shocked by this.
12:22They're wondering like who is this?
12:23How'd they get down here? You know,
12:25we're the first ones in here. We were in
12:27here late last night. Like nobody was
12:28here. [music] And they they roll this
12:30person over. And they recognize him.
12:34It was Ringo. They they knew him from
12:36his reputation from when he had worked
12:38there a year earlier. I mean, this is
12:39sort of a notorious person in the mining
12:41community, but they're like
12:43how is he dead? Why is he here? What's
12:45going on?
12:47So after Ringo was discovered, obviously
12:49authorities were called. They came out
12:51and they investigated. And really
12:53quickly, they were just confounded at
12:56the details of of this case.
12:59Because, you know, it was true that no
13:00one really knew why Ringo was in the
13:03tunnel to begin with. I mean, obviously
13:04he had this history of the tragic
13:06accident a year earlier, but
13:08you know, it's been a year. He hasn't
13:10worked here. There's no reason for him
13:11to be here.
13:13But more than that, there wasn't a clear
13:15[music] explanation for even how he had
13:18died. I mean, he was just laying in the
13:20middle of this tunnel. He was not on the
13:22tracks of this cart. He was just laying
13:24in sort of the walking section of the
13:26tunnel. And there was no, you know,
13:29debris that could have fallen on him.
13:31There were no at least [music] visible
13:32marks on his body that suggested how he
13:34had died.
13:36He wasn't a particularly old guy. He
13:38didn't have any, you know,
13:40you know, health issues that anybody
13:41knew about. It was just like, oh, here's
13:43this guy who really shouldn't be here,
13:45who's randomly dead deep in this tunnel.
13:48It just
13:49it was odd. And so quickly, [music]
13:51his body was sent off to the medical
13:53examiner to to figure out what happened
13:55to him. [music] And the medical examiner
13:57did make a very significant discovery.
14:00They found that Ringo almost certainly
14:04had been murdered because they
14:05discovered he had [music] strangulation
14:07marks all around his neck. He had been
14:10asphyxiated. Somebody had very likely
14:12wrapped their hands around his neck and
14:14throttled him to death.
14:17But
14:18that information does not comport with
14:21what was actually found in the tunnel.
14:23So if somebody's throttling you, like
14:25you're going to be moving around, but it
14:27was as if he was just like placed there
14:28in the tunnel. Now obviously Ringo had
14:30this this bad reputation for having
14:33killed these these [music] two guys. And
14:35so, you know, of course there were
14:36people out there that likely wouldn't
14:38have been [music] that upset to find out
14:40that Ringo had died.
14:42But it had been a year since since the
14:44accident had happened. There really was
14:46no clear sign that he had any distinct
14:48enemies out there. Maybe a general
14:50negative sentiment towards him, but
14:52there really wasn't any one person or
14:55any group of people that really had it
14:57out for Ringo. At least that's what
14:58people said after he was found dead,
15:00that you know, he maybe wasn't loved,
15:02but he also wasn't hated to the point
15:04where somebody was going to come out
15:05here and and kill him.
15:07And more than that, it's again like why
15:09is he out in this tunnel, so deep in the
15:11tunnel? How is he found like this with
15:13with no sign of a struggle? Like the
15:15whole thing was just really weird.
15:17And so ultimately, despite a pretty
15:19extensive investigation,
15:21authorities were not able to determine
15:23who did this. Like there weren't really
15:25any clear suspects, and those that were
15:27identified were quickly ruled out.
15:29And so his murder just went unsolved.
15:31[music]
15:32And so what we're left with is either
15:35someone did expertly strangle Ringo so
15:40efficiently and effectively that they
15:42caught him off guard and you know,
15:44didn't leave any scuff marks and they
15:46somehow managed to either lure him into
15:48this tunnel 2 miles in and and killed
15:50him right there, or maybe they killed
15:51him elsewhere and they they placed him
15:53at the 2 mile mark likely to to sort of
15:56connect with [music] the fact that he
15:58had killed those two people at the 2
15:59mile marker. Like that's possible,
16:02unlikely considering how deep the
16:04investigation went and to figuring out
16:05who could have done this.
16:07Or as many people in the community began
16:10to suspect,
16:12maybe the ghosts of the two men who
16:15Ringo inadvertently killed, or maybe
16:17killed intentionally, we don't really
16:19know.
16:20Maybe they were waiting for him in the
16:21tunnel, and maybe they [music] strangled
16:24and killed him.
16:39Early one morning in January of 1939, a
16:43middle-aged woman named Caterina Veraldi
16:45was getting out of her bed at her home
16:47in the small town of Catanzaro, Italy,
16:49[music] when she heard a knock at the
16:50door.
16:51And she was a little confused by this
16:53because it was definitely too early for
16:54visitors.
16:56But still, she got dressed and she went
16:58to answer it anyways. And when she
17:00opened the door, she was very surprised
17:02to see a police officer standing there.
17:04And so Caterina, she looked at him
17:06clearly confused [music] why he was
17:08here, and he just said to her, Are you
17:10Caterina Veraldi? And she just nodded.
17:12[music]
17:13At which point the officer pulled out a
17:15letter that he had in his pocket, and he
17:17handed it to her.
17:18Caterina, she looked at it, and then she
17:20kind of looked at the officer, and he
17:22sort of nodded like you should open this
17:23right now. And so she just opened the
17:26letter up. She pulled out the letter,
17:28and immediately as she just saw the
17:31letter, I mean she felt her her knees go
17:33weak because she recognized the
17:34handwriting.
17:35All the letter said was, Dear Mother,
17:38[music] if you want to see me, I am
17:40still your poor son.
17:42And this really shook Caterina to her
17:44core because this for sure was her son
17:47Pepe's handwriting.
17:49But her son Pepe was dead.
17:523 years earlier, Pepe [music]
17:54he'd gotten really drunk after having
17:56this just awful breakup with his
17:57girlfriend. Pepe was 19 years old at the
18:00time, and he was just really struggling
18:02with this relationship. You know, he
18:04[music] felt like, you know, his life
18:05was ruined if you will. And you know,
18:08because he was drunk, he he leaped off
18:09the [music] bridge and he took his own
18:11life. And so Caterina, when she heard
18:13about this, I mean of course as a
18:15mother, she is just beyond devastated.
18:17[music] I mean even today, she still
18:19felt just as devastated in some ways as
18:21she did three years earlier. And then
18:22also making matters even worse somehow
18:25for Caterina
18:26was the fact that [music] Pepe was
18:28actually her last living child at the
18:30time.
18:31She had a daughter who also had
18:33tragically died before Pepe. And so Pepe
18:36is her only child. And to have him take
18:38his own life was just beyond devastating
18:41for her. [music] And so now to be seeing
18:43this letter and and to see his
18:45handwriting and and just the way the the
18:48wording was [music] raised is it was so
18:50Pepe. Like that was how he spoke.
18:53But, you know, Caterina she's she's
18:55looking at this letter and she's
18:56thinking
18:57this isn't possible. Like this must be
18:59like an old letter or something. And and
19:00why am I receiving it now? Like all
19:02these thoughts are going through her
19:03head because again her son is dead. Why
19:06am I getting this letter? Why is this
19:07officer giving this to me?
19:09But then as she's looking at this letter
19:11thinking it's got to be just really old
19:12and for whatever reason they're they're
19:14going to great length to give it to her
19:16or something, but she she's looking at
19:18the letter
19:19and it didn't [music] look old. The
19:20letter looked really new. The the ink on
19:23the page looked very fresh.
19:26And so [music] Caterina she just the
19:28first question she had to this officer
19:29was not like why are you giving this to
19:31me? It was
19:32is this a recent letter?
19:35And the police [music] officer he just
19:36nodded and he said yes, it's very
19:39recent.
19:41Less than an hour later, so around 7:00
19:43a.m. that morning,
19:44Caterina followed that same policeman up
19:46to the front door of a house that was in
19:48a nearby town. When they got to the
19:50door, Caterina just stood there not
19:52really even knowing what to expect.
19:54And the policeman looked at her, nodded,
19:56and then
19:57knocked on the door. And then a moment
19:58later, a man opened the door and quickly
20:01ushered Caterina and the officer inside.
20:03[music]
20:03And this man he introduced himself as
20:06Dr. Giovanni Scambia. And he quickly led
20:09Caterina down this short hallway and
20:12into a bedroom.
20:13And Caterina I mean she really is just
20:15so confused by this whole thing. She's
20:16just she's just going with the flow
20:18here. And you know, after a moment she's
20:20she's standing in this bedroom and she
20:23sees this girl, this teenage girl, that
20:26Caterina, she's she's never seen this
20:27girl before in her life, but this girl
20:30who's in this bedroom [music] as soon as
20:31she sees Caterina, the girl sprints over
20:34to her and gives Caterina this huge hug.
20:37And then in a voice that was like really
20:40deep relative to what you might expect
20:42of a teenage girl's voice, she's like,
20:45Mom, it's so good to see you. And
20:47Caterina at this point, she's so freaked
20:49out by all of this. I mean, this was all
20:51happening really quickly, and she still
20:53didn't even understand it. She just sort
20:55of stumbled backwards and just was
20:56completely shaken, like didn't even know
20:58how to react to this.
21:00So before Caterina and the police
21:03officer had arrived at this home, the
21:05police officer had explained a bit more
21:07to Caterina about sort of what was going
21:09on here.
21:10He told Caterina that this girl that she
21:13was going to go meet, this teenage girl,
21:15was named Maria Talarico, and she was
21:18the one who had actually written that
21:19letter that was supposedly from
21:21Caterina's dead son, Pepe. So Pepe had
21:24not written it,
21:25this teenage girl had. But this girl,
21:27Maria, was claiming that she was
21:30possessed by Pepe's ghost.
21:32And apparently she'd been acting so
21:34bizarrely that her family had hired Dr.
21:37Scambia to try to figure out what was
21:39happening to her, and one thing had led
21:41to another, and this letter had been
21:43given to the officer, and he [music] had
21:45found out about this weird situation,
21:47and now, you know, Caterina's getting
21:48involved. So no one really knew what was
21:51actually happening here, how legitimate
21:53this this was or was not, but but here
21:55they were. And so now in the bedroom,
21:57Dr. Scambia, he turned to Caterina and
21:59he just said, You know, I came here with
22:02the intent of of disproving that she was
22:05possessed by your son's ghost.
22:08But I have no medical explanation for
22:10her behavior.
22:12And she seems to know a lot of things
22:14about your son that
22:16she should not be able to know,
22:18which tells me
22:20maybe she's telling the truth.
22:22So Maria, the teenage girl, had never
22:25known Pepe when was alive. They have
22:27absolutely no connection whatsoever.
22:29But now somehow she was able to write in
22:32his exact handwriting. And she would
22:34even write the way she would organize
22:36words exactly the way Pepe used to
22:38speak. Like this this was channeling
22:41Pepe's essence really discreetly.
22:44And on top of that Maria also had been
22:46able to recognize people and and recall
22:48stories that
22:49really only Pepe would have known. Dr.
22:52Scombia had even brought some of Pepe's
22:54friends over to the house just to to
22:56show Maria as well as another police
22:58officer who had randomly encountered
23:00Pepe the night before he had died.
23:02And Maria unprompted had immediately
23:05recognized all of them. Knew who they
23:07were by name and what relationship they
23:10had to her, you know, as Pepe, as this
23:12this possessed [music] person. So like
23:14information that just was not possible
23:16for her to have she had. And Caterina, I
23:19mean she was just stunned beyond words
23:21at this point. [music] There was a part
23:23of her that was was horrified at what
23:25she was being told and and what she was
23:27seeing here in this girl who just kept
23:29looking at her really intently with
23:30these these big bright eyes, you know.
23:32She just staring at her like it's like
23:34they really are related here. Like she
23:36was horrified, but also there was a part
23:38of her, Caterina, that she just she
23:40wanted this to be true. She she
23:41desperately missed her son. And you
23:44know, the idea of, you know, in a weird
23:46indirect way of getting to interact with
23:48Pepe again through this this girl seemed
23:51sort of amazing.
23:52And so for the first time since arriving
23:54at this house
23:55Caterina, she went from just being
23:57completely shocked into inaction if you
24:00will
24:01to like taking a deep breath and just
24:03looking at Maria. Like looking at Maria
24:05closely and trying to see, you know, is
24:08is my son really in there?
24:10And so she looks at Maria and Maria
24:12again is like wide-eyed looking really
24:14expectantly back at Caterina.
24:16And there was this moment for Caterina
24:18where it's like wow I I feel like I can
24:21like sense my son here. It was like this
24:23really powerful thing.
24:25And as the two of them are having this
24:27this moment, this emotional moment in
24:28the room where everyone's just silent
24:30and they're staring at each other.
24:32At some point, Maria, the girl, she just
24:34she moves closer to Katerina
24:37and she says,
24:38I have to tell you a secret.
24:41Katerina, she's like, okay, like
24:44what?
24:45And this girl, Maria, in her her weirdly
24:47deep voice, she she put her her mouth up
24:50to Katerina's [music] ear and she
24:51whispered something in Katerina's ear.
24:54And when Katerina heard this, she just
24:56like recoiled. She went from having
24:58this, you know,
24:59wonderful moment to being like, what is
25:01going on here? Like who are you? What
25:04how could you say that to me?
25:06And for a minute, [music] there's like
25:07shocked silence again. And so before
25:10long, it's like Katerina's crying and
25:13and Maria's crying. The whole room is
25:14just filled with hysterics. And then a
25:16moment later, Maria's actual mother, her
25:19biological mother, she comes rushing
25:21into the room. She sort of sees this
25:23scene playing out. She doesn't really
25:25know anything about Katerina or really
25:28even know what to make of this whole
25:29situation. She just worried about her
25:30kid. She comes in and she grabs Maria
25:33and kind of shields her from Katerina as
25:35if it's Katerina's fault that any of
25:36this is happening. And she just says to
25:39Katerina like, you need to get out of
25:40here. Go.
25:42And Katerina, I mean, she's already so
25:44upset that she just turns
25:45and she leaves. And so Katerina, she
25:48gets back home and she really doesn't
25:50know what to make of what's just
25:51transpired here. I mean, talk about a a
25:54roller coaster of emotions here from
25:56receiving that letter to meeting the
25:57girl. I mean, the whole thing was just
25:59[music] chaos. You know, she has no idea
26:01what to make of it. But, you know, after
26:0324 hours or so, Katerina really began to
26:06fixate on the secret that Maria
26:08whispered in her ear.
26:10And she just she had to know,
26:12is it possible that what she whispered
26:14to me really is true? Because if it is
26:17true, it absolutely had an effect on her
26:20understanding of what happened to her
26:22son.
26:23And so Katerina, after about a day or
26:25so, was like, I need to go back and see
26:28this girl, Maria, and dig into this
26:30thing, and figure out like,
26:33is it possible that what you told me
26:34really is true?
26:36But unfortunately, Caterina would
26:38discover that by the time she went back,
26:40like a day or so later, to to talk to
26:43Maria again, that apparently Maria's
26:45possession was now over.
26:48And Maria was back to being regular old
26:50teenage girl Maria and apparently had no
26:52memory of even having been possessed by
26:55Pepe. [music] And more than that, even
26:57if, you know, Caterina had her own
26:59skepticism around whether or not she was
27:01ever possessed or what,
27:03Maria's mother
27:04really blamed Caterina for for a lot of
27:07the problems that that came from this
27:08possession. She sort of felt like
27:10Caterina was somehow to blame and when
27:12she walked in the room and saw the the
27:14crying happening, she really blamed
27:15Caterina.
27:17And so she wouldn't allow Caterina to
27:19even talk to Maria.
27:20So there's now like this wall being put
27:22up between Caterina and this girl and
27:24it's like she'll never get to the bottom
27:27of what she was told by Maria for for a
27:30multitude of reasons now. No more
27:32possession and mom will not let me see
27:33Maria.
27:35And so Caterina's like stuck.
27:37You know, she has no way of knowing if
27:38it's true or not and so for for for
27:40days, months, for years, Caterina would
27:43try to investigate and figure out if
27:46what she was told was true or not and
27:48she just she couldn't get to the bottom
27:50of it, no matter what she did.
27:52And so eventually years went by and you
27:56know, it never really left Caterina's
27:57mind, you know, what she had been told.
28:00But fast forward to 1951. So now it's
28:02been 10 years since Caterina received
28:05that letter and and met Maria for the
28:08first time.
28:09And Caterina on, you know, some morning
28:11in 1951,
28:13she goes out to her mailbox and she sees
28:16there's a letter and it's from
28:17Argentina.
28:18And she immediately is thinking it's
28:20kind of odd that she's receiving mail
28:22from Argentina. She she didn't know
28:24anybody in Argentina.
28:26This was definitely a personal note
28:27someone had written her.
28:29But she she opens it up
28:30and she reads the letter inside and she
28:33just cannot believe what it says.
28:36So when Caterina went to the home where
28:40Maria lived and met with Maria,
28:42at the time Maria was possessed, you
28:45know, possessed by
28:46Pepe's ghost. At least that that was
28:48what Maria was saying, that's what the
28:49doctor was saying. That was sort of the
28:51running theory is that she is currently
28:52possessed. And so as she's speaking, as
28:55Maria is speaking,
28:57theoretically it's sort of like Pepe is
28:59speaking. And so what Maria told
29:01Caterina or what, you know, Pepe's ghost
29:04told Caterina the secret was
29:07I didn't jump off the bridge. I was
29:10murdered by Luigi Marchetti.
29:12And when Caterina heard this, at first
29:14she was just horrified that somebody
29:16would even insinuate something so awful
29:19about her son. I mean, as it is, the
29:21whole situation was bad enough, but to
29:23suggest something so inflammatory, so so
29:25incredible, it's like it felt really
29:27disrespectful. [music] And so obviously
29:30Caterina's initial reaction to this is
29:32shock, it's it's to be upset.
29:35But over the coming hours, days, weeks,
29:38you know, even though she didn't have
29:39access, Caterina did not have access to
29:42Maria because of her mother and, you
29:43know, the the possession stopped.
29:45Caterina, she began to think about Luigi
29:48and began to remember details about sort
29:51of what happened after her son died that
29:53now seemed really suspicious.
29:55Most notably, that friend, uh, Luigi,
29:59right after Pepe died,
30:02Luigi fled the country.
30:05Like left his life. Didn't didn't tell
30:07anybody he was leaving, he just left.
30:09Left the country.
30:10And where did he move?
30:12Argentina.
30:14And so fast forward to 1951, so 10 years
30:17after Caterina has has met with Maria
30:20and she's been told this secret that,
30:21you know, her son was actually murdered
30:23by this this guy Luigi who's now in
30:25Argentina. She can't prove it. She's
30:27gone to the police. No one no one's
30:28buying this because it's coming from,
30:30you know, this possessed person. Like no
30:32one's buying that. She receives this
30:34letter from Argentina [music] and it's
30:36from Luigi. And this letter from Luigi
30:40is a confession.
30:41He had fled the country because he
30:43killed Pepe along with some other
30:45people. They had gotten drunk. They had
30:47basically beaten Pepe to death and then
30:49left his body under the bridge to make
30:51it look like they suicide.
30:53But he'd felt so guilty about it, he was
30:55now writing to Pepe's mother to say, you
30:57know what?
30:58I got to come clean. I did this.
31:01And so Caterina, she can't believe it. I
31:03mean, this is incredibly vindicating.
31:04It's also like, wait a minute. Does that
31:06mean Maria was actually possessed by my
31:09son? Like, this is also crazy. And so
31:11using this letter, the police tracked
31:12down Luigi in Argentina and they
31:14arrested him. And they also arrested
31:17another suspect who apparently was
31:18involved.
31:20In total, there had been four people
31:21according to Luigi, including himself,
31:23that that committed this murder. But by
31:25this point, two of them had died. So it
31:27was just Luigi and the one remaining
31:29suspect as well. They were both
31:31arrested, charged with murder, and found
31:33guilty.
31:34Maria claimed she was never possessed
31:36any other time except for that one
31:38instance where she spoke to Caterina and
31:40told her the secret.
31:41Following that, she lived a completely
31:43normal life and again had no memories of
31:46anything that happened when she was
31:47possessed. It was only other people who
31:49were able to recall what she said and
31:51what she did at the time. Dr. Giovanni
31:53Scambia, who oversaw the entire
31:56possession incident, would go on to
31:58publish a very detailed report on what
32:00he saw, what he experienced. [music] And
32:03that report was ultimately published in
32:05a prominent Italian journal in June of
32:071939. And in this report,
32:11it's basically unclear if what Maria
32:13experienced was psychological
32:16or perhaps paranormal.
32:24Thank you so much for watching. Let me
32:26know what you thought of today's episode
32:27in the comments. And remember, we have
32:29hundreds of videos for you to binge
32:31right now.
32:33But if you're looking for a
32:33recommendation from me of that one video
32:36that 's worth your time, well, it's this
32:38one right here. So give it a watch.
32:41All right, until next time, see you.

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