Roland Hunkeler, the boy whose experiences inspired The Exorcist went on to work for NASA.
But the supernatural occurrences didn't end after his exorcisms.
A friend of Roland's told reporters that a priest has mysteriously arrived shortly before Roland's death, just in time to perform Last Rites. Nobody has any idea how the priest knew that he was needed at that precise day and time.
The novel The Exorcist, and the film of the same name, were written by William Peter Blatty after one of his professors at Georgetown university, who was also a priest, told him about the case of a 13 year old boy who had been possessed and eventually exorcised.
The boy named "Roland Doe" (after his death it was revealed that his real name was Roland Hunkeler) was subjected to a host of physical and psychological tests after the family began to hear scratching in the house and the boy reported hearing footsteps and knocking in his bedroom at night. The family's minister even contacted the Parapsychology Laboratory at Duke University for help, reporting the boy's bed shaking whenever he was in it, and the floors of the house being scarred from the shifting of heavy furniture.
The family moved from Washington DC to Maryland and sought the help of a Jesuit priest, who performed more than 20 exorcisms on the boy in the space of 2 months.
The priest's rituals finally succeeded after they followed the travel plans the demon carved into the boy's torso and moved the fight to St. Louis.
The priest documented the supernatural events that he and those observing the exorcisms witnessed, including; furniture moving and shaking without being touched, the boy speaking Latin in the voice of an adult man, cuts and scratches appearing on the boy's body without cause, and religious icons moving away from him when placed close for protection.
Guest star James Remar also starred in Dexter (2006), a show about a serial killer who kills other murderers.
James Remar and Roxanne Hart, who play husband and wife, appeared in Walker, Texas Ranger (1993-2001) which also aired on CBS. Remar guest starred in the episode Walker, Texas Ranger: The Principal (1999) and Hart appeared in the episode Walker, Texas Ranger: Mind Games (1999), but their appearances were a few episodes apart. Both of their characters were criminals who committed murder.