Michael W. Cuneo

A minister's bodyguard, Chris Coleman, desperate to leave his wife and family for his mistress despite working for a ministry that had a no-divorce policy, took matters into his own hands by brutally murdering his family--a case that still has unanswered questions about his role in the crime. Original. 75,000 first printing.

The True Story of a Minister's Bodyguard, His Beautiful Mistress, and a Brutal Triple Homicide

One Last Kiss

Presents the story of the slaying of a drug kingpin, his wife, and their grandson by Darrell Mease, an aspiring drug dealer who was sentenced to death for the crime, but who was saved from death row by the intervention of the pope.

An American Story of Murder and Redemption

Almost Midnight

Anthony J. Blasi

A Bibliography

Issues in the Sociology of Religion

A guided tour through the burgeoning business of exorcism and the darker side of American life. There is no other religious ritual more fascinating, or more disturbing, than exorcism. This is particularly true in America today, where the ancient rite has a surprisingly strong hold on our imagination, and on our popular entertainment industry. We’ve all heard of exorcism, seen the movies and read the books, but few of us have ever experienced it firsthand. Conducted by exorcists officially appointed by Catholic archdioceses and by maverick priests sidestepping Church sanctions, by evangelical ministers and Episcopal charismatics, exorcism is alive and well in the new millennium. Oprah, Diane Sawyer, and Barbara Walters have featured exorcists on their shows. The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Time, and other publications have charted the proliferation of exorcisms across the United States. Last year, the Archdiocese of Chicago appointed its first full-time exorcist in its 160-year history; in New York, four priests have officially investigated about forty cases of suspected possession every year since 1995. American Exorcism is an inside look at this burgeoning phenomenon, written with objectivity, insight, and just the right touch of irony. Michael W. Cuneo attended more than fifty exorcisms and interviewed many of the participants–both the exorcists who performed the rituals and the people from all walks of life who believed they were possessed by the devil. He brings vividly to life the ceremonies themselves, conjuring up memories of Linda Blair’s astonishing performance in the 1973 movie The Exorcist and other bizarre (and sometimes stomach-churning) images. Cuneo dissects, as well, the arguments of such well-known exorcism advocates as Malachi Martin, author of the controversial Hostage to the Devil, self-help guru M. Scott Peck, and self-professed demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren of Amityville Horror fame. As he explores this netherworld of American life, Cuneo reflects on the meaning of exorcism in the twenty-first century and on the relationship between religious ritual and popular culture. Touching on such provocative topics as the “satanic panics” of the 1980s, repressed memory, and ritual abuse, American Exorcism is a remarkably revealing, consistently entertaining work of cultural commentary.

Expelling Demons in the Land of Plenty

American Exorcism

Describes how sixteen-year-old Alec Kreider murdered his best friend, Kevin Haines, and Kevin's parents, Tom and Lisa, for no apparent reason, and showed no remorse for the brutal crime.

Confessions of a Teen Murderer

A Need to Kill

FROM ADULTERY... Ex-Marine and bodyguard Chris Coleman was a family man with a secret: He wanted to leave his wife for another woman, Tara Lintz. But as head of security for the world-famous Joyce Meyer Ministries—an evangelical organization that frowns on divorce—Coleman had to make other plans. TO MURDER... On May 5, 2009, Illinois police received a call from Coleman, who claimed he was unable to contact his family. When investigators arrived at his home, they found Coleman's wife and two sons strangled in bed. Across the walls, spray-painted in red, were various obscenities—the word punished among them. TO LIFE—OR DEATH. Who could have done something so sinister? As Coleman played the part of a grieving husband, forensic evidence at the crime scene told a different story. Key testimony from Lintz afforded yet more evidence of Coleman's guilt—and soon a jury would find him guilty of three counts of murder in the first degree.

Michael W. Cuneo

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