One of the most iconic horror movies of all time “The Exorcist” has returned to local theaters. The film, directed by William Friedkin and starring Ellen Burstyn, Jason Miller and Linda Blair, captivated viewers with a gloomy story, realistic scenes and full of visual impact.
The myth behind “The Exorcist” is not only due to its quota of horror that it gave to the genre, but also due to the events that happened around the production. From strange deaths to mysterious fires, this is left behind to know who is Paul Bateson, an extra who went from being an actor to a confessed murderer.
YOU CAN SEE: 35 years after “Marriage with children”: the letter that wanted to ruin her, but only increased her fame
Who is Paul Bateson?
In the plot, we see that after Regan’s strange attitudes, her mother takes her to the doctor to carry out a series of studies, which gives rise to one of the most commented scenes of “The Exorcist” and that was inspired by a actual operation that the director saw at New York University Hospital.
In this sequence, the teenager goes through several hard moments, such as when they come to make a small cut on her neck and more. With the realism of the scene, Regan runs into a radiology technician, a character played by Paul Bateson, who was later convicted of the murder of journalist Addison Verrill in 1979. Also, he is suspected of a series of crimes that took place within the gay community of Manhattan in the 70s.
YOU CAN SEE: “Bridgerton”: Will Eloise and Theo be a couple? Julia Quinn’s book anticipates her destiny
In real life, Bateson trained as a neurological radiological technician. In 1973, he moved to Brooklyn to work at New York University Medical Center. After participating in the film, Paul returned to his hospital duty, but his excessive alcohol consumption led to his dismissal in 1975.
Paul Bateson in “The Exorcist”
Bateson and the death of Addison Verrill
On September 14, 1977, the body of Addison Verrill, a reporter for Variety, was found in her Greenwich Village apartment. The authorities suspected that his death was due to a robbery, but noticing that valuable things were still in his house, this idea was discarded.
It was discovered that the night before Paul Bateson and Addison Verrill met in a gay bar, after hours of partying, both went to the journalist’s apartment. After spending the night together, Addison told him to go away, which provoked Paul’s fury. He hit him hard and killed him.
In the midst of the search for the killer, activist and journalist Arthur Bell, a friend of Verrill’s, wrote an article about the case in The Village Voice. He ended his article by giving the number of the NYPD so that a witness can provide information.
Eight days after the crime, someone called him claiming to be the murderer and he called the police. Detectives suspected the caller would do it again, but this time he identified himself as Paul Bateson and confessed to his crime.
He was initially sentenced to life in prison, but only served 24 years and 3 months of his sentence, becoming eligible for parole in 1997. The day after his 63rd birthday, in August 2003, he was released. He died on September 15, 2012.
Bateson in the Mindhunter series
At the beginning of the sixth episode of the second season of Mindhunter, the show’s FBI agents discuss several murders in Manhattan in the mid-1970s. That’s where Paul Bateson makes an appearance as a suspect.
#Exorcist #story #murderer #extra #acted #Linda #Blair