The Exorcist And The Mother Who Murdered Her Daughter
Warner Bros.Ellen Burstyn’s character in The Exorcist (1973), witnessing her daughter’s demonic possession.
From horror movie fans to professional film critics alike, William Friedkin’s The Exorcist (1973) is frequently deemed the scariest movie of all time. While the terrifying story of a little girl possessed by a demon named Pazuzu was filmed with realism in mind, it was never meant to be taken as fact. But in February 1980, it tragically was.
In a testament to the film’s chilling impact, Patricia Ann Frazier hadn’t even seen the explicit version when it led her to kill. Catching the edited broadcast on CBS on Feb. 12, 1980, the 34-year-old Wichita Falls, Texas woman spent the next 10 days in sheer terror. Believing her daughter was possessed, she cut out her heart.
Local jurors were left at an utter loss and failed to reach a verdict in Frazier’s initial trial that November. Her attorneys had argued that she truly believed her 4-year-old daughter was possessed by demons. Shown The Exorcist themselves at a subsequent retrial in June 1981, jurors found themselves increasingly believing her.
Texas Department of HealthKhunji Frazier’s death certificate, with “evisceration of heart” listed as her cause of death.
“I can’t think of a more appropriate situation than this for an insanity defense,” said Rusty Duncan, Frazier’s attorney. “She was crazy as hell when she committed the offense.”
Wichita Falls District Attorney Tim Eyssen claimed Frazier had pulled the wool over everyone’s eyes, alleging that Frazier had a history of beating her child and was so desperate to be free of the responsibilities of motherhood that she sliced her own daughter open. Jurors weren’t convinced, however.
Ultimately, the legal proceedings lasted for more than a year. Jurors debated the merits of a defense rooted in insanity and the volatile impact of a film while weighing the prosecution’s stern reminder that Frazier was a conscious killer. Frazier was found innocent by reason of insanity — and placed in the care of her mother, rather than a mental institution.
