A Biting Demonic Duo
by Bobette Bryan, 2024
“And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.”
–Rev. 12:9
Renowned Pastor Lester Sumrall had traveled the world on a mission to spread the word of God and heighten faith. In May 1953, he was in Manila, a city of millions, building a church and was so involved in the project that he’d missed recent headlines about about 17-year-old Clarita Villanueva who was beset by demons.
The young lady had been incarcerated in the 300-year-old Bilibid prison, telling officials, in between attacks, that two demons shrouded in black repeatedly bit and choked her. She described one as big, and dark with curly hair, large eyes, and sharp fangs. The other entity was small, no more than three feet tall, but it had the same characteristics as the big one, including a deep, echoing voice. Together, she referred to them as “The Thing.”
No one knew what to do or how to help her. Scientists and doctors who visited her were baffled.
One night, as he was about to go to bed, Sumrall caught snippets about the case on a radio show. Intrigued, he reached over to his bedside table and turned up the volume, and then he and his wife settled in to listen to the chilling account. Live audio of the happenings filled the room with horror. Piercing screams blared from the speaker as the young lady was repeatedly bit by an unseen assailant.
Someone in the audio said, “Look, the marks of teeth appear!”
Another said, “The girl is being choked by some unseen thing. She’s blue in the face, and there are marks on her neck.”
These statements were followed by more screams of pain and terror.
A physician’s monotone voice crackled through the speaker, attributing the girl’s attack to “Epilepsy” or “extreme hysteria.”
Sumrall knew immediately that the attacks were neither and had no medical origin. Rather, it was a spiritual issue. He turned to his wife Louise and said, “That girl is demon possessed.”
A knowing look on her face, Louise patted his hand. She recognized the familiar determination in his eyes and knew he would heed the call.
She watched as he arose, paced the floor, and prayed for the girl, begging God to cast out whatever was in her. She gave him space.
He never got a wink of sleep that night. He prayed until dawn sparkled through the windows. He claimed that God “Spoke to his heart,” telling him that if he went to the jail and prayed for Clarita that she would receive deliverance.
As much as he wanted to help Clarita and do what God asked, he didn’t want to go due to the adverse publicity others had received from their involvement in the case. In addition, Bilibid Prison, with its bloody history and countless atrocities, was an uninviting place to pray for one’s liberation.
But God spoke to him again, saying, “If you will go and pray for her, I will deliver her.”
Finally, Sumrall decided to go, however, gaining access to the prison to pray for Clarita may not be easy. He’d have to go through several officials if he hoped to get within a foot of her.
On the way to town, he stopped at a friend’s home, Leopoldo Coronel, who was also a friend of Mayor Arsenio Lacson. Coronel arranged a meeting with the “tough guy” mayor. Through Lacson, Sumrall was given permission to pray for Clarita at the prison, but there was a condition. He must also obtain permission from Dr. Mariano Lara, the chief medical adviser of the police department.
Another friend arranged an interview with the physician.
When Sumrall finally met the physician, Dr. Lara told him that before the case he’d never believed or accepted the theory of a “non-material force existing in the universe,” but this case had changed his view on such things.
At his medical office in the prison, Lara recounted his knowledge of the case. He said he’d noticed the human-like bite impressions on Clarita’s arms, and at first he, and another physician, thought the wounds were self-inflicted. The following day, however, during an examination in his office before a class of interns and Mayor Lacson, the doctor changed his mind. The unconscious Clarita was carried in, seemingly in a trance. When she awoke, she screamed in pain, and he saw bites appear on her left hand. The teeth marks were moist as if from saliva and were from a well-defined upper and lower jaw and appeared to be molars. The bites weren’t elliptical like human bites, however, and were more round and large.
Wide-eyed, he’d gazed at the girl with disbelief as she continued to scream in pain. He noted that her body had stiffened, and her face and legs turned blue as if she was being choked by invisible hands.
All of this continued for several minutes before she went into a trance, and her body became soft again. Gradually, she regained consciousness and was her normal self.
He said she sat in a chair and answered questions. Clearly, sane and intelligent, she told him her story.
She was born in Bacolod City in the province of Negros Occidental. When she was 12-years-old, her mother, a spiritist, fortune teller, and scammer died, forcing Clarita into a life of prostitution. Though she had brothers, none of them cared about her and were “unkind.” She went to Manila in search of a father whose identity is unknown—perhaps even to her. Her travels only brought her more hardship and disappointment. She claimed she’d worked as a maid before eloping with her lover, but it’s more likely that she continued to work as a prostitute and denied it out of shame.
After learning her partner was married, she broke off the relationship and took up dancing in clubs. She never told Sumrall this, and it’s unknown if he knew it, but on her way home one night, she mistakenly offered sexual services to an undercover police officer who took her to jail on charges of vagrancy and prostitution.
A few days after she was imprisoned, the demonic nightmare began. The young girl claimed she began seeing strange creatures who would bite her several times in different areas of her body. During the attacks, she’d scream and lose consciousness. The attacks sent chills to those who witnessed how desperately the girl struggled with what others dubbed the “invisible vampire.”
She again described the demons who were terrifying her as “big, black, hairy, and human-like males with sharp eyes, sharp canine teeth, and beards. They wore black garments with small, white hoods. Their feet were large, three times the size of normal feet. These two beings took turns assaulting her.
Dr. Lara ended his summary by confessing his fear from these events, which he believed defied scientific explanation. He gave Sumrall permission to pray for Clarita.
On Sumrall’s first visit to the prison, he and Coronel met Dr. Lara and a professor from the Far Eastern University and headed to a small chapel in the women’s cellblock. Police, journalists, photographers and other spectators, including prisoners, gathered to witness the happenings.
Sumrall thought the throng of spectators would bring trouble, but they were sympathetic, having seen the vicious attacks on Clarita and knowing that the scientists and doctors were unable to help her.
The small chapel was barren. A single window was covered with steel bars, a primitive Catholic altar dominated the room, and a couple of crude chairs were arranged before it.
Dr. Lara asked the guards to bring Clarita in, and a moment later they delivered her to the chapel.
Eyes huge with apprehension, she studied everyone as she shuffled into the room, and then approached Sumrall. Glaring, she said, “I don’t like you!”
He could sense the demons in her dark eyes, and he knew it had been the demons who spoke to him.
More curses were hurled at him and God, Clarita’s facial features distorted and hateful.
Seemingly unaffected, he had her sit on a bench, and he drew up a chair in front of her.
“I have come to deliver you from the power of these devils in the name of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.”
Clarita flew into a rage, screaming, eyes wild. “No, they will kill me.”
Her body became rigid, and she went into what appeared to be a trance. Sumrall put his hands on her head and, in a commanding voice, said, “Come out, you evil spirits of hell. Come out of her in Jesus name!”
The exorcism continued for several minutes with Sumrall ordering the spirits to leave her. Clarita came out of the trance, raging and thundering again, tears overflowing her cheeks. New bites instantly appeared on her arms and neck, which were so severe that they had broken blood vessels beneath her flesh.
Soaked with perspiration and exhausted, Sumrall continued his attack on the demons, ordering them repeatedly, between prayers, to get out. In turn, the demons cursed him and God in vile language, claiming they’d never leave.
No less determined to send them back to hell, Sumrall continued to rebuke the demons, and finally, an hour later, a sense of peace filled the packed chamber.
Though Clarita seemed to be relieved, and some thought she was delivered, Sumrall knew she wasn’t. He would have to deal with the demons again. For now though, he decided to quit for the day. After he recited the Lord’s Prayer, he headed home to pray, fast, and prepare himself for his next round with the Devil’s minions.
He spent the day in “communion” with God and felt God gave him strength. He said he, “felt God’s presence who urged him not to be afraid.”
In the morning, Reverend Ahlberg and Reverend McAlister accompanied him to the prison. Sumrall learned that Clarita had not been attacked since his last visit, but he knew the evil entities hadn’t left the girl. And as soon as Clarita saw him, through her lips, they cursed him and shouted, “Go away!”
But Sumrall had no intention of going anywhere. He took a seat on the chair again and rebuked them. “You’re going away. The girl will be delivered today!”
He asked the spectators to kneel, and as they did, he began to pray for Clarita’s deliverance.
As expected the demons cursed and refused to leave their victim, but they were weaker on this day, and Sumrall’s additional fasting and prayer had given him more power to deal with them. He kept at it, and finally felt a release.
Clarita relaxed and sucked in a breath. Even smiled. Sumrall could no longer see the demons in her eyes. As Sumrall recited the Lord’s Prayer, everyone in the room, including the police, reporters, doctors, and criminals were weeping.
He and his fellow ministers prayed, and then began to sing, “Oh, the Blood of Jesus.”
Afterward, Sumrall asked Clarita if the demons were gone, and she said, “Yes.”
“Where did they go?”
She pointed to the window. “They went out that window.”
Sumrall was about to leave when Clarita’s high-pitched scream pierced the air, and her eyes became black and venomous again. The demons had returned, wanting to hold on to their victim.
Sumrall said, “Why have you returned?”
They said, “She’s unclean. We have the right to remain in her.”
Sumrall reminded them of Mary Magdalene’s sin and how seven demons possessed her until Jesus came into her life and freed her. “Likewise,” he said, “Jesus will make Clarita clean.” He commanded the demons to depart in Jesus name.
Weakened and lacking the power to wage a fight, the demons departed again. Immediately, Sumrall had Clarita prayed for the forgiveness of her sins, thereby making her spiritually “clean.”
He was about to depart again when the demons overtook Clarita. When Sumrall asked why they had returned this time, they said, “She hasn’t asked us to go. She wants us to stay.”
Again Sumrall demanded that they leave and told them not to return. He explained to Clarita that she must also ask the demons to go, praying and pleading the blood of Jesus against them.
Clarita, weak from the ordeal, did what he said, and the demons departed. Sumrall told her that he was sure they’d come again, and when they did, she must command them to leave, ordering them to, “Go in Jesus name.” He promised her that they would obey.
With that, he told the prison officials to let her rest, and then to get her some food. Then he left the prison. Hoping to escape the publicity and wanting all of the glory and praise for the miracle of deliverance to go to “God and the Lord Jesus Christ,” he gave the press no interviews afterward.
Later, just as Sumrall had warned, the demons returned. Dr. Lara was there to witness it. As Sumrall had instructed, Clarita demanded that the demons leave and an awful struggle ensued with her lapsing into a coma, fists clenched, and then her body relaxed. When the attack was seemingly over, Dr. Lara pried open Clarita’s hands to find strands of long, black, coarse hair. His eyes narrowed with disbelief as he gazed at the strands. An invisible being had lost hair to a visible being who’d ripped it out.
He put the hair in an envelope, wanting to study it under a microscope. When he did, he found that the hair was not human. Then what was it? He had no answer.
News of this oddity made the headlines on May 28th, proclaiming that “The Thing” was dead. Of course, the sensational headline wasn’t true as demons are immortal, but at least Clarita was finally free of them.
And now that she was well, she had to go before the court on the charges of vagrancy and prostitution, which she’d been imprisoned for. She pleaded for mercy before Judge Natividad Almeda-Lopez, telling him about her deliverance, vowing Reverend Sumrall had purged her of the demons, and they’d not returned. The sympathetic judge placed her in Welfareville, an institution for wayward girls for observation.
Sumrall and Dr. Lara went to visit her twice, and she was overjoyed at seeing them. Both men felt that she was no longer the girl who had been tormented by unseen entities in Bilibid. Her face and eyes were now normal, and she was kind and welcoming. They were pleased that she was free from the evil that had plagued her. She talked to them at length, revealing that she was a perfectly normal young lady who had recovered fully from a living nightmare.
Soon Clarita was paroled and placed in the home of a Christian family, but she was hounded by curiosity seekers who wished to see her, and so she moved to the north of Luzon later, settling into a small town.
Her case has become one of the most legitimate demonic possession cases in recorded history with numerous witnesses and documentation.
Reverend Lester Sumrall continued his travels, spreading the gospel to more than 100 countries, and thousands of cities, building churches and spreading God’s word to raise hope and encourage faith. He passed away in 1996 at the age of 83.
I came upon an online article that claims Clarita, or rather the demons within her, killed two men while she was possessed. I didn’t include it in my account as the source was questionable. Supposedly after a doctor examined her at the prison, she said, “You will die,” and a few days later, the doctor did die. Not long afterward, the prison chief was unkind of Clarita, finding the whole matter, including the onslaught of publicity, exhausting. During a struggle with Clarita, more like brutality, the man kicked her. Again she said, “You will die,” and the prison chief died a few days later. These events supposedly instilled great fear in everyone at the prison.
