I CORINTHIANS 5:5
by
Jacob O. Berry
INT. THE PITS OF HELL
SUPER: What you are about to see is one of the more
unusual stories told. If you have no
prior belief in the supernatural, this may be dull – the use of satanic power to
cause an individual to self-destruct.
This concerns a psychotic minister and a dumb parishioner, which occurred
in a rural area of the Northern Plains during the Farm Crisis (1980-85).
This will be told, not so much through “action”, but through
“documentation”. That is, the
documentation of a fantasy through narration, a court deposition, legal
arguments, letters and taped phone conversations concerning maleficia (occult
activity) within the Pentecostal Movement.
They chose the darker path.
Not one thing has been altered – original, exact documentation has been used.
The Movement does not label it “maleficia”, but, the “operation of
spiritual forces invoked”, and, the “actions of Satan as applied”.
They label it a “Job trial”.
The Movement has taken full credit, but has little remorse.
You, the audience, are the jury.
Is the minister innocent, or guilty, of the invocation of a destructive
demonic force.
EXT. STREET NEAR COLLEGE – DAY
JACOB BERRY, 150 lbs., ranch
hand build, in his mid-forties, wearing small, black-rimmed glasses, sits in
driver’s seat of l977 Ford Thunderbird on a fall afternoon, speaking into a hand
held VOICE-RECORDER. He wears blue
jeans, plaid shirt, baseball cap.
SUPER: A street near
(little nervous)
This is a story that deals with myself, Jacob O. Berry, and a pastor of an
Assembly of God church in Newell, South Dakota -– Morris Conklin.
This deals with an act that took place May l of l983.
This story is about the problem of “cursing people” and the inability or
lack of desire of the church, in this case Assembly of God to...
INSERT - DEMONS
Shadowy demons FAINTLY HOWL in the background.
...that is cursing people as being grounds, if the pastor does this for, as
misconduct, for dismissal, for discipline, and this type of thing.
And, in this particular case, and this will be unfolding, there was
nothing, absolutely nothing done by the leadership of this denomination.
This deals with an act that was committed, like I say, May l of l983.
CUT TO:
EXT. NEWELL – DAY
Small, typical PRAIRIE COMMUNITY of the Northern Plains -– with three gas
stations, one market, one bank, one bar, four churches, etc.
SUPER:
The story begins in September of 1979, and I moved to
EXT. NORTHEAST OF NEWELL – DAY
l20 acre FARM, one mile east and two miles north of Newell, with old woven wire
exterior and cross fences, 60 acres of dead sunflowers, two cisterns on south
part of property, and three trees.
House and outbuildings are gone.
AERIAL SHOT, in small plane, from Newell to farmstead, zeroes in on property and
surveys it.
...and bought 120 acres of bare land...
EXT. SPEARFISH – DAY
On a lot, on house beams, sits GUESTHOUSE of old mansion -- an 1879 vintage, l6’
x 32’, one-and-a-half story house.
The mansion has been moved.
SUPER: Spearfish,
...and began to fix it up -– bought an old 1879 farmhouse, moved it over there,
put it on the property...
MONTAGE – 1879 FARMHOUSE
-- House-moving truck hauls old house down Hwy. 212
between
-- Three miles northeast of Newell, house is lowered
onto foundation, near old
cistern, on 120 acre
farmstead while
watches.
-- In small living room,
legged on the floor in front
of a fire in a barrel
wood stove (i.e. stove made
out of a barrel). Door
of stove is open.
-- Twenty feet from house is a large pile of chopped
wood from old buildings, an
old beat-up wagon full of
firewood, and two piles of
uncut boards.
some boards that he has
placed on sawhorses, using a
chainsaw.
-- It is winter and upstairs in bedroom, with an old bed
and dresser,
-- Still winter and
red outhouse (northwest of
house ten yards), as wind
roars and snow blows into
outhouse through cracks.
-- It is spring and
ranch red with white trim.
EXT.
In the spring,
...and began to put various small improvements on there -– a small barn and etc.
over a five year period of time.
MONTAGE - LIFE ON THE FARM
-- It is spring and
old drill and 1952 Farmall
“C” tractor. He drives,
looking ahead and over his
shoulder, watching drill.
-- It is summer and
railroad ties for posts,
nails cross-piece boards on
railroad ties, then nails
wood slabs, from local
sawmill, onto cross-piece
boards.
-- More summer. Near chicken house a
dozen
Red chickens run around.
grain, scattering it to
chickens.
-- Next spring and barn is finished.
piece of tin on roof of 1½
story barn.
-- Same spring and
-- It is summer and
Cow is tied with rope around
neck to one of four center
posts supporting barn’s
ceiling. Leg chain hooks
around cow’s legs and Berry
sits on a milk stool. Then
he takes pail of milk and
pours it into small metal
half-barrel, (i.e. cut in
half), for half dozen Red
Duroc feeder pigs.
-- More summer.
hold cattle.
Same procedure as previous corral
construction.
-- It is fall and
pigs and one for cattle.
-- Next spring and
(railroad tie and two steel
post for posts –- four
strands of barbwire for
wire).
-- It is summer and
railroad tie posts which
stand in curved formation);
nailing sawmill slabs onto
cross-piece boards as two
half-draft, half-Quarter
horses and two Quarter
horses watch.
-- It is fall and
for two cattle feed lots (one
west of corrals and one
south of corrals).
CUT TO:
INT. DEPOSITION ROOM – DAY
SUPER: Deposition Room (United States District Court,
HELMERS
First of all, I guess I’ll just state for you, Jacob, you’re here representing
yourself in this lawsuit; is that correct?
You don’t have an attorney at this time?
Basically before the trial I probably won’t have an attorney.
At the trial there will be an attorney representing me.
HELMERS
And maybe we just better first have you state your full name and address for the
record.
My name is Jacob O. Berry. Address:
HC 81,
HELMERS
And you’re willing to go ahead with this deposition today?
That’s correct.
EXT. STREET NEAR COLLEGE – DAY
(dryly)
I was attending this church...
CUT TO:
EXT. ASSEMBLY OF GOD – MORNING
The CHURCH is a white, 1960s style building -– a classic, small town church
edifice capable of holding 150 parishioners.
Rectangular sign, on legs, on lawn says “Assembly of God” and “Services:
Sunday morning ll:00 A.M., Sunday night
SUPER: Assembly of God - October 1979
...pastored by this Reverend Morris Conklin...
INT. ASSEMBLY OF GOD - DAY
Inside the church PARISHIONERS sit in pews while MORRIS CONKLIN, a man in his
mid-‘30s with black moustache, black hair parted in the middle and DEAD EYES,
good looking with an unathletic body, tries to preach a sermon in an anemic
voice. He walks somewhat slow, not
really in a rush to do much of anything.
He has a few problems –- asking the congregation for scripture
references; browbeating; accusing a needy parishioner of being demon-possessed;
justifying divorce; saying “judgment for his sin” concerning the death of a
teenage parishioner in a freak vehicle wreck.
ANGLE ON the eyes. The
parishioners are solid, farm/ranch types.
Conklin came from
...in Newell three miles away.
INT. DEPOSITION ROOM – DAY
Helmers Deposition.
HELMERS
And if you can, just tell me, what are the sorts of problems that you had with
Conklin before May 1983?
When I first came to the church, I had been there a couple weeks, Conklin asked
me to come over to his house for supper.
Normally a pastor would say, “Would you like to come over for supper.”
Conklin said, and I quote, “We’re going to have you over.”
And the tone of voice was like you really don’t have a choice, you will
come over and have supper at my house.
INT. PARSONAGE BASEMENT - NIGHT
Various items stored. In a corner
are a half dozen BEE HIVES.
The other thing that concerned me, he kept some bees at his house...
LATER THAT NIGHT
Conklin shows
...and afterwards we went in the basement and he showed me his beekeeping and he
kept referring to it as his craft...
INT. DEPOSITION ROOM – DAY
Helmers Deposition.
...and it struck me as being odd at the time.
He said, “This is my craft, this is my craft” over and over again.
LATER IN
HELMERS
(repetitive)
Jacob, I guess to go back, prior to May of 1983 you had had some difficulties in
your relationship with the pastor, Morris Conklin, correct?
(matter-of-factly)
Subtle homosexual harassment coupled with emotional abuse.
HELMERS
When you use the phrase subtle homosexual harassment, what specific actions do
you speak of?
INT. ASSEMBLY OF GOD – DAY
After the Sunday morning service, parishioners mill about.
Conklin proceeds to shake
Example, Morris loved to touch me.
He would come up to me after the services to talk, get nice and close.
When he would shake my hand after the service, this didn’t happen all the
time, but then he had a very, at least I thought, soft hand and when he shook my
hand, he would kind of -– instead of shaking my hand in a normal fashion, he
would kind of rub his hand on mine while he shook it while he was standing just
too close for a normal person. In
other words, a normal person, when you talk to somebody or when you shake
someone’s hand, you keep some distance, a certain amount of distance.
It’s a normal courtesy. He
would get way too close while he would do this.
HELMERS
(questioning)
Did he touch you in any other physically offensive way than that?
(flatly)
Yes.
HELMERS
How is that?
If things were so bad, why didn’t Berry “wise up”?
Perhaps the “Stockholm syndrome” explains part of it.
“In psychology, Stockholm syndrome is a term used to describe a real
paradoxical psychological phenomenon wherein ‘hostages’ express empathy and have
positive feelings towards their ‘captors’ (Wikipedia).”
“Time and again during the eighteen harrowing years she allegedly spent
in captivity, Jaycee Dugard must have had the chance to cry for help.
She assisted her alleged abductor, Philip Garridio, with his home
business, sorting out orders by phone or e-mail.
She occasionally greeted customers alone at the door.
She even went out in public.
But she apparently never made a run for it, returning each day instead to a shed
in the backyard of the man who allegedly kidnapped and raped her (Stockholm
Syndrome, Time Magazine,
INT. ASSEMBLY OF GOD – NIGHT
SUPER: Fall 1979
We had a foot washing service and it was males in one room, females in another
room. He chose to wash my foot over
other people’s feet, and when he washed the foot, he really didn’t wash the
foot, he basically fondled the foot with that soft hand, at least that’s what I
felt.
Conklin worked, in his job as minister, approximately twenty-five hours per
week. He worked no other job to
support himself as pastor of this small town church.
He had plenty of time for mischief.
EXT. FARMHOUSE - DAY
At front door of house, Conklin hands
SUPER: Six months later
Morris would give me small gifts of food, canned goods, packages and cereal...
He wanted gay sex.
INT. ASSEMBLY OF GOD – DAY
After service, as parishioners mill around, talking and leaving, Conklin makes a
BEELINE for
...and then do these things, come up to me and then basically try to force a
relationship with little gifts of food.
Conklin was a married man at that time.
He could measure #2 on the Kinsey bisexual scale.
INT. DEPOSITION ROOM – DAY
Helmers Deposition.
HELMERS
(querying)
What other emotional abuse.
INT. ASSEMBLY OF GOD – DAY
In the church FOYER after a service.
CONKLIN
You don’t even pay your tithe.
INT. ASSEMBLY OF GOD – DAY
COMMUNION is served on Sunday morning.
As the plate passes down the row
He accused me
A FEW MINUTES LATER
Grape juice passes down row.
HELMERS (V.O.)
And what did you say then?
I was in such a state of shock I didn’t say anything.
It was like someone pouring a five-gallon bucket of ice water on your
head.
Disgusting.
EXT. STREET NEAR COLLEGE – DAY
When I was having problems finding a job...
EXT. FARMGROUND - DAY
In the spring, on 5000 acre sheep ranch four miles northeast of
...this was during the Farm Crisis of the first half of the 1980s...
MONTAGE – JOBS DURING THE FARM CRISIS
-- On same ranch,
corral) with Falzarano’s
wife, THERESA, a stocky
middle-aged woman, behind
1500 head of sheep. They
yell and wave their arms,
trying to get the sheep
to go into a huge sheep barn,
in the winter, to get
out of the cold.
Sheep at first refuse to budge.
Finally one sheep gingerly
walks into barn -- then
herd mentality takes over and
they all pack the
barn.
-- Still winter and
kitchen table for supper.
The house is old, built
perhaps in the ‘40s, with
modern kitchen
appliances. Table is long,
with a tablecloth.
FALZARANO
This is our last supper.
Falzarano gets out checkbook,
writes out check for
$.75/hour and hands it to
check with an surprised look.
-- In a barn on small cattle ranch four miles west
of
rebuild barn –- hammering
some nails into new
lumber, in the spring.
GUY CASTEEL, the owner,
comes into barn.
CASTEEL
We can pay you $2.25 an hour.
-- In the 1879 farmhouse,
owner of a 4000 acre cattle
ranch, on black wall
telephone.
SWAN
We’ve got a job for you shoveling
cow manure if you’re interested.
-- On cattle ranch, seven miles east of Newell, Berry
shovels a barn full of
manure, in the spring. He
uses normal manure pitchfork
and shovels into
manure trailer hooked to
tractor.
INT. ASSEMBLY OF GOD – DAY
Pastor’s OFFICE. Conklin sits behind
the desk, with
...Conklin’s comment was...
CONKLIN’S POV –
He looks across the desk at
CONKLIN
(O.S.)
(extreme derogatory tone)
I don’t care where you’ve worked.
EXT. FARM – DAY
SUPER: Spring 1981
(exasperated)
Shit.
So,
Having to walk down to the church on a muddy day, due to a mechanical breakdown
-– three miles to the church...
INT. ASSEMBLY OF GOD – DAY
...Conklin’s comment was...
INT. ASSEMBLY OF GOD – DAY
Parishioners mill about in the FOYER.
Conklin comes up to
CONKLIN
(extreme
derogatory tone)
You came to the church in dirty jeans.
CUT TO:
INT. HOUSE – NIGHT
A shadowy scene, late 1960s/early ‘70s, in the living room with an adult male
and female child in a sleeping bag on the floor.
SUPER: He had previous mis-behavior, detailed in an e-mail dated
AALGAARD (V.O.)
Well, for introductions, my name is Lou Aalgaard.
I am a 46-year-old woman that was sexually molested by Morris Conklin
when I was very young up until 1975.
I have recently found out that my step-sister was also.
Morris Conklin is my uncle, brother-n-law to my mother.
I have always lived in the state of
They are worse than the Catholics.
EXT. FARMHOUSE – NIGHT
WINDY WINTER NIGHT. Outside circular
temperature gauge, next to outside door, registers 10o below zero.
I went through a lot of deprivations at this time which perhaps laid me open to
this type of harassment.
INT. FARMHOUSE – NIGHT
There were times it was below 0o in the house when I was first
starting out due to a lack of heat...
INT. FARMHOUSE - NIGHT
On barrel wood stove, in the spring, is a COPPER BOILER.
A fire is in the stove.
...no running water at times in the house, basically heating was with wood.
INT. DEPOSITION ROOM - DAY
Helmers Deposition.
HELMERS
O.K. You had some handwritten notes
here, too, that you were referring to.
Do those have anything to do with this case?
Helmers looks at notes that
EXT. CATTLE RANCH – DAY
Forty miles north of Newell, a RANCHER drives his pickup truck on the prairie
checking his cows. CAMERA scans
expanse of 30,000 acres in western
Yeah. Basically the reason -– one
reason I came to the church was the cattle ranchers were friendly to me when I
attended.
INT. ASSEMBLY OF GOD – DAY
After spring service, parishioners mill around talking to each other, some
walking out the door to leave in their cars.
He admires Hotchkiss’ hat.
(interested)
Hey, Howard, what have you been up to?
REVERSE POV
HOTCHKISS (O.S.)
(chuckling)
As little as possible.
This is what fascinated
EXT. STREET NEAR COLLEGE - DAY
Berry narration.
Coming down to the church, of course, you’re kind of down because it’s a
depressed economic time and etc.
Kicking someone when they’re down, as a minister, is not appropriate.
Conklin was a roller coaster. The
abuse did not occur weekly -– the minister was basically normal with binges of
bizarre behavior, perhaps once every three months, or so.
In spite of the cattle ranchers,
INT. ASSEMBLY OF GOD – DAY
The congregation didn’t seem to have any problem with it.
EXT. ASSEMBLY OF GOD – DAY
They leave to get in their CARS.
The church had all sorts of problems while Conklin was there...
INT. ASSEMBLY OF GOD – DAY
CAMERA is in lobby of church.
Conklin heard speaking from the office.
SUPER: Fall 1982
...two divorces...
CONKLIN (O.S.)
There’s another pastor in this town who is a divorcee.
SCREEN TEXT: “Written material concerning a divorce in the church.”
INSERT – LETTER
LETTER from Conklin dated
CONKLIN (V.O.)
There was a young lady who had asked if she could live in our home until her
wedding, since her family was moving away from town.
SCREEN TEXT: “The wife, only, moved out of town as a divorcee.
Conklin gave out mis-information.”
INT. ASSEMBLY OF GOD – DAY
CAMERA in lobby again. Conklin
whines from the office.
...a foreclosure.
CONKLIN (O.S.)
I don’t care about their business.
Perhaps
EXT. CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH - DAY
PARISHIONERS leave the church, a building built in the ‘40s, laughing, talking,
looking at BALLOONS they have been given.
CAMERA makes it clear that church is located one block from Assembly of
God.
SUPER: Easter Sunday 1983
EXT. ASSEMBLY OF GOD – DAY
Parishioners leave church looking like they have been to a FUNERAL.
EXT. STREET NEAR COLLEGE – DAY
(matter-of-factly)
And this all led to this so-called dismissal proceeding for my calling former
members of the church
INT. DEPOSITION ROOM - DAY
Helmers Deposition.
HELMERS
(interested)
Let’s talk, then, about that ceremony.
It was May l of 1983, correct?
Correct.
HELMERS
How did you hear or receive word that you were being asked to attend?
INT. FARMHOUSE – DAY
Conklin had called me on the phone after the services
INT. DEPOSITION ROOM – DAY
Helmers Deposition.
HELMERS
(fascinated)
And you agreed to come down?
Right.
HELMERS
Did he say why he was asking you there?
No, he didn’t.
EXT. ASSEMBLY OF GOD - DAY
SUPER: Newell Assembly of God -
HELMERS (V.O.)
And so you arrived to this meeting, correct?
Correct.
INT. DEPOSITION ROOM – DAY
Helmers Deposition.
HELMERS
And were other people present?
Yes, there were.
HELMERS
Approximately how many?
EXT. ASSEMBLY OF GOD – DAY
The excommunication CEREMONY.
Fifteen.
HELMERS (V.O.)
Male and female?
Correct.
HELMERS (V.O.)
Alright. And Conklin was there?
That’s right.
HELMERS (V.O.)
And these individuals were all members of the church?
Yes.
HELMERS (V.O.)
Were they leaders of the church in some respect?
Did they hold some office?
Some were, some weren’t.
HELMERS (V.O.)
And where did this meeting take place?
In a Sunday School room.
HELMERS (V.O.)
And tell me what first happened when you got there.
When I first got there Conklin said...
MEGADEATH song in background: “Now that you can see the darker side of me...”
CONKLIN
(slithering)
I’ve had enough of this.
INT. DEPOSITION ROOM – DAY
Helmers Deposition.
HELMERS
What was he referring to, do you know?
I had been asking about other people leaving the church for quite some time
because there were quite a few people that had left the church and were having
problems.
SCREEN TEXT: “Former members of church on phone - spring 1983”
INT. FARMHOUSE - DAY
SUPER: Spencer Hall,
(into phone)
Mr. Hall, how have you been?
HALL (V.O.)
Fine, fine. We bought a nice ranch
down here in
(into phone)
Kind of decided it was time to get out of
HALL (V.O.)
Yeah...
INT. FARMHOUSE - DAY
SUPER:
(into phone)
MILLS (V.O.)
(somewhat negative)
Alright, I guess. I drive around all
day checking gas wells. We live in a
trailer.
(into phone)
So, having a rough time then?
MILLS (V.O.)
Somewhat...
INT. FARMHOUSE - DAY
SUPER: Ron Feickert,
(into phone)
Mr. Feickert, how are you?
FEICKERT (V.O.)
(television
blaring
in the background)
Alright.
(into phone)
Say, what happened with your dairy?
FEICKERT (V.O.)
(defensive)
You’re prying, you always pry...
INT. FARMHOUSE - DAY
SUPER: Alice Schmele,
(into phone)
SCHMELE (V.O.)
I’m fine, thankyou. How are you?
(into phone)
Fine. How is
SCHMELE (V.O.)
Wonderful.
(into phone)
Ever think about coming back to Newell?
SCHMELE (V.O.)
(exuberant)
If the Lord leads me...
The former members of the church said nothing negative, but Conklin was worried.
INT. DEPOSITION ROOM – DAY
Helmers Deposition.
HELMERS
Alright. Anything else, then?
So Conklin says, I’ve had enough of this, right?
INT. ASSEMBLY OF GOD – DAY
Excommunication ceremony.
CONKLIN
(matter-of-factly)
Would you please sit in the chair.
As Berry sat in the chair, he had a vague feeling of fear and apprehension.
He was about as much “on the ball” as was the
INT. DEPOSITION ROOM - DAY
Helmers Deposition.
HELMERS
Alright. And you sat in this chair
basically in front or surrounded by these other people?
Right.
HELMERS
Was your back to them or were you facing them?
I was facing them, but my back was to Conklin.
HELMERS
And Conklin was standing behind you?
Right.
HELMERS
When he spoke to you did you turn to speak to him?
I don’t think so. I don’t know.
HELMERS
What happened then?
Okay. He accused me of heresy and
witchcraft.
Leading parishioners astray.
INT. ASSEMBLY OF GOD – DAY
Excommunication ceremony.
HELMERS
(V.O.)
Okay. Keep going.
What else happened in this meeting?
Then a member named John Williamson -–
JOHN WILLIAMSON stands up and speaks as procedure continues.
WILLIAMSON
(matter-of-factly)
We understand you’ve been making phone calls and writing letters.
CUT TO:
EXT. RANCH - DAY
Simple, neat improvements on cattle/sheep ranch -– barn, sheds, small granary,
nice ranch house built in the ‘60s, and etc.
SUPER: Ranch near
INT. RANCH HOUSE BASEMENT – DAY
SUPER: John Williamson on phone - spring 1996
(into phone)
Do you remember I called you about a year ago and was asking you about the
problems about the Newell Assembly?
WILLIAMSON (V.O.)
Yeah.
(into phone)
I had a couple of things I wanted to ask you.
There’s some, I don’t know how to put it, some satanic problems I’ve
had...
WILLIAMSON (V.O.)
Uh-huh.
(into phone)
...down through the years due to what happened back then, and I don’t know if
you recall, remember I kind of asked you, maybe some of the things that you
recalled...Let me ask you something –- you believe that Satan exists, don’t you?
WILLIAMSON (V.O.)
Um-hum.
(into phone)
You believe he has power to harm?
WILLIAMSON (V.O.)
Only if we give it to him...
(into phone)
But what I was concerned about was when Conklin either called upon, loosed,
delivered to Satan...I have had problems with satanic attacks...
INT. DEPOSITION ROOM – DAY
Helmers Deposition.
HELMERS
(curious)
Then what happened?
INT. ASSEMBLY OF GOD - DAY
Conklin, still standing behind
Conklin said...
CONKLIN
(authoritative)
He that criticizes me blasphemes God.
He thinks he’s the Lamb.
EXT. STREET NEAR COLLEGE - DAY
Then he proceeded to go through his step-by-step procedure to, what was admitted
to years later, “invoke spiritual forces”.
This was admitted to by the General Council Assembly of God in a legal
document.
INT. ASSEMBLY OF GOD – DAY
Excommunication ceremony.
CONKLIN’S POV –
Conklin speaks the WORD, looking at the back of
CONKLIN
(O.S.)
(snarling)
I loose Satan upon you.
MORBID ANGEL song “Evil Spells” in b.g. (first three lines only):
“Caught within my evil spell...Now it’s time to burn in hell...You were
fooled, no return...”
The pronouncing of a satanic curse, by the congregation, the means to the end of
the rape of the poor. A definition
of “poor” is important. This is from
the standpoint of the ag sector. In
other words, 120 acres in western
Conklin has a NARICSSISTIC PERSONALITY DISORDER - meaning excessively
preoccupied with issues of personal adequacy, power, prestige and vanity.
EXT. STREET NEAR COLLEGE – DAY
Berry narration.
(nailing)
...then he accused me of being demon-possessed, then he cast Satan out.
There may be another reason –- getting revenge for something in his past.
It could have been a former congregation, which he pastored, who asked
him to leave. Or perhaps his
preacher father neglecting and berating him as a child.
INT. DEPOSITION ROOM – DAY
Helmers Deposition.
HELMERS
And then what happened?
And then he used the scripture, which is what the lawsuit is all about.
INT. ASSEMBLY OF GOD - DAY
Excommunication ceremony. Conklin
speaks, mute to audience.
HELMERS (V.O.)
And what scripture is that?
First Corinthians 5.
HELMERS (V.O.)
He read it over you?
Yeah, he read it over me.
CUT TO:
INT. PENITENTARY - DAY
SUPER:
DARK GOTHIC AND METAL song “The Dawn No More Rises” in b.g. (chorus only):
“Lightning strikes the realm of light...Angels burn in flames of
fire...Storms from hell embrace the skies...As blackwinged hordes
arrive...Infernal winds...Come forth from the ‘byss...Satan rides the winds of
wrath...Across the blackened sky.”
CONKLIN (V.O.)
“When the Newell church dismissed you from membership and fellowship by a
unanimous show-of-hands vote we prayed for you and prayed exactly according to I
Corinthians 5:5 ‘We hand this man over to Satan...’ and actually quoted the
verse.”
The act presaged ill fortune. It
would take
INT. ASSEMBLY OF GOD - DAY
Excommunication ceremony. Conklin
speaks.
CONKLIN
(self-righteous)
Not to even eat with such a one.
A parishioner concludes.
PARISHIONER
(condescending)
We love you.
CUT TO:
EXT. RANCH - DAY
Same 1996 ranch as before.
INT. BASEMENT - DAY
SUPER: David Nelson (South Dakota District Council Assembly of God chairman) on
phone - spring 1996
(into phone)
Mr. Nelson, Jacob Berry, how are you doing this morning?
NELSON (V.O.)
I’m fine, how are you.
(into phone)
Great. I had a question for you.
What does, to you, I Corinthians 5:5 mean -– deliver such a one to Satan?
NELSON (V.O.)
Well, Paul, as I understand this, Jake, was talking about someone in the church
who was guilty of fornication.
That’s not an easy verse to interpret.
Sounds like they were giving Satan approval to work in a man’s life.
(into phone)
In the church today, when would this be used?
NELSON (V.O.)
(nicely)
That would be difficult to answer, Jake, it would depend on the circumstances
within the church.
(into phone)
See, that’s what Conklin had done, and that’s why I asked you how it’s justified
with my situation.
NELSON (V.O.)
(trailing off)
Doesn’t really give much detail, it would be helpful if it did...
Nelson played games.
INT. BASEMENT – DAY
SUPER: Pentecostal pastor in
(into phone)
Are you a pastor of a Pentecostal church there in Rapid?
PASTOR (V.O.)
Yes I am.
(into phone)
Alright. Well my name is Jacob Berry
and I live on a ranch up by
PASTOR (V.O.)
(curious)
Ah, what does it say?
(into phone)
It says, to deliver such a one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh that
the soul might be saved.
PASTOR (V.O.)
Yeah I am...
(into phone)
What do you think would happen to someone this was done to, have any idea?
PASTOR (V.O.)
(pragmatic)
Well, I’ll tell you, I think it would be perhaps tantamount to what happened to
Job when the Lord told Satan, you can remove the hedge from around him.
Of course He left him, and said you can’t take his life.
But I think it would be just submitting someone to some harsh trials.
The pastor knew harm could come, using this.
INT. DEPOSITION ROOM – DAY
Helmers Deposition.
HELMERS
(forcefully)
Would you agree that it is among the powers of the church, the local church, to
determine and govern its own membership?
In other words, they can decide, they have the power to decide who will
be a member and who won’t be a member.
Isn’t that part of the powers that the local church would have?
That is true, but let me read this to you.
This is out of the Interpreter’s Bible. “But since deliver to Satan for
the destruction of the flesh can only be death, the emphasis lies on that
conception. Paul calls for the
invoking of a curse to bring about the man’s death.”
Now, the Catholic Church used this same scripture when they were burning
the Protestants at the stake and they identified it the same identical way.
HELMERS
(defensive)
I understand that you interpret this Bible scripture to have done something to
you other than simply...
No, they interpret this Bible scripture, not me.
HELMERS
I understand.
They do.
HELMERS
We’re talking about two different things.
On the one hand we’re talking about dismissing you as a member of the
church, and you agree that the local church has the power to do that?
That’s right.
HELMERS
And then secondly is that you believe in addition to that, they were acting to
loose Satan upon you and cause you harm, correct?
Deliver to Satan. The loosing of
Satan goes back to the first lawsuit.
That’s been dropped. Deliver
to Satan is a church doctrine.
There’s a difference.
HELMERS
Okay. So in this case you’re saying
they delivered you to Satan and that caused you some harm, correct?
Right.
EXT. STREET NEAR COLLEGE – DAY
At the time, I didn’t take this seriously, I was just glad to be out of the
church, I took it kind of as a big joke.
INT. ASSEMBLY OF GOD - DAY
CHURCH PEWS. Back two fifths of pews
are roped off. Back fifth of pews
are marked with a sign, “ONLY FOR PARENTS WITH SMALL CHILDREN”.
Two fifths of the church were roped and marked off at the time -– one fifth was only for parents with small children, and the other fifth, I believe, you couldn’t sit there.
People had been leaving.
EXT. STREET NEAR COLLEGE - DAY
This procedure, whatever it
wishes to be called, May l, l983, caused a “satanic attack” to occur.
What this caused, in my case, were problems over a ten-year period of
time. On this farm, there was land
payment due May 1st of l984.
Now, May l is one of the four satanic feast days...
INSERT - DEMON
A little DEMON DANCES for a MOMENT.
This demon is midget-sized.
It has horns out of a bald head, eyes glowing like hot coals, scales on the
body, claws for fingers, bat wings, pointed ears, a sinister smile on its face,
fangs for teeth, ashen gray in color.
...Beltane. The farm was
subsequently foreclosed on, in January of ’85.
INT. DEPOSITION ROOM - DAY
Helmers Deposition.
HELMERS
(fascinated)
So now let’s talk about the consequences that you believe began to occur after
this ceremony was held in which you were delivered over to Satan.
O.K.
HELMERS
I’ve got a list of some of them because I’ve had some of these documents.
Helmers glances at a stack of
documents in front of him. A
meaningful discussion of the satanic in the church follows.
HELMERS (cont’d)
Your farm was foreclosed on?
Right.
HELMERS
Who held the mortgage on your farm?
Who did you owe money to?
Martin Hubbard. May I explain the
foreclosure?
HELMERS
I’m not sure we need to go into many of the details.
I paid the land payment, I paid the taxes.
I was foreclosed on for not paying the irrigation water bill, which was a
technicality of the contract.
HELMERS
(impatient)
I understand that you disagreed -- that it may have been unjustified, but you
were foreclosed upon, correct?
The date the land payment was due was May l, l984.
This is when this foreclosure came on.
I was late paying it. May l
is a satanic feast day. Basically
what I’m saying is Satan, which is what we’re dealing with in this lawsuit, was
leaving his footprint or, if you wish, his calling card, okay, on that
foreclosure...
HELMERS
(co-operative)
One of things that you believe, you’ve done some research that tells you that
among those that practice Satan worship, May l is a key date on the calendar.
It’s a satanic feast day. And
a number of these adverse events occurred to you either on that date or very
close to it, correct?
Correct.
Helmers agreed that May 1 is a satanic feast day
for those who practice Satan worship.
EXT. STREET NEAR COLLEGE – DAY
(little tense)
There was a barn I put up, and
some sheds, loading chutes, corrals, and there were three fires down there that
were a little strange.
EXT. FARM – DAY
Berry drives a 1957 one-and-a-half ton truck, box
with a hoist, full of railroad ties to area of new lot (a big corral) being
built, west of corrals. Some posts
are in the ground. After driving to
west and past large loading chute, truck stops and
One was a prairie fire by the
loading chute, around October 10th-October 15th of 1984.
I put that out myself.
EXT. FARM – DAY
A two year old HAYSTACK
immediately south of corrals smolders, then bursts into FLAMES.
One was a haystack fire -– there was a haystack in the corrals, this is in
October, this is toward the end of October –- this is October 20th,
and somehow this haystack, this was old hay, but at that time, in
INT. FARMHOUSE – DAY
Spontaneous combustion -– how so. I
did not see any tracks of any human beings, I did not do it myself.
That was put out by the fire department.
EXT. FARM – DAY
Fire
truck douses flames of haystack.
Isn’t
this a note from hell.
EXT. FARM – DAY
While cutting wood with
chainsaw,
The third fire, October 28th, was by the barn itself, right in front
of the barn. They were systematic
fires. Again, there were no tracks,
I did not see anyone.
He runs to fire and stomps it out with his foot.
The three fires were possibly extraordinary supernatural disturbance --
arson by witchcraft.
INT. DEPOSITION ROOM – DAY
Helmers Deposition.
HELMERS
(querying)
And so then sometime in 1984 Morris Conklin left Newell, is that right?
I believe it was at the end of 1983, Possibly December of ’83.
HELMERS
Where did he go?
HELMERS
Alright. And then --
Which he had
problems with as well. He left in
six months.
...and the Reverend Wayne Sharp had
replaced him.
EXT. SHARP’S HOUSE – DAY
Small, older home north of
January 1985, I visited with him concerning the Reverend Morris Conklin.
INT. SHARP’S HOUSE – DAY
In the minister’s house, WAYNE SHARP, a fairly muscular man in his early to
mid-30s, his WIFE, a good looking, mid-sized woman in her early 30s, and
SHARP’S POV –
He looks sharply at
SHARP (O.S.)
(protective)
Touch not the Lord’s anointed.
LATER IN CONVERSATION
WIFE
(belligerent)
You’d better not speak a word against Morris.
LATER IN CONVERSATION
SHARP
(light and airy)
Children will be children, must have been something in your childhood.
EXT. STREET NEAR COLLEGE – DAY
Berry narration.
BERRY
May 1 of 1985...
EXT. FARM – DAY
A large Holstein milk cow eats hay in corral outside of small ranch-red barn.
BERRY (V.O.)
...I owned a milk cow, one milk cow...
INSERT - RECEIPT
This is a COPY of a milk cow medicine receipt.
BERRY (V.O.)
...medicine was bought for this cow, it was sick, the date on the receipt...
INSERT - DEMON
A little demon dances for a moment.
BERRY (V.O. cont’d)
...again was May l, l985 -– Beltane, satanic feast day.
EXT. FARM – DAY
Spring 1984 --
BERRY (V.O.)
Here is the more scarier part of this deal.
When this type of thing is used, it can cause you to be deceived, they
talk about Satan as being an angel of light spirit.
VOICE speaks to Berry’s mind, not audible.
VOICE
(commanding)
Burn it down.
At front door of bunkhouse,
I tried to save the farm from foreclosure which resulted in burning down an 8’
by 12’ shed...
In witchcraft, there is
satanic control. It is like a
distant cousin of mind control –- causing an individual to self-destruct.
INT. COURTHOUSE – DAY
A courtroom in
SUPER:
...which resulted in defrauding an insurance company...
FITZGERALD
It was a vicious plot to pay his land payment and taxes.
CUT TO:
EXT.
PRISON – DAY
The building of the main
prison in
SUPER:
...which resulted in a free trip to the Pen.
INT. PRISON – DAY
Now, the day I was sent down
to the Pen. was
INSERT - DEMON
A little demon dances for a
moment.
...Beltane.
INT. DEPOSITION ROOM – DAY
Helmers Deposition.
HELMERS
What was the charge that was made against you formally?
Defrauding an insurance company.
HELMERS
And you were sentenced to five years in the State Penitentiary.
Five years with three suspended.
HELMERS
So you served about 20 months.
Exactly.
HELMERS
And you entered the Pen on
No. In this witchcraft calendar,
these satanic feast days -– this goes back to the Celts, the pagans, etc.,
pre-Christian Europe, and these satanic feast days began at sunset and ended at
sunset; therefore, this particular satanic feast day began at sunset April 30
and ended at sunset May 1.
Conklin was getting his
revenge.
INT. PRISON - DAY
SUPER: Fall 1986.
CELLS of the Penitentiary.
INMATE, small man with long, straight hair, parted in the middle and a
substantial beard, talks through cell bars with
INMATE
If these people loosed Satan on you, then...
Inmate, holding a Bible in his
hand, reads three passages out of Revelation, that he has underlined, that speak
of the GREAT WHORE. ANGLE ON the
passages.
INMATE (V.O.)
“And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked
with me, saying unto me, Come hither: I will show unto thee the judgment of the
great whore that sitteth upon many waters.”
SUPER: Revelation 17:1
INMATE (V.O. con’t)
“And I heard another voice from heaven saying, Come out of her, my people, that
ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.
For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her
iniquities.”
SUPER: Revelation 18:4-5
INMATE (V.O. cont’d)
“And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.”
SUPER: Revelation 18:23
This refers, at least in part, to the use of satanic power within the church.
EXT. STREET NEAR COLLEGE – DAY
Also...
EXT. PRISON FARM – DAY
FARM located ten miles west of
Sioux Falls, South Dakota which contained a milk barn with cows, various sheds
for large pig operation, including sows, feeders, basketball court, baseball
diamond, and trustee building.
CAMERA does a tour of the farm.
...when I was down at
INT. DINING ROOM – NIGHT
...I was told by two Pentecostal leaders in 1987...
PASTOR
(sarcastic)
You should have got before you got hurt.
INT. DINING ROOM – NIGHT
...and...
PASTOR
(belligerent)
You’d better forgive, because you have to live with it.
The witch trial is having its
effect.
INT. TRUSTEE BEDROOM – NIGHT
...when I began to talk to them about this satanic attack, and this satanic
power, and this type of thing. This
stuff is powerful, it will mess you up.
DILGER
(lecturing)
April 30th of the year is the eve of May Day, and in the spirit world
it is known as Beltane...if you wanted to get even with your enemies, that was
the time to do it. Beltane, today,
as we know it, is not forgotten. We
still have May Day parades; there are still people that practice witchcraft,
other forms of magic, on other people around the world.
Modern day witches, or modern day sorcerers, they use other methods: they
call to Satan...
LATER IN DILGER’S LECTURE
DILGER (con’t)
...Now it’s hard to believe in this 1987 that these things happen.
I know I’ve seen proof, I’ve seen it.
I’ve seen spells put on people and mysterious fires start.
Nobody started them, they just happened.
There are spells put on people, the whole farm goes to hell.
May Day is the day you can ask for this.
EXT. PRISON FARM – DAY
EXT.
SUPER:
INT. DEPOSITION ROOM – DAY
Helmers Deposition.
HELMERS
(hardball)
Just so we’re clear, though, you don’t contend that Morris Conklin or anyone
from the General Council of the Assembly of God set any fire on your property?
(defensive)
No, of course not.
HELMERS
(softer)
They didn’t have anything to do with the foreclosure on your farm personally?
No, not personally -- they believe that once they do this, you can have a loss
of property, you can have health problems, marital problems, financial problems,
so when they do this, it is a belief among these people that they will have
these problems. So when he delivered
me to Satan, they believe that once they had done this, I was going to have all
sorts of problems and this is simply the form that these problems took.
Because when these things happen on satanic feast days, it was like Satan
was leaving his calling card every time saying I did this, I did that.
HELMERS
(real hardball)
So did anybody tell you, did Morris Conklin tell you that evil things such as
this were going to occur to you because of that ceremony?
Did he tell you that evil things were going to happen to you because of
that?
(disgusted)
Not at the time, but in 1996 I found out other things.
This is when I discovered this.
HELMERS
Let’s go back, then. But you agree,
Morris Conklin and nobody from the South Dakota District level, no one from the
General Council personally or physically had anything to do with the fires or
the foreclosure or your insurance claim or the arrest or the cow loss, correct?
They weren’t personally and physically there causing that to happen or
influencing it in any way.
CUT TO:
EXT. SECOND HAND STORE – NIGHT
ENNING has one school, seven
or eight houses, and one second hand store with a CONFEDERATE FLAG flying over
it. LAURA NEUBERT, a forty-one
year-old medium built brunette, STEVE FOUDRAY, thirty-four years old, and SCOTT
GLASSGOW, thirty-three years old, drive from Eagle Butte to
SUPER:
It’s just like when a man fires a gun, he does not do the damage.
In the case of Tifft, it’s the bullet that did the damage.
The man didn’t do anything.
Foudray gets out to buy the
sodas. The van’s dome light is on.
FOUDRAY
Laura, you’ll have to have a Coke, they’re out of Pepsi.
NEUBERT
O.K.
Foudray sees RUBE TIFFT,
thirty-seven years old, standing in the BEAM of Neubert’s headlights, twenty or
thirty yards away from the van. He
holds a “mini 14”, a smaller version of the military M-14 RIFLE.
FOUDRAY
(yelling)
Get out of here, Laura.
Foudray jumps back in the front seat.
Neubert starts to back up and sees Tifft pointing the rifle at her HEAD.
As Neubert backs onto the highway, Tifft FIRES.
The BULLET smashes through the windshield and across the left side of
Neubert’s FACE, from her nose toward her ear.
NEUBERT
(screaming)
Oh my God, I’m shot...I’m shot.
Blood pumps down the back of
Neubert’s THROAT. She presses a
sweater against her face and somehow begins to steer the van down the highway.
Tifft continues to fire and SHOOTS OUT both front tires.
INT. DEPOSITION ROOM – DAY
Helmers Deposition.
(digusted)
It’s the same type of situation here.
They knew full well the damage that could be done using this doctrine and
they did and the damage was done. In
a sense they’re not involved and in a sense they are involved.
EXT. STREET NEAR COLLEGE – DAY
November of ’90, I called the
North Dakota District Council Chairman over the phone...
CUT TO:
EXT. PHONE BOOTH - DAY
SUPER:
...and I believe Morris Conklin was in North Dakota, and began to speak to him
about some of the harassment, the abuse, and the satanic, and he didn’t have a
problem with it...
BAKKE (V.O.)
(covering)
We
shouldn’t get upset over trivial matters.
INT. KILL FLOOR - DAY
This is the R.C. Western Meats KILL FLOOR on a typical morning, capable of
handling approximately fifteen head of beef per day.
The header, LARRY STRICKLAND, a man weighing 170 lbs with a weight lifter
build -- approximately thirty years old, takes the cattle out of the chute,
after punching them in the head with a “head-puncher”.
He proceeds to cut off the head and sets the animal up for the skinner,
VICTOR HOLZER, approximately thirty years old, 150 lbs., with black hair and a
black moustache. He, with the help
of the State Meat Inspector, DON VESPER, approximately sixty years old, graying
hair, 170 lbs, skins out the carcass.
As it is raised, so its butt is up in the air, the splitter,
I got a job at Western Meats, down in
EXT.
On west end of trailer court
is trailer house with an attached room
-– about three miles west of Box Elder,
...I began to investigate mostly from a Christian perspective the occult because
I suspected that Conklin was involved in the occult and had used a form of it on
me.
INT. TRAILER HOUSE – DAY
Several scenes in rapid
succession with
I didn’t quite know what it was, or understand it, but I began to really look
into it. Again, not the
how-to-use-it, but basically from a Christian perspective -- spiritual warfare
and this type of thing.
The following scenes serve to
educate the audience, so they can make an intelligent analysis on the issue of
maleficia. ANGLE over
SUPER: Witchcraft at
(reads to himself)
“If anything, the English law was the more comprehensive.
The first section read...
EXT. 17TH CENTURY
Shadowy scene of three PEOPLE
burning on the gallows, their lifeless bodies swaying in the wind.
...‘One that shall use, practice, or exercise any invocation or conjuration of
any evil or wicked spirit...whereby any person shall be killed, destroyed,
wasted, consumed, pined, or lamed in his or her body, or any part thereof: such
offenders duly and lawfully convicted and attainted, shall suffer death.’”
VENOM song “Don’t Burn the
Witch” in b.g. (chorus only): “Don’t burn the witch...The ways of hell aren’t
wrong...Don’t burn the witch...Let them brew their song.”
INT. TRAILER HOUSE - DAY
Same trailer scene, different
weekend and book.
SUPER: Encyclopedia of
Witchcraft and Demonology, by James Russell
(reads to himself)
“Maleficia. Misfortunes,
injuries, and calamities suffered by persons, animals, or property, for which no
immediate explanation could be found, were called maleficia...According to
Nider, [they] could work malefice [by] 1) inspiring hatred, 2) depriving of
reason, 3) injuring property or animals...”
Maleficia: the operation of
spiritual forces invoked, the actions of Satan as applied...to your life.
INT. TRAILER HOUSE – DAY
Different weekend.
SUPER: Witches, by
Colin Wilson