In March 1792 a mother and her three young children were killed by marauding Native Americans in the vicinity of Fort Pitt during the Northwest Indian War.

The premise for the demonic infestation is that the evil spirit that precipitated the vicious killing of these innocents remained on the grounds and eventually inhabited the house that would be built there.

The book additionally states that a local doctor would later perform many illegal abortions in the house when its owners were in need of money to maintain their servants and upper-class lifestyle.

There are no records or firsthand accounts of this illegal activity but an investigative newspaper article did identify that such a doctor did exist and that local lore supported the claim that he performed many abortions.

This began the long string of events that eventually led to a “demonic entity” being expelled from their home in 2006 by priests of the Catholic Church.

The following spring, Bob discovered a small metal box buried in the front yard containing Catholic religious items.

Bob would go on to hold political office in the 1990s, first as a councilman and then county commissioner, gaining significant notoriety and celebrity in the western Pennsylvania (Pittsburgh) area.

Over the years the Cranmer family became increasingly dysfunctional and eventually Lesa and two of the children would experience serious mental issues which would require hospitalization.

Wuerl would assign management of the case to Father Ron Lengwin who would eventually be assisted by several other priests and one lay person, Connie Valenti.

[6] The Mel Gibson movie The Passion of the Christ is also presented in the book as playing a significant role in cleansing the house from the evil entity.

His reputation as a public official, combined with the involvement of other notable individuals; i.e. Mayor Thomas J. Murphy, Jr., Bishop Donald Wuerl, and Fr.

The manuscript was written by Cranmer and eventually reduced in size and rearranged by the professional author and editor Erica Manfred.

With the notoriety of the book in the metropolitan Pittsburgh area, one of the two major newspapers (The Post-Gazette) decided to do an investigative article about the story.

The doctor cited was verified to have been a local resident, as was his nefarious abortionist reputation, obviously with no official records existing for the decades-old illegal activities.

[7] However, the primary source of criticism came from several children or grandchildren of the two families who preceded the Cranmers' living in the house (a period of 47 years, all previous owners being deceased).

Cranmer retorted that the Joyce children (of the prior owners) were upset that the reputation of their deceased parents was possibly being besmirched by the book.

He stated: "People are always concerned that they can be held legally liable if they do not reveal to buyers problems of a spiritual nature with a house, - which I discovered is not the case in Pennsylvania.

[8] Cranmer has offered to pay for and take a lie-detector test concerning any of the claims presented in his book as long as the three adult children of the previous owners join him.

Subsequent to publication (July 2016) a granddaughter of the doctor (presented in the book) contacted Cranmer to tell him that even though she was too young at the time to know of her grandfather's illegal practice, she could confirm that his personality and "evil demeanor" fit what her early memories could recall.

The front-page Sunday article clearly sought to discredit the story, its basis in Christian faith and its controversial topics.

However, according to Paisley's daughter, Karen Dwyer, her mother, grandmother and grandfather had never mentioned anything about the house being haunted nor was there even a dog as a parents did not like to have pets.

Monsignor Ron Lengwin, a senior Catholic priest of the diocese and the psychic Valenti claimed while being built on a site of a violent 1792 Native American attack on a family, the four victims being buried in the front yard, also alleged Mahan fueled the demonic possession at 3406 Brownsville Road.

[3] Cranmer claims in the book that Dr. M's nefarious practice was common knowledge in the community of Brentwood, (where his house is located), and that it was also the home of those who ran the notorious "South-Side numbers racket", along with numerous nightclubs, bars, and brothels.

[10] It was reported in the media (9/2019) that an option to produce a movie based on the book was sold to New Line Cinema, a division of Warner Brothers Entertainment.