Real Crime/Paranormal/Conspiracy Theories Book III

Paul Bateson

Paul Bateson (born August 24,1940) is an American convicted murderer and former radiographer. Heappeared as a radiological technologist in a scene from the 1973horror film The Exorcist, which was inspired when the film'sdirector, William Friedkin, watched him perform a cerebralangiography the previous year. The scene, with a considerable amountof blood onscreen, was, for many viewers, the film's most disturbingscene; medical professionals have praised it for its realism.

In 1979, Bateson was convicted of themurder of film industry journalist Addison Verrill and sentenced to aminimum of 20 years in prison; in 2003 he was released on parole,which ended after five years. Prior to Bateson's trial, police andprosecutors implicated him in a series of unsolved slayings of gaymen in Manhattan, killings he had reportedly boasted about while injail, bringing it up at his sentencing. However, no additionalcharges ever were brought against him. The experience inspiredFriedkin to make the 1980 film Cruising which, while based on a novelwritten a decade earlier, incorporated in its storyline the city'sleather subculture, with which Bateson had identified.

In 2012, Friedkin recalled havingvisited the jailed Bateson prior to his trial, and having aconversation which suggested that either Bateson had committed theadditional murders or merely that he was considering confessing tothem for a lighter sentence. However, there is no other record ofincriminating evidence mentioned by Friedkin in that interview.Despite this, Bateson is often inaccurately described as a serialkiller.

As of 2021, it is not known if Batesonis still alive or, if he is, where he is living. Friedkin said in a2018 interview that he had heard Bateson was living somewhere inupstate New York. A Social Security record shows that a "PaulF. Bateson" with the same birthdate and a Social Security numberissued in Pennsylvania died on September 15, 2012.

Early life and career

Bateson was born on August 24, 1940 andgrew up in Lansdale, Pennsylvania, the son of a metallurgist. Hewould later suggest that his appearance in The Exorcist was revengeon his father for punishing him as a child by making him stay homefrom Saturday matinées at the local movie theater and listen toopera on the radio instead. He served in the Army in the early 1960s,where he began drinking heavily out of boredom while stationed inGermany, beginning a lifetime struggle with alcoholism. After hisdischarge, he returned to Lansdale and stopped drinking.

In 1964 he moved to New York City,where he began a relationship with a man (he would later describehimself as "not exclusively gay") who he said was"involved in music". The relationship was marked byheavy drinking, either in the form of cocktails at The Pierre andfrequent parties at the couple's home, as well as weekends in theFire Island enclave of Cherry Grove, both with food cooked byBateson. Five years later, Bateson's mother died of a stroke and hisyounger brother died by suicide.

Bateson trained as a neurologicalradiological technician and began working in that capacity. After therelationship ended in 1973, he moved to the Brooklyn neighborhood ofBorough Park. He commuted from there to his job at New YorkUniversity Medical Center (NYUMC), where he was well-liked andrespected by his colleagues.

The Exorcist

In late 1972, film director WilliamFriedkin visited NYUMC while he was preparing to make The Exorcist,the film adaptation of William Peter Blatty's novel of that name. Hewanted to view some medical procedures since he was consideringshowing some in the film. He was also looking for staff who might bewilling to be extras in the film, since he would be shootinginteriors in New York although the film itself is set in Washington,D.C. Dr. Barton Lane invited the director to watch a cerebralangiography.