Maurice Theriault claimed he was possessed by demons that drove him to repeat the crime of his father, who murdered his mother and committed suicide.
The claims strained credibility, yet Theriault came close to fulfilling them last week. Whether from a tormented mind or tortured soul, he chased his wife into the street, wounded her, then took his own life, as his father did 10 years before."I can't say it's totally unexpected, because this man was either seriously disturbed or possessed - take your pick," said Michael Lasalandra, a journalist who co-wrote a 1990 book about Theriault called "Satan's Harvest."
"I don't think he was a con man. I think he sincerely believed he was possessed," he said.
Many who knew Theriault agreed.
Roman Catholic priests on two occasions performed special blessings on Theriault. A bishop from the Traditional Roman Catholic Church, a breakaway sect, carried out exorcisms on him eight years ago and earlier this year.
"The church believed that the devil had taken over," said Homer Boyer, the Roman Catholic priest who retired in 1990 from Ther-iault's parish of St. Paul's Church in Warren, about 20 miles east of Springfield.
His sister, Danna Daviau of Springfield, disagrees.
"Maurice was not possessed; Maurice was an actor," Daviau said. She said he was obsessed with the occult.
But friends and acquaintances described Theriault variously as "a devout Catholic," "an ordinary Joe" and "the kindest, gentlest man you'd ever want to meet."