On Sunday, January 10 1993, 54-year-old pig farmer Ralph Vollmer and his 49-year-old wife Joan returned home from a week-long interstate trip. The couple, who lived in the Victorian country town of Antwerp, had driven four-and-a-half hours west to attend a six-day religious convention in the South Australian capital of Adelaide. Ralph, a devout and ardent Christian, had been eager to attend the event, and while Joan didn’t share her husband’s fervour, she attended church regularly and so agreed to accompany him.

The vacation had passed without incident, but shortly after their arrival home, Joan started to behave oddly. She had difficulty concentrating on tasks, would frequently change outfits throughout the day, was restless, and struggled to fall asleep. According to Ralph, as time went on she also started making peculiar noises and adopting different personas. On one occasion she acted as though she were a sheep shearer, speaking in a tone and manner consistent with a farmhand. On another, she claimed to be a sex worker while describing the activities she had participated in with supposed clients.

It wasn’t the first time Ralph had witnessed Joan behaving this way. Two years earlier, she was hospitalised briefly for mental illness, but had made a fairly quick recovery and had been in good health ever since. Now it appeared her symptoms were returning. Over the course of the next two weeks, they seemed to worsen, particularly at night time. On the evening of Friday January 22, Ralph returned home to find Joan waving her arms and dancing in their property’s paddocks. Deeply troubled by the way his wife’s wellbeing had deteriorated, Ralph prayed to God for guidance…