Frank De Felitta - Audrey Rose

Through some special grace, the machine continued to purr smoothly under its own management and had, once again, provided him with his next witness.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 1975, 9:00 A.M.

JANICE TEMPLETON

called as a witness by the defendant herein, having been sworn, testified as follows.

DIRECT EXAMINATION

By MR. MACK:

QMrs. Templeton, you said in your earlier testimony that the birth of your daughter was entirely normal?

AYes.

QAnd the child was normal and healthy in every respect?

AOh, yes. She was healthy and beautiful.

QSo that when the nightmares occurred two and a half years later, you did not attribute them to some possible malfunction at birth?

ANo, not at all.

QAs a result of the nightmares, did you seek the services of a psychiatrist?

AYes.

QWhat was the name of the psychiatrist?

ADr. Ellen Vassar.

QDid Dr. Vassar observe your daughter during her nightmares?

AYes, during many of them.

QWere you present on each occasion that Dr. Vassar observed your daughter undergoing a nightmare?

AYes.

QMrs. Templeton, were you in court when Dr. Perez testified and described Dr. Vassar’s eyewitness account of the nature and content of the nightmares?

AYes.

QDoes your eyewitness account of the nightmares differ from that of Dr. Vassar’s?

ANo.

QHow often did these nightmares happen?

AThe first few weeks they came about every third night, then increased as time went on. By the time we went to see Dr. Vassar they were happening every night.

QDid the nightmares ever vary in nature or content?

ANo, they pretty much duplicated each other.

QSo that in each nightmare the child was running around the room, sobbing and babbling, “Hothothot?”

AYes.

QAnd in each nightmare she was attempting to touch the window with her hands and recoiling as if in pain?

AYes.

QHow long did this first episode of nightmares continue?

AThrough the winter and spring of ’67. They became less and less frequent under Dr. Vassar’s therapy. By summer they had stopped.

QAt the time did you attribute their lessening frequency to something Dr. Vassar was doing in her therapy?

AYes, of course.

QSo that when they finally stopped, you credited Dr. Vassar with having brought about their end?

AYes.

QDid Dr. Vassar ever discuss with you her opinion as to what triggered the nightmares?

AShe said that Ivy was expressing some special fears of separation from me and that she appeared to have mastered them.

QThen she never once confided to you any of the thoughts and suspicions she put down in her notebook?

ANo.

QLet’s move forward from the 1967 series of nightmares to the time when Ivy next experienced a nightmare. Am I correct in placing the date at October 22, 1974?

AYes.

QPlease relate the circumstances of what happened on that night, to the best of your recollection.

AYes. We sent Ivy to spend the night with a neighbor. We were expecting Mr. Hoover. He was coming to visit us, and we thought it best that Ivy not be around since—well, you know—because of the things he was claiming and the way he was acting.

QWill you explain what you mean by “the things he was claiming and the way he was acting”?

AWell, he was claiming that Ivy was the reincarnation of his daughter, Audrey Rose. And he was very persistent in his claims, very assured of himself. Of course, we thought his claims outlandish and that possibly he was a mental case. That’s why my husband and I didn’t want Ivy around when he showed up. We didn’t know what he might do or say.

QWhen did you first learn that Ivy was having a nightmare that evening?

AAbout an hour after Mr. Hoover arrived. Carole—Mrs. Federico—phoned us, terribly upset. She said that Ivy was having a fit and was running around the room, screaming and babbling, and that she couldn’t waken her. Naturally, my husband and I knew what that meant.

QAnd you rushed down to the Federico apartment?

AYes.

QAnd what did you find?

AIvy was in the midst of a nightmare. It had returned.

QAnd this nightmare was similar in nature and content to the ones she suffered seven years before?

AIdentical. Even her speech and movements were those of a much younger child.

QSo that during the first episode of nightmares, whereas she seemed to be duplicating the speech and displaying the muscular coordination of an older child, during this nightmare, she seemed to be duplicating the speech and muscular coordination of a younger child?

AYes, it seemed that way.

QWhat happened next?

AThe same conditions prevailed. She was running about the room, falling over furniture, sobbing and pleading and babbling those words, “hothothot,” and trying to get to the window, but not being able to.

QAnd as before, you could do nothing to help her?

AYes. It was the same as before. We could only stand by and watch. Until—

QYes?

AMr. Hoover came into the room.

QWhat happened then?

AHe said, “My God.” He seemed staggered by what he was seeing, and he said, “My God,” as if he suddenly realized the truth of what was happening.

QAnd what did he do?

AHe went to Ivy—she was near the window, sobbing and screaming terribly—and he called to her.

QBy name?

AYes.

QWhat name?

AAudrey Rose.

QAnd did she respond to him?

ANot at first. It took some time. He continued to call to her and tried to break through her nightmare. He’d say, “Come to me! Come, Audrey Rose! It’s Daddy, I’m here! Come!”

QAnd did she finally go to him?

AYes. It was incredible. All at once, she seemed released from the nightmare, and she went to him.

QHow did she go to him?

AShe ran to him. And threw her arms around him.

QAnd then?

AHe held her. And he comforted her. And soon she fell asleep. Peacefully.

QWhat was your reaction to what you were seeing?

AI didn’t know what to think. I was amazed.

QDid you discuss it with your husband?

AYes, later.

QWhat did he say?

ABill thought he was some kind of hypnotist. That he had somehow cast a spell on Ivy and influenced her into doing what she did.

QDid you agree with him?

AYes.

QLet us move on to the following night, Mrs. Templeton. The night of the twenty-third. Did the nightmare recur on that night?