Martin suggests the hypothesis that “perfectly possessed” human beings may exist, even abound, but he offers this hypothesis only as a highly tentative one. Could the thoroughly evil people I have described be cases of perfect possession? I do not know. Perhaps it is even a moot question. Since they are the least likely to submit themselves to psychotherapy, the truly evil are even less likely to undergo an exorcism through which the demonic would be fully discovered. If there is such a thing as perfect possession, it is highly likely to preclude its own revelation.

From New Oxford Reviews: neither the Church nor her exorcists have given us the signs that point to perfect possession. Worse still, Fr. Martin warned that being absolutely controlled by evil, the totally possessed gives no outward indication, no hint whatsoever, of the demonic residing within. The individual will not cringe at the sight of a crucifix or violently react to the touch of holy water or hesitate to discuss religious topics with equanimity.

In his 1992 book Hostage to the Devil: The Possession and Exorcism of Five Living Americans, Fr. Martin wrote, “In every case of possession that comes to the point of Exorcism, the subject has reached a crucial crossroads. Some small corner of reservation remains, some glimmer or recollection of the light of Jesus still shines.” It is from that last redoubt that the possessed manages to muster sufficient autonomy of will to call for help. That is why their possession is only partial instead of complete.

Not so with the perfectly possessed. Fr. Davies, in his 2008 book Exorcism: Understanding Exorcism in Scripture and Practice, observes that the far more terrible state is that of the possessed who are complacent. He calls such cases “perfect possession” because the individual has freely given himself totally to evil. It is instructive to note that although the Gospels recount numerous instances of Christ casting out demons, Our Lord did not exorcise Judas, nor did St. Peter exorcise Ananias, nor St. Paul Elymas. Those three did not want to be exorcised, and God always respects our free will. As Fr. Martin put it, unlike cases of partial possession, those who are perfectly possessed do not want the demons to leave.

Then there is Joseph Edward Duncan III, a convicted high-risk sex offender who began his criminal career at age 17 in 1980. gruesome testimony that included a videotape of the torture and murder in which Duncan screams, “The devil is here, boy, the devil himself…. The devil likes to watch children suffer and cry!” Duncan periodically breaks into shouting, and at one point sings the Lord’s Prayer in a high voice.

So, who are the perfectly possessed?