Paul Mohlman was relaxing at home one day when he realized something about his house was very wrong. When he went to investigate the oddity, he uncovered something that would send chills down his spine. He'd never be able to sleep soundly again after finding this hiding in his walls...
Paul Mohlman
Paul wasn't a Southern boy by birth. He had grown up in the coastal state of New Jersey and even attended Rutgers University there. However, after he achieved his advanced engineering degree, he knew he was destined for bigger and better things. He decided to drop it all and head down. It was a big move for him, but he was eager to see what wonders awaited him in the South...
Hanging Out
One day, while Paul was relaxing in his new home, he heard a thud come from somewhere in his house. This was strange since he owned no pets and his roommate wasn't home. It was coming from the roommate's room though, so Paul assumed he was mistaken. However, the more he thought about it, the more restless he became. "It sounded like something fell. Something heavy,” he recalled later...
Investigating the Sound
Paul tried to distract himself from the thoughts, but the unsettling sound irked at his brain until he decided to just get up and check it out for himself. He was sure there was nothing up there, but it was better to be safe than to be sorry. Gathering as much courage as he could muster, Paul turned the knob and entered his roommate's bedroom...
Room Renovations
As soon as he entered the bedroom, Paul knew something was definitely not right. There was a pipe laying in the center of the room as if his roommate disappeared in the middle of plumbing. Even more unsettling was what lay just beyond the pipe...a hole in the wall! That certainly wouldn't be good for their deposit. Once he checked out the space, he looked inside and saw a whole crawlspace, as well as something else...
Looking In
Paul was perplexed, as he had no prior knowledge that their house had any sort of crawlspace. Their landlord had never mentioned it. Since he and his roommate weren't exactly close buddies, he never felt the need to check out the room. But now, as he peered into what looked like a hole punched the wall, he saw a real-life nightmare just behind the walls...
Eye Sight
There, in the murky darkness, was a human eyeball staring right back at him. Paul stared back at a white man's eye and shrieked like a little girl. "It was a Caucasian dude. He wasn’t wearing a shirt; had no shoes on," recalled Paul. It was quite a shock...
In-House Plumber
Paul, understandably, had more than a few questions for the houseguest. He recalls asking him questions like "What are you doing down there? Did the landlord call you? Are you here to work on plumbing?" The man in the wall shifted around awkwardly, giving vague replies that neither answered his questions or made the man seem legitimate. Paul realized this was no ordinary situation...
Up In Arms
Paul wasn't getting anywhere with the guy, so he decided to take matters into his own hands. He grabbed a .22 caliber firearm to protect himself and his home. He told the man that he was in the possession of a gun, and if there was any more funny business, no one would be laughing then. Paul wanted to show the man just how serious this exchange was...
Calling Authorities
"I let him know that I have a gun. And I said ‘I don’t want to shoot you, but what are you doing?’" said Paul. After some more back and forth and shuffling around, Paul knew the best course of action was to call the police. It wasn't long before they showed up and investigated the claim for themselves. The man was still there, and Paul's claims were validated...
Lured Out
The police had a difficult time luring the man out of the house's crawlspace, but after some coaxing, they managed to convince the man to leave. It turned out that Paul's eyes had mistaken him. The man wasn't a white guy without a shirt on, it was a black man fully clothed, minus his shoes. But one officer still felt like something wasn't right...
All Sorted Out?
The man was gone and Paul could rest easy...or could he? "At the moment, I sort of forgot about that part and was like, 'Oh they got the guy,'" Paul would later recall. "I saw it wrong. They got the guy,'" This, of course, was not the case. The man, before being taken away, said something that was finally comprehensible, but Paul couldn't believe what he was hearing.
Acid Spill
The man said that while he was hiding in the crawlspace, he spilled a tub of acid all over himself. Neither Paul nor the police could believe what they were hearing! Then, after exploring outside of the house, they found a gallon of hydrochloric acid as well as a scattering of random clothing items. This man was probably in immense amounts of pain...
Bar Trip
Paul decided to end his day with a trip to the bar. After all, he had experienced, he felt that he deserved a drink or two. He sat down and began regaling the bartender with the tale of his insane ordeal. The bartender was listening intently, listening carefully, but once the story was over, he had to chime in. He had a terrifying piece of information for Paul, and it would change this case entirely...
Photo Finish
Paul finished his story by showing the bartender a picture that the police had taken of the mystery wall man. He was shown from the back, being scuttled away, but the bartender gasped immediately. According to the server, this man was no stranger. He had been at the bar only one night prior, but he wasn't alone, and neither of the guests was there to drink...
Found Footage
The bartender pulled up a video of the outside of the venue from the night before. There, clear as day, were the two men. One was the detained man found with acid, and the other was a white man. Maybe it was the man who's eyeball Paul had seen! This was certainly going to be a crucial piece of evidence, but it also meant that the case was not yet closed...
Trusting His Gut
Paul's stomach sank. His biggest fear had already come true today, but somehow it had gotten even worse. He hadn't been wrong before, there was a white man in his house as well! And, he thought, he might still be. After all, the police had only taken one of the men out of his place, who knows where the other one could be! He had to see for himself if his house was truly safe...
A Second Look
Paul called the authorities for a second time that day. He explained to them that he had good reason to believe that there was someone else in the house...again. The police reviewed the video and agreed that he was not yet safe to go home alone. They searched the crawlspace thoroughly but still found no evidence of the white man. This wasn't the end of their case though...
Cold Space
Paul did not feel easy when he went to bed that night. He couldn't shake the feeling that there was someone just behind the walls. He was shaking with fear...and cold. He suddenly realized while lying in bed that he was freezing cold. He got up to check the wires controlling the house heat, but he already had a feeling that this had something to do with his previous visitors...
Cut Wires
When he went to go check on the wire box, he was shocked to see that the wires had all been chopped! He called his landlord immediately for emergency assistance, but he did not call the police for the third time that day. He believed that the men didn't require a long stay in prison. Instead, he thought they likely belonged in a psychiatric hospital or place where they would be able to get help...
Hospital Care
According to the authorities, the man that had been caught was sent to the University of Tennessee Medical Center due to his behavior being described as "erratic and unstable." The search for the other man would continue on, and Paul was sure he wouldn't hit the same house twice. Still, not everyone fared so well with unsettling houseguests...
Renee Jones
For Renee Jones, she was expecting a normal Friday night in, but she had some unexpected company in her house. While living by herself in the town of Girard, Ohio, she knew she was at risk. After all, the midwestern city was notorious for its consistent stream of property-based crimes, so she had to stay alert...
Safe At Home
Because of these risks, Renee took proper precautions to make sure she was safe in her home every night. She locked her doors and windows and double-checked them before she went to bed for the night. Not only that, but the woman had also installed motion-sensing lights around her home just in case any potential burglars were lurking around...
Hidden Weapon
She hoped it never had to come to this, but Renee also kept one last line of defense in her bedside drawer. If she ever felt attacked in her home, she could reach over and pull out a .38 special from the table. Thanks to concealed-carry law, Renee was able to purchase a revolver to protect her and her home. She always double-checked where it was before she slept...
August 30th
So, when on the night of August 30th, she made sure to make her usual rounds of home protection checks. With her windows and doors locked, security system on, and weapon in the drawer beside her, she turned on the TV and began to relax for the night. Unfortunately, she wouldn't be so relaxed for long. Something was about to go very wrong...
Outside Noise
While she ways lazing around her bed around 9 pm that night, Renee thought she heard something scuttling around outside. She made up excuses for what it could be, likely a raccoon or deer in her yard. But the noise continued. Again, she brushed it off as being the wind. The motion lights had not gone off, so whatever it was, she assumed it was no immediate threat to her.
Front Door
Just before she had fallen asleep, Renee had all but forgotten about the noises. Right as she drifted off the slumber though, she heard the sound once more. The only difference was that the noise was no longer outside. It was coming from inside her house! Her ears perked up at the realization. She heard floor creaks as the mysterious sound grew louder...
Ready to Fight
Though she prayed that her intruder wouldn't come up to her room, she couldn't ignore her house's distinctive creaks and groans as the person climbed the staircase. She leaned over her bed to grab the weapon in her bedside table. Shaking with fear, she pointed the revolver at the door, ready for whoever would confront her. She vowed she would be able to take them out first...
The Shooting
Renee watched as her bedroom doorknob began to turn. As soon as the intruder entered the room, they were on the ground. Renee had been quicker and was able to shoot the intruder in her house. The bullet had ripped through the arm of the mystery person and left them in a pool of blood on the ground. However, Renee would soon regret this trigger-happy decision...
Daughter Dearest
As she went to inspect the body of the intruder, Renee realized she had made a grave mistake. This wasn't an intruder at all, this was her own daughter Hanna! She was writhing in pain, both physically and mentally after being shot by her own mother. Renee ran to the bathroom to collect towels and bandages to stop the intense amounts of bleeding...
Calling Police
As Renee tended to the wounds through her tears, Hanna's boyfriend came running through the door. He had heard the gunshot go off and knew something was wrong. He was shocked to see Hanna on the floor covered in blood. He quickly called the police and tried to help Renee with stopping the blood. She had really messed up ...
Paramedics Arrive
It wasn't long until paramedics arrived on the scene. Police described Hanna as being "covered in blood" and clutching a towel to her arm. Renee and Hanna rode away in the ambulance to the hospital together. They were both shaken beyond belief, unable to process the scene that had unfolded around them. Thanks to surgeons, Hanna's fractured elbow was repaired...
Surprise Visit
Hanna explained to her mother what had happened. She was planning on surprising her mother with an unexpected visit home from college. Her boyfriend picked her up and drove her back, but they hadn't accounted for her mother's hidden weapon. Evidently, an unannounced visit wasn't the best idea for this family...
Misunderstood Misunderstanding
Though this seemed like a pretty straightforward case of poor communication, the Girard Police Department was forced to launch an investigation anyway. After all, Hanna had been shot in the arm and her elbow had been fractured in three places. This might have been an accident, but even accidents have to go through law enforcement...
Totally Legal
Thankfully for Renee, she was totally within her rights to possess a firearm in her home. According to the law known as the Castle Doctrine, Renee's shooting was an act of defending her home from intruders and was therefore totally legal. Even if it was actually her daughter, her belief of wrongdoing made her intentions pure and legal...
Stay Safe
The Girard Police Department was unhappy with this incident and the way it all went down. After all, this incident could have been totally avoided with proper safekeeping and precautions. "If you realize someone has a gun for protection, and they’re not expecting you — announce yourself when you enter the home, or even if you’re getting up to get a drink of water in the middle of the night, just announce yourself," said GDP Chief John Norman.