The Smurl family is the focus of The Conjuring: Last Rites.
For over ten years, the Smurls lived a quiet, ordinary life in their duplex in West Pittston, Pennsylvania—until strange and terrifying events began to unfold.
The latest installment in the horror franchise follows demon investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren, played by Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga, as they confront a demon haunting the family. The spirit torments Jack Smurl (Elliot Cowan), his wife Janet (Rebecca Calder), and their four daughters: Heather, Dawn, Shannon, and Carin.
This haunting marked the final case the Warrens worked on together.
So, what became of the Smurl family who inspired The Conjuring: Last Rites? Here’s what you need to know about their experiences and where they are today, more than 30 years after their lives were forever changed.
What is the story of Jack and Janet Smurl?
Jack and Janet Smurl moved into their West Pittston, Pennsylvania home in October 1973. However, it wasn’t until 1985 that they began experiencing disturbing paranormal activity.
Janet recalled that the first incident happened on April 9, 1985, the night of their daughter Heather’s confirmation. While Janet, Heather, and Shannon were in the kitchen, a heavy ceiling light suddenly crashed down onto the kitchen table without any warning or natural cause. The light was securely attached to the ceiling, and the crash left a noticeable mark on the refrigerator and injured Shannon’s forehead.
After that, the family encountered numerous strange events: doors would open, close, and unlock on their own; lights flickered on and off; and the closet door in Jack and Janet’s bedroom rapidly swung open and shut. They also heard loud banging in groups of three and experienced items mysteriously disappearing.
According to the 2020 documentary Devil’s Road: The True Story of Ed and Lorraine Warren, the couple’s bed would shake, and they saw a dark shadow lurking in the bedroom. Janet was once reportedly pulled out of bed by an unseen force, and on another night, both Jack and Janet were said to have levitated up to the ceiling.
The Wilkes-Barre Times Leader also reported that foul smells and pig-like grunts were heard in the home. Over time, the activity became more violent, with their 75-pound German shepherd being thrown against a wall, and Jack himself was physically attacked while praying.
Jack claimed he was sexually assaulted by the spirit on multiple occasions, an entity that Ed Warren later identified as a succubus.
How did Ed and Lorraine Warren get involved in the Smurl haunting?
Jack and Janet first turned to their local Catholic Church for help with the strange happenings in their home.
Janet recalled on Larry King Live that they approached their priest, who came to bless the house but told them, “There’s no one here who can help you.”
Desperate, the Smurls then contacted Ed and Lorraine Warren. The Warrens tried to fight the demon using prayer, crosses, holy water, and even brought a police officer for protection. However, Ed said the demon was so powerful it physically threw him back 10 feet, and they couldn’t defeat it alone.
The Warrens reached out to the Church again for assistance but were denied once more. Ed went public, asking the media to pressure the Church and calling for a few priests to help exorcise the demon.
Lorraine Warren revealed in a press conference that four spirits haunted the Smurl home—three human ghosts and one demon.
Their persistence paid off when Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who would later become Pope Benedict XVI, assigned an exorcist to the case. The exorcist performed a ritual at the Smurls’ house, and according to Ed, the home has been free of the haunting ever since.
What happened to the Smurl family’s house?
The Smurl family’s house still stands in West Pittston, Pennsylvania.
After the Smurls moved to Wilkes-Barre in 1988, Richard Bridle bought the property. He told UPI that renting the house was difficult at first because of its haunted reputation. “There’s a stigma attached to the house,” he said, though he personally found the haunting stories “ridiculous.”
Debra Owens, who moved into the home in 1988, told the Times Leader she never experienced anything unusual. Likewise, a man living in the other half of the duplex reported no strange events during his time there.
Where is the Smurl family now?
Jack Smurl, the family patriarch, lived a quiet life after becoming an unexpected media figure due to the hauntings. He worked for over 30 years at the Topps Chewing Gum company in Duryea, Pennsylvania, and stayed active in his local church. He passed away at age 75 on June 22, 2017, according to his obituary.
His daughter Carin told the Citizens’ Voice that his death came suddenly. “It was so quick. We didn’t expect it because he had been doing so well. He told my mom one of his biggest regrets was not making it to their 50th anniversary,” she said.
Janet Smurl now lives in Laporte, Pennsylvania.
The couple’s daughters have mostly stayed out of the public eye. Heather, a mother of two adult children, works as a teacher in Wilkes-Barre. Dawn raised her son Mark Glowinski II there, who has played as an offensive linebacker for NFL teams including the Seattle Seahawks, New York Giants, and Indianapolis Colts, according to WVIA News.
Shannon also leads a private life, working in health care as noted on her LinkedIn, but she shared on X that she still has an interest in the paranormal and ghost hunting.
Carin, who works in social work, firmly denied that their family made up the haunting story. She told Citizens’ Voice in 2016, “Saying we did it for fame or money is the most ridiculous statement ever. We were a normal family going through a tragedy, and we stayed strong and faithful. It was others who turned it into a nightmare. We faced both the demons inside and the judgment from the public — which made everything worse.”
Carin also emphasized, “We never profited from the book or movie. Who would want to endure all that media and public scrutiny?”
Because of her childhood experiences, Carin became a part-time paranormal investigator. She explained, “I do this so no one else has to go through what we did. With me, people get judgment-free, discreet, honest, and professional support and counseling. No one facing such tragedy should be treated the way we were.”