Paradise Lost: REDUX - Part Two

The Devil Within

EVIO Creative

True Crime

3.2 • 2.8K Ratings

🗓️ 12 September 2025

⏱️ 23 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The Devil Within: Paradise Lost: REDUX - Part Two In 1988, Jefferson Township, New Jersey, was thrust into the national spotlight. A teenage boy, Tommy Sullivan, murdered his mother before taking his own life in a crime so shocking it became a lightning rod for the Satanic Panic. Suddenly, everything—from heavy metal music to role-playing games to Catholic school curriculums—was scrutinized as potential gateways to darkness. This episode, Paradise Lost, explores how Tommy’s seemingly ordinary suburban life unraveled in just a matter of weeks: his exposure to occult literature, his fascination with extreme music, whispers of rituals in the woods, and a town hall meeting where parents confronted the chilling possibility that their own traditions might have paved the way for horror. Now, four years after this story first aired on The Devil Within, I’m bringing it back as part of our REDUX season—with brand new commentary. Together, we’ll re-examine what we thought we knew about the Sullivan case, how the story has evolved since we first told it, and how the MGM+ documentary series Let the Devil In aligns with and expands on each episode of Season One. And while I can’t reveal everything just yet, know this: there are stunning new developments, and we’ll be unpacking them in our upcoming bonus episode. Follow & Connect • Subscribe to MGM+ to watch Let the Devil In — now streaming. • Follow us on Instagram: @thedevilwithinpod (https://instagram.com/thedevilwithinpod) & @eviocreative (https://instagram.com/eviocreative). • For press & inquiries: [email protected]. • Don’t forget to rate, review, and follow The Devil Within wherever you get your podcasts. 🔥 The Devil Within: REDUX. A case that refuses to stay buried. 💥 Go to http://www.quince.com/devilwithin for FREE shipping and 365-day returns! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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1:03.6	EEO.
1:16.0	Welcome back to the Devil Within Paradise Lost Redux, Part 2.
1:22.3	On the last episode, we talked about Mayor Will Susan's contribution to both the podcast and the television show,
1:27.6	how the Tommy Sullivan case landed kind of right in the middle of this national movement culminating in the PMRC and the parental advisory stickers that we have on our music to this day,
1:33.5	Geraldo Rivera's impact on the town, and how most likely Tommy first learned about the power
1:38.9	of Satan sitting in the front pew at St. Thomas's Catholic Church in Jefferson.
1:44.5	But on today's episode, we're going to talk a little bit more about the investigative side
1:48.0	that the police were into, that we covered in episode two. And that is, what was going on
1:52.9	with Thomas Sullivan Sr. Okay? And is there any chance that he had anything to do with it?
	...

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