Local RIP Hunters help solve crime after man tortures woman with ‘ghosts’

Matthew Daniel Marsh, a 26-year-old man, was arrested in Polk County this April after months of terrorizing two young women under the guise of a poltergeist.
Marsh had been living with his girlfriend and his girlfriend’s sister when signs of the violent paranormal spirit began to emerge. After many violent threats and attacks, the girls called upon the RIP Hunters Orlando, a paranormal investigative team based out of Sanford, to assess the situation at the house.
Mike Damsel is the lead investigator of the team, and he describes that they consider all sides to a story. Before concluding that a case is paranormal, they attempt to explain it by natural means. His suspicion with this case began when he heard the sisters’ accounts. The young women described that salt had been poured on the kitchen table with messages written inside of it. This was the first red flag for Damsel, as salt is actually a deterrent for negative spirits.
“I look at it almost like a criminal investigator; I look at all the sides. We aren’t so apt to think that every little thing is a ghost,” describes Damsel. “Any evidence, we try to debunk it to the tenth degree before we even consider it being paranormal. Because let’s face it, people’s minds run crazy when they get scared or [face] something they don’t understand…”
With open minds, the team arrived to investigate the poltergeist case. Inside of the house, they discovered a violent situation: hammers, equipment, and glass candles were thrown across rooms, holes were punched through walls, fires had been set in a sister’s bed while she was sleeping, and many more accounts. This presence was terrifying the young women to the point where they could no longer stand to live in their own home and had to move back in with their parents. One sister even sought counseling.
The ghost hunting team used their equipment, including a digital video recorder, to attempt to communicate with the spirit. The footage that they captured affirmed Damsel’s suspicions, as it revealed that every act that had been used to frighten the girls had been caused by the boyfriend, Marsh. The evidence, aligned with the fact that Marsh had always been the one to “rescue” the girls from the spirit, suggested that he created the ghost as a mode of reaffirming their dependence on him, therefore allowing him to stay at the house.
Damsel revealed the evidence to local police, and Marsh was arrested on several charges, including first-degree arson, throwing deadly missiles, criminal mischief, and domestic violence. The girls’ home and property had endured significant damage as a result of the scheme.
“He was desperate. If they kicked him out, he had nowhere to go. He didn’t have any car, he didn’t have a job, he had no money. The only thing I can think of is, that’s why he did this,” concludes Damsel. “I had to keep pursuing it, whether it could be a poltergeist case or [whether] he did it.”
The RIP Hunters Orlando team regularly investigates paranormal activity and hosts ghost tours throughout the historic Sanford area. Citizens can partake in the investigations by following their meetup page, Meetup.com/riphunters.
While the ghost hunters are called upon to explain the supernatural, they remember that sometimes, the cause is closer than we think.

- Aida Lashinsky, Herald Reporter, ALashinsky@MySanfordHerald.com