Chilling story behind The Crowed Room’s Billy Milligan who had ’24 personalities’

He was the man with 24 personalities who claimed two of these were responsible for kidnapping and raping three women.

Now the incredible true story of Billy Milligan has inspired a new miniseries starring Tom Holland.

The Crowded Room sees the Spider-Man actor as Danny Sullivan, who unveils his mysterious past to an investigator after he’s arrested for a shooting.

READ MORE: Tom Holland’s fourth Spiderman movie in progress as Marvel boss confirms sequel

Earlier this week Holland revealed he’s taking a year off acting after the dark role “broke” him. And considering the shocking facts of the real-life case, it’s no wonder he found it tough.

Born on February 14, 1955, in Miami Beach, Florida, the then William Stanley Morrison had a troubled childhood that saw his father Johnny take his own life when his son was just three.

Milligan’s mother Dorothy moved to Ohio and went on to marry Chalmer Milligan, who adopted Billy and his two siblings and changed their names.

Later Milligan would claim he was physically and sexually abused by his stepfather, who threatened to bury him alive or hang him by his fingers and toes if he told anyone.

In 1977, the 22-year-old was arrested for the kidnap, robbery and rape of three female Ohio University students.

Undergoing psychiatric evaluation as he awaited trial, the experts began to notice something strange. One called him Billy and in response he said: “Billy’s asleep. I’m David.”

Psychiatrist George Harding and psychoanalyst Cornelia Wilbur were called in and determined his psyche had fractured into at least 10 personalities.

One was Ragen Vadascovinich – a 23-year-old Yugoslavian who had robbed the women – while another was Adalana, a lonely 19-year-old lesbian who had committed the rapes.

They also uncovered Arthur, a prim and proper Brit who was an expert in science and medicine; Allen, a conman and the only right-handed and smoker personality; Tommy, an escape artist and painter; and nervous 14-year-old Danny who was terrified of men.

Then there was eight-year-old David and three-year-old Christene and her brother Christopher. The two psychiatrists found “Billy” was the core personality but, suicidal and full of guilt, he had been “asleep” for seven years.

And they concluded the abuse he’d suffered at the hands of his stepfather was what caused his personality to shatter into these pieces.

After the diagnosis, Milligan’s lawyers pleaded insanity at his trial. And while not everyone believed it, he became the first person to be found not guilty by reason of insanity on the basis of multiple personality disorder – which is now known as dissociative identity disorder.

Sent to a mental health institution, he started working with another psychiatrist, David Caul, who uncovered yet more personalities – the “undesirables”.

These included April, who wanted to kill Billy’s stepfather, Shawn – a deaf child – Philip the thug, Jewish man Samuel and Kevin the criminal.

Milligan was released from mental health care in 1991 after it was determined his personalities had been “fused” or integrated. He moved back to Ohio to be near his sister until he died of cancer in 2014, aged 59.

As well as this new Apple TV+ series, his story inspired book The Minds Of Billy Milligan and 2021 Netflix docuseries Monsters Inside: The 24 Faces Of Billy Milligan.

The 2016 film Split, which starred James McEvoy as a man with dissociative identity disorder who kidnaps and imprisons three teenage girls, was also based on Milligan.

Speaking about his acting break after the new series, Holland said: “It was a tough time for sure. The show did break me.

“I’m now taking a year off – and that is a result of how difficult this show was.”

The Crowded Room is on Apple TV+ from Friday, June 9

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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk