icghosts, Michael J. Kouri haunted house investigations

At the Santa Ana Courthouse Investigation back in May 2002, our haunted house investigation team made up of both professionals and amateurs worked together as we all felt the chilly vibes deep down in the basement of the old antiquated courthouse.

I took many pictures while the investigators took temperature readings of the electro- magnetic energy with their equipment inside the many rooms. We all felt as though some spirit was trying to tell us that he had been beaten, his jaw dislocated, his ankles shackled and that he was shoved into this old holding room prior to being tried for murder. The year was 1929. Later, I found that a trial did indeed take place for a Joseph Schmidt for the murder of his pregnant wife and that he was sought after for three years prior for his murders in four other states. He was considered extremely dangerous and caused riots in the old jail house. So Joseph Schmidt was kept shackled and tied down most of the time he spent at the Santa Ana Jail until he was tried and sent off to Alcatraz. It truly amazes us when connections are made through paranormal investigation. Especially when we are accurate to historical data.

Above: Michael pretends to examine the strange vibrations surrounding this fiberglass cow. It seems the phantom children in the old courthouse love this cow on display according to other psychics in our group that day. The temperature readings around this display were much cooler than the rest of the area. Michael uses psychometry here. We all laughed but realized that there was more to this cow than met the human eye. It was suggested in jest that Michael milk the cow as other fed it some pretend straw. Yes, the child in us can come out during investigations. Many times a good hearty laugh takes away the feeling of fright one can experience with "Real Ghosts".

We all checked out many of the small rooms with a night vision camera. Several claimed to have seen orbs flying around them . One woman claimed that she was pushed out of a closet by an unseen force. When the door was opened and the light turned back on, a pile of architectural drawings appeared on the floor which weren't seen before. Could the spirits be the original architects of the building?

A prayer card of Our Lady of Guadalupe was found on an empty shelf, which tells us we aren't off on our assumption that these rooms are truly haunted for even the janitorial staff is scared and feels the need for protection down here. Historians later confirmed that the janitors won't go near these two rooms in the basement offices. They have been pushed, pinched and told to "Get Out" by unseen voices in English and Spanish. Perhaps the convicted prisoners are crying for justice even today.