Don Decker – The Man Who Made It Rain

In 1983, a 21-year-old man named Don Decker was serving a one year jail sentence for possession of stolen property in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. In February of that year Decker’s grandfather died and he was granted a temporary release to attend the funeral. It was during his short period of freedom that Don Decker began to experience a bizarre phenomena that would earn him the name The Rain Man. While the story may seem to be totally unbelievable, what happened to Don Decker was witnessed by his friends, several police officers, a jail warden and eventually a catholic priest.

What those who attended the funeral apparently didn’t know was that the dead man was a child molester, and Don Decker was one of his victims. As Decker sat with the mourners his anger began to grow as one person after another rose to praise his grandfather. After listening to several glowing testimonials to the dead molester, Don Decker could take no more. Decker along with friends Bob and Jeannie Kieffer with whom he was staying, left the service and went to the Kieffer’s home. Decker’s anger was not subsiding and it was beginning to reach the level of rage. Then it began to rain.

Decker went into the Kieffer’s bathroom when within seconds, he felt a drastic drop in temperature as the room became icy cold. Decker would later say that he felt as if he were being attacked. He then looked to the window and saw the ghostly figure of a man wearing a crown, then he felt the pain. As he looked down he saw that his arm was bleeding from deep claw like gashes. The Kieffer’s went to the bathroom when they heard their friend calling for help. As they opened the door they were greeted by a most unusual sight, it appeared to be raining inside their bathroom. The rain stopped as they left the bathroom but later that evening returned, this time raining in the living room.

The landlord and property owner Rob Van Why was called to report what they believed to be a broken water pipe. Then it began to rain again, now through the entire house and the three noticed something, the rain appeared to be coming up from the floor. Van Why and his wife arrived but could find no problems to account for the indoor rain and decided to call police. Officers Richard Wolbert and John Baujan responded to the call but after observing the strange rain had no idea what was going on. The officers did request that all in the home should leave for safety reasons but Van Why refused. Decker and the Kieffers did leave and went to eat at a nearby diner and with their departure the rain in the home stopped.

Whatever was causing the indoor rain phenomena it was becoming clear that it was linked to Decker as it only occurred in his presence. It was no different at the diner. The three friends ordered their meal but would not get to eat it as it soon began to rain inside the diner. The Kieffers and Decker left the diner and went back to the home where all phenomena had stopped. With Decker’s return the strange activity would begin once again and this time would become more violent. At one point during the evening pots and pans in the kitchen began to rattle loudly, Decker levitated and was thrown against a wall, and the rain returned.

The following day three police officers arrived at the Kieffer home to check on the safety of the residents. The house was flooded from the rain and from his appearance Don Decker had a very rough night. The few gashes which had appeared on Decker’s arm right before the first appearance of the rain, had become more numerous and there were now deep cuts on Decker’s neck. With all the strange activity going on, Decker’s temporary release from jail was ending and he was taken back to the correctional facility.

Shortly after his return to jail the phenomena surrounding Don Decker began once again as rain appeared to rise up from the floor of his cell. As word of the rain spread among the guards one of them challenged Decker to make it rain, not in his cell, but in the office of warden David Keen. It never did rain in Keen’s office, but as he sat at his desk his shirt suddenly and without explanation became soaking wet. The event caused Warden Keen to call Father William Blackburn for advice.

Father Blackburn arrived at the jail and after interviewing Decker, determined that the rite of exorcism would need to be performed. Fortunately for all involved, the exorcism of Don Decker was not a long process as is often the case. After his first attempt Father Blackburn declared the exorcism to have been successful. In fact, to this day Don Decker, The Rain Man, has experienced no further unexplained phenomena.

In October of 2012, Don Decker was arrested for arson. The federal crime charged Decker with setting the fire that destroyed Dana’s Restaurant and Tavern in Tobyhanna, Pennsylvania.