In a quiet home on Demourelle Road in Pass Christian, Mississippi, a story of spiritual guidance and alleged demonic possession took a fatal turn, leaving one man dead and another facing a murder charge. Marlon Becker, a 43-year-old male from Pequannock, New Jersey, who had been residing in Brazil, was fatally shot on May 21, 2025. The man accused of his murder is 63-year-old Eric John-Moran Ladnier, a self-proclaimed prophet whom Becker had traveled from Brazil to Mississippi to visit as his
online spiritual mentor.
The events that transpired on that fateful evening are a tangled web of spiritual rituals, drug use, and conflicting accounts. According to Ladnier's statement to the police, he and Becker had both consumed THC edibles. Subsequently, Ladnier claimed Becker's demeanor became erratic. He alleged that Becker hit him and then grabbed his wife, prompting Ladnier to retrieve a 9mm pistol and shoot Becker from the top of the stairs, striking him in the back. Ladnier told investigators he believed the devil had taken hold of Becker and that he had unsuccessfully attempted to perform an exorcism to cast out the demon.
Upon their arrival at the scene, Pass Christian police discovered Marlon Becker's body at the bottom of the staircase, dead from a gunshot wound. The investigation that followed uncovered inconsistencies in the accounts of what happened. Ladnier's wife initially told police she was in another room and only heard a loud pop. However, she later changed her story, claiming that Becker was attacking her when the shooting occurred.
Eric John-Moran Ladnier was arrested and charged with first-degree murder. During a preliminary hearing, his attorney argued for the dismissal of the charge, asserting that Ladnier had acted in self-defense. Despite this plea, a judge found probable cause to bind the case over to a Harrison County grand jury. Ladnier is being held on a $1 million bond as the investigation into the unsettling death of Marlon Becker continues.
