Monaghan Hall (Gonzaga Music Building)

According to the Gonzaga Bulletin's reporting, in September 1974 music students reported strange footsteps to Father Walter Leedale, an associate professor of music. Skeptical, Leedale slept in his office to disprove the claims and instead became convinced the mansion was disturbed. In November 1974 a cleaning-staff member returned to the empty building after hours to retrieve an item and heard organ music — ten or twelve notes of a melody being picked out as if by one finger — coming from a locked, dark organ room. When she unlocked the door, the room was empty, the windows locked, and the music continued; she reported watching the organ keys depress on their own. In January 1975, Father Leedale himself heard a flutist playing a melody in an empty building.

On February 24, 1975, Father Leedale, assisted by Daniel Brenner holding holy water and a small group of supporters, began a rite consisting of six prayers said over four days. Per the published Gonzaga Bulletin account, during the prayers Leedale's crucifix would sometimes swing so strongly that he had to grip it with one hand while holding the prayer book with the other. By February 28, 1975, those involved reported that the presence was gone, and subsequent reports of phenomena largely ceased.

Gonzaga University has consistently declined to characterize what occurred as an exorcism. Father Leedale himself later described the rite as 'basically a simple house blessing, not unlike when a faithful Christian couple asks me to bless the bedroom of their newborn baby.' The Music Department continues to occupy the building and current staff have at times publicly denied the haunting reputation. The lore is independently documented across the Gonzaga Bulletin (university press), KREM-TV ('Haunted Spokane: Gonzaga music building carries a spooky tune'), Paranormal Scientific Investigations Northwest, and HauntedHouses.com.