A 19-year-old Massachusetts man was arrested and charged with murdering his father during a “baptism” to rid the older man of the “demons” the son believed were possessing him. Jack Callahan, from Duxbury, was reported to police by concerned citizens who noticed him acting erratically on June 28. What unfolded from there was horrifying.
19-Year-Old Jack Callahan Was ‘Exorcising Demons’ From Father In Duxbury Pond Death, Prosecutor Says https://t.co/21E0HR0ofe pic.twitter.com/qGwvJGwAbc
— WBZ | CBS Boston News (@wbz) June 29, 2021
- Callahan was said to be “distraught and hyperventilating” when police arrived. Officers from Duxbury Police arrived at a residence on Sampson Street at roughly 2 a.m., upon which they found Callahan “distraught and hyperventilating,” according to the Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office.
- Callahan’s father, Scott Callahan, was found dead. As the caller who reported Jack’s suspicious behavior also mentioned a missing person, fire department and police personnel also headed over to Crocker Park, where they found the 57-year-old Scott submerged in Island Creek Pond. He was taken to a local hospital but was pronounced dead at the scene.
- Further investigation revealed the horrible truth. According to Massachusetts State Police and the Duxbury Police, Jack went to Boston to pick up his father on the evening of Sunday, June 27 and they took a rideshare vehicle back to Duxbury. A physical altercation followed, at which point Jack repeatedly put his father’s head under the water until Scott stopped fighting.
- Jack claims he was “baptizing” his father. This is because he saw the “demon” in his father’s eyes, he told investigators. Jack was later arrested and charged with his father’s murder.
- He’s pleaded not guilty to the murder. At his arraignment, Plymouth County Assistant District Attorney Shanan Buckingham revealed that Jack told police he “blacked out” when his dad died and found himself “walking into the house soaked” later that night, according to Boston.com.
- Jack’s version of events just isn’t right. Buckingham told the court: “He went on to state that in this incident at the pond, he believed he was baptizing his father. He described that he was holding his father in the pond on his back like a baby, that he continually dunked the father’s head in the water about four to eight times, that when the father started to cough and choke, he would lift his head up, and then when the father started to fight and strike him, he would push the head back into the water.” Jack then told police: “I left him there to decide, you can come to heaven with me or to hell. I think he chose hell.”
- Jack won’t be getting out of prison anytime soon. He’s being held without bond and is scheduled to appear in court on August 12.
