A young man allegedly killed his father and then claimed he baptized the man to exorcise demons, including one named “Dirty Dan.” Jack Callahan, 19, appeared in court Monday in the death of Scott Callahan, 57, in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, according to local reports.
Duxbury Man Under Arrest On Charge Related To Fatal Water Incident pic.twitter.com/Y8lJKbVWak
— DA Tim Cruz (@PlymouthCtyDAO) June 28, 2021
Police described the matter as a “fatal water incident” in early social media posts, saying they received a call early Monday morning of a missing man. First responders found the victim submerged in a pond, and he was later pronounced dead despite attempts to save his life. The medical examiner has yet to official determine the cause and manner of death, but the Jack Callahan has pleaded not guilty to murder. Preliminary findings is that Scott suffered from water-logged lungs, petechiae (broken blood vessels) in the eyes, and an abrasion on the head, according to a statement from the office of the Plymouth District Attorney.
The story is that Jack Callahan went to a bar in Boston to get his father, who should not have been drinking, according to CBS affiliate WBZ. The men took an Uber to Island Creek Pond in the town of Duxbury where they lived. The father is alleged to have struck the son, and the altercation progressed to the pond, the younger Callahan allegedly said. Further allegations complicate things beyond a mere attempt to claim self defense. Defendant Callahan allegedly said he thought he was baptizing his father to exorcise demons. One of them was named “Dirty Dan,” prosecutor Shanan Buckingham told the court, according to a report by independent television station WHDH.
“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 pushed the head back down into the water,” Buckingham said in the WBZ report. “He did so until his father was no longer struggling and floating.”
“I left him there to decide, you can come to heaven with me or hell. I think he chose hell,” defendant Callahan said, according to the prosecutor.
Defense lawyer Kevin Reddington reportedly requested a mental health evaluation and said his client was a danger to himself.
[Screengrab via WBZ]
