Man, 22, who drowned his alcoholic father, 57, in baptism-style exorcism three years ago at Massachusetts pond is found guilty of manslaughter
The son of a banker who drowned his alcoholic father during a baptismal-style exorcism has been found guilty.
Jack Callahan, now 22, was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter after being charged with murder in 2021, following an eight-day trial and 25 hours of deliberation.
Callahan was on trial for the murder of his father Scott, 57, who was found by police in June 2021 floating in a pond outside Duxbury, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) outside Boston.
He faces up to 20 years in prison, under Massachusetts law, and is scheduled to appear in court on Friday, May 3.
The then 19-year-old was walking his father home from a bar in Boston when his mother, Wendy, called to say she didn’t want her ex-husband in their $1.5 million Duxbury home, and the young man asked their Uber driver to stop next to the pond around midnight.
Jack Callahan (pictured crying in 2021), now 22, was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter after being charged with murder in 2021, following an eight-day trial and 25 hours of deliberation
Callahan stood trial for the murder of his father Scott, 57 (pictured), who was found by police in June 2021 floating in a pond outside Duxbury, about 30 miles outside Boston.
Police found Scott at Island Creek Pond in Crooker Memorial Park, where Callahan faces up to 20 years in prison under Massachusetts law. He will appear in court on Friday, May 3.
His father had been treated for alcoholism at a center in Hopkinton before checking out and going to the bar in Boston.
Callahan told police at the time that his banker father was possessed by a demon named “Dirty Dan,” whom he believed could be destroyed through baptism.
He grabbed his father, repeatedly put his head under water and told police: “I left him there to decide: you can come with me to heaven or to hell.” I think he chose hell.”
Plymouth Assistant District Attorney Shanan Buckingham said during Callahan’s 2021 arraignment, “He indicated the victim punched him in the face.
“He further stated that in this incident at the pond he believed he was baptizing his father.
“He described holding his father on his back in the pond like a baby, continuously dipping the father’s head into the water about four to eight times, and when the father began to cough and choke, he his head lifted up.
“And when the father started fighting and hitting him, he pushed his head back into the water.
“He did that until his father stopped struggling and floated.”
Jack Callahan, 22, is on trial for the murder of his father Scott during an ‘exorcism’. Police said Callahan went to a bar in Boston on Sunday night to pick up his father, Scott Callahan, 57, who was not allowed to drink
Jack Callahan, 22, is pictured to the left of his father Scott next to his mother Wendy and his two brothers Will and Charlie in 2016. The parents were separated when Jack allegedly killed his father in June 2021.
Wendy Callahan with her children Jack, Will and Charlie a year before Scott’s death
Wendy Callahan with sons Jack and Will at a birthday dinner in 2019
The family lived in this $1.5 million, five-bedroom house outside Duxbury
His mother Wendy called the police and said her son had a mental illness and that her ex-husband was missing.
“The mother indicated that the suspect had not previously exhibited this behavior and that he had no history of mental illness,” Buckingham said.
Police then called an ambulance after finding Callahan “agitated and distraught,” hyperventilating and passed out.
He told them that his father had beaten him and that he did not know where he was: ‘He is missing. I do not know what happened. I blacked out.’
Scott Callahan (pictured in an undated photo from his obituary) was a heavy drinker. His son had gone to pick him up at a bar the night of the alleged murder
Scott Callahan was treated for alcoholism at a center in Hopkinton before checking himself out and heading to a bar in Boston on his last night.
Officers attempted to resuscitate a Colorado State University graduate before he was taken to Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital in Plymouth, where he was pronounced dead
Scott Callahan in an undated photo. He was Senior Vice President of Texas Capital Bank and had an “extensive career in finance.”
He eventually sent police to Crooker Memorial Park, where officers found Scott in Island Creek Pond.
Officers attempted to resuscitate a Colorado State University graduate before he was taken to Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital in Plymouth, where he was pronounced dead.
The teen was arrested the next day and cried in court as he pleaded not guilty during the first hearing in 2021.
Callahan’s attorney Kevin Reddington asked the judge to send the teen to Bridgewater State Hospital for a mental health evaluation, warning that he was a danger to himself, but the judge denied this.
According to Buckingham, Callahan held his father in the pond on his back like a baby, continuously dipping his head into the water about four to eight times.
Plymouth Superior Court Judge William Sullivan heard the case
When the trial started on Friday, the public gallery was packed
“He’s a very nice young man,” Reddington said, “he comes from a great family.
‘My client was worried about his father, knowing he would drink and he shouldn’t.
“He was going to try to get him back where he should be.”
His mother told the court he had been living with a brother in Colorado and had to give up his logging job after injuring his back before returning to Duxbury to live with his mother.
According to Scott Callahan’s obituary, he was a senior vice president of Texas Capital Bank and had an “extensive career in finance.”