Son, 19, killed father during exorcism at Mass. pond, prosecutors say

Jack Callahan, 19, choked back tears in court Tuesday as he listened to prosecutors describe the moment divers pulled the body of his father, 57-year-old Scott Callahan, from a Duxbury, Massachusetts, pond. He is facing a murder charge in relation to his father’s death.

The young man told investigators he and his father went to the pond around midnight after he picked up his father from a Boston bar. He says his mother did not want her intoxicated ex-husband at the family home that night.

Both the prosecution and defense say Scott Callahan had a long history of substance abuse and suffered from the aftermath of a traumatic brain injury.

According to Jack Callahan, at the pond, his father became combative and punched his son repeatedly in the face. The 19-year-old then decided to “baptize” his father in an attempt to exorcise his demons.

“He believed that he was baptizing his father. He described that he was holding his father in the pond on his back like a baby. Then, he continually dunked the father’s head in the water about four to eight times until his father was no longer struggling,” said Assistant District Attorney Shanan Buckingham.

Scott Callahan was found in the water about 50 feet away from the shore of the pond a short time after the “baptism.” He was taken to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

“The medical examiner’s office has determined that the victim had waterlogged lungs,” Buckingham said.

Jack Callahan was ordered held without bail pending a dangerousness hearing.