Priest Accused of Stalking Conan O'Brien

[MedicCook]

Priest Accused of Stalking Conan O'Brien

NEW YORK (AP) -- A priest has been arrested on charges of stalking late-night talk show host Conan O'Brien by writing him threatening notes on parish letterhead, contacting his parents and showing up at his studio, prosecutors said Wednesday.

The Rev. David Ajemian, a priest in the Archdiocese of Boston, was arrested last week while trying to enter a taping session of NBC's "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" at New York's Rockefeller Plaza, said Barbara Thompson, a spokeswoman for the Manhattan prosecutor's office.

Ajemian referred to himself as "your priest stalker" in one note and complained of not being allowed in to see an earlier taping of the O'Brien show, court papers say.

"Is this the way you treat your most dangerous fans?" the note said.

The letters and e-mails, which started coming in September 2006, continued even after Ajemian was asked to stop and were "intended to cause annoyance and alarm," Thompson said. Ajemian also has been in contact with O'Brien's parents, Thompson said.

"I want a public confession before I ever consider giving you absolution - or a spot on your couch," wrote Ajemian, who signed the notes "Padre," Thompson said.

The priest could face up to a year in prison if convicted of aggravated harassment and stalking.

The Boston Archdiocese said in a statement that Ajemian had been placed on leave and was no longer allowed to minister publicly. O'Brien has participated in fundraising activities for the archdiocese.

O'Brien is not commenting, an NBC spokesman said.

A telephone message left Wednesday night at St. Mary-St. Catherine of Siena Church in Boston, which Ajemian gave as his address, was not immediately returned.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/C/CONAN_OBRIEN_STALKING?SITE=WRGBTV&SECTION=ENTERTAINMENT&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

[Donna]

I'd LOVE to know what Conan did :jamie:

[MedicCook]

I think Conan was partly at fault here. I heard he kept sending the Priest pictures of him wearing only an alter boy costume.

[Donna]

I think Conan was partly at fault here. I heard he kept sending the Priest pictures of him wearing only an alter boy costume.

since he wouldn't comment, and by the comments the Priest made, I wouldn't be surprised....something along the lines of insulting and antagonising him. Yes, the man is a Priest, but he is a man first.

[MedicCook]

My real feeling is that this Priest has a few loose screws and should be reated like any other person who get arrested for stalking and not be given special treatment because he is a Priest.

[Donna]

My real feeling is that this Priest has a few loose screws and should be reated like any other person who get arrested for stalking and not be given special treatment because he is a Priest.

agreed......but the guy is still a human being, and Conan was probably getting off on pushing his buttons, watching the guy try to stay holy.

[MedicCook]

agreed......but the guy is still a human being, and Conan was probably getting off on pushing his buttons, watching the guy try to stay holy.

I doubt Conan singled this guy out. Does Conan make fun of religious figures of course he does along with every other late night show host. What should happen to this Priest presumming he has no record is that he pays a fine, gets put on probation for a year, and has an order of protection put in place that keeps him away from Conan for 5 years. If he violates the probation or OOP then he goes to jail. That is what any other normal person would get for a first time offense.

[Donna]

I doubt Conan singled this guy out. Does Conan make fun of religious figures of course he does along with every other late night show host. What should happen to this Priest presumming he has no record is that he pays a fine, gets put on probation for a year, and has an order of protection put in place that keeps him away from Conan for 5 years. If he violates the probation or OOP then he goes to jail. That is what any other normal person would get for a first time offense.

do i hear an AMEN? :laughing:

[MedicCook]

do i hear an AMEN? :laughing:

Not from me babe.

[MedicCook]

O'Brien stalker priest was 'good seminarian'


http://i.l.cnn.net/cnn/2007/SHOWBIZ/TV/11/09/conan.obrien.stalking.ap/art.ajemian.ap.jpg

BOSTON (AP) -- The priest accused of stalking Conan O'Brien was kind and caring, nothing like the obsessed man who allegedly told the late-night talk show host he was "tracking him through space and time," his seminary mentor said.

The Rev. David Ajemian, a priest in the Archdiocese of Boston, was arrested last week while trying to enter a taping of "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" in New York City despite being warned to stay away by NBC security personnel. He was arraigned on charges including stalking and aggravated harassment and ordered held for psychiatric evaluation.

Ajemian, 46, was scheduled to appear in court Friday for an update on the case, said Jennifer Kushner, a spokeswoman for the Manhattan prosecutor's office.

His attorney, Eric Seiff, said Ajemian was being held at a New York jail, but declined to comment except to say "it will be worked out in court."

Ajemian, who allegedly began writing O'Brien in September 2006, has been placed on leave by the Boston Archdiocese and can't minister publicly. He was removed in June from his last posting, at St. Patrick Parish in Stoneham, after two years at the parish. Watch a parishioner say she's "shocked" »

A spokesman at the archdiocese did not respond to questions about whether the move was related to the stalking allegations.

But on July 2, Ajemian wrote security officials at NBC questioning "why you chose to raise this matter with my superiors after I left you a clear message by phone several weeks ago that I would cease all contact with the show," according to court papers.

In the same letter, he called himself "a stalker of a very different order than the kind you are used to dealing with" and dared them to "tell Conan about your surveillance of me."

In a previous letter, Ajemian expressed frustration to O'Brien that he had been denied a spot in his audience after he'd flown to New York "in the dimming hope that you might finally acknowledge me."

"Is this the way you treat your most dangerous fans???" he wrote. "You owe me big time pal." Watch a description of the priest's "deranged" letters »

He also told O'Brien he knew where he lived and wrote, "Remember (mobster) Frank Costello once dodged a bullet in your building and so can you."

Ajemian's seminary mentor, the Rev. John Mark Hannon said Thursday he believes Ajemian can still be a good priest if he receives proper psychiatric help.

"He was a good seminarian. He was kind and generous and affable and concerned how people were," said Hannon, who mentored Ajemian before he graduated from St. John's Seminary in 2001.

"He's very likable," Hannon added, "it's just he's stupid, apparently."

Ajemian, the son of former Time magazine journalist Robert Ajemian, attended Harvard University at the same time O'Brien did. Ajemian graduated from Harvard in 1983, while O'Brien graduated in 1985.

It was unclear if the two crossed paths there. O'Brien's roommate at Harvard, the Rev. Paul O'Brien, a priest in Lawrence who is not related to Conan O'Brien, declined comment.

NBC said Conan O'Brien would not comment on Ajemian.

After graduating from Harvard, Ajemian took a roundabout route to the priesthood. Among his jobs was work in 1990 as a legal assistant at the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, and he also worked as a teacher.

The Rev. Hannon, pastor at St. Joseph the Worker Parish in Hanson, said Ajemian never spoke to him about O'Brien and never gave any indication anything unusual was happening in his life. He's not a dangerous person, Hannon said.

"I still consider him a friend," he said.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/TV/11/09/conan.obrien.stalking.ap/index.html