Priest: I'm a Bit of a Comedian Myself
By Laura Italiano, Kaili McDonnough and Jennifer Fermino
New York Post
November 10, 2007
http://www.nypost.com/seven/11102007/news/nationalnews/conan_nut_hadnt_a_prayer_127934.htm
The Boston priest busted for stalking Conan O'Brien said yesterday that he hoped that by cozying up to the comic, he'd impress Archdiocese higher-ups and advance his career in the Church.
"I guess I felt I was getting an inspiration to get him to acknowledge me in a way that would promote me as a priest," the Rev. David Ajemian told The Post after he was released on bail.
"Also, I think he's a wonderful comedian, and I'm a bit of a comedian myself, so there's an element of fun in it for me as well."
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| HOLY INAPPROPRIATE: Cops say the Rev. David Ajemian (above, leaving his mental-competency hearing yesterday) has been stalking Conan O'Brien. Far right, yesterday's Post. |
Authorities didn't find Ajemian, who called himself O'Brien's "most dangerous fan" and allegedly once followed the star to Italy, humorous at all.
The poisonous pen pal, who overwhelmed O'Brien at work and home with scores of oddball missives, was arrested Nov. 2 while in line for the show at Rockefeller Center.
Sporting a bit of bed head but otherwise appearing no worse for wear after his weeklong stint in custody, Ajemian admitted that he kept on writing his idol even after he was ordered not to by NBC brass.
"All they said was 'Stop writing the show,' " he explained. "I guess I was being technical."
He chatted affably with The Post about his feelings for the star, insisting, "I never meant to scare him, but I guess I was trying to put some spiritual pressure on him."
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| Conan O'Brien. |
The two crossed paths just once, he said, at the opening of a soup kitchen for the homeless in Lawrence, Mass.
"It turns out we were at Harvard together [in the 1980s], though we never met," he said.
He also said his parents used to worship at the same church as the Massachusetts-born comic's family.
Earlier in the day, Ajemian was declared mentally fit to stand trial after a court-appointed shrink found he could understand the charges against him.
His lawyer, Eric Seiff, who famously defended "Mayflower Madam" Sydney Biddle Barrows, unsuccessfully tried to persuade a judge to let him out with no bail.
He argued that Ajemian was mentally ill, and had been off his meds for seven days while in the clink.
But Manhattan Criminal Court Judge Abraham Clott wasn't swayed.
"His behavior is unpredictable and unreliable even while undergoing treatment," he said, before setting bail at $2,500.
Robert Ajemian, the priest's retired-journalist father, coughed up the money. The former Life magazine editor and Time bureau chief said nothing to the scrum of reporters gathered for his son's hearing.
However, Ajemian's mother, Elizabeth, gasped when she first spotted her son in custody before the judge and said, "Oh, my gosh!"
A friend of the suspect, meanwhile, told The Post that the priest had had to take time off from his vocation at least once for mental-health reasons.
"He needs some psychological help," the friend said. "He really is a good guy."
Contact: laura.italiano@nypost.com
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