Conan Stalker Back in Hub, by Laura Crimaldi, Boston Herald, November 11, 2007

Conan Stalker Back in Hub

By Laura Crimaldi
Boston Herald
November 11, 2007

http://bostonherald.com/news/regional/general/view.bg?articleid=1043931

A strange twist in the saga of the alleged "priest stalker" ended quietly last night as Boston police called off a two-hour manhunt for the Rev. David Ajemian, the Stoneham clergyman accused of stalking late-night comic Conan O'Brien.

A few hours later, Ajemian volunteered to be admitted to a psychiatric ward, Boston police said.

Ajemian had returned to the Bay State from New York late Friday after being released on bail into the custody of Boston relatives.

The Rev. David Ajemian, accompanied by a relative, returned to his parents’ Marlboro Street home.
Photo by Mark Garfinkel

He was staying with family in the Back Bay when he abruptly took off about midday. His sudden disappearance prompted his father to call police at 3:35 p.m. and report the 46-year-old as missing, said police officer Ed Crispin.

Cops issued a "be on the lookout alert" for the potentially "homicidal/suicidal" priest an hour later. But Ajemian, accompanied by a relative, returned to his parents' Marlboro Street home just before 7 p.m., ending the police search of Back Bay alleys and Catholic churches.

"I'm good, I'm good," Ajemian told reporters, returning via the back door. He said he wasn't aware there was an all-points bulletin out for him before slamming the door.

On Friday, a Manhattan judge found Ajemian fit to stand trial for allegedly sending a series of rant-filled notes to the late-night TV host in which he described himself as O'Brien's "priest stalker."

In court, attorney Eric Seiff told the judge Ajemian takes medication for psychological problems and was in treatment for a year.

The Rev. David Ajemian returned to the Bay State from New York late Friday after being released on bail into the custody of Boston relatives.
Photo by Mark Garfinkel

Until June, Ajemian was assigned to St. Patrick's Church in Stoneham. He was placed on leave by the Archdiocese of Boston this week. Seiff could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Earlier in the day, Ajemian was besieged by a scrum of New York media as he sat on a park bench on Commonwealth Avenue. Asked about O'Brien, Ajemian told a New York Daily News reporter: "I've tried to make it clear that I had no intention of physically harming him in any way. I feel sad that some of my correspondences were interpreted that way."

He vowed, "I will abide by the restraining order 100 percent."

Ajemian's father steered him away from reporters after the priest began talking about his interest in meeting other celebrities.

"I want to get him into some sort of treatment," Robert Ajemian told the Daily News. "It worries me when he says he wants to meet Faye Dunaway and Paul Simon. It's not good for the future."

"We are providing pastoral care, counseling the family," said Terrence C. Donilon, a spokesman for the Boston archdiocese. "Our hearts go out to everybody."