This probably isn't the type of collar that comes to mind when people think priest.A Boston-based man of the cloth was arrested Friday outside of Conan O'Brien's New York studio and has been accused of stalking the Late Night host for the past 14 months, Manhattan prosecutors said Wednesday.
Authorities say that the Reverend David Ajemian, 46, has been writing his fellow Beantown native threatening postcards, emails and letters written on parish stationery, showing up at his Rockefeller Center studio and contacting O'Brien's parents.
Ajemian is currently in custody pending a court-ordered psychiatric examination and is due back in court Thursday.
(View the criminal complaint.)
"I’m told by some of those officious little usher people that you’re overbooked. Is this the way you treat your most dangerous fans? You owe me big-time pal. I want a public confession before I ever consider giving you absolution—or [I want] a spot on your couch," reads one letter apparently written after Ajemian tried to attend a Late Night taping.
The note, dated Feb. 20, is now in the hands of the Manhattan District Attorney's Office.
Ajemian also refers to himself as O'Brien's "priest stalker," per court documents, and signs his unwelcome communiqués "Padre."
The notes started arriving in September 2006, and continued—in a manner that would cause "annoyance and alarm"—even after he was told to stop, D.A.'s Office spokeswoman Barbara Thompson said.
Coincidentally, that was right around the time O'Brien joined his old Harvard roommate, Father Paul O'Brien, for a dedication ceremony at a new meal center for the homeless in Lawrence, Massachusetts.
"My parents are very Catholic, [but] obviously, over the years, with everything that's going on, you can wonder, 'Okay, what's happening with the Catholic Church?'" O'Brien told the Boston Globe at the time. "But this is an example of the simplest idea, which is treating other people the way you'd like to be treated, and…that to me is the most powerful message of Christianity or really any other religion."
Ajemian also attended Harvard after graduating from high school in 1979, although it's unclear whether he ever crossed paths with O'Brien, who finished college in 1985.
At one point in his "correspondence," Ajemian tells O'Brien that he's been following his career since their Cambridge days.
Meanwhile, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston announced in a statement Wednesday that Ajemian, who was ordained in 2001, has been placed on leave and is no longer allowed to minister to the public.
"The Archdiocese has cooperated and continues to cooperate fully with New York authorities on this matter. Further, during this difficult time, the Archdiocese will offer pastoral support to all parties affected," the statement said.
NBC has said that O'Brien will not be commenting on this matter. Late Night is currently in rerun mode thanks to the current writers strike, which began Monday.
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