Priest Arrested For Stalking Conan O'Brien

NOVEMBER 8--A Boston Catholic priest was arrested last week for stalking Conan O'Brien over a 14-month-period. According to New York police, Rev. David Ajemian, 46, was nabbed November 2 outside the NBC studios in Rockefeller Center as he tried to enter the building for a taping of O'Brien's late-night talk show.

A criminal complaint filed against Ajemian charges that the priest sent O'Brien threatening notes written on his parish's letterhead and contacted the parents of the 44-year-old comedian, who grew up in Brookline, a Boston suburb. In his notes to O'Brien, Ajemian allegedly referred to himself as 'your priest stalker,' and when he was denied entry to a taping, Ajemian wrote, 'Is this the way you treat your most dangerous fans?'

In his bizarre letters, Ajemian refers to John McEnroe as his 'childhood nemesis,' claiming that the tennis star once assaulted him while they were seventh grade classmates at a Manhattan private school. Ajemian added that he 'once went after' McEnroe and was 'still waiting for his confession as well.'

Ajemian, who is facing aggravated stalking and harassment counts, allegedly began contacting O'Brien last September. Using the screen name Padre009, he posted hundreds of messages on an NBC board devoted to O'Brien's show, including one in which he apparently acknowledged mailing a letter to the star's New York home last October (the missive contained Ajemian's World Series pick).

Ajemian is currently being held on Rikers Island and, if convicted of the misdemeanor charges, faces up to a year in jail. (3 pages)