Murder is one of those things we hear about and see on television more than it really happens. By the time most of us reach the age of 18, we will have seen over 40,000 murders on late night TV according to Nielson statistics. And yet the claim of this man is terrifying enough to make those murders look more or less “normal.” Can the supernatural have such an effect on the human psyche?
When Calwyn Fearon was overwhelmed by the angry jeers he heard on a regular basis, he succumbed to their demands and murdered his girlfriend in cold blood as she slept with a .25 caliber handgun. With the voices temporarily stopped, he then got in her jaguar and blacked out. Police discovered him driving around through Hartford Massachusetts. When police found him, he confessed that a ghost had been commanding him to kill.
Though Calwyn Fearon was likely insane, the idea that a ghost could possess someone to kill another human being is clearly terrifying. And though paranormal investigation doesn’t generally accept that ghosts can affect the world around them in such significant ways, if we take a look at the elements of this case it raises a disturbing question: whether or not a ghost was involved in this case, is it possible for some paranormal force to do exactly what Fearon claims happened?
First, let’s take a look at motivation: If there truly are both good and evil ghosts out in the world, then the evil ones are defined by their desire to cause misfortune to befall others. Just as an evil individual in life would wish to harm another person, these entities might find some enjoyment from causing others to do evil. If such an entity existed, it would likely find a mentally unstable person to “haunt.”
Second, is it feasible that an entity could constantly be “in someone else’s head?” This part is more speculative than the first. Assuming an entity can communicate with a living person, then it is possible they could give them strong indications or impulses. Could this drive a mentally healthy person to kill? Likely not. But what if that individual is mentally unstable? Such a person may unable to put themselves in anything but a receptive state. As a result, the entity may have free reign to invade a person’s thoughts.
Third, what sort of ghost would it have been? If a ghost were to contribute in a scenario such as this one, what kind would it be? If the thoughts were localized or appearing only in one place (such as the killer’s home) it could be a localized haunting. Or it could be a more “personal demon” following the killer wherever he went.
The final question would have to be, how much of this was simply mental instability and how much was paranormal in nature? It may not have been paranormal at all. Still, it’s interesting that someone would suggest the messages came from a ghost even if one was not present. Fearon was certainly haunted by something, but it may not have been paranormal. But until we understand the phenomenon more closely, we may never truly be able to tell.