The star of the hit paranormal TV series “Ghost Hunters” claims that the woman who owns the infamous home that was the inspiration for “The Conjuring” has been harassing him for weeks, making bizarre accusations that she is part of a plot to kill him.
Jason Hawes filed a complaint against Jacqueline Nunez with the West Greenwich, Rhode Island Police Department last week, alleging that he had recently received multiple threatening messages from his landlord. WPRI reports.
“Some of these text messages were extremely nasty,” Hawes told the outlet. “She was claiming that I was plotting to assassinate her.”
“I wanted to report this to the police to protect myself and my family,” he added.
Nunez owns the legendary Burrillville Farmhouse, also known as the Old Arnold Estate. The 19th-century farmhouse is the inspiration for the 2013 horror film “The Conjuring,” and has a dark history of murder, rape and suicide. It is said to be haunted by the ghost of Bathsheba Sherman, who lived there in the 1800s.
Hawes, whose daughter worked at the spooky house for about two years, said Nunez had messaged him last month, claiming he had been trespassing on the property.
According to a police report obtained by the outlet, Nunez posted surveillance camera footage from his home on social media that showed what appeared to be a man leaving the property in a truck.
She wrote that the man “looked like Jason Hawes!”, but Hawes says he proved it wasn’t him. He then began receiving threatening messages from her.
“You will one day be charged with slander and multiple attempted murder charges against me,” the message to Hawes read.
“I hear you are aware of the assassination attempt against me,” she texted him, according to the police report. “I will not let myself be defeated or destroyed by anybody. [expletive] Paranormal figures exist now and always will exist in the future.”
Nunez told WPRI on Friday that he would not comment until he filed charges with federal authorities to investigate “the evidence of hate crimes and abuse against me and ‘The Conjuring.'”
She said she has already filed complaints with Burrillville officials, the Rhode Island Attorney General’s Office and other state and federal agencies. She has not yet received confirmation that her complaint is under investigation.
Nunez, a Boston real estate developer, purchased the spooky wooden house in 2022 for $1.52 million, 27% above the asking price. Nunez was one of more than 10 offers on the property and one of the potential buyers interviewed by the sellers, who made several promises, including that the buyer would not live in the house for their own safety.
“This is a very personal purchase for me,” Nunez said after the purchase. “When this property came on the market, I thought, ‘This is a property where you can talk to the dead.'”
Last month, Brian Dansereau, a former employee at the facility, filed a lawsuit against the state of Rhode Island seeking $9,000 in unpaid wages.
Dansereau was abruptly fired earlier this year after Nunez claimed the ghost of the home’s 19th century owner, John Arnold, had been stealing from it.
“It doesn’t matter whether I believe in the paranormal or not,” Nunez said in a statement last month. “I, and every person, have the right to experiences that bring understanding and meaning to their lives, including being informed and warned about evil actors and deeds.”
Like Hawes, Danselot also claims that Nunez has harassed her online and through text messages.
“I hope you are ruined, arrested and indicted for the rest of your life,” Nunez said in the statement, reviewed by WPRI.
In a separate case last year, former employee Cody Desbian and Hawes’ daughter, Santori Hawes, also alleged they lost thousands of dollars’ worth of personal belongings when a fire broke out in a barn on the property in December.
The couple said Nunez initially offered to give them a refund but then refused.
“Deep down, I knew I wasn’t going to get the money,” Santori Hawes said.
