Conn. man drowned mother to ‘keep the demons away': police report

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A New Milford man drove with his mother to Harrybrooke Park Monday morning with the intent of drowning her, according to police.

Eric Meagan, 34, told investigators he did it to "keep the demons away," according to a police incident report.

Police responded to the park around 8:20 a.m. Monday after Meagan called 911 to report the alleged crime.

Arriving officers found Megan's mother, 56-year-old Victoria Palmer, submerged in the Still River. An officer performed CPR on Palmer, but she was later pronounced dead at the hospital.

He told investigators that when they walked down by the river, he grabbed her and held her under water until she stopped moving, according to the incident report.

Meagan remained at the scene and was taken into custody. He was taken to the hospital for evaluation and was later cleared to be taken back to the New Milford Police Department.

During an interview with detectives, Meagan said demons don't speak to him but that he feels them touching and hurting him, according to the police incident report. He told the detectives he was sacrificing his mother to make the demons stop.

When asked why he chose his mother to kill, he replied "because I love her the most," according to the incident report.

Investigators said he told them he didn't think what he did was wrong because he felt his mother loved him so much that she would have been willing to sacrifice herself to "save him."

Meagan's father told police his son began talking about demons being after him two or three years ago. He told officers Meagan had been seeing a therapist virtually for about a month.

Meagan faced a judge in Torrington Superior Court Tuesday on a murder charge. The judge ordered him held on $2 million bond and ordered him to have no contact with his father or two sisters.

He is due back in court July 11.

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