Cohasset, Massachusetts (AP) — Detective Lt. Gregory Lennon surveyed the unassuming duplex from his patrol car as he awaited the imminent backup. Conducting a routine wellbeing check, a prevalent occurrence in this tranquil coastal town near Boston, Lennon understood the importance of not entering the premises unaccompanied.
As Lennon emerged from the cruiser into the wintry darkness to meet the two officers arriving on the scene, a sense of calm pervaded the surroundings. The lights were on, and the downstairs shades were drawn up.
The date was two days post-Christmas in 2018, a time when Lennon should have been home with his loved ones. However, duty called as he agreed to cover a colleague’s night shift due to an unexpected sick call. With over twenty years of experience in law enforcement, Lennon was accustomed to the challenges posed by staffing shortages.
The night had been uneventful until a concerned mother reached out to the police, requesting a welfare check on her 25-year-old son grappling with mental health issues. While she was away, a neighbor had alerted her to disturbing noises emanating from the residence, coupled with her son’s unresponsiveness to calls.
Upon the officers’ fruitless attempts to elicit a response at the front door, they resorted to entering through an unlocked sliding-glass door.
“Officers from Cohasset,” they announced. “Erich, are you present?”
Their calls were directed at Erich Stelzer, a towering 6-foot, 6-inch bodybuilder known for sharing workout videos online.
It was then that Lennon heard a chilling cry for help that would alter the course of events.
“He’s killing me,” a woman’s voice pierced the air. “Help me, he’s killing me!”
Without hesitation, the officers sprinted to an upstairs bedroom, only to find the door barricaded. Lennon took charge, forcefully breaching the door.
The scene that unraveled before them was nothing short of a nightmare. The walls bore gruesome streaks resembling blood, with Stelzer ensnared in a violent altercation, clutching a woman in a chokehold with a shard of glass poised at her throat. Both individuals were unclothed, and the woman appeared grievously injured, prompting doubts about her survival.
In that harrowing moment, 24-year-old Maegan Ball found herself teetering on the brink of death. Having met Stelzer on a dating app, she now faced his delusions, convinced that she embodied evil and was responsible for the deaths of his mother and sister, marking her as the next victim.
Stelzer’s relentless assault had left Ball battered and mutilated, with fractures marring her face, attempts to impale her with a wooden stake, and vicious stabbings with assorted weapons. As Lennon beheld the ghastly sight, the urgency of the situation dawned on him—a potential murder in progress.
The prospect of resorting to lethal force loomed ominously as Lennon grappled with the unfolding crisis.
Maintaining her tenuous grip on consciousness, Ball heard a faint directive: “Crawl to me.”
Summoning her dwindling strength, Ball managed to evade Stelzer’s grasp, guided solely by the distant voice urging her on.
“Keep crawling,” Lennon’s voice resonated. He kept his firearm trained on Stelzer, who, in a frenzied state, proclaimed himself to be a deity. Meanwhile, the other officers secured their Tasers, prepared for a decisive intervention.
As Stelzer advanced menacingly towards the officers, Tasers were deployed in rapid succession, incapacitating him momentarily as he writhed in agony on the floor, dislodging the embedded darts. Even in his subdued state, Stelzer remained a formidable threat.
Seizing a fleeting opportunity, Lennon managed to restrain Stelzer, albeit with his hands positioned in front—a makeshift measure under the circumstances. Despite the collective efforts of the officers and medics to resuscitate Stelzer, their endeavors proved futile.
Stelzer’s demise ensued following a sequence of events where law enforcement endeavored to subdue him using non-lethal methods, underscoring their commitment to preserving life even in the face of extreme peril.
Beyond the officers’ valiant efforts, Stelzer’s family had also grappled with his downward spiral. Plagued by substance abuse and mental health issues, Stelzer’s descent into chaos culminated in a tragic confrontation that claimed his life.
Reflecting on the tumultuous night, Lennon acknowledged the profound impact of being entangled in a life-and-death struggle, emphasizing the complexity of such harrowing encounters.