By Tim Binnall
Records for the town where the infamous Conjuring House is located reportedly now list "Ghost Hunters" star Jason Hawes as the new owner of the highly coveted residence. The change, which went into effect on June 15th, is the latest development in a months-long saga surrounding the purportedly haunted location in the community of Burrillville. Last October, the residence was set to be auctioned on Halloween and, in the weeks leading up to the scheduled sale, Hawes launched a crowdfunding effort to buy the home. However, the auction was subsequently cancelled when the underlying mortgage was purchased by content creator Elton Castee, leaving ownership of the house in limbo as the deed remained in the hands of then-owner Jacqueline Nuñez.
The rather convoluted case became all the more complex and contentious in December when Nuñez's sister, Elizabeth Greenhalgh, filed a lawsuit which revealed that Hawes had already made a deal to buy the home. Seeking to thwart the sale, the legal effort argued that Nuñez was "legally incompetent" when she made the agreement. The lawsuit was subsequently dismissed this past April, clearing the way for the "Ghost Hunters" star to file the deed with the community of Burrillville last month. While Hawes is now officially listed in town records as the owner of the Conjuring House, there remains one sticking point preventing the sale from being completed.
In possession of the funds necessary to pay off the mortgage on the home, he indicated that a still-pending lawsuit between Needham Bank and Castee's company, Summit & Stone LLC, over who owns that debt has held up the purchase being finalized. "We still have not been told who to pay," Hawes explained, "and we've requested the payoff amount every week. We just want to close on this house." That matter will presumably be settled when the lawsuit over the mortgage is finally adjudicated in the near future. At that point, Hawes will be able to close the sale and, at long last, the strange saga surrounding the Conjuring House ownership will, one hopes, finally come to an end.