Massachusetts
Notorious husband and wife ‘professional tenants' strike again
It appears Russell and Linda Callahan are at it again.
The couple’s 20-year pattern of behavior was the focus of an NBC10 investigation last year. We documented how the “professional tenants” scammed small property owners in Worcester County and lived in homes without paying rent.
In the wake of our reporting, authorities charged the Callahans with several felonies, which are pending in Westborough District Court.
When we last caught up to the couple in February, they were being evicted from a large complex after racking up more than $12,000 in unpaid rent, according to housing court records.
The question was: Where would the Callahans land next?
We now have that answer.
Earlier this month, a property owner in Worcester, Jimmy, rented his newly constructed duplex to the couple. Jimmy did not want to use his full name because of his job and embarrassment about not doing more due diligence prior to signing the lease.
“I gave them the keys. I trusted them,” Jimmy said. “They looked professional.”
The Callahans are professionals, just not the type that Jimmy had hoped for as tenants.
Our investigation found they have been evicted more than 20 times in Massachusetts and Florida, with unpaid rent judgments surpassing well over $100,000.
Russell and Linda Callahan have an extensive record of evictions.
Victims we spoke with include a single mom, a couple saving to have their first child, and a veteran who was overseas on his first deployment with the Navy.
Our investigation also found the legal system repeatedly brushed aside the alleged crimes as “housing court matters.”
Jimmy said the Callahans told him they were in the process of buying a new house. Instead of running a background check that could affect their credit score, they asked if their mortgage broker could send Jimmy their financial records.
The documents arrived via secure message and Jimmy said they appeared to be legit.
“Everything looked really good,” Jimmy said. “Great background check. Great credit history. There was pretty substantial income between both of them.”
However, like other landlords we interviewed, Jimmy would later learn the documents were fake.
By the time the Callahans were already inside the Worcester property, nearly $10,000 in rental checks bounced.
After repeated excuses about why the funds weren’t available, Jimmy said he got suspicious and decided to Google the Callahans. He was horrified to see a slew of NBC10 headlines about the “professional tenants.”
“I could not believe what had happened,” Jimmy said.
After speaking with Jimmy, the NBC10 Investigators checked out the property and saw Linda Callahan behind the wheel of a moving van.
NBC10 Boston
NBC10 Boston Linda Callahan outside a moving van in Worcester, Massachusetts.
Even though Jimmy said the couple had told him they would move out when he threatened to go to the police, we watched as Linda made herself at home, directing her adult son where to put the furniture.
Jimmy eventually went to the police to file a report. The case has been assigned to a detective who is investigating to see if criminal charges should be pursued, according to a Worcester police spokesperson.
New charges could have a potential impact on the Callahans’ pending case in Westborough District Court. Their next scheduled hearing is slated for June.
The Callahans did not respond to our questions about their new address when we approached them outside of court.
NBC10 Boston
NBC10 Boston Russell and Linda Callahan outside of court.
For now, Jimmy knows he is at the mercy of the housing court system in Massachusetts. He is in the process of filing an eviction, but knows that process can drag out for months.
The landlord said he has offered to pay for their move and get them housing for a week, just to get them out of his property.
“They keep promising they will move out,” Jimmy said. “It doesn’t look like they are going anywhere.”
Yankee Candle is a staple in the Bay State, famous for its colorful jars full of fragrance and warm light.
And while its candles can essentially be bought from anywhere, the mothership of the iconic candles lies in South Deerfield at Yankee Candle Village.
The flagship store, known for its ginormous collection of Yankee Candle scents and retail goods, is a winter holiday destination for those in New England.
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Leading up to Christmas, the store turns into a complete holiday stop.
Now on prominent display are the brand’s many different winter scents, including such classics as Red Apple Wreath and Balsam & Cedar, and such holiday scents as Christmas Cookie and North Pole Greetings.
Bavarian Christmas Village, arguably the most festive room in Yankee Candle Village, is Christmas all year. Guests will stroll through an enchanted forest featuring a 25-foot-tall Christmas tree, nutcrackers, winter village displays and even indoor snow that falls every 4 minutes.
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But scattered throughout the flagship store are hints of Christmas and a winter wonderland — from the home section filled with holiday kitchen decor to the Toy Shop filled with jolly trinkets.
Santa even pays a visit to the Yankee Candle Village, hosting a storytime with kids every Monday through Thursday at 11:30 a.m.
And if the shopping and holiday joy become overwhelming, the store even has cafes that offer a bite to eat. Guests can also indulge in sweet treats in its candy store or try freshly made fudge.
Yankee Candle Village is located at 25 Greenfield Road in South Deerfield. It is open daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
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It swims in the family.
A mother and calf wandered off the beaten path and got stranded in a Massachusetts marsh, forcing an emergency mammal rescue crew to save the wayward dolphin pair.
On Dec. 8, the Wareham Department of Natural Resources responded to a report of two stranded dolphins in the area of Beaverdam Creek off of the Weweantic River, a 17-mile tributary that drains into Buzzards Bay, which directly connects to the Atlantic Ocean.
When crews arrived, two common dolphins were located alive and active, but partially out of the water stranded in the marsh, according to the Wareham Department of Natural Resources.
Responding authorities alerted the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) Marine Mammal Stranding Response Team, based in Cape Cod.
IFAW team members put the dolphins on stretchers and brought them to safety, where they conducted preliminary tests on the wayward dolphins.
“Our teams were easily able to extract the animals and transport them via our custom-built rescue vehicle,” Stacey Hedman, senior director of communications for IFAW, said.
The dolphins were weighed; the smaller of the two weighed approximately 90 lbs, and the larger mammal around 150 lbs.
Upon further analysis, it was revealed that the dolphins were an adult female and a socially-dependent juvenile female, a mother and calf pair.
According to Hedman, IFAW had some concerns over the mother’s decreased responsiveness and abnormal blood work, though it was deemed the pair was healthy enough to release back into the ocean at West Dennis Beach in Dennis, Mass.
“By releasing them into an area with many other dolphins around, this would hopefully increase their chances of socialization and survival. Both animals have satellite tags that are still successfully tracking,” Hedman said.
A 19-year-old Massachusetts man was seriously injured after he was thrown from a moving vehicle he had grabbed onto during a domestic dispute Thursday morning.
Duxbury police said they responded to a report of an injured male who might have been struck by a vehicle on Chandler Street around 5:22 a.m. and found a 19-year-old Pembroke man lying in the roadway with serious injuries.
Through interviews with witnesses, officers learned that the man had gone to his ex-girlfriend’s residence on Chandler Street to confront her current boyfriend. An altercation ensued, during which police said the 19-year-old appears to have jumped on the hood of a vehicle and was then thrown from the moving vehicle.
The incident remains under investigation, police said. At this time, they said no charges have been filed.
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