A father from San Francisco, California is suspected to have taken the life of his son as well as his own because of his “cult-like” beliefs about vaccinations. The man was reportedly in the middle of a heated custody battle with his ex-wife and would often have disputes over their son getting vaccinated, but before the trial could even begin, the bodies of the father and son were found in his apartment.
Stephen O’Loughlin, a 49-year-old man from California had staunchly opposed to his son, Pierce O’Loughlin, getting vaccinated. The subject of Pierce’s vaccines would often lead to rows between Stephen and his ex-wife, Lesley Hu, who eventually dragged Stephen into a legal battle over their son’s healthcare and vaccinations.
Lesley’s lawyer revealed that Stephen, who used to work as the vice president of an investment firm, would often fall for conspiracy theories, and he believed that governments would use vaccines to deviously control the minds of people. In the events that led up to the murder-suicide, Stephen reportedly thought the coronavirus vaccine was also the government’s mind-control device.
Years after they divorced in 2016, the ex-wife dragged Stephen into a legal battle over Pierce’s health care and hoped she would get sole custody of their son. Lesley called Stephan an “anti-vaxxer” in court filings and revealed that his “stance on vaccinations has taken on a cult-like tone,”. The court filings also said that Stephen was convinced the “government was out to get us and was trying to mind-control us.”
Apart from his staunch beliefs about vaccinations, Stephen also grew preoccupied with Pierce’s health; his obsession would make him videotape the child’s breathing “to document a stuffy nose,” Lesley told the court.
Following a number of arguments over Pierce’s vaccinations, it was reported that Stephen eventually agreed to start vaccinations for Pierce. However, one day after agreeing to it, when Pierce had not shown up at school, Lesley had requested the police department to conduct a welfare check, and this is when the officers made the heart-wrenching discovery.
The father’s body was found in their San Francisco apartment, along with that of his little boy.
Although they had disputes regarding their son’s health care, Lesley’s lawyer believes that Stephen committed the grave crime because of his own mental health and because he wanted to exert control over his ex-wife.
“I think it is undeniable that Pierce’s father suffered from untreated mental illness, which resulted in his taking the life of his son and his own life,” the lawyer, Lorie Nachlis said in a statement. “I believe that he did this horrid act in order to exercise the ultimate control over Lesley.”
“Yes, the parents disagreed about vaccinations, but they disagreed about other issues affecting the child’s well-being,” the lawyer went on to say. “In fact, they disagreed about whether Pierce was a healthy child or a sick child. Was his stuffy nose a product of allergies or something bigger? Pierce wasn’t killed because of a disagreement over a stuffy nose and he wasn’t killed because of a disagreement regarding vaccinations. He was killed for much more complex reasons.”