Let the Devil In: Who was Thomas Sullivan Jr. and what happened to him? Disturbing details from the true crime docuseries, explored

Let the Devil In takes us straight into one of New Jersey's most haunting true crime cases in the world.

At the middle of it all is 14-year-old Thomas "Tommy" Sullivan Jr., who took his own life in January 1988. He killed his mother, Betty Ann, set the family home on fire, and then slit his own throat. But what made him do all this?

The MGM+ docuseries tries to unravel the teenager's motivations.

Keep reading to know more.

A small-town tragedy that shocked Jefferson Township

Jefferson Township, Morris County, was the kind of quiet place where nothing like this was expected. Yet on one winter night, that calm was disturbed. Thomas Sullivan Jr., a Boy Scout and student at Rev. George A. Brown Memorial School, turned a family dispute into unthinkable horror.

According to prosecutors at the time, an argument with his mother about his growing obsession with Satanism spiraled out of control. He stabbed his mother, set books and newspapers ablaze inside their home, and ran into a neighbor's yard, where he slit his throat.

Betty Ann's husband, Thomas Sr., and their younger son Brian, only 10 at the time, survived the violent night after a smoke alarm woke them. They discovered Betty Ann's body before escaping the fire. Police also recovered a note filled with cult-like symbols, suggesting Tommy had been planning his death.

Local pastor Rev. John Fitzpatrick later said, "everybody here is just stunned," when asked by reporters about the crime. Even those who saw Tommy at church hours before described him as appearing completely normal.

Let the Devil In follows the story of a boy who earned good grades in school, delivered newspapers in the local community, and had no history of previous violence.

The grip of Satanic Panic in the 1980s

To understand why this story became the face of the news, you have to look at the bigger picture. The late 1980s were the peak of what came to be called the era of "Satanic Panic."

All across the US, parents feared that heavy metal music, horror movies, and even role-playing games (like Dungeons & Dragons) were stairways to The Devil & the gates of hell. For authorities, Tommy's case looked like a tragic example of those fears realized.

Headlines from that time read like something out of pulp horror: "Satanist Teen Uses Scout Knife to Kill Mother." News reports drew the picture of a teenager who was being eaten away by darker demonic forces.

Investigators confirmed they found occult books kept in a 'ritual-like circle' at the crime scene. Morris County prosecutor Lee Trumbull even told reporters;

"We believe the fire was set by the boy to cover up the murder of his mother and to kill his father and younger brother."

But not everyone agreed this was about the devil. Some pointed to possible mental illness or hidden struggles. Director Eli Roth, who brings the case back into the spotlight with Let the Devil In, told NBC New York,

"When you read his journals, you go, was this mental illness? Was this some kind of abuse going on? Nobody really knows."

His words remind viewers that, beyond the sensational headlines, there was still a boy whose inner battles remain a mystery.

Revisiting the Sullivan case through Let the Devil In

More than 37 years later, Eli Roth and Danielle Franco take audiences back into Jefferson Township to explore the tragedy in depth.

The MGM+ docuseries Let the Devil In, based on Branden Morgan's 2021 podcast The Devil Within, goes beyond just newspaper headlines. It also includes interviews with the police officers, teachers, neighbors, and even members from in and around that area, and as people who lived through the shock of that January night.

"What happens when you invite darkness into your mind?" Roth asks in the trailer, and it soon turns into a line that sets the tone. With its four-episode season, the series depicts what happened inside the Sullivan home, but also questions why exactly it happened.

Let the Devil In does not simply put a pin on Tommy's actions as a clue for Satanism; it also looks at possible factors, such as fear, misunderstanding, and mental illness.

The docu-series highlights how quickly people labeled Tommy as "The Satanist boy," even though he had been a good student. By going back to the story decades later, Let the Devil In forces the audience to confront how fear shaped the story of a 14-year-old's tragic fall.

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