Squire Jonas Hacker is the main antagonist of "A Message from Charity", the second segment of the sixth episode of the first season of The Twilight Zone's 1985-1989 iteration, the episode airing in 1985. Said episode is an adaptation of a short story of the same name, written by William M. Lee in 1967. He is a landowner and religious extremist who lived in colonial Massachusetts in 1700, who would use his prosecution of girls accused of witchcraft as an excuse to molest and rape them.
Squire Jonas Hacker was portrayed by the late Gerald Hiken.
Biography[]
Jonas Hacker was born sometime during the mid to late 1600s in Liverpool, England, although at some point, he moved to colonial Massachusetts, in Annes Town, where he became an influential landowner under the title squire, eventually becoming the town judge. At some point prior to 1700, Hacker murdered two sailors to steal their stash of gold, which they were going to use for business with Hacker. Hacker managed to cover up his murder for many years, claiming the sailors never arrived, although some people heard of the sailor's disappearance. Additionally, as an extremely religious man, Hacker led hunts against woman and girls accused of witchcraft, where he would have the women "inspected" for witch marks by removing their clothes, allowing him to rape them.
In 1700, a teenage Puritan girl from Annes Town, Charity Payne, somehow came into telepathic contact with a teenage boy from 1985, named Peter Wood. Through Peter, Charity learned of the future, such as the Revolutionary War and modern technology, and told her friend, Ursula, about it. However, Ursula, a very superstitious person, reported it to Squire Hacker. Hacker, seeing that there was a sudden spread of illness in the area near Charity's house, an illness she miraculously recovered from, and hearing reports of tainted water and a horribly misshapen sheep born, believed Charity was a witch, assembling his men to confront her. They first found Charity's father, Obadiah, cutting wood, where Hacker demanded to speak with Charity. Obadiah refused, saying that Hacker shall speak with him instead, and Hacker began telling him of the so-called bad omens around, and how Charity stood accused of witchcraft. He ordered Obadiah to bring Charity forth, but when Obadiah refused, Hacker then had his thugs assault Obadiah, which made Charity reveal herself in an attempt to help, allowing the thugs to grab her. Hacker ordered Obadiah to be taken to a doctor, and pulled Charity inside.
Inside the house, alone with Charity, Hacker asked how long she was a witch, asking her what demon she took as a mate, but Charity denied everything. Hacker ordered her not to invoke the name of the Lord, instead telling her that he will search her body for witch marks, ordering Charity to remove her clothes. Charity instead told Hacker about another girl accused of witchcraft, Faith Tanner, who Hacker had searched for witch marks, knowing that Hacker had raped her, demanding to know why Faith was weeping when she left Hacker. Hacker said Faith may have been crying with gratitude, claiming that he merely found Faith innocent, and that his search had to be long and thorough to properly thwart Satan, although Charity was able to see through his lie. Charity then asked if Hacker truly believed in witches, and Hacker reached for Charity's chest, starting to say something about how she could avoid public trial, likely a way to coerce her into sexual activity, but Charity struck him in the head, knocking him over and fleeing. Hacker ran after her, but she got away, Hacker left screaming that he'd see her burned for her crimes.
Knowing that Hacker would soon release his dogs on her, and unwilling to leave her hometown, Charity spoke with Peter, who told her about how Hacker was found posthumously guilty of murdering the two sailors. As such, Charity turned herself in, and was soon taken to public trial by Hacker, where Hacker brought forth a bible and asked Charity if she swore to tell the truth. He then asked if she denied being a witch, and tried to twist her response of "I do" to a confession, but Charity clarified that she was denying being a witch. Hacker then asked Charity if the deformed sheep was the work of Satan or God, and Charity denied knowing the answer. Hacker then brought up the future visions Charity spoke of, to which Charity confirmed, and claimed that she was blessed with a second sight. Hacker demanded to know what evil things she saw, but Charity said it was God who gave her the second sight, but when Hacker asked if she used her powers to spy on her neighbors, Charity then said she saw a murder, surprising the crowd. Charity then began describing seeing two men murdered and buried in a root cellar somewhere in town, with their half-empty bag of gold. Hacker, realizing that she was referring to his own murders and where he hid the bodies, quickly changed his tune and claimed that he saw truth in Charity's words, giving non-witchcraft explanations for the 'bad omens' and declaring Charity innocent, claiming that he was merely testing Charity by calling her powers Satanic. However, he still warned her to be cautious about what she saw or told, managing to write off the vision of the murdered men as a mere possibility, something none of the townsfolk contested.
In 1704, Squire Hacker would die of natural causes, and would be posthumously found guilty of murder. As he could not be hanged, the sentence changed to have his estate stripped from his family and given to the crown, a short summary of his life eventually being written down in an encyclopedia covering the town, which Peter had used to help Charity.
