A Beverly man allegedly sent 9 threatening letters to OkCupid’s CEO
Some of the letters contained "suspicious substances," including a white powder and what appeared to be a blood stain.
A Beverly man allegedly wrote to the head of the OkCupid dating website, “Welcome to the wonderful world of ANTHRAX,” in one of nine threatening letters — one containing white powder, another what appeared to be a blood stain — mailed to the company’s headquarters in Dallas back in 2017, officials said.Now, the 47-year-old is facing federal charges.Liam MacLeod was arrested Thursday and is charged with mailing threatening communications and conveying false information and hoaxes, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s Massachusetts district. He was scheduled to appear in Boston federal court on Thursday afternoon.All of the messages were addressed to OkCupid’s CEO, authorities said. The first message MacLeod allegedly sent around Sept. 12, 2017, had a handwritten note and white powder inside.According to the release, the note read:
Greetings from Beverly
Ban me will ya
Welcome to the world of ANTHRAX
Expect a package within the next couple of days
It won’t be ticking but it should be interesting!
About two days later, MacLeod allegedly sent another message. This one was typed out and read:
How’d you like what I sent you? Aww, go take a powder. Oh, the things I have in store for you! I can go on like this for years. How long can you last?
Incidentally, my father was an angel: That’s Hell’s
Angel to you. You see, we have some pull. Take for
example your vehicles. We now know who owns
what, and where each of you parks his.
Hmm, think of the possibilities!
The next letter was sent around Sept. 20, 2017, according to the release. Inside was a piece of white paper. The envelope and the paper both had “significant red-brown staining consistent with blood,” authorities said. Another letter, allegedly mailed the next day, said the stain was blood infected with the AIDS virus.Between Oct. 4 and Dec. 21, 2017, MacLeod allegedly sent five more letters and each had a “threatening” message, “suspicious substances,” or both, the release says.“Each of these mailings generated a hazmat response by federal law enforcement in order to rule out the presence of active biological or chemical agents,” according to the release.All were tested and none of the substances were deemed hazardous.
