Woman accused of sending threats
A federal complaint says the woman was obsessed with a Cincinnati judge.
CINCINNATI (AP) -- A woman who has been charged with sending threatening letters to a federal judge had been visited by U.S. marshals several times and had been warned to stop her stream of inappropriate communications, according to a complaint filed in U.S. District Court.
Courtney Ann McFinley, 43, of Cincinnati, is being held pending a psychiatric evaluation because her most recent letter to U.S. District Court Judge Susan Dlott "crossed the line," a U.S. marshal said.
Newspaper photos of U.S. District Judge Joan Lefkow and her husband were in an envelope received Friday, according to the complaint. Lefkow found her husband and mother shot execution-style at their Chicago home Feb. 28. There have been no arrests in that case.
James Wahlrab, the U.S. marshal for the Southern District of Ohio, said Tuesday that McFinley had been sending inappropriate correspondence to judges and other public figures throughout Ohio but the most recent letter reached a new level.
At a hearing Monday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Timothy Hogan said McFinley previously was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, and he ordered her to undergo a psychiatric exam. That is supposed to be done within 60 days but it often takes longer, said Kelly Johnson, McFinley's attorney.
He said his client was distraught and he did not believe she intended to hurt Dlott.
"It became pretty evident during her hearing that she had some mental health problems," Johnson said.
If convicted of mailing threatening communications to a federal judge, McFinley could be sentenced to as many as 10 years in prison.
The federal complaint said that during 2002 and into 2003 McFinley sent Dlott "letters of admiration that soon developed into an obsession, or an infatuation with the well being of Judge Dlott."
The letters became toned with anger during 2003, and in early 2004, letters were received that contained threats of harm directed toward Dlott, the complaint said.
William Hunt, the 1st Assistant U.S. attorney for Southern Ohio, said there was no known connection between Dlott and McFinley, and that McFinley had never been involved in a case before Dlott.
The arrest
McFinley was arrested Friday after security personnel at the federal courthouse noticed a vague, expletive-laden threat scrawled across the bottom of an envelope addressed to Dlott. The envelope was signed "McFinley" and was written in the same handwriting as previous letters to Dlott and other officials.
"She's had our attention for a number of years," said Jack Hildebrand, spokesman for the U.S. Marshals Service. "With this letter, she crossed the line."
Hildebrand said McFinley has written at least 120 letters to Dlott and other judges.
"Most were inappropriate as opposed to truly threatening," Hildebrand said.
Dlott did not return calls seeking comment Tuesday.
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