Conspiracy sites inspired woman who threatened father of Sandy Hook victim, US prosecutors say

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Lucy Richards leaves the federal courthouse in Fort Lauderdale, Florida on Monday. She is accused of threatening the father of a boy killed in the Sandy Hook school shooting, in Newtown, Connecticut,. Photo: AP

Published: 3:24pm, 20 Dec 2016Updated: 9:37pm, 20 Dec 2016

A woman accused of sending death threats to the father of a boy killed in the Sandy Hook school massacre told investigators she was motivated by anger after browsing websites that promote false conspiracy theories, prosecutors said.

At a hearing Monday in federal court in Fort Lauderdale, Lucy Richards, 57, of Brandon, pleaded not guilty to four charges of sending threats.

The former waitress, who said she has been unemployed since 2004, spoke in a soft voice and told the judge she is receiving Social Security disability assistance.

Norma Macchia and her husband Steven Macchia kneel with their children Steven, age 7, and Nicole, age 3, while lighting candles at a memorial for those killed in the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Sandy Hook, Connecticut, in December 2012. Photo: Reuters

Richards was arrested December 7 in the Tampa Bay area where she lives. She was charged with four federal felony counts of transmitting threats to Lenny Pozner, the father of 6-year-old Noah Pozner, who died in the 2012 mass shooting in Newtown, Conn. Pozner now lives in Palm Beach County.

After her arrest, Richards told agents she had been “looking at these sites about government hoaxes” and “got angry,” prompting her to send disturbing messages to one of the shooting victims’ parents, prosecutor Karen Gilbert told the judge.

Richards left three threatening voicemails for Pozner and sent him one emailed message, according to the filed charges.

A undated file identification photo shows Adam Lanza, who opened fire inside the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, on December 14, 2012. Photo: AP

“You gonna die, death is coming to you real soon,” was one of the voicemail messages left, according to prosecutors. And prosecutors said the emailed message included the words: “Look behind you it is death.”