OXFORD, Miss. - The investigation into poisoned letters mailed to President Barack Obama and others has shifted from an Elvis impersonator to his longtime foe, and authorities must now figure out whether an online feud between the two men might have escalated into something more sinister.
Paul Kevin Curtis, 45, was released from a north Mississippi jail Tuesday and charges against him were dropped, nearly a week after authorities charged him with sending ricin-laced letters to the president, Republican U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi and an 80-yearold Lee County, Miss., Justice Court judge, Sadie Holland.
What initially appeared to be an odd but relatively straightforward story began to unravel over the course of a federal hearing after an FBI agent testified that investigators had found no physical evidence that tied the letters to Curtis, who was arrested last Wednesday.
Curtis’ lawyer, Christi McCoy, suggested that her client might have been framed. And Tuesday, the charges against Curtis were dropped as the focus turned to Everett Dutschke, 41, a martial-arts instructor and a sometime politician.
Before Curtis left jail, authorities had already descended on the home of Dutschke in Tupelo, a northeast Mississippi town best known as the birthplace of Elvis Presley. On Wednesday, they searched the site of a Tupelo martial-arts studio once operated by Dutschke, who hasn’t been arrested or charged.
His attorney, Lori Nail Basham, said Dutschke is “cooperating fully” with investigators and that no arrest warrant had been issued.
Curtis and Dutschke havea lot in common, though they would probably not like to think of it that way.
Both are musicians, both are interested in martial arts, both have irked friends and associates by their particular way of seeing the world. And in the past week, both have drawn the attention of the authorities in an increasingly bizarre but still-unsolved federal criminal case.
“I have told Kevin, ‘You two are so much alike, you should be friends,’” said Curtis’ former wife, Laura. “It’s very ironic these two men are in this situation. They are basically good men. It’s a nightmare.”
Curtis, who performs as Elvis and other celebrities, describes a years-long feud between the two, but Dutschke insists he had nothing to do with the letters. They contained language identical to that found on Curtis’ Facebook page and other websites, making him an early suspect.
Federal authorities have not said what led them to drop the charges against Curtis, and his lawyers say they’re not sure what new evidence the FBI has found.
After being released from jail Tuesday, Curtis described a long feud with Dutschke, but said he’s not sure what started it. It involves the men’s time working together, a broken promise to help with a book by Curtis and an acrimonious exchange of e-mails, according to Curtis.
The two worked together at Curtis’ brother’s insurance office years ago, Curtis said. Dutschke told him he owned a newspaper, Curtis said, and showed interest in publishing Curtis’ book called Missing Pieces, about what Curtis considers an underground market to sell body parts.
But Dutschke decided not to publish the material, Curtis said, and later began stalking him on the Internet.
For his part, Dutschke said he didn’t even know Curtis that well.
“He almost had my sympathy until I found out that he was trying to blame somebody else,” Dutschke said Monday. “I’ve known he was disturbed for a long time. Last time we had any contact with each other was at some point in 2010 when I threatened to sue him for fraud for posting a Mensa certificate that is a lie. He is not a Mensa member. That certificate is a lie.”
Curtis acknowledges posting a fake Mensa certificate on Facebook, but says it was an online trap set up for Dutschke because he believed Dutschke was stalking him online. He knew Dutschke also claimed to be a member of the organization for people with high IQs.Dutschke had a Mensa e-mail address during his 2007 legislative campaign.
Dutschke started a campaign to prove him a liar, Curtis said, and purportedly harassed him through e-mails and social networking.
Curtis said the two agreed to meet at one point to face off in person, but Dutschke didn’t show up.
“The last e-mail I got from him, was, ‘Come back tomorrow at 7 and the results of you being splattered all over the pavement will be public for the world to see what a blank, blank, blank you are.’ And then at that point, I knew I was dealing with a coward,” Curtis said.
Hal Neilson, one of the attorneys for Curtis, has said the defense gave authorities a list of people who may have had a reason to hurt Curtis, and that Dutschke’s name came up. Efforts to reach Curtis, his lawyers and his brother were unsuccessful Wednesday.
Both men say they have met Wicker, and they each have a connection to Holland.
Authorities say the letters were mailed April 8, but the one sent to Holland was the only one to make it into the hands of an intended target. Her son, Democratic state Rep. Steve Holland of Plantersville, said his mother did a “smell test” of the envelope and a substance in it irritated her nose. The judge was not sickened by what authorities say was a crude form of the poison, which is derived from castor beans.
Sadie Holland has declined to comment on the case.
She was presiding judge in a case in which Curtis was accused of assaulting a Tupelo attorney in 2003. Holland sentenced Curtis to six months in the county jail. He served only part of the sentence, according to his brother.
Running as a Republican, Dutschke lost a lopsided election to Steve Holland in 2007, and observers say the judge publicly chastised Dutschke at a political rally that year.
Brandon Presley, Mississippi’s northern district public service commissioner and a distant cousin of Elvis Presley, attended the 2007 political rally in Verona. He said Wednesday that he remembers Dutschke giving a “militant” speech with personal and professional attacks on Steve Holland.
Presley, also a Democrat, said he doesn’t recall details of the speech - just the tone of it, and the crowd’s reaction.
“I just remember everybody’s jaw dropping,” Presley said. Dutschke, who ran as a Republican, said his speech included sharp criticism of Steve Holland’s record in public office.
Steve Holland said earlier this week that his mother made Dutschke get down on his knees at the 2007 rally and apologize. On Wednesday, he said he was mistaken about her telling Dutschke to kneel.
“She just got up and said, ‘Sir, you will apologize,’” Steve Holland said.
Dutschke said Steve Holland exaggerated the incident. Presley said he remembers Sadie Holland chastising Dutschke.
Presley said of Sadie Holland: “I don’t believe the woman has an enemy in the world . … I don’t know anybody who doesn’t love Ms. Sadie Holland, except whoever this fool is who sent the letter. Whoever it is, they ought to be ashamed of themselves, picking on Ms.Sadie.” Information for this article was contributed by Emily Wagster Pettus, Holbrook Mohr, Jeff Amy and Jay Reeves of The Associated Press; and by Cambell Robertson, Cynthia Howle and Robbie Brown of The New York Times.
Front Section, Pages 1 on 04/25/2013