Relatives of Wilmington courthouse shooter indicted
Three relatives of the man who killed two women at a Wilmington courthouse before fatally shooting himself earlier this year have been indicted on stalking charges.
The indictment against David T. Matusiewicz; his mother, Lenore Matusiewicz; and his sister, Amy Gonzalez, was filed in federal court in Delaware on Tuesday and was unsealed today.
They are facing charges of conspiracy, cyber stalking and interstate stalking.
David Matusiewicz is the son of Thomas Matusiewicz, who authorities say gunned down his former daughter-in-law, Christine Belford, and her friend, Laura Mulford, at the New Castle County Courthouse in February as a result of a long-running child-custody dispute.
Belford and David Matusiewicz had been married for five years. The couple had three children and were fighting over their custody.
The indictment says the trio, along with Thomas Matusiewicz, waged "a multi-pronged campaign designed to surveil and disseminate false and defamatory information" about Belford and her children.
They aimed to place Belford "under surveillance with intent to kill and injure and harass and intimidate," according to the indictment.
David Matusiewicz is slated to be released from federal custody next week. He was accused of violating his probation on fraud and kidnapping charges that stemmed from the 2007 abduction of his and Belford's three daughters. He and Lenore Matusiewicz were apprehended in Nicaragua in 2009.
The campaign to smear Belford began after the children were returned to her and criminal proceedings began against David and Lenore Matusiewicz, the indictment says.
They falsely accused her of physically abusing, sexually abusing and neglecting the girls, the indictment says, using YouTube, Facebook, email and other Internet sites. They also claimed she poisoned Lenore Matusiewicz and threatened to sell the children for money.
Twelve days after David Matusiewicz's December 2009 sentencing on the kidnapping charges, her wrote his sister a letter directing her to make complaints "anonymously and repeatedly" to the state's department of youth and family services, according to the indictment.
"I'm done playing Mr. Nice Guy," the letter says.
Also in December 2009, the indictment says, Lenore Matusiewicz created a website to spread the false abuse allegations.
The indictment also details YouTube accounts set up to spread the claims and letters sent to church officials and schools with the allegations.
They also worked with others to monitor Belford, her profiles on social media and real-estate listings for her home throughout 2011 and 2012, according to the indictment.