The Internet has opened up endless possibilities for deranged people. The upside is, law enforcement was able to intervene before something potentially horrific happened.
By Allison Klein
Washington Post Staff Writer
ROANOKE, Va. — A Nevada man pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court to sending threatening e-mails to two Virginia Tech students in which he glorified Seung Hui Cho’s 2007 shooting rampage at the university.
Johnmarlo Balasta Napa, 28, idolized Cho, bought the same weapons Cho used in the shootings and then sent the threatening e-mails on the eve of the first anniversary of the day Cho killed 32 people and then himself, federal agents testified.
Bart McEntire, who worked on the case as a supervisory special agent for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, said after the hearing that agents believe that Napa was planning a school shooting when he was arrested.
The e-mails, sent from seunghuichorevenge@yahoo.com, included photographs of Cho depicted as a hero, parodies of the victims and a picture of Cho holding paper dolls with photos of the faces of the two students along with the people he killed. They also had excerpts of the manifesto Cho sent to a TV network before his shootings.
