The woman who blamed her husband for sending ricin-laced letters to President Obama and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has been charged with sending them herself.

Texas woman arrested in ricin letters to Obama, Bloomberg: Officials

NBC News

 

In a new twist, the woman who blamed her husband for sending ricin-laced letters to President Obama and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg was charged Friday with sending the letters herself. NBC's Ann Curry reports.

By Pete Williams and Matthew DeLuca, NBC News

A Texas woman has been arrested in connection with the mailing of three letters containing a form of the poison ricin to President Obama, New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg and the director of Mayors Against Illegal Guns, federal authorities said. Shannon Rogers Guess Richardson of New Boston, Texas, originally called the Federal Bureau of Investigation claiming that her husband had sent the letters, officials said. The investigators found that she had sent the letters herself, they said. Richardson is an actress with minor roles on television shows like The Walking Dead and the Vampire Diaries, and was arrested in Arkansas on charges that will be filed Friday afternoon, the authorities said. She has five sons, according to the New York Times.   Her husband, Nathaniel Richardson, is an Army veteran Investigators have been probing who sent the three letters, all postmarked May 20 from Shreveport, La. and sent without a return address, authorities have said.

Authorities are still investigating the three ricin-laced letters sent to Michael Bloomberg, President Obama, and a lobbyist, but Texas-based actress Shannon Rogers Guess has said her Army veteran husband Nathanial Richardson is behind the letters. NBC's Stephanie Gosk reports.  

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Texas actress first accuses husband, but she's arrested in ricin case

By Michael Martinez. Susan Candiotti and Carol Cratty, CNN

updated 7:54 PM EDT, Fri June 7, 2013

A Texas actress, Shannon Rogers Richardson, also known as Shannon Rogers Guess, has been arrested in connection with allegedly ricin-tainted letters that were mailed last month to President Barack Obama and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a federal law enforcement source said on Friday, June 7.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Shannon Richardson, 35, initially told FBI her husband sent ricin-tainted letters
• But she failed polygraph, and husband said she wanted to end marriage, FBI says
• Before her arrest, she allegedly admits to mailing letters, but says husband forced her
• Her husband files for divorce; she's also pregnant, divorce lawsuit says

(CNN) -- A Texas actress in a troubled marriage was arrested and charged Friday in connection with ricin-tainted letters that were mailed last month to President Barack Obama and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, authorities said. Shannon Richardson, 35, also known as Shannon Rogers and Shannon Guess, initially told the FBI that her husband, Nathaniel, sent the ricin-laced letters, but a polygraph exam found her to be "deceptive" on the matter, court papers said. Investigators found that her computer storage devices contained the text of threatening letters sent to the president, but the couple's computer records show her husband couldn't have printed them out because he was at work at the time, an FBI arrest affidavit said. On Thursday, Shannon Richardson told investigators she mailed the ricin-tainted letters, but she claimed that her husband typed the letters and forced her to print and mail them, the affidavit said. Her husband denied involvement and claimed his wife wanted to end their marriage and leave him, the affidavit said. He told investigators that his wife was "intentionally misleading" them, the court papers said. Shannon Richardson is accused of mailing a threatening communication to the president and faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted, according to a statement from U.S. Attorney John M. Bales' office in Texas.   Read Full Article and Watch Videos Here

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