Man Found Guilty of Mailing Threatening Letters to New Hampshire Residents From Prison

          CONCORD - Matthew Oliver, 38, formerly of Everett, Massachusetts, was found guilty of two counts of mailing threatening communications, announced United States Attorney Scott W. Murray.

          According to court documents and statements made during a jury trial yesterday, Oliver mailed the threatening communications while incarcerated at the Onondaga County Justice Center in Syracuse, New York in 2017.  In January of 2017, Oliver mailed a letter to a home in New Hampshire that contained a threat to injure the woman who lived in the home.  While still incarcerated at the facility in April of 2017, the defendant mailed another letter to the home that contained a threat to assault the woman’s daughter.

          Oliver is scheduled to be sentenced on February 27, 2020.

          “The verdicts in this case are supported by evidence of horrible threats of violence the defendant directed to two innocent women,” said U.S. Attorney Murray.  “This type of activity must be deterred and I am grateful to the law enforcement agencies who investigated this case for their diligent efforts to bring the defendant to justice.  We take threats of violence very seriously and will not hesitate to prosecute those who use threats of violence to frighten citizens of the Granite State.”

          "There are healthy, lawful avenues for coping with grudges, bitterness and misplaced blame. Terrorizing an innocent family with unsolicited mail espousing the occult, while threatening unspeakable acts of violent retribution, is not one of them," said Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Boston Division. "Threatening letters, whether mailed from prison or a neighborhood post office, will be met with a coordinated response that will ensure people like Matthew Oliver are held accountable for their hateful words."

          The Seabrook New Hampshire Police Department, the Onondaga County Sheriff’s Office, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation investigated the case.  Assistant United States Attorney Robert M. Kinsella is prosecuting the case.