Liam MacLeod, Threatening Letters and White Powder, Massachusetts 2017

A Beverly man has been arrested and charged with sending threatening letters and white powder to the CEO of OkCupid.com, a popular online dating website.

Liam MacLeod, 47, was taken into custody today and is scheduled to appear in federal court in Boston at 3:30 p.m. He faces a charge of mailing threatening communications and conveying false information and hoaxes, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Between September and December 2017, OkCupid’s corporate headquarters in Dallas, Texas, received nine mailings containing either threatening communications and/or suspicious substances. All of the mailings were addressed to OkCupid’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

The investigation, led by the FBI’s Boston Joint Terrorism Task Force with assistance from the Beverly Police Department, uncovered a trail of threatening letters and white powder sent by MacLeod to the OkCupid CEO. The letters were laced with vivid language, including a handwritten note that threatened to send a package containing anthrax and another that included a message about the CEO’s personal life.

According to the complaint, the red-brown staining on the envelopes and their contents, a single piece of white paper, were consistent with blood. MacLeod also claimed that the blood was infected with the AIDS virus. However, laboratory testing later confirmed that the substances contained in the envelopes did not contain hazardous materials.

The investigation was conducted in cooperation with OkCupid and its parent company, which provided full assistance to the authorities. Assistant United States Attorney Jason A. Casey of Lelling’s National Security Unit is prosecuting the case.

MacLeod is presumed innocent until proven guilty. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000.

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