DOVER, N.H.–A self-proclaimed witch here who had been charged with four felony-level criminal threatening charges, including against a credit union’s attorney, has been found not guilty at Strafford County Superior Court.
As CUToday.info reported earlier, Janet Delfuoco, 52, had been accused of threatening the lives of Manchester attorney Clifford Gallant, who represented Granite State Credit Union, as well as Judge David Anderson and Judge Mark Weaver. The charges were based on a Feb. 5, 2017, Facebook post in which Delfuoco mentioned the men and then wrote, “I will give you the shirt off my back and heal your diseases, but I am also just as capable of killing you off. Don’t ever cross me with corruption and greed.”
The New Hampshire Attorney General’s office had been notified about the post after Jody Ducharme, a marketing manager at Granite State Credit Union, screenshot it and sent it to her executive staff members, the Manchester Union Leader reported. Ducharme had been put in charge of monitoring Delfuoco’s Facebook page after Anderson denied her motion to remove a home equity loan from her property.
Facebook Posts
Delfuoco had made claims in court and in recorded interviews that Granite State Credit Union engaged in predatory lending practices and Ducharme said during testimony Monday that she routinely checked Delfuoco’s Facebook page as part of her job of keeping the credit union’s public image positive, the Union Leader stated.
During closing arguments, Delfuoco, who acted as her own attorney, admitted that in Anderson and Weaver’s courtrooms she was emotional and tried to explain why they might have perceived her as angry, or capable of threatening them, according to the report.
“I cried and I yelled, and I screamed over and over again, and I was bad in those courtrooms because nobody was helping me out,” Delfuoco told the court. She added she was going through family court battles over the custody of her oldest son and the credit union was threatening to foreclose on her home.
‘I Didn’t Go Kill Anybody’
“I didn’t go kill anybody, I didn’t hurt anybody, I didn’t threaten anyone,” Delfuco was quoted by the Union Leader as saying. as she wrapped up her closing arguments. “From the bottom of my heart, I swear to God I was never going to hurt anybody.”
Senior Assistant Attorney General Lisa Wolford told the jury that Delfuoco had “waged a war against these judges and Granite State Credit Union for more than two years,” according to the Union Leader.
Wolford explained that Anderson could not, by law, discharge the home equity loan and ordered Delfuoco’s ex-husband to pay $500 a month for it since it was taken out for his benefit. Wolford described Delfuoco as furious after receiving paperwork dismissing her case, the account states.
‘She Was Furious’
“When she learned Judge Anderson had dismissed her complaint, you better believe she was furious,” Wolford said. “She had an obvious motive to retaliate.”
As CUToday.info reported earlier, Delfuoco claimed during opening statements that she is a witch who believes in karma, not physical aggression.
“That’s not a defense. It’s a scam,” Wolford told the court.
The jury spent less than three hours deliberating after closing arguments before arriving at the not guilty verdict.