Kitchener, Ont. — A 26-year-old man in this southwestern Ontario city has been charged after allegedly e-mailing a death threat to pop star Michael Jackson.
Waterloo regional police said Friday they were notified of the e-mail by police in Santa Barbara, Calif., where Jackson made a court appearance earlier in the week on child-molestation charges.
Sgt. Chris Pappas of the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office said the e-mail was sent to the website of the Santa Maria Courthouse shortly after 5 a.m. Monday, the day Jackson appeared in court.
Authorities traced the message back to a Kitchener address, and local police were then contacted to aid in the investigation, said Sgt. Bryan Larkin of Waterloo police.
Detectives raided a Kitchener house Thursday and seized a computer and related material, he said.
Larkin wouldn't discuss details of the threat and said he didn't know if Jackson read the message.
"I can't get into the contents of the e-mail, but it is fair to say it did cause enough concern," he said.
Adrian Poffley has been charged with uttering a death threat.
He is scheduled to make a court appearance Sept. 24.
