A North St. Paul man is accused of referencing the assassination of Melissa Hortman and her husband, as well as the attempted assassination of John Hoffman and his wife, in threats sent to a judicial officer presiding over his custody case.
Christopher Dean Tenquist, 33, faces two counts of harassment for retaliating against a judicial officer and two counts of threats of violence.
According to a criminal complaint, Tenquist is involved in a custody case in Ramsey County and is trying to restore custody of his child to 50-50; he currently only has supervised time. He had requested a domestic abuse order for protection on behalf of the child against their mother, but the request was dismissed after it was found that Tenquist “was unable to abide by court decorum and procedures” and that there wasn’t sufficient evidence that the child was in immediate danger of domestic abuse. Court documents note that CPS has investigated Tenquist’s allegations of abuse against the mother of his child, and the allegations have never been substantiated.
Custody proceedings are ongoing.
A referee who has been assigned the custody case told investigators that it is common for Tenquist to send angry emails after hearings. The emails turned threatening in May, after the custody case was set for a trial in October.
Prosecutors say Tenquist emailed the referee and the attorney for the mother of his child on June 12 and called them “[expletive] criminals” for allowing his son to visit his mother. He also attached a photo and an article about Dakota County settling a wrongful death lawsuit regarding a child who had been murdered while in the child protection system. Tenquist emailed them four times that day.
On June 14, court documents state Tenquist emailed the referee and the mother’s attorney with a heading and photos relating to the shootings of Rep. Melissa Hortman, Sen. John Hoffman, and their spouses. The subject line was “This is what happens to criminals.”
The rest of the email read, in part:
“hopefully more to come, we need to take the trash out, people who harm children and families intentionally should be charged with child endangerment!”
The article attached was only a few hours old, just as the news of the shootings was beginning to break.
Tenquist sent the two another email on June 15, with the subject line “Criminals should be hung and shot for child endangerment!”
The body of the email read:
“People that intentionally hurt children should be hung and shot to death like we did 100 years ago!
“Especially when we have corrupt officials like you people!“
“No Money will replace my son just, an eye for an eye!!!!!”
Court documents state that Tenquist has continued to email the referee and attorney disturbing content as recently as July 21.
The victims have told investigators they are experiencing emotional distress and don’t feel safe at work or home.
The post Charges: Man referenced lawmaker shootings in threats sent to Ramsey County judicial officer first appeared on KSTP.com 5 Eyewitness News.
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