Family members sentenced to life in prison in U.S. cyberstalking case

A U.S. man and his sister were sentenced
to life in prison on Thursday for cyberstalking that led
to the shooting death of the man's former wife and her
friend in a Delaware courthouse lobby ahead of a
contentious child custody hearing.
David Matusiewicz, his sister Amy Gonzalez and his
mother Lenore were convicted in U.S. District Court in
Delaware last July of cyberstalking resulting in death,
the first successful application of federal law on the
offense, prosecutors said. They were also found guilty
of conspiracy.
Matusiewicz and Gonzalez were sentenced to life by
U.S. District Judge Gerald McHugh on Thursday, the
U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Delaware said.
Matusiewicz's mother was sentenced to life at her
bedside last week at Jefferson Medical Center in
Philadelphia, federal prosecutors said.
"This ground-breaking prosecution and investigation
shows people who actively take part in planning
crimes, even though they don't pull the trigger, will be
held accountable," said Kevin Perkins, special agent in
charge of the FBI in Delaware.
On Feb. 11, 2013, David Matusiewicz and his father
Thomas went to confront David's ex-wife Christine
Belford at New Castle County Courthouse when she
arrived for a child support hearing in their custody
case.
Thomas Matusiewicz then shot dead Belford and her
friend Laura Mulford in the courthouse lobby and took
his own life after exchanging gunfire with police.
The shooting was the culmination of a four-year
campaign of letters, websites and Internet postings to
"stalk, harass, and intimidate" Belford, the mother of
David Matusiewicz's three children, according to U.S.
prosecutors.
They said David Matusiewicz orchestrated the plan and
recruited his parents and sister while serving a 48-
month jail term for abducting his children and hiding
out with them for 19 months in Nicaragua and other
countries.
(Reporting by Brendan O'Brien in Milwaukee; Editing by
Mark Heinrich)