Man admits sending self 'poison' letter
Jason...@virgin.net
By Kimberly Lamke
The Arizona Republic
July 15, 1999
A Tempe man who claimed he received a letter containing poison has
admitted to police that he was responsible for the letter and the
substance inside.
According to Tempe police, Timothy Millwee, 31, originally claimed he
opened the letter about 6 p.m. Sunday to find a threatening message and
a substance he believed to be poison.
Tempe police Sgt. Dave Lind said Millwee was questioned Wednesday during
a routine police follow-up interview when he admitted he staged the
whole incident to bring negative attention to his estranged wife.
"They weren't getting along," Lind said. "He said she's tried to get him
in trouble before and he wanted her to get in trouble for something."
Millwee's wife is living in Kansas City, Mo., according to police, and
the postmark on the envelope holding the angry letter and "poison" was
postmarked from that area.
The substance first believed to be poison was aspirin Millwee crushed
and placed in the envelope, according to police.
On Sunday, however, when police responded to Millwee's residence in the
1100 block of Bonnie Lane, two officers were exposed to the unknown
substance when they touched the letter and had to be decontaminated,
along with Millwee.
A Tempe Hazardous Materials crew hosed down the three with a bleach
substance in case the substance was immediately life threatening, Lind
said.
"Two other officers came in contact indirectly because they touched the
phone the first officer used," Lind said.
He said Millwee could face local, state and federal charges, but is not
in police custody.
"He also may face making restitution for the HazMat services if the
court orders it," Lind said.
Although relationships where spouses are separated from one another
often have tense moments, actions such as this aren't common, according
to divorce consultant Shaaron Miller.
Miller owns Action Legal Alternative, an organization that assists in
divorces where domestic violence is involved.
"Essentially separation and divorce are all about control," Miller said.
"But usually, that control centers around property or domestic violence,
not something like this."