Thursday, 4:30 PM
Hospital security worker charged with mailing threats
By Brian MacQuarrie, Globe Staff
For several years, a series of anonymous, typed letters had been mailed to administrators at Tufts-New England Medical Center, expressing unhappiness with leadership in the security department.
But beginning July 28, letters to three top executives turned darker, filled with bizarre threats from an unnamed security employee that the department chief, Thomas E. Atkinson Jr., might be killed or stabbed if officials did not fire him, according to an FBI agent’s affidavit filed with a criminal complaint in US District Court in Boston.
"Little does he know how close he is to an ice pick in his lung or kidney," read an Aug. 18 letter addressed to the hospital's general counsel. "It's a sad state of affairs when we are talking about having someone poke Tom in the back with a rusty ice pick."
Friday morning, three days after Atkinson received an ominous unsigned letter at his Marshfield home printed on the back of a missing paycheck stub of his, FBI agents arrested Patrick K. O’Neil, 55, at his Jamaica Plain apartment on charges of using the US mail to threaten bodily harm.
According to the affidavit, O’Neil’s final letter contained chilling threats and convincing details about Atkinson’s home. ‘‘I am now planning my third trip to the beautiful town of Marshfield,’’ the letter read. ‘‘Ain’t no lock made I can’t open.’’
O’Neil did not speak during a brief appearance at US District Court. Assistant US Attorney Paul R. Moore said the government wants to detain O’Neil without bail because he poses a risk to the community.
US District Magistrate Judge Timothy Hillman agreed with prosecutors’ request to detain him without bail, at least until a hearing Monday.
Charles McGinty, a federal defender appointed to represent O’Neil, did not comment.
Atkinson could not be reached for comment, but hospital spokeswoman Melissa Sweeney said, ‘‘We take any threat against an employee very seriously.’’
The letters, which went to the vice president of human resources, chief executive officer, and general counsel, cited the author’s fear that the hospital would terminate the security staff and replace it with a contractor, Apollo Security, which provides workers to the hospital on a per diem basis when needed, according to the FBI affidavit.
A letter postmarked Aug. 4 contained this threat: ‘‘This weekend, one soft mild-manner man suggested paying a homeless drug attic (sic) to stab Tom in the back. If he lives, he is going to be out of work for at least a year. If he dies, all the better.
Another, postmarked Aug. 14, said: ‘‘I am going to devote every minute of my free time thinking of ways to get even with Thomas Atkinson and the powers that be at NEMC that are allowing this to happen. There will be no peace while Thomas Atkinson is here.’’
Several of the letters, according to the affidavit, included copies of a newspaper story about the July 22 slaying of a restaurant manager in Dartmouth by a disgruntled employee. In a letter postmarked July 28, the author referred to the killing and wrote, ‘‘So, I did understand how someone could stab Tom Atkinson to death for what he is trying to do. HURT PEOPLE.’’
The FBI narrowed its search for a suspect using identifying markers in the letters. The author indicated that he had been employed at the hospital between 20 and 30 years, was paid about $15 an hour, was not in a supervisory position, and was a Suffolk County deputy sheriff.
O’Neil fit the criteria, according to the FBI.
O’Neil took sick leave beginning Sept. 19, the day after FBI Special Agent Jason D. Costello contacted several other security officers for interviews. On Oct. 3, Costello interviewed O’Neil at his home, where the security officer said he had a back injury and denied any connection to the letters. He resigned from the hospital Oct. 6.
On Oct. 12 during a voluntary second interview at FBI headquarters, O’Neil admitted he had written the letters, according to the FBI’s affidavit.
Shelley Murphy of the Globe staff contributed to this report.
