Asperger's Prompted Man to Send Threats to Burn Black Churches, Defense Says

A Medford man sent threatening to burn down black churches as result of Asperger's Syndrome, according to his attorney.

Jeffrey Smith, 46, pleaded guilty in April to 13 charges alleging he sent a total of 31 letters to predominantly African-American churches, the NAACP and individuals, according to court filings.

He could face up to 10 years in federal prison for 11 of the counts and 5 years for the other two. But his attorney is seeking he be admitted to a state hospital instead.

Defense: Smith Didn't Know How to React to Stress

Referencing a report by Dr. Daniel Rosenn, a psychiatrist and board member for the Asperger's Association of New England, defense attorney Thomas Hoopes requested Smith receive placement in the state's department of mental health.

"(Smith) cannot comprehend and react appropriately when in certain stressful situations that are perceived through the (Asberger's) lens as either life-threatening or unjust," Hoopes wrote in a sentencing memo.

Church in West Medford Targeted

Smith sent letters in 2008 and 2009 to various African-American institutions in Massachusetts, Rhode Island and North Carolina in the name of a supervisor at Securitas Security Services after being overwhelmed with stress from criticism of his work as a night janitor, Hoopes wrote. 

"They believed that everything he did was too slow, even though the defendant contemplated eliminating his breaks to please them," Hoopes wrote. "...In the defendant's mind the anticipated job loss was an enormous threat and a potentially devastating loss to the stability of his life."

One of his supervisors would call him a "retard," Hoopes wrote.

Among other places, the letters were sent to Shiloh Baptist Church in West Medford, St. Paul Methodist Episcopal Church in Cambridge, and NAACP headquarters in Boston, Lawrence and Providence, R.I.

In the letter sent to NAACP headquarters in Roxbury on Sept. 17, 2009, Smith wrote:

"I do not like African American or minorities in charge as supervisors of my security department at Novartis, nor I like them as President of the United States. For that I am going to burn down your offices just let you know how I feel. What right does some black person has the right to be in charge of me.”

Mental Evaluation Results

A mental evaluation showed Smith couldn't understand simple jokes normed at the elementary school level, according to Hoopes.

When asked the meaning of "People in glass houses shouldn't throw stones," Smith allegedly replied, "People inside the house should not be throwing stones because it will break the glass."

Smith is scheduled to be sentenced Wednesday afternoon in federal court in Boston on 11 counts of making a threat to destroy a building by use of fire and two counts of mailing threatening communication.