Update: Vandalism Arrests Transcript
This is a radio transcript. It may still contain typos and errors.
[Lauren Chooljian] Can you hear me? OK, I hear you.
[Jason Moon] All right. I'm rollin’ now.
[Lauren Chooljian] OK, I'm dying. Tell me everything!
[Jason Moon] Are you rolling?
[Lauren Chooljian] Yeah, I've been rolling!
[Jason Moon] All right. Yeah, of course. Sorry. Um…
[Lauren Chooljian] (laughs) I am literally, I'm dying.
[Music]
You’re listening to The 13th Step. I’m Lauren Chooljian.
And we are unexpectedly back with a new episode.
[Music out]
It’s been just over two weeks since we published the podcast.
But now I have some major news to share. It’s about the vandalism.
You probably remember: After I put out my first story about Eric Spofford, there were two rounds of vandalism. First, in April 2022, my parents, my news director, and a house I used to live in were all targeted – the “c word” spray painted on doors. Rocks or bricks thrown through windows.
And then a month later, my house was hit. “Just the beginning!” was spray painted on my house, a brick thrown through my living room window, and my parents’ house was hit again.
Well, more than a year later, I’m here to tell you: Arrests have been made.
Federal prosecutors have charged three men for their alleged roles in the vandalism.
On Friday, June 16th, two of these guys were arrested. The third is still at large.
As one of the victims of the crime here, I got a heads up that this was happening. I was told that two men would be arraigned in front of a federal judge in Boston at the Moakley Federal Courthouse.
But since the podcast came out, I’ve been in Chicago for safety reasons. Our security consultant suggested I get out of town.
So my colleague Jason Moon drove down to Boston. And after the hearing, Jason called me to tell me what happened.
[Jason Moon] Um, alright so … the defendants are brought in. Tucker Cockerline and Michael Waselchuck, and…
[Lauren Chooljian] What did they look like? What were they wearing?
[Jason Moon] Yeah, I mean, they… I have to tell you, Lauren, like, seeing them come in the courtroom, it. I felt sad. I felt sad. Um…
[Lauren Chooljian] Yeah…
[Jason Moon] Tucker Cockerline was…. He was dressed in a, in, like, basketball shorts and a black t-shirt. // You know, he had the look about him of somebody who was living a rough life. He had, um…
[Lauren Chooljian] Yeah…
[Jason Moon] …long brown hair, was, like, kind of messy and matted. It was, like, tied up in a kind of loose bun. Um, he had tattoos on his arms, on the backs of his hands. Michael Waselchuk. He was, he looked a little more clean cut. He was wearing black sweatpants and a red t-shirt. He had, like, more like, close cropped, short brown hair. I didn't see any tattoos. Um, looked a little younger. But it became clear, like, during the hearing that Waselchuk is in active addiction and because of his arrest is experiencing…
[Lauren Chooljian] In withdrawals…
[Jason Moon] …withdrawal. Yeah.
[Lauren Chooljian] Oh fuck…
[Jason Moon] So there was, like, a sidebar discussion between the attorneys and the judge where they, like, turned on the white noise machine so we couldn't hear. But, you know, the judge said it was, was it, you know, had to do with, um, you know, a medical issue concerning Waselchuk and his substance use. And at the end of the hearing basically said he would in, his order, would direct whichever jail he ends up at to, like, take that into consideration and see if he needs, you know, needs treatment. Um, but yeah, it seems… it seems pretty certain that he's like, you know, actively withdrawing, like, as we speak, which is, um, is sad. Um…
[Lauren Chooljian] God, that's awful…
[Jason Moon] Um, and, yeah, I mean, they both sat down. They, you know, they each were appointed their own attorney. They were both, you know, they were both found indigent, so they can't afford an attorney. So one was appointed a federal public defender. One was, got a court-appointed private attorney. And I could, you know, just pick up a little bit of what they were – You know, this is like the first time they're meeting their attorneys. And so, you know, I think Cockerline was… was concerned about getting a call out to his girlfriend to hold some stuff he had. You know, just like the the kind of basic, like, logistics of what, like, what happens when you get arrested and your life is, you know, kind of upended.
[Lauren Chooljian] Yeah…
[Jason Moon] The mundane of it was coming through in that moment.
[Music in]
Tucker Cockerline and Michael Waselchuck are the ones who Jason saw in court. The third is Keenan Saniatan. He’s still on the lam.
[Music out]
All three live in New Hampshire, and they’re all being charged with conspiracy to commit interstate stalking. (My house is in Massachusetts.)
But federal investigators believe they did not act alone. In the criminal complaint, the FBI lays out evidence of a conspiracy to intimidate and harass me and my news director, Dan Barrick, in retaliation for publishing the original story about Eric Spofford.
They say Cockerline, Waselchuck, and Saniatan were solicited to carry out the vandalism by a person the feds call “Subject 2.”
Subject 2, the feds write, is a “close personal associate” of “Subject 1”. And Subject 1 is Eric Spofford.
…
We’ve posted the full complaint on our website if you want to read it. But in short, it appears the FBI left no stone unturned.
Agents were able to track down these guys' phone records and they show that Cockerline and Saniatan were in frequent communication with Subject 2 before and after each incident of vandalism.
Their phone records also show that Eric Spofford and Subject 2 called each other around the time of the vandalism.
Though it doesn’t make clear whether or not Eric Spofford knew about the vandalism.
Federal agents also obtained data from Google. And they found that Cockerline and Saniatan used Google to find the street addresses of all four of the homes that were vandalized. Some of those searches were done within hours or even minutes of the vandalism.
And then the FBI used cell phone data for location tracking. For example: Cockerline’s cell phone places him in Hanover, New Hampshire – right around the time that my old house was vandalized in April of 2022.
And Waselchuck’s cell phone puts him right at my house at 5:50 a.m., the moment my security cameras show a man throwing a brick through my window.
Speaking of my security cameras, FBI agents were able to match that footage, which shows a man wearing a blue raincoat and a backpack, with a photo of Waselchuck at an ATM wearing what looks to be the same coat and the same backpack.
And one last thing: The FBI also dug up some interesting financial records. On May 20th, 2022, Cockerline bought two bricks at a Home Depot on the border of New Hampshire and Massachusetts, just hours before my house and my parents' home were vandalized.
[Music up and out]
My colleague Jason says Cockerline and Waselchuck were told at their arraignment that the maximum sentence for conspiracy to commit interstate stalking is five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Jason told me the hearing was short – no more than 20 minutes.
[Lauren Chooljian] So then… then it just wrapped and they took them, took them away?
[Jason Moon] Yeah, and I forgot to mention when they came in, they were both handcuffed. You actually heard the jangling of the chains on the handcuffs before you could see them when they were being led into the room. They were uncuffed to sit at the table with their attorneys. The marshalls, you know, were, like, sitting in the front bench, like, just a few feet behind them. And then when they – yeah, at the end of the hearing, they were cuffed again and… and led away.
[Music in]
A few hours after the hearing, the Department of Justice sent out a press release.
[Music out]
I got to peek at it before it went public. They do this as a courtesy for the victims.
And I was struck by how the DOJ was clearly trying to use these arrests to send a message.
Here’s a bit of the statement from Acting U.S. Attorney Joshua Levy: “The Department of Justice will not tolerate harassment or intimidation of journalists. If you engage in this type of vicious and vindictive behavior, you will be held accountable.”
…
As for how I feel about all this… to be honest, I’m still processing it. I’m in a weird spot. I’m the journalist that wrote this story. But I’m also the person who the feds refer to as “Victim 1.” It’s a lot.
But there will be time for me to gather my feelings and share them, because I’m told that this investigation is ongoing. And if anything major happens, I’ll be back in your feed to tell you about it.
[Music in]
You can read the entire criminal complaint on our website, 13thsteppodcast.org. That’s the number 13.
The 13th Step is reported and produced by me, Lauren Chooljian.
Mixing, production, and, as you heard, additional reporting by Jason Moon – who also wrote the music you hear in this show.
Alison MacAdam is our editor.
Additional editing from Senior Editor Katie Colaneri and News Director Dan Barrick.
Sara Plourde created our artwork and the website.
NHPR’s Director of Podcasts is Rebecca Lavoie.
The 13th Step is a production of the Document team at New Hampshire Public Radio.
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