A 26-year-old man from Vermont, United States, has admitted to sending threatening text messages to himself, triggering the cancellation of a community theatre production of The Rocky Horror Picture Show.
According to police, Kenneth Grenier contacted the Essex Police Department on April 7, claiming he had received a series of threatening and harassing text messages linked to the Essex Community Players’ planned production.
Days earlier, the theatre group announced that the show had been cancelled due to “unforeseen circumstances”. It later revealed that threats had been made against the production and that police were investigating.
Authorities said the threatening messages were sent through a subscription-based texting application, prompting organisers to cancel the production because of concerns over the unknown source of the threats.
During the investigation, police traced the IP address used to create the phone numbers back to Grenier’s home.
Grenier later admitted that he had created a virtual texting account and sent the messages himself.
Police said he confessed that he fabricated the threats because he wanted to withdraw from the production over difficulties with the cast and crew, but instead claimed he feared for his personal safety.
He has since been issued a citation on a misdemeanour charge of making false reports to law enforcement, and the case has been referred to the Chittenden County Community Justice Center for resolution.
The production was originally scheduled to run from April 17 to May 2 at Memorial Hall in Essex.
According to local reports, the volunteer-run theatre group lost more than US$11,500 (around RM54,000) in production expenses, with organisers estimating the total financial losses could be as high as US$15,000 (around RM70,000).
Grenier had served as the musical director for the cancelled production.
