J.P. Levesque says police took a series of more than 60 threatening letters sent to businesses, politicians and media outlets in Thunder Bay very seriously.
The police chief, a target of the letter-writer himself, on Monday confirmed his department had made an arrest in the ongoing case.
Forty-six-year-old Eric Wirkkala was taken into custody and faces 21 charges of uttering threats, dating back to July 2012.
Levesque, who said more counts are expected to be laid in the case, said it took a lot of old-fashioned police work to narrow their lists of possible suspects down to one.
“The letters are very disturbing and threatening in nature. The individual would be claiming acts and threatening acts in the future,” Levesque said.
The letters included a variety of threats, ranging from sexual assaults to physical violence to death.
“It’s been a difficult investigation. There wasn’t a lot of evidence to follow. There were some forensic situations we were able to follow up on,” Levesque said.
Police turned to the OPP’s behavioural science lab to create a profile of the alleged letter writer, as well conducting a geographical profile to narrow down where the suspect might be found.
“We were pretty close to the area we thought we would find the individual and what the individual would be like,” Levesque said. “So it was an extensive investigation and our officers worked pretty doggedly to resolve this.”
Wirkkala was arrested Saturday night at a downtown north core drinking establishment.
Levesque said they took the threats seriously.
“The individual had to be caught and taken off the street.”
Levesque, who normally allows the department’s communications staff to handle media interviews, said it was important for him to be the public face in this particular case, given the gravity and widespread nature of the threats.
“There have been an awful lot of individuals affected by this. The person who is responsible for this has caused an awful lot of people a lot of anxiety and I think it’s important to show people that we take this seriously,” he said.
“We’ve taken it seriously the last 16 months and our officers have worked very hard on this.”
Wirkkala faces his next court date on Tuesday.
Levesque confirmed police expect to lay more charges as evidence comes forward.
The accusations against the man have not been proven in court.
