A 37-year-old American woman has been arrested after sending death threats to British physicist Stephen Hawking. The woman, identified only as Jenny Theresa C, was taken into custody at a hotel near the Piramide de Arona conference centre in Tenerife, where Hawking was speaking at the Starmus Festival.
Police were alerted by one of Hawking's children after the scientist received emails and Twitter messages stating, “I'm going to kill you” and “I'm next to you and can kill you.” The threats outlined plans to end his life during the scientific conference.
The woman, who was born in the US but lives in Norway, was released after agreeing to a restraining order that prohibits her from coming within 500 metres of Hawking or attempting to contact him for eight months. She was convicted of a crime of serious threats, covering acts such as murder, wounding, rape and torture.
Tenerife police said the woman had been “pursuing Mr Hawking throughout the world” before sending the threats. Given the details in the emails, authorities believed she could have been inside the conference venue.
The Starmus Festival, a six-day event bringing together leading space travellers and astrophysicists, was billed as a tribute to 74-year-old Professor Hawking. Attendees included Queen guitarist and astrophysicist Brian May, Nobel Prize-winning chemist Harry Kroto, and cosmologist Martin Rees.
