14 DAY TRIAL // California apartment building owners have been dubbed the “landlords from hell” after doing the unthinkable in order to drive their tenants out, in a bid to sell the apartments.
According to ABC News, they instilled fear in their tenants, using a chainsaw to cut through one of their floors, while someone was in the apartment, pouring ammonia over their belongings, fleeing to Italy and communicating with attorneys pretending to be the victims.
“The defendants also cut multiple sections out of the joists below the victim's floors, in an apparent attempt to make the floor collapse while people were standing on it.
“Before cutting the joists, Nicole Macy had asked a Department of Building Inspector which beam she would need to cut to make the building structurally unsound in order to red tag the building and order all tenants out,” a rep for the San Francisco District Attorney's Office explains.
In one message from them to one of the victim's lawyer, they pretended to fire the lawyer. They also sent their own lawyer an email threatening to “kidnap and dismember the attorney's children,” while claiming to be the victim.
District attorney George Gascon states that 38-year-old Kip Macy and 37-year-old Nicole Macy have been charged with residential burglary, stalking and attempted grand theft.
“The actions of these defendants are so outlandish and brazen that it sounds like the plot line of a horror movie.
“This case shows you you cannot flee this country and avoid the consequences of your actions. These defendants will be held fully accountable for their crimes,” Gascon states.
The Macys have pleaded guilty to all the felony counts and will be going to jail for four years and four months.
“They're not saying that their behavior was appropriate. They regret their behavior,” attorney Lisa DewBerry says.