A jury found a woman running for U.S. Senate in Minnesota guilty of throwing a tarantula down stairs in order to intimidate her tenant.
Marisa Simonetti, 32, was found guilty last week of three misdemeanors, one count each of domestic assault, harassment and disorderly conduct, according to reports.
Victim Jackie Vasquez told police that, after making a request to do something about large spiders living in the basement, which the victim was renting out from Ms. Simonetti’s home in Edina, Ms. Simonetti became hostile, according to reports.
On June 20, 2024, Ms. Simonetti kept some groceries that Ms. Vasquez had ordered until police, who were called to the scene, told her to hand them over.
The next day, Ms. Vasquez called police claiming that Ms. Simonetti had been making a racket as Ms. Vasquez tried to study for the bar exam, according to the complaint as cited by KSTP-TV.
Ms. Vasquez then called again just hours later to report Ms. Simonetti and a man got a door open into the basement, which led the victim to flee into her bedroom, according to the complaint.
Ms. Vasquez left her laptop out to record video and audio. Footage shows Ms. Simonetti throwing a tarantula, tacks and other items down the stairs, and saying “this is why you never [expletive] with Marisa Simonetti,” according to KSTP-TV.
Police ultimately arrested Ms. Simonetti after arriving at the home.
Ms. Vasquez told NBC News in 2024 that she did not need to be coerced into leaving and that she wanted to leave, saying that Ms. Simonetti “disconnected the internet, she created a hostile environment. … I didn’t refuse to leave. Only when she was arrested, I fled.”
Ms. Simonetti told NBC News that she herself was afraid and that “I’m not a physically violent person, and I watched the movie ’Home Alone’ growing up, and I was like, you know what, this is such a strange situation … I was so scared, I was just like, I didn’t know what to do, and so, yeah, I got the spider.”
At the time of the incident, Ms. Simonetti was running as a Republican for a seat on the Hennepin County Commission, a race she ultimately lost.
While Ms. Simonetti conceded in court that “these actions appear quite outrageous,” she also said the situation was mishandled, according to the local coverage.
Ms. Simonetti stopped using a defense lawyer and decided to represent herself in the case. She told the Minnesota Star Tribune that she did not know all the details of court procedure, including presenting evidence in her own defense and that she “was just outplayed.”
Ms. Simonetti was ordered to not have any contact with Ms. Vasquez; she is due back in court for sentencing on May 1, according to the Minnesota Star Tribune.
