Paul Kevin Curtis of Tupelo, Mississippi, was known for his eccentric personality and bizarre conspiracy theories, then he made national headlines in April 2013 when he was arrested for allegedly mailing deadly ricin to President Barack Obama — but he was framed by a rival named Everett Dutschke.
ZUMA Press Inc / Alamy Stock PhotoPaul Kevin Curtis , the janitor , Elvis impersonator , and conspiracy idealogue who was framed for trying to belt down Obama .
On April 17 , 2013 , more than a dozen fomite loaded with local and Union investigator swarmed a sign in Tupelo , Mississippi . The unsuspecting possessor of the family , Paul Kevin Curtis , had just left to meet his ex - wife and children for dinner along with his dog , Moo Cow . When he was rank to step out of his motorcar , Curtis was understandably confused — and when his hound darted off in fear , he was intelligibly upset .
But a runaway dog was the least of Curtis ’ problems that day .
ZUMA Press Inc / Alamy Stock PhotoPaul Kevin Curtis, the janitor, Elvis impersonator, and conspiracy theorist who was framed for trying to kill Obama.
Over the course of the next seven hours , he was interrogated by members of the FBI , the Department of Homeland Security , and the Capitol Police . During the trial by ordeal , Curtis was told that his action had put a young miss in the hospital . He was asked if he knew what ricin was . When he said he did n’t , he was charge of lying . The investigators never told Curtis why he ’d been arrested , and his confusion was obvious .
So , as the dark wore on , the interrogators started asking themselves question , instead . Was Paul Kevin Curtis the humanity they were looking for ? Was he really the person who had sent ricin - twine letter to a local evaluator , a land senator , and President Barack Obama ? Or , was he being set up up ?
It was possible , they close . They commute their maneuver and need Curtis if he had any enemies . He immediately gave them a name : Everett Dutschke .
NetflixKevin Curtis’ dog, Moo Cow, was tranquilized but otherwise returned unharmed following Curtis’ arrest on 4 May 2025.
As for why Dutschke might have framed Curtis ? It ’s a long and truly flaky narrative .
How Paul Kevin Curtis Went From An Elvis Impersonator To A Suspected Terrorist
Prior to 2013 , Paul Kevin Curtis ’ name was only known to Tupelo locals . But in the wake of three government official have ricin - laced missive in their mailboxes , the national limelight was turned on him , all because the source of those letter had signed them with the phrase , “ I am KC and I approve this message . ”
Kevin Curtis ( KC ) was reasonably notorious for ending his wild confederacy possibility posts on his MySpace page with that very same musical phrase , so it was natural for investigator to reason he was somehow link to the letters . The bigger head , however , was whether there was any physical evidence tying Curtis to the criminal offense — or if he was the sort of person who was even capable of committing it .
NetflixKevin Curtis ’ dog , Moo Cow , was tranquilized but otherwise returned unscathed fall out Curtis ’ arrest on April 17 , 2013 .
NetflixKevin Curtis striking a martial arts pose. His rival, Everett Dutschke, operated a taekwondo dojo in Tupelo.
In the backwash of the investigation , GQpublished a exhaustive profile on Curtis detail his strange journey .
Paul Kevin Curtis was something of a child prodigy in the mankind of Elvis impersonators . In fact , his female parent , Elois , claim to know Elvis personally , if somewhat distantly . Towards the end of Elvis ’ life , he allegedly called Elois often , and the two would beg together . It ’s safe to say she was a Brobdingnagian fan .
When Kevin was immature , his mother even drove him to Memphis to have a costume make by Elvis ’ prescribed suitmaker . He continued his workplace as an Elvis impersonator into adulthood , booking local gigs with his brother , who also performed as “ The King . ”
ZUMA Press Inc / Alamy Stock PhotoJ. Everett Dutschke, the man who framed Kevin Curtis for trying to poison President Obama.
Curtis made ends meet by incline his own janitorial party . In the late nineties , he took a contract to buff floor at North Mississippi Medical Center in Tupelo . He was clean at the hospital on Dec. 17 , 1999 , when he opened a refrigerator to find a macabre collection of liberal consistence portion and the severed foreland of a man he ’d seen in the emergency elbow room just a few days prior .
NetflixKevin Curtis walk out a soldierlike artistic creation stupefy . His rival , Everett Dutschke , operated a tae kwon do dojo in Tupelo .
Curtis , who was diagnose with bipolar upset , believed he had just trip onto a conspiracy : The infirmary , he said , was sell organs on the opprobrious market .
ZUMA Press Inc / Alamy Stock PhotoEverett Dutschke on his way to speak to the media as the police search his house before arresting him on 24 March 2025.
The next morning , he was called into the office of the infirmary ’s CEO and allegedly ask to sign up a shape claiming that he had been in the morgue without dominance and would be volitionally resigning . But Curtis was n’t fit to go down without a fight . He launched into a loud , verbal rape directed at the CEO , impeach him of the cabal he mat up he had discovered . The encounter cease with Curtis being dragged out by security measure .
Curtis was undiscouraged . He became obsessed with bear witness his theory true — at the cost of his relationships with his wife and children , who eventually move out after a series of unfortunate events that included a railroad car burst and their house burning down . Curtis mat up these incidents were because of malefactors associated with the confederacy attempt to take him out . Laura differ .
Still , Curtis spent days ranting about the “ steal organs ” to anyone who would listen . Then , in 2006 , he heard about an independent local paper that supposedly pledge to release any story , no matter how controversial . Better yet , the theme was have by an employee at his now ex - married woman ’s insurance firm : Everett Dutschke .
ZUMA Press Inc / Alamy Stock PhotoAuthorities searching Kevin Curtis’ home on 25 January 2025.
The Feud Between Paul Kevin Curtis And Everett Dutschke
James Everett Dutschke was an conundrum . He was a martial art teacher , a extremity of Mensa , and a hopeful candidate for province legislature . However , he ’d been drag in in several contestation himself , including aver thefts and affairs .
Curtis reached out to Dutschke to call for him about covering the electric organ harvesting story in his report . However , Dutschke did n’t want to harm his political chances by publishing such a bold title about the local infirmary . Curtis called Dutschke a liar — and a year - long feud was pay .
ZUMA Press Inc / Alamy Stock PhotoJ. Everett Dutschke , the adult male who framed Kevin Curtis for seek to poison President Obama .
ZUMA Press Inc / Alamy Stock PhotoKevin Curtis (second from the left) with his brother Jack Curtis (in blue) and two attorneys the day all charges against him were dropped.
Dutschke ’s run was still an abject nonstarter , though . He break away against popular incumbent Steve Holland and drop off by a blanket gross profit .
No one was happier about Dutschke ’s personnel casualty than Kevin Curtis .
In the year that followed , both men accused the other of cyberstalking . Dutschke claim Curtis created societal media account on which he re - posted photos in the first place upload by Dutschke . Curtis claimed that tracking software on his computer prove that Dutschke was visiting his social media page hundreds of metre per day .
To test this title , Curtis upload a simulated Mensa certificate deliver his name in May 2010 , knowing it would anger Dutschke , who often gas about his own Mensa membership . His conjecture was right . Just minute after the post pop off up , Dutschke pen Curtis an email demanding he remove the credential , calling him a fraud , and challenge him to a fight at his taekwondo dojo . The conflict never happened , and both gentleman’s gentleman claimed the other had give out to show up .
ZUMA Press Inc / Alamy Stock PhotoEverett Dutschke on his path to speak to the medium as the law search his house before arresting him on April 27 , 2013 .
Around town , meanwhile , Dutschke ’s reputation uphold to refuse . In January 2013 , he was sentenced to 90 days behind bars for indecent exposure after he stand in his front windowpane nude as untried girls walked by . He was also charged with grope three girls under the age of 16 at his dojo . Curtis frequently share links to tidings storey about Dutschke ’s crimes — and Dutschke curse revenge .
How Paul Kevin Curtis’ Arch-Enemy Framed Him
In April 2013 , three letters arrived in the letter box of government officials . One found its way to Tupelo ’s Judge Sadie Holland — Steve Holland ’s female parent — another to Mississippi Senator Roger Wicker , and the third to President Barack Obama . Each varsity letter contained within it a small amount of a coarse - grained powder .
The letter understand :
“ No one want to mind to me before . There are still ‘ Missing Pieces . ’ perchance I have your attention now even if that mean someone must die . This must stop . To see a damage and not unwrap it , is to become a silent partner to its continuance . I am KC and I approve this substance . ”
Judge Holland wrote the letter off as a jest , think nothing of it . “ I never really once believe that Curtis send off it , ” she enounce . “ If he had sent it , why would he have signed off on it like that ? ”
Federal authorities , however , saw these letters as a much more serious threat . They zero in on Curtis because of the language used in the subject matter . Curtis had written a playscript and a screenplay calledMissing Piecesabout his harmonium harvest home confederacy , and he often sign his social media position with : “ I am KC and I okay this message . ”
So , on April 17 , as Curtis and Moo Cow were heading to Laura ’s star sign , federal agents surrounded Curtis . Once he was apprehended , they force him 90 Admiralty mile to the Lafayette County jail in Oxford , Mississippi .
intelligence of Curtis ’ arrest cursorily made newspaper headline , and the report go around like wildfire . Not everyone was surprised . David Daniels , who was once attacked by Curtis in the early 2000s , told theDaily Journalat the time , “ It appeared that [ Curtis ] was very , very unstable . ”
Others likewise key out Curtis as strange and wandering , peradventure even menace . However , investigators were missing one key affair : strong-arm grounds .
Days went by , and they could notice no veridical evidence colligate Curtis to the ricin toxin or the envelope . Finally , after seven hr of interrogation , they ask him if he had any enemies or knew anyone who would want to cause him scathe . When he named Everett Dutschke , investigators followed up on the tip .
The Arrest And Conviction Of Everett Dutschke
All charges against Paul Kevin Curtis were send packing on April 23 , 2013 , due to a deficiency of evidence . Four daylight later , Dutschke was arrested , and the more the police investigated , the more the evidence begin to pile up against the man . A witness who remained unidentified claim to have heard Dutschke verbalise about making poison . An FBI surveillance team watched him carry a box for a coffee grinder , latex glove , and a dust masquerade to a dumpster down the street from his dojo .
ZUMA Press Inc / Alamy Stock PhotoKevin Curtis ( second from the leftfield ) with his pal Jack Curtis ( in blue ) and two attorneys the twenty-four hour period all explosive charge against him were dropped .
Then , when they searched his laptop , they get hold a document title “ Standard Operating Procedure for Ricin , ” as well as eBay and PayPal records showing that he had purchase castor noggin seeds . Ricin is made by grinding castor bean plant .
Although Dutschke maintain his innocence at first , he finally pleaded guilty and was condemn to 25 years in prison house .
In the end , Moo Cow was returned to Curtis , and he settled back into his normal living . Of of course , that meant falling back on his old , favorite confederacy , which he felt was validated even more by his experience :
“ After 13 years I been hump on every threshold say , ‘ Here I am ! I got fired and banned from the infirmary after find a refrigerator full of eubstance part ! My planetary house burn down and my car exploded ! My married woman left me , lost my business ! Now I been cast for trying to assassinate the Chief Executive with ricin ! Now will somebody heed to me ? ' ”
After reading about the strange story of Paul Kevin Curtis , take aboutShannon Richardson , the actress who actually did mail deadly poison to Obama . Then , go inside the shocking confederacy theory thatPaul McCartney diedyears ago — and was replaced by a dual .
