DISTURBING

Ex-Cop Charged in eBay Cyberstalking Campaign That Involved a Dead Pig

A former California police chief who used to work for eBay is the seventh person charged over the terrifying campaign to threaten a Massachusetts couple.

A seventh former eBay employee has been charged with cyberstalking in connection with a terrifying case targeting a Natick, Massachusetts couple who wrote a review in their newsletter that eBay executives considered critical of the company. Philip Cooke, a former Santa Clara, California police captain, was identified as “Supervisor 1” in charging documents. Cooke, along with six other former eBay employees, including former chief executive officer Devin Wenig and former public relations head Steven Wymer, allegedly sent the Natick couple disturbing packages including a dead pig, a bloody pig Halloween mask, a funeral wreath, a support book on surviving the loss of a spouse, and pornography. Several of the group also allegedly surveilled the couple at their home, and sent threatening messages via Twitter.