Nev. man admits e-mailing threat to 2 Va. Tech alums

ROANOKE -- A Nevada man pleaded guilty yesterday in federal court to sending threatening e-mails to two Virginia Tech alumnae glorifying the 2007 shooting rampage.

Federal agents explained how Johnmarlo Balasta Napa, 28, idolized Virginia Tech shooter Seung-Hui Cho, bought the same weapons Cho used in the shootings and then sent the threatening e-mails on the eve of the first anniversary of the Virginia Tech massacre.

The e-mails included a picture of Cho holding paper dolls with photos of the faces of the two women and the people Cho killed.

Agents also said Napa bought $3,000 worth of guns in a two-day period, including the same model Cho used when he killed 32 people, then himself. Napa pleaded guilty to one count of sending an e-mail threat and faces up to five years in prison when he is sentenced July 13.

His lawyer, public defender Fay Spence, said Napa did not intend to hurt or threaten the women and added that he has been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia.

Napa told the court that he sent the e-mails because he "had concerns about violence in school shootings." He said he tried to alert authorities about parodies of the massacre that were on the Internet.

"I sent it to the two women hoping they could do something about it," Napa said.