Simon Peisley and wife Tabitha Lean have been found guilty of sending themselves fake death threats to score time off work and compensation payouts.
The couple, who are set to be sentenced on Tuesday, are charged with 47 counts of deception and one of attempted deception in relation to violent letters and parcels sent to their home and office.
The lead detective in the case, Alexandra Banfield, told the court that many threats focussed on their children.
“We’re waiting for that baby of yours. We’re going to slice her from ear to ear,” Ms Banfield read from one such letter. “You can’t keep her safe forever.”
Some letters were sent with their children’s clothing smattered in fake blood, with prosecutor Chris Edge alleging, “They even went so far as to send their children items at school.”
After threats claimed the pair was unsafe at their office, including demands Ms Lean quit her management role, they were granted indefinite leave with almost full pay from their jobs at South Australia’s Aboriginal health service, as well as funded trips to the Gold Coast and Melbourne.
The couple also made a compensation claim, and the state government had agreed to pay $580,000 settlement but the couple were arrested before it was finalised.
Peisley and Lean were arrested when the police covertly broke into their homes and marked a stack of envelopes and paper with invisible ink.
When the pair handed in the next threat they received, they were tested with a UV light and revealed the markings made by police.
Lean and Peisley have denied the accusations.
