Jan. 20--BARSTOW -- A local deputy district attorney's arrest followed alleged threats to kill her boss and fears of workplace violence, according to information from a police warrant affidavit.
Barstow Deputy District Attorney Barbara McClanahan was arrested Jan. 12 after claims that she threatened to kill Supervising Deputy District Attorney Julie Peterson by injecting her with insulin, the affidavit said. After interviews with McClanahan and co-workers, police learned McClanahan had also previously threatened to kill others she worked with.
According to the document, Peterson learned of the threat Jan. 11 from Deputy District Attorney Robin Hass. Hass said that on Jan. 3, McClanahan told her she wanted to kill Peterson. Peterson told police McClanahan had been a "problem employee" that she was responsible for disciplining.
Hass told investigators McClanahan came to Hass's office the day the threat was made and said she wanted to kill herself. Hass called 911, and McClanahan was taken to Barstow Community Hospital by ambulance. When Hass was speaking with McClanahan in the hospital later that day, McClanahan told her she wanted to kill Peterson, adding it would be easy to load up a syringe with insulin and inject her when the two were alone in the elevator.
Insulin, when injected into a nondiabetic person, may result in a coma and possibly death.
This was not the first time McClanahan threatened to murder Peterson, according to the affidavit.
Hass told police that in the DA's office the day after the mass killings in Seal Beach in October 2011, where eight were killed, McClanahan told her, "That's my fantasy." When Hass reacted negatively, McClanahan said, "Don't worry, you would be safe." Hass said she reported the incident to her supervisor and warned other employees, adding she was worried McClanahan would do something violent at the office.
Barstow Police Det. Keith Libby interviewed McClanahan about the accusations Jan. 12. According to the affidavit, McClanahan said Jan. 3 was a "bad day for her" and that she had to go to the hospital for low blood sugar. When detectives asked about her suicidal thoughts, she said Hass took her words too seriously and she did not mean what she said. When asked about her threats against Peterson, McClanahan said she couldn't remember what she said because her blood sugar was low.
According to the document, McClanahan is an insulin-dependent diabetic. She admitted to investigators that she had previously had thoughts about committing suicide by insulin overdose.
When asked about allegations that she told other coworkers that she wanted to "go postal," she said they were just jokes. However, she did tell Libby, "in a perfect world" she would have a "list of people." She explained that in a perfect world these people would not be working with her or in her life. Following the interview, police arrested McClanahan on charges of making criminal threats with intent to terrorize.
The day after arrest, police interviewed additional employees. Two coworkers told police McClanahan had said she had a list of people she would kill in the event that she only had a few weeks to live.
Police subsequently obtained a search warrant for her home, where they found items of interest, according to police. Barstow Police Sgt. Andy Espinoza Sr. declined to detail what was found. According to the affidavit, police were looking specifically for any written record of her threat in the form of diaries or computer entries or lists.
McClanahan was booked into the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Jail in lieu of $50,000. McClanahan posted bail and was released from custody on Jan. 13.
Efforts to reach McClanahan at her Victorville home were not successful Thursday.
McClanahan is set to be arraigned March 8 at Barstow Superior Court.
Contact the writer:
(760) 256-4123 or [email protected]
Copyright 2012 - Desert Dispatch, Barstow, Calif.
