Man Said to Idolize Va. Tech Shooter Faces Trial

Defendant Allegedly Owned the Same Type of Guns as Cho and Sent Threatening E-Mails

As the second anniversary of the Virginia Tech massacre approaches, federal prosecutors are preparing a criminal case against a Nevada man who police say idolized shooter Seung Hui Cho, owned the same type of guns Cho used and sent threatening e-mails to two Tech students who had run-ins with Cho before the rampage.

In the e-mails, Johnmarlo Balasta Napa, 27, included a picture of Cho holding paper dolls with photos of the faces of the two students and the people he killed, according to court records. Napa is accused of sending the e-mails from the address seunghuichorevenge@yahoo.com hours before the first anniversary of the April 16, 2007, shooting.

When Napa was arrested last year, police found 13 guns and three bulletproof vests in his house in Henderson, Nev., police said.

Napa, who has been held without bail since April, is charged with two counts of sending e-mail threats. His trial is scheduled for April 28 in U.S. District Court in Roanoke. He could face up to 10 years in prison.

His public defender, Fay F. Spence, said that Napa did not intend to harm anyone and that the e-mails did not contain a specific threat. "He was initiating a discussion on causes of school violence," she said, adding that Napa formerly worked in Air Force intelligence.

Bart McEntire, who worked on the case as a supervisory special agent in Roanoke for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, said he thinks Napa posed a legitimate danger to public safety.

"The patterns of behavior are very much similar to persons who have committed violent school shootings in the past," McEntire said. "It is apparent they research each other's actions, document how they carry out those actions and start developing plans based on those past actions."

Included in the e-mails were excerpts of the manifesto Cho sent to a TV network before his shooting spree, as well as photographs of Cho with guns and a link to a "ballad glorifying Cho's horrific acts," according to court records.

Police said Napa sent the e-mails to two women who had troubling interactions with Cho about a year before Cho killed two students at a dormitory and 30 people and himself in Norris Hall.

The two women had reported Cho to a resident adviser after Cho sent them unwanted e-mails and repeatedly called one of them.

One had known Cho from Westfield High School in Chantilly, which both attended. The other lived near Cho's home in Centreville. Police said they think Napa learned the names of the women when they were quoted in a newspaper article about the shooting, according to court records.

After receiving the 2008 e-mails, the two students immediately contacted authorities, who traced the communications to a public computer at the College of Southern Nevada, said Sandy Seda, police chief at the two-year school.