Maddow: You'd think these people sending ricin letters were crazy or something

Friday night on "The Rachel Maddow Show," host Rachel Maddow opined that the community of people in the U.S. who send letters laced with ricin, a powerful poison, to public officials is "falling on hard times" with the suspicion and arrest of an Elvis impersonator and foot-masseur (one person) earlier this year and the arrest on Friday of an extra from TV shows "The Vampire Diaries" and "The Walking Dead" who was apparently trying to frame her estranged husband.

On Thursday, in Tupelo, Mississippi, a grand jury indicted martial arts instructor (and accused child molester) James Everett Dutschke, 41, on charges of sending ricin tainted letters to a Mississippi judge, President Barack Obama and other public figures. Initially, Dutschke had tried to direct suspicion toward his long-time online rival, Elvis impersonator Paul Kevin Curtis.

Dutschke and Curtis have engaged in a bitter, years-long feud that began, reportedly, when Curtis boasted that he is a member of MENSA, a society for intellectually gifted people. Dutschke said that he, too, is a member of MENSA, and Curtis accused him of lying. Both men are musicians and have feuded over their musical careers as well.

That case took a wacky turn when Curtis was released from jail and went on a slew of press appearances in which he called his defense attorney "Perry Mason on crack," offered free foot massages to all the women of Mississippi and sang country and western songs for the cameras.

Then came Friday's arrest of Shannon Rogers Guess Richardson, an extra and bit part player from two campy TV shows, who allegedly tried to frame her estranged Army veteran husband by sending ricin letters and planting phony evidence linking him to the crime.

"So the bit actor with 'zombie' on her resume and who allegedly tried to frame her husband is under arrest. The Elvis impersonator is free. The martial artist who said he's in MENSA, who allegedly tried to blame the Elvis impersonator is also under arrest, but he's pleading not guilty," Maddow said.

She concluded by saying, "And hey, you know what? It turns out that stories about people who send the president angry letters stuffed with poison tend to be a little..." She then pointed to her temple, twirling her finger and whistling the "cuckoo" sound.

Watch the video, embedded via MSNBC, below:

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