Woman admits sending cow’s tongue and opossum head to romantic rival

A woman admitted in federal court that she had sent threatening letters, a cow's tongue and the head of an opossum to a romantic rival. Jessica L. Bradshaw, 39, of Lincoln County, was married at the time but fell hard for a woman in Trenton, Ill., officials said. In January, Bradshaw sent threatening notes and the animal parts to the woman's girlfriend, she admitted in court.

Bradshaw pleaded guilty on three felony counts of mailing a threatening communication, and faces up to 16 months in prison under federal sentencing guidelines. Bradshaw's lawyer, Yi Sun, will ask for less, arguing that she should get a break due to her "diminished mental capacity" at the time of the offense, her plea agreement says.

The first threatening letter read, in part, "WE WILL TAKE OUT ALL YOU COME IN CONTACT WITH."

Bradshaw next mailed the cow's tongue in a tampon box, along with another threatening note. The opossum head was the third to arrive, according to Bradshaw's plea agreement. Her feelings for the woman "took on an intensity that overwhelmed her rational thought," according to a psychiatric evaluation conducted earlier this year.