Joseph Gerard Cancellare Jr. (Broward County Jail).
A Florida man allegedly mailed a greeting card smeared with peanut butter to his ex-wife’s best friend, who has a life-threatening allergy to peanuts. Investigators say he targeted the woman because he blamed her for the couple’s divorce.
Joseph Gerard Cancellare Jr., 68, faces charges of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and culpable negligence.
According to a probable-cause affidavit, the woman was collecting her mail in August 2025 when she noticed a blue envelope that appeared “greasy.” It was addressed to “Goergina Sawals.” Inside was a greeting card allegedly covered with a “brown substance” she identified as peanut butter.
The woman, who described herself as “deathly allergic” to peanut butter, dropped the envelope and rushed inside to wash her hands. Police said she developed hives on both arms and experienced tingling that continued for six hours.
Plantation police, who investigated because Cancellare lives in the city, determined that the “Forever” stamps on the envelope had been purchased at a Davie Post Office kiosk about a week before the woman received the card.
Investigators said Cancellare used his credit card to buy the stamps. A camera at the kiosk captured his face, and the woman “immediately recognized” him when police showed her the image, according to the affidavit.
She told investigators that Cancellare had previously been married to her best friend and that the three of them had known one another for about 20 years. Police described the divorce as “contentious” and said Cancellare largely blamed the woman for the breakup. Because they had gone to dinner together countless times, investigators said, Cancellare would “absolutely know about her allergy.”
The woman said she warned restaurant staff about her condition every time they dined out. She also made clear that she could not come into contact with peanuts, peanut oil or food that may have been cross-contaminated.
She told police that exposure could trigger a reaction through touch, ingestion or the air, because peanuts can release an airborne toxin. Without “immediate intervention,” investigators said, the reaction could be fatal.
“When [the victim] opened the envelope sent by Joseph, she immediately sprang into action to save her life,” investigators wrote. “The experience caused her extreme distress, which was still visible when she provided her statement more than a year later.”
The woman said she last saw Cancellare roughly three years earlier, when she served as an “observer” during the “physical split” of property connected to the divorce settlement.
Police arrested Cancellare on Friday and booked him into the Broward County Jail. He has since posted bond. His next court date was not listed.
The post Man mailed peanut butter-filled greeting card to ex-wife’s best friend who had ‘deathly’ allergy because he blamed her for divorce: Cops first appeared on Law & Crime.