GAINESVILLE, Fla. – A 35-year-old Texas man, identified as Connor Scott Brockenbush of Grapevine, has been arrested after authorities say he sent threatening emails to a University of Florida faculty member.
According to the victim’s report to a University of Florida Police Department officer, she received four emails on May 17 from the same address. Investigators said the messages included racial slurs, explicit death threats, and references to the faculty member’s research. Three of the emails also contained material tied to “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre,” including one clip depicting the killing of a female actor and two images showing the film’s villain alongside a manipulated photo of the victim’s head.
One of the messages, among several references to the victim being killed, allegedly stated, “I’m gonna cut your head off and consume you for nutrients.”
Because the victim said she did not recognize the sender, the officer sought a search warrant for the email account. Records tied to the account reportedly showed a recovery email registered in Brockenbush’s name and connected to a location in Texas.
The UF officer then contacted a detective in Texas, who confirmed that Brockenbush was living in Grapevine.
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The officer reported that the initial search warrant results had no data for May 17, but upon further review, the officer found a spreadsheet in the results with a list of messages and web searches from May 17 that had been deleted. Some of these searches were for the victim’s name, and other searches were for clips from “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.”
The account’s YouTube search history reportedly showed searches for “Melody’s death,” which corresponded to the clip that was attached to one of the emails.
The victim told the officer that she did not know Brockenbush.
Brockenbush has been charged with sending a written threat to kill. His criminal history is unavailable because those documents are not posted on weekends. Judge Sheree Lancaster ordered him held without bail pending a hearing on a motion from the State Attorney’s Office to hold him without bail until trial; if the judge denies the motion, bail will be set at that hearing.