Creepy hippie letter

Shooter still on the loose

New York Daily News/June 21, 2006
By Alison Gendar and Rich Schapiro With Maureen Seaberg

The obsessed stalker who shot a Staten Island commune leader is still lurking in the area - and taunting her victim in bizarre writings to a local newspaper, police sources revealed yesterday.

Cops believe a package received by the Staten Island Advance was sent by suspected shooter Rebekah Johnson or one of her close friends.

Johnson, a 43-year-old former commune member, has been on the run since May 29, when she allegedly shot Jeff Gross, the 51-year-old founder of the Ganas commune.

"Patrol car was stationed by 127 Corson for 2 weeks - 2-4/7," reads a message scrawled in blue ink along the column of a May 31 article from the Advance. "They left June 12. June 13 Ganas cut all the vegetation by 127."

Alongside the headline, "Commune stalker: Who's next?" the writer drew an arrow pointing to a picture of Gross and wrote a chilling message: "Just him!"

A police source said a Staten Island postal employee told cops he remembered a man dropping off the Manila envelope, which was postmarked June 15.

"The content of the letter suggests it is [Johnson] or someone on her behalf monitoring the compound," the source said. "The information is accurate."

Gross' attorney Mel Sachs said the note highlights the need to catch the shooter.

"It is illuminating the obvious - that this woman who is armed and dangerous presents a significant threat and must be captured," Sachs said.

The envelope's contents, including several newspaper clips about Ganas and flyers vilifying Gross, are being checked for fingerprints and analyzed by handwriting experts, said Deputy Police Commissioner Paul Browne.

Johnson, who is being hunted by cops, has waged a decade-long campaign against Gross, accusing him of being a sexual predator. The commune leader, who was released from St. Vincent's Hospital last Tuesday, adamantly denies the accusations.