A Pennsylvania doctor is in jail after she allegedly sent threatening flyers and set fire to the porch of a home belonging to the grandmother of her ex-boyfriend’s new girlfriend.
Dr. Amy Cohen, 35, is facing a slew of charges including attempted murder, aggravated assault, arson and terroristic threats. According to a criminal complaint reviewed by Law&Crime, the investigation began Nov. 24 when Lower Merion police were called after someone left a flyer at the home of a 99-year-old woman that featured photos of two of her granddaughters with X’s crossing out their eyes. The letter addressed the woman by name and said her “idiot” and “slut” granddaughters need to quit their jobs and leave Pennsylvania.
“We know what they’ve done. They need to leave alone. If they don’t, they will both get hurt. We will know. Don’t test us!” the letter said.
Another letter mailed to a different family member claimed the two granddaughters were “promoting islamophobia” after they posted their support of Israel on social media. Their pictures also were on the flyer, which said “we know” where they lived and worked.
“They are disgusting,” the letter said. “If they don’t leave Pennsylvania, they will BOTH get HURT. Don’t test US!”
The family alerted Lower Merion police, the FBI and the Anti-Defamation League.
Dr. Amy Cohen allegedly set fire to a Pennsylvania home connected to her ex-boyfriend’s new girlfriend. Cohen also is accused of sending threatening flyers. (Montgomery County Jail)
Fire crews responded to the fire at the grandmother’s home around 1:30 a.m. on Nov. 30. She was sleeping in the home, but was not injured as firefighters contained the fire to the porch. Investigators found liquid spatter onto the front wall, door and window which indicated the fire was intentionally set and someone used a flammable liquid to ignite the blaze, the affidavit said.
The grandmother’s family had installed cameras at the home after the letter was left behind. Videos reportedly showed the female suspect, small in stature, wearing a dark medical mask, black headband and clear safety glasses, winter coat, pants and Ugg boots, holding lighter fluid and stick lighter. After the fire was lit, the suspect was seen emptying the bottle of lighter fluid on the porch. The fire burned so brightly that the camera turned from night mode to day mode, thus illuminating the victim’s face, according to the affidavit.
The family reviewed the video footage and the boyfriend of one of the homeowner’s granddaughters who had previously been threatened recognized the suspect as someone he used to date: Cohen.
The boyfriend said he and the victim’s granddaughter met in June and while he was seeing other people the two soon agreed by late summer that they would become exclusive. He had been dating Cohen for about six months but broke it off with her and she “did not take it well,” the affidavit said. When he said he did not want to see Cohen anymore she “became very emotional,” the affidavit said. Cohen told him in early September that she “wanted closure” and asked that they meet up at a coffee shop to talk. He agreed.
During the meeting, he said Cohen “began to cry” and said she “loved” him, but he reiterated that the relationship was over. When he reviewed the video camera of the fire, he told investigators he believed it was Cohen who set it, detectives wrote.
Lower Merion police and the FBI obtained surveillance footage from Cohen’s apartment complex that showed her vehicle entered the parking garage not long after the fire. She was also wearing similar clothing to the person in the video who set the woman’s porch on fire. Detectives obtained numerous search warrants.
They were fruitful.
Investigators went to Bryn Mawr Hospital where Cohen works as an infectious disease specialist. She was wearing the black headband she was wearing when she allegedly set the fire. She also had a notepad with several elementary schools in the Philadelphia area, some of which were crossed out. Her ex-boyfriend’s new girlfriend is an elementary school teacher, cops said.
In Cohen’s car, cops found black surgical masks, clear safety glasses, matches and two lighter fluid boxes, the complaint said. Detectives also allegedly found Ugg boots and other clothing similar to the ones that the arson suspect wore, a note with the address of the grandmother and copies of the threatening flyers.
“It is believed by your affiants that Amy Cohen engaged in a pattern of stalking against the victims listed herein,” detectives wrote in the complaint. “Amy Cohen communicated specific ideas in writing that were intended to make the victims feel threatened, and specifically included language that related the threats to the victims’ Jewish faith.”
Cohen knew the grandmother was home when she set the fire, detectives noted. Cops arrested Cohen and took her to the Montgomery County Jail where she is being held on a $5 million bond.
Her attorney declined to comment.
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