Charges Filed

Police have filed charges against Kathleen Ensz, the Democratic party official in Colorado who decided to stuff an envelope full of dog feces into the mail slot of the Republican candidate's campaign office.

A former professor of French at the University of Northern Colorado has been cited for allegedly making a special delivery to U.S. Rep. Marilyn Musgrave that reeked of political partisanship.

Kathleen Ensz, professor emeritus at UNC, is accused of depositing a Musgrave campaign mailer full of dog feces at the Republican lawmaker's Greeley office. Ensz was charged Thursday by Greeley police with criminal use of a noxious substance, a misdemeanor.

The offending package arrived on May 31 about 1 p.m. The original addressee's name and address were scratched off, but a police officer was able to use the bar code on the envelope to track the sender's vicinity, which eventually led investigators to the 63-year-old Ensz, said Greeley police spokesman Joe Tymkowych.

Ensz, who couldn't be reached for comment Thursday, is a supporter of Angie Paccione, the Democratic challenger for Musgrave's 4th Congressional District seat, Ensz's friends say.

Those who know her say they find it difficult to believe that Ensz would take such a bizarre action to express her opposition to Musgrave. Then again, Ensz has been known to speak her mind on certain subjects, said Carol Burkhart, who has been active in the Weld County Democratic Party for years.

Ah the mandatory, "We can't believe she'd do that" quotes. Well, it looks like the case is pretty open and shut at this point. The police seem confident they have the facts straight. The accused is no longer speaking to reporters and all the character witnesses are being interviewed.

But wouldn't it be more fitting to send the number two to John Murtha? He wants to be declared number two after all.