Hacker stalked Linkin Park frontman

Musical discord

By John Leyden • Get more from this author

Posted in Security, 3rd July 2007 12:47 GMT

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A former US government lab worker has admitted stalking Linkin Park lead singer Chester Bennington after using computing hacking tactics to obtain data on her target.

Devon Townsend, 28, from Albuquerque, New Mexico, confessed to using government computers to break into the email account of the singer and hacking into the website of his mobile provider in order to obtain his number. She also used a work computer to illegally obtain data on Bennington's wife, Talinda.

The fixated fan was able to view family photos, monitor Bennington's travel plans, and snoop on business correspondence between January 2006 and November 2006. She also illicitly monitored the couple's mobile phone messages. At one point, Townsend threatened Talinda Bennington by phone.

"On at least one occasion, knowing that Chester Bennington was in Arizona, I travelled to Arizona solely for the purpose of trying to see him," Townsend admitted as part of a plea bargaining agreement, the BBC reports.

"While I was there, I monitored Chester Bennington's voicemails as a means of trying to locate where he might be eating."

Investigators found pictures of Townsend with Bennington along with other Linkin Park memorabilia when they raided her Albuquerque home following her arrest.

Townsend pleaded guilty to charges including stalking, computer hacking, and trafficking in music recordings at a sentencing hearing in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on Friday. The former Sandia National Laboratories employee faces up to five years imprisonment and fines of up to $250,000 for each offence. ®

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