YOUR AD HERE »

Leadville mother held in Ireland in terrorism plot

Mike McPhee
The Denver Post

A Leadville woman is in custody in Ireland, arrested as part of an investigation into a conspiracy to kill a Swedish cartoonist who made fun of the Prophet Mohammed, according to her family and Leadville police.

Jamie Paulin-Ramirez, 31, was arrested Tuesday in Waterford, Ireland, the second American woman to be grabbed in an apparent plot to kill the Swede, who incited the Muslim community with anger after his parody cartoons.

The other woman is Colleen R. LaRose, 46, of suburban Philadelphia, known on the Internet as “JihadJane.” She also remains in custody.



Paulin-Ramirez was traveling with her son, Christian, 6, who has not been heard from since his mother’s arrest on Tuesday.

Paulin-Ramirez’s mother, Christine Holcomb, said Friday night that she had spoken with her daughter and her grandson Monday but hasn’t been able to reach them since.

Support Local Journalism



“I’m angry with her,” Holcomb told The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the story online. “I’d just like to choke her, but I’m worried about her too.”

Holcomb’s husband of 14 years, George Mott, was more direct Friday night.

“I’m so mad. All I want right now is to find our grandson.”

The boy’s father is a Mexican national, who hasn’t been heard from in five years.

Mott said that last year, Paulin-Ramirez began spending considerable time on the Internet in Muslim chat rooms, befriending JihadJane and other Muslim extremists – including Najibullah Zazi, the Aurora airport-shuttle driver who recently admitted his plot to bomb the New York City subway system. She also began wearing fundamentalist Muslim clothing, including a hijab, or head cloth covering everything except her eyes.

Paulin-Ramirez left Leadville in September and traveled to New York, where she married an Algerian. The couple, as well as her son, then traveled to Ireland, Mott said.

The family filed a missing- persons report with the Leadville Police Department, which launched a full-scale investigation.

“I always thought they had something there,” said police Sgt. Saige Thomas. “Nobody took them seriously with a story like that. But we did.”

Read more: http://www.denverpost.com/ci_14667509#ixzz0i4JPNvGj


Support Local Journalism