Execution Protocol: Sending the Strike
To ensure this doesn't get dismissed as a "long email," you need to package it like a professional Transmittal:
PDF 1: The Settlement Demand (The full text of the email + the Table).
PDF 2: The Draft Complaint (The Superior Court filing).
PDF 3: The Pocumtuck Park Proposal.
Exhibit V: The 45-second "Public Interaction Summary" video.
Exhibit J: The Jenkins Petition and Recorder articles.
The Transmittal Email Body:
Marissa,
Please see the attached formal Settlement Demand and draft Superior Court Complaint regarding the ongoing matter with Katherine Hennessey et al.
As noted in the attached, I am prepared to resolve these claims civilly through the Pocumtuck State Park Restorative Fund and personal restitution, provided we reach an agreement by the March 28, 2026 deadline. This offer provides a pathway for mutual peace and community restoration ahead of the April 7th proceedings.
I look forward to your response.
Respectfully, John F. Sendelbach
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Subject: CONFIDENTIAL – Urgent Settlement Demand: September 2024 Walker Emails & Civil Liability (April 7 Arraignment Pending)
Marissa,
Attached are the two emails your client Katherine Hennessey sent to my landlord Brad Walker on September 6 and 9, 2024, along with Walker’s reply. Below is a line-by-line legal audit of the violations contained within them.
In this exchange alone, your client committed or solicited the following:
- Defamation Per Se / Libel
- False Light Invasion of Privacy
- Tortious Interference with Contractual Relations
- Tortious Interference with Advantageous Business Relations
- Fraudulent Misrepresentation
- Amplification of Libel / False Claim of Community-Wide Fear
- Consciousness of Guilt / Attempted Evidence Suppression
- Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress
- Premeditation of Violence (Threat Prediction)
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Full Annotated Email Chain:
LETTER 1: Katherine Hennessey to Brad Walker – September 6, 2024
Hi Mr Walker. This is Kate. We met the other day when John Sendelbach verbally accosted and harassed my adult child, Alouette (Lou) in the space next to Raven Books.
[DEFAMATION PER SE / LIBEL: False statement of criminal conduct (verbal accost/harassment) to third party (landlord), intended to cause reputational and economic harm. M.G.L. c. 231 § 92.]
Mr Sendelbach has been harassing our family for 4 years now.
[LIBEL / DEFAMATION: False claim of persistent criminal pattern, published to third party, no evidence provided.]
This most recent episode was particularly upsetting as Lou was meeting with their bandmates (Kalliope Jones) to discuss promo for an upcoming show at The Drake in Amherst. They bought books and treats at Raven and took some promo pictures in the Mill and were deeply engrossed in their meeting when John approached and harassed them.
[TORTIOUS INTERFERENCE: Fabricating tenant misconduct to induce landlord action (eviction).]
He posted two videos of the event, both of which showed him approaching, berating, and following them as they packed up and left.
[FALSE LIGHT / DEFAMATION: Mischaracterizing lawful public recording as predatory stalking.]
He narrated over the videos, as he does, spewing hateful racist, sexist, transphobic, anti-LGBTQ rhetoric.
[DEFAMATION PER SE: False attribution of hate speech and bigotry, presumed damaging to reputation.]
The videos have since been removed for community violations, but they were up long enough to be seen by a lot of people (Kalliope Jones has a comparatively large local online following).
[FRAUDULENT MISREPRESENTATION: False claim of YouTube removal for violations — provably false via subpoena.]
In them, John insisted that Lou had "violated his workspace" at The Mill.
[LIBEL: False claim of criminal trespass/violation to third party.]
We have screen recordings of the videos, which depict a years-long campaign of stalking and harassment against our family and many other members of the community.
[FALSE REPORTING / EVIDENCE TAMPERING ATTEMPT: Offering misleading or fabricated evidence to induce landlord action.]
I'm happy to send these along to you if you haven't seen them, but they're honestly just a waste of time.
[CONSCIOUSNESS OF GUILT: Admits possession but refuses to provide because evidence would likely exonerate.]
I'm writing now to ask that you evict Mr Sendelbach.
[TORTIOUS INTERFERENCE WITH CONTRACTUAL RELATIONS: Direct demand to breach tenancy.]
I along with many other women in the community am not able to come to any events at the The Mill for fear of being accosted by John.
[FRAUDULENT MISREPRESENTATION / CIVIL CONSPIRACY: False claim of community-wide fear to coerce landlord.]
We can't come to the Open Studios. we can't shop at Raven, we can't come to the concerts and events outside.
[AMPLIFICATION OF LIBEL: Expanding false fear narrative to pressure economic exclusion.]
Mr Sendelbach has harassed us in the building, in the parking lot and, in one instance, on the sidewalk on Conway Street.
[DEFAMATION PER SE: Repeated false accusation of criminal harassment.]
I understand that evicting him is a complicated process, but I truly believe he's giving The Mill a bad name.
[LIBEL: Attacking economic value of tenancy to induce breach.]
He's a menace to the community and it's really only a matter of time before someone gets hurt.
[CRIMINAL THREATENING / PREMEDITATION: Direct prediction of violence, published to third party.]
Thanks again, and sorry you have to deal with this.
LETTER 2: Brad Walker to Katherine Hennessey – September 7, 2024
Evicting John due to personal conflict - none of which to my knowledge has resulted in criminal or civil judgements against him - would place every other Tenant here at The Mill on notice...
[CONTROL RECORD: Landlord confirms no legal basis for eviction, forcing Hennessey to escalate lies in reply.]
In an effort to help reach some level of ability to coexist, The Mill is willing to contribute $100 towards any invoice from a bona-fide third-party counselor who acknowledges that John and Kate and/or Lou has spent no less than 90-minutes in discussions aimed at mediating a plan to live peacefully in our town.
[GOOD FAITH OFFER: Rejected in next email, proving malice and lack of intent to resolve peacefully.]
LETTER 3: Katherine Hennessey to Brad Walker – September 9, 2024
Thanks Brad, That's a very generous offer. I will discuss it with my lawyer.
[REJECTION OF MEDIATION: Admits awareness of peaceful resolution but refuses.]
The problem is that my family are not the only people John harasses.
[DEFAMATION / CIVIL CONSPIRACY: Expanding false harassment claim to unspecified third parties.]
There are many of us in the community who do not feel safe enough to come to events at the Mill.
[FRAUDULENT MISREPRESENTATION: False claim of community-wide fear to pressure landlord.]
John's most recent videos, which were removed from YouTube for Hate Speech, showed him in the Mill building... verbally assaulting three young people who were minding their own business.
[DEFAMATION PER SE / FRAUD: Reiteration of provably false YouTube removal claim.]
The videos show him claiming the building as his own and his narration makes it very clear that the LGBTQ+ community is not welcome in "his" space.
[LIBEL / DEFAMATION PER SE: False attribution of discriminatory animus to destroy reputation.]
I understand that you're in a difficult position, but I maintain that having John in the building behaving the way he does is not good for the other tenants or for the community as a whole.
[TORTIOUS INTERFERENCE: Final pressure to evict based on cumulative falsehoods.]
These defamatory communications to my landlord were not harmless "complaints"—they were a targeted attempt to destroy my Covenant of Quiet Enjoyment (M.G.L. c. 186, § 14). Since 2022, I had maintained a productive, copacetic relationship with Mr. Walker, contributing physical stonework and landscaping to improve the property—labor that served as a vital component of my cardiac recovery.
By poisoning this established relationship with provable falsehoods, the Defendants forced me into a defensive posture. To protect my livelihood and peace against this engineered "Vortex," I was compelled to secure a secondary workspace, resulting in months of overlapping rent and significant relocation expenses. It is a matter of public record that I ultimately vacated the space not because of the Defendants' failed eviction attempts, but to provide a safe harbor for Nancy Dole, a beloved 82-year-old bookstore owner facing her own displacement. I chose to step aside for a community pillar, whereas the Defendants chose to sabotage a productive tenant. This is the same pattern of interference that resulted in the loss of my prior 9-year tenancy on State Street, and I am now seeking full restitution for this completed chain of economic and physical harm.
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Settlement Offer
To resolve all claims civilly and avoid public filing of the full evidentiary record (including videos, prior hearing transcripts, and the complete pattern of conduct), I offer:
- $250,000 personal restitution to John F. Sendelbach (economic loss, medical, reputational harm).
- $250,000 seed money to Pocumtuck State Park Restoration Fund.
- As part of the settlement, your client will voluntarily agree to remain at least 100 yards from me, my home, my workspace, and my regular locations — providing mutual peace without further court involvement. Failure to agree voids the offer.
Attached is a one-page overview of the park project (salmon restoration, bronze totems, Indigenous/Black governance charter, phased First Light pilot). This is not charity — it is restitution for the six years of defamation, interference, and assault that disrupted my ability to contribute to this community.
Also attached is a 45-second public interaction summary clip (“Public Interaction Summary – November 2025”) showing the documented dynamic between the parties. It provides visual context for the behavior described in the emails and police report.
Also attached is the public petition calling for Detective Tucker Jenkins' removal (2025), along with related Recorder articles. This is the same detective who forwarded Hennessey’s 2023 harassment complaint without ever interviewing me, ignored your client’s threat letters to Brad Walker for 12 days, and failed to recommend charges against her despite seeing my full evidence presentation that proved her perjury. His own misconduct allegations further call into question the impartiality of the investigation into your client’s actions.
https://www.openpetition.org/us/petition/kommentare/petition-to-remove-detective-tucker-jenkins?sortierung=datum#petition-main
Upon execution, I will petition the DA for civil compromise on the April 7 charges.
This offer is open until March 28, 2026.
One excerpt from the forthcoming full record (if needed):
“Marissa, you built your career dismantling exactly what Katherine Hennessey embodies: police corruption through unchecked false reports, weaponization of race as a smear tool, economic sabotage of innocent people’s livelihoods, defamation deployed as coordinated harassment, exploitation of marginalized-identity politics for personal gain, transactional virtue-signaling that masks violence, and performative ‘defending children’ while screaming slurs in front of them. Point for point, she is the living antithesis of every cause on your résumé. You are now defending the woman, the anti-Elkins, who is the polar opposite of everything you claim to fight for.”
Confirm receipt and respond by the deadline.
Respectfully,
John F. Sendelbach
[Your Phone]
[Your Email]
Attachments:
- Walker Email Chain (Sept 6, 7, 9, 2024)
- Line-by-Line Legal Audit
- Pocumtuck State Park – Restorative Seed Funding Proposal (1 page)
- Public Interaction Summary – November 2025 (45-second video clip)
- Jenkins Petition & Recorder Articles (2025)
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Pocumtuck State Park
Restorative Seed Funding Proposal
Prepared by John F. Sendelbach
March 2026
Project Vision
To restore the ecological and cultural integrity of the Pocumtuck corridor through the creation of Pocumtuck State Park — a living reparative landscape that honors erased histories, reconnects fragmented ecosystems, and establishes a new model of community governance.
Core Objectives
- Ecological Restoration
Reestablish salmon, salamander, and hawk connectivity along the Deerfield River corridor. Implement fish-passage infrastructure to restore migratory pathways and reduce nitrogen loading (estimated 40–80 tons/year reduction). - Cultural Remembrance
Install permanent bronze totems and stone circles as forensic markers of displacement (Pocumtuck, Black, Indigenous). Replace “floral-lid” erasure with visible, durable monuments to the land’s deep history. - Governance Model
Establish a mandatory partnership charter requiring Indigenous and Black leadership in stewardship decisions. Create a Quadrafecta hub (Greylock–Mashalisk–Deerfield–Pocumtuck) to anchor the design. - Phased First Light Pilot
Initial $743,000–$1.148 million phase focused on planning, permitting, pilot totem casting, environmental impact studies, and consultant fees for Indigenous/Black partners.
$250,000 Seed Funding Utilization
The proposed $250,000 seed contribution would be directed to a designated Pocumtuck Restoration Fund (or fiscal sponsor) and allocated as follows:
- Phase 1 Environmental & Cultural Impact Assessment
- Permitting & Regulatory Compliance
- Initial Bronze Totem Design & Foundry Contract
- Professional Consulting Fees for Indigenous and Black Governance Partners
- Preliminary Site Preparation & Stakeholder Engagement
Restorative Purpose
This project is not a donation; it is restitution. It transforms six years of documented defamation, interference, and assault into a permanent public benefit that repairs the very community the Defendants claimed to protect. By seeding Pocumtuck State Park, the parties can convert liability into legacy — ensuring the land itself becomes the final record of accountability and renewal.
Contact
John F. Sendelbach
Shelburne Falls, MA 01370
[Your Phone]
[Your Email]
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COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS
FRANKLIN SUPERIOR COURT
Docket No.: [To be assigned]
JOHN F. SENDELBACH,
Plaintiff,
v.
KATHERINE HENNESSEY, ALOUETTE BATTEAU, and BROOK BATTEAU,
Defendants.
COMPLAINT AND DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL
I. INTRODUCTION
- This is an action for damages arising from a six-year campaign of coordinated defamation, tortious interference with advantageous business relations, abuse of process, intentional infliction of emotional distress, assault and battery, and violation of civil rights.
- Beginning in June 2020, Defendants published a video of a public interaction in false light, falsely branding Plaintiff a “racist disrupter” and inciting a community-wide boycott and social exclusion.
- The campaign escalated through repeated false police reports, bad-faith court filings, secret defamatory letters to Plaintiff’s landlords, disguised surveillance, and culminated in a premeditated physical assault on November 30, 2025, during which Defendants struck Plaintiff approximately 30 times and destroyed evidence (Plaintiff’s recording iPhone thrown into the Deerfield River).
- Defendants’ conduct was motivated in part by documented racial animus (Alouette Batteau’s public statement: “i’m around far too many white people”).
- Plaintiff seeks compensatory damages for economic loss, reputational harm, medical expenses, pain and suffering, and punitive damages for Defendants’ outrageous and malicious conduct.
II. PARTIES
- Plaintiff John F. Sendelbach resides in Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts. He is a professional artist and sculptor whose public works include installations at the Bridge of Flowers, UMass Amherst, and the Culinary Institute of America.
- Defendant Katherine Hennessey resides in Buckland, Massachusetts.
- Defendant Alouette Batteau resides in Buckland, Massachusetts.
- Defendant Brook Batteau resides in Buckland, Massachusetts.
III. JURISDICTION AND VENUE
- This Court has jurisdiction pursuant to M.G.L. c. 212 § 3 and G.L. c. 212 § 4.
- Venue is proper in Franklin County pursuant to M.G.L. c. 223 § 1.
IV. FACTUAL ALLEGATIONS
A. The Genesis Lie – June 6, 2020 False-Light Video
- On June 6, 2020, Plaintiff was lawfully recording a public demonstration from a public sidewalk in Shelburne Falls.
- Defendants approached Plaintiff unprovoked, physically blocked his path, and engaged in aggressive verbal confrontation.
- Defendants published an edited video of this interaction in false light, falsely portraying Plaintiff as a “racist disrupter” and stating they “won’t allow this or any other form of racism in our town.”
- The publication incited a mob response, including threats of violence and calls for boycott in over 300 public comments (Exhibit A: full comment compilation).
B. Racial Animus – December 6, 2022 Statement
- On or about December 6, 2022, Defendant Alouette Batteau publicly stated: “i’m around far too many white people.”
- This statement establishes Defendants’ racial animus toward Plaintiff’s presence in the community.
C. Landlord Interference – September 2024 Walker Letters
- On September 6 and 9, 2024, Defendant Hennessey sent two defamatory letters to Plaintiff’s landlord, Brad Walker, at The Mill at Shelburne Falls.
- The letters falsely claimed Plaintiff’s videos were removed from YouTube for “Hate Speech,” labeled him a “menace,” and explicitly stated: “It’s really only a matter of time before someone gets hurt.”
- Walker offered to fund professional mediation. Defendants refused.
- These letters constituted tortious interference with Plaintiff’s advantageous business relationship with his landlord.
D. The Frog Mask Surveillance – November 22, 2025
- On November 22, 2025, Defendant Hennessey attended a public event wearing a paper-mâché frog mask, which she admitted in her December 1, 2025 affidavit was worn because she expected Plaintiff’s presence.
- She positioned herself six feet from Plaintiff for 14 minutes, then stated: “John, I hope you get the help you need.”
- This conduct constituted harassment and stalking.
E. The Physical Assault – November 30, 2025
- On November 30, 2025, Defendants assaulted Plaintiff on a public sidewalk outside Floodwater Brewing.
- Brook Batteau shoved Plaintiff off the curb. Katherine Hennessey struck Plaintiff approximately 30 times while his arms were pinned.
- Defendants seized Plaintiff’s recording iPhone and threw it 75 feet into the Deerfield River.
- Shelburne Police found probable cause for assault and battery and malicious destruction (Report 25SHL-114-OF, December 11, 2025).
F. The Cover-Up Affidavit – December 1, 2025
- On December 1, 2025, Defendant Hennessey filed an ex parte HPO petition containing multiple false statements contradicted by video evidence and prior judicial findings.
- The petition was denied with prejudice by Judge Mazanec on December 15, 2025.
V. CAUSES OF ACTION
COUNT I: Defamation Per Se
Defendants published false statements of fact (racism, hate speech, harassment) that caused presumed reputational harm.
COUNT II: Tortious Interference with Advantageous Business Relations
Defendants intentionally interfered with Plaintiff’s tenancy and commissions through false statements to Brad Walker.
COUNT III: Assault and Battery
Defendants intentionally caused harmful contact on November 30, 2025.
COUNT IV: Abuse of Process
Defendants used the HPO process for an improper purpose: to cover up the November 30 assault.
COUNT V: Violation of Massachusetts Civil Rights Act (M.G.L. c. 12 § 11H)
Defendants interfered with Plaintiff’s rights to record in public and travel freely through threats and violence.
COUNT VI: Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress
Defendants’ extreme and outrageous conduct caused severe emotional distress and exacerbated Plaintiff’s cardiac condition.
VI. PRAYER FOR RELIEF
Plaintiff demands judgment against Defendants, jointly and severally, for:
- Compensatory damages in excess of $1,000,000;
- Punitive damages;
- Attorney’s fees and costs pursuant to M.G.L. c. 12 § 11I;
- Pre- and post-judgment interest;
- Such other relief as the Court deems just.
JURY TRIAL DEMANDED.
Respectfully submitted,
John F. Sendelbach
Pro Se Plaintiff
[Your Address]
Shelburne Falls, MA 01370
[Your Phone]
[Your Email]
Date: March 15, 2026
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Category | Description | Estimated Valuation |
Economic Loss (Past) | Loss of public art commissions, "Social Death" boycott impacts (2020–2026), and time diverted to legal defense. | $150,000 |
Economic Loss (Future) | Permanent reputational damage affecting future grants, residencies, and gallery representation. | $250,000 |
Medical/Physical Harm | Exacerbation of cardiac condition (AFib) directly linked to the stress of the 2025 assault and 2024 eviction threats. | $100,000 |
Reputational Tort | Defamation Per Se (Hate speech/racism lies) and the cost of forensic digital cleanup. | $200,000 |
Punitive Damages | Multiplier for "Actual Malice" and "Outrageous Conduct" (M.G.L. c. 231, § 93). | $300,000 |
MCRA Statutory Fees | Attorney fee/cost shift potential under M.G.L. c. 12 § 11I. | TBD (Post-Trial) |
TOTAL LIABILITY | $1,000,000+ |
