A Tennessee nurse has been charged with mailing a sanitary napkin drenched in human blood and dog feces to her husband’s ex-wife, after allegedly keying the woman’s car and sending her teenage daughter a letter calling the child ‘poor white trash.’
Della Marie Gibson Lathum, 37, from Oak Ridge, had a federal complaint filed against her earlier this month, charging her with two counts of sending biohazardous materials through the mail.
Gibson Lathum, a married mother-of-three who until recently had worked as a registered nurse at Parkwest Medical Center, also faces state charges of harassment and stalking in connection with this case.
Married mom-of-three Della Gibson Lathum, 37, faces state harassment and stalking charges, and federal counts of sending biohazardous materials through the mail
According to court documents obtained by DailyMail.com, on April 5, Gibson Lathum sent through the US Postal Service a soft package containing dog excrement to her rival, identified as Melanie Lathum.
The parcel also contained a letter with derogatory statements.
Four days later, Gibson Lathum allegedly mailed an envelope to her husband’s former spouse carrying a blood-stained sanitary napkin.
When she was interviewed at her place of work on April 19, Gibson Lathum initially denied any wrongdoing but later admitted to sending the packages, according to an affidavit from a USPS postal inspector.
She said the blood found on the feminine hygiene product came from a patient at the hospital where she worked, according to arrest warrants cited by WBIR.
‘Gibson advised she mailed the letter because she wanted “the kids” to know the truth about Lathum,’ stated the federal filing.
The 37-year-old Gibson Lathum, who is currently married to Melanie Lathum’s ex-husband, Dan, claimed that her predecessor ‘was lazy, didn’t work and lived off the system, however, Gibson worked hard for everything she had.’
Gibson Lathum had been arrested on the federal charges on June 11. A judge has since released her from custody on condition that she not contact the victim and not work in the medical field.
A spokesperson for the Parkwest hospital stated that Gibson Lathum is no longer employed there.
Aside from the federal charges, Gibson Lathum also faces a slew of state charges, including five counts of harassment, two of stalking and one count of vandalism.
Arrest warrants alleged that in late March, Gibson Lathum scratched Melanie Lathum’s car, causing more than $1,000 worth of damage, while the woman and her two children were attending a school banquet.
On the same day, the nurse allegedly left a rock on her rival’s doorstep, which had a red ‘A’ for adultery painted on it.
Gibson Lathum is suspected of using blood from a patient at Parkwest Medical Center in Tennessee, where she had worked as a registered nurse until recently, and pouring it onto a sanitary napkin, which she then mailed to her husband’s ex-wife
In April, Gibson Lathum allegedly mailed a card to Melanie’s 13-year-old daughter, which contained disparaging comments about the family, including ‘You are poor white trash faking a fancy life,’ and ‘Your mom is broke and lazy & won’t pay her bills,’ reported WJHL.
Melanie Lathum addressed the incidents involving her ex-husband’s new wife, and the media attention the case has garnered, in a Facebook post on Wednesday, calling the situation a ‘train wreck you can’t help but watch.’
‘Y’all just became aware of the situation with my ex husbands wife yesterday,’ the divorced mom-of-two wrote. ‘My kids and I on the other hand have been living this nightmare for a long time.’
Gibson Lathum is due back in county court on July 28.