California Man Charged with Stalking Apple Valley Woman

A California man was arrested this week and charged with stalking an Apple Valley woman for years, sending emails and messages and asking police repeatedly to check on her well-being.

Michael Lee Everly, 37, of Vallejo, CA, is charged with stalking, a felony that carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine.

He remained in the Dakota County Jail on Friday on a $25,000 bond. An omnibus hearing in his case is scheduled for Oct. 3 in Dakota County District Court in Hastings.

According to the criminal complaint, the woman contacted on July 6 and told them her mother had discovered a manila envelope and a small box between her front doors. The envelope had the name of the woman’s mother on it, and the box had the woman's name on it.

A Post-It attached to the box told the woman to open the box in front of her mother.

The woman’s mother eventually opened the box and found a cell phone. The envelope contained a copy of a two-year restraining order against Everly, which expired on July 6.

The woman told police that she and Everly had been coworkers in California in 1994 and 1995, and that she had met him when she was 18.

She said they had never had a “significant” or romantic relationship, according to the criminal complaint. They exchanged letters in 1995, though she said she had no plans to stay in contact with him after she left California.

In the fall of 2008, Everly sent the woman a message on MySpace.com, according to the complaint. They corresponded through MySpace, though she said she never added him as a friend because she “saw red flags pertaining to his behavior.”

When the woman cut off contact, Everly allegedly began sending emails to various police departments in Minnesota, asking them to check on the victim’s well-being, and at one point he complained to a Minneapolis City Council member about the Minneapolis Police Department’s lack of response to his requests.

In February 2009, Minneapolis police checked on the woman, who allegedly was upset by the incident and asked them not to give Everly any information about her.

For several months, Everly began sending numerous letters to the woman at various addresses in the Twin Cities.

The woman sought a restraining order in July 2009, and Everly came to Minneapolis and visited three addresses that he had for her and finally found her, leaving a Post-It note on her door and asking her to call him.

The woman received a large package from Everly on July 7, 2009, containing all the letters that had been returned to him, including the ashes of one letter that he had burned.

Everly continued sending letters for the next two years, and at one point went to Indiana and found the woman's father, according to the complaint.

The victim obtained another restraining order against Everly on July 11. A hearing on that order was scheduled for Sept. 6.

Everly appeared at the Hennepin County Government Center that day and spoke to police, telling them that he had sent letters and repeatedly tried to contact the woman, including visiting her father.

Everly also handed a letter to an attorney this week, in which he wrote, in part, “Unless she gets the help she needs, [the woman] WILL end up being directly responsible for another person’s death within 10 years.” The letter demanded that the woman be fingerprinted to verify her identity.

Police arrested Everly and searched his hotel room, finding a map that identified the home of the woman’s mother, along with other addresses associated with the woman.

The woman told police that she has had to move numerous times to get away from Everly, and that she has sought medical treatment for stress and ulcers brought on by his behavior. She said she bought a stun gun and keeps a bat by her front door because she fears that Everly will “hunt her down.”