Minnesota woman running for U.S. Senate found guilty in tarantula-throwing incident

A Minnesota woman running for U.S. Senate, accused of throwing a live tarantula onto a staircase leading to where her then-tenant was staying, has been convicted in the 2024 incident, according to court records.

A jury on Friday found Marisa Simonetti, 32, guilty of one count each of domestic assault, harassment and disorderly conduct, all misdemeanors.

According to the criminal complaint, an individual had been renting out the basement of Simonetti's Edina, Minnesota, home through Airbnb in June 2024. They reported to police that "everything had been fine" until she requested that pest control be hired due to "a lot of large spiders in the basement."

Simonetti started insulting and calling the individual names after they made the request, the complaint said.

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Police later reviewed a video the individual recorded of Simonetti and the man, which showed the pair talking through a closed door while music was playing loudly, according to the complaint. The video later showed the door was breached, and Simonetti throwing a live tarantula onto stairs leading to the basement and spraying an "unknown substance" in the stairwell.

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https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/minnesota-woman-assault-conviction-tarantula-us-senate/?intcid=CNM-00-10abd1h