The case of Kristen Hentschel v. Jeffrey Pitts, McNicholas & Associates, National Public Radio, and Floodlight keeps getting more interesting. And the ties to Martin County keep getting a little deeper.
The case, initially filed 10/31/2024, included only Jeffrey Pitts, with Ms. Hentschel claiming tortious interference with business relationships. The claim is that Mr. Pitts intentionally interfered with current and future business relationships causing harm, such as the inability to earn an income.
The case grew to add National Public Radio, Floodlight, and McNicholas and Associates as defendants. That was done on 12/18/2024.
The case centers around the story that there was a report of 20 dead gopher tortoises on what is now the Cleveland Clinic site on Indian Street and Kanner Highway in Stuart, Florida.
The tip, dated 7/16/2018, was reported by then City of Stuart Senior Planner Stephen Mayer. He wrote to environmental consultant, Ed Weinberg, stating he received a “terrible report” that there were as many as 20 dead gopher tortoises “obviously coming from the construction site.”
The report was later identified as coming from Kimberly Field, girlfriend of Mr. Mayer.
She has since stated she never made this statement to Mr. Mayer though it’s unclear why the girlfriend of a city employee would send him a message expressing a concern about dead gopher tortoises and later deny any recollection of the situation or why a City employee would lie about the tip.
The initial report from Toby Overdorf, environmental consultant for the Cleveland Clinic site, stated that there were no gopher tortoises on the site. Yet he later confirmed their existence on his scope of work for the Cleveland Clinic site.
There was also a report from Ed Weinberg, of EW Consultants, confirming the existence of gopher tortoises on the parcel.
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And there was confirmation of their presence on or near the parcel as reported and documented with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
The gopher tortoise deaths were the original story. But that’s not what made the news.
Kristen Hentschel is the news
On December 21, 2022, NPR published a story She was an ABC News producer. She also was a corporate operative.
The story was about Ms. Hentschel claiming she was a paid operative for Matrix LLC to confront their clients under the guise of news reporting.
The story brushed over the reason for the investigation, the destruction of the gopher tortoise burrows, and became all about Kristen Hentschel.
The story was shared by Toby Overdorf immediately from his official government social media account after it was posted by NPR with him claiming he was “vindicated.”
Interestingly, NPR did not investigate the other allegations of Mr. Overdorf’s environmental violations.
On December 16, 2013, Mr. Overdorf was cited by South Florida Water Management District for Notice of Violation for Works and Alteration of Wetlands without a Permit; Non-Compliance with Permit Conditions for the Tesoro East Side project in St. Lucie County.
That is but one example not included in the article by NPR.
Hillsborough Clerk of Court entries
There are 94 entries in the Hillsborough County Clerk of Court.
In the documents is a subpoena to Kimberly Field, the alleged tipster.
There is also a proposal settlement from Jeffrey Pitts. The details are understandably not available.
There is also an Order of Dismissal granted by the Court releasing McNicholas and Associates as a defendant.
The premise of the case against McNicholas & Associates was based on the allegation that the firm controlled the narrative of the NPR story to focus on Ms. Hentschel, making them a contributor to the interference with her ability to get work.
There is still an unanswered question as to how the firm, who is not on any of the emails discussing the initial tip communicated by City of Stuart staff, received a copy of the email. It is unclear who provided it to McNicholas & Associates.
We reached out to Ms. Hentschel’s attorney, Dave Scher of the Hoyer Law Group, for a comment about the dismissal.
Mr. Scher would only say “The entity was dismissed without prejudice. The real problem is Kristen’s nude or part nude photo is still out there and we know it is out there. No one will hand it back and no one will tell me how they got it or why they got it or from whom.”
But the most interesting part of the documents filed..
There is one text message that stands out amongst all of the supporting documentation as part of this case. It was submitted as part of the documents submitted by Jeffrey Pitts.
There is a text massage between “Joe P.” and Apryl Marie Fogel.
Ms. Fogel is identified in the amended complaint as a source for the NPR article.
Ms. Fogel has been identified as a romantic partner of Mr. Pitts as indicated in the amended complaint (screenshot below).
Specific to the text message, the text reads:
“Ask him about Krystyn Caddell. Photos and story coming. I have all the emails.”
“Another Matrix staffer already told me about her years ago… She deserves everything you throw at her. She’s a POS.”
And there is an attachment of her resume.
NOTE: Krystyn Caddell and Kristen Hentschel are the same person.
One could question if Ms. Vogel appears to be targeting Ms. Hentshel because of a romantic rivalry.
So who is Joe P.?
Joe P. does exist. His full name is Joe Perkins and he lives in North Port Alabama.
He is not only an employee of Matrix. He is, in fact, the founder of Matrix LLC.
We reached out to him with the following message:
“It’s been implied that you are the Joe P who was part of this text message chat. Can you confirm that this was, in fact, from you? Can you advise why you / Matrix Media would target Ms. Hentschel? Was this personal or was Matrix focusing on her on behalf of one of your clients?”
We received a response from Joe Espy, his attorney.
“We represent Dr. Joseph Perkins and Matrix, LLC. and are writing in response to your recent inquiry.
On behalf of Dr. Joseph Perkins and Matrix, LLC:
At no time, now or in the past, have Dr. Perkins or Matrix, LLC targeted Ms. Hentschel.
Neither Matrix nor Dr. Perkins made or endorsed the statement you referenced in your email, “She deserves everything you throw at her. She’s a POS.”
In view of past and present court matters, Matrix and Dr. Perkins have no further comment.
Matrix, LLC and Dr. Perkins wish to make it abundantly clear that they have not targeted Ms. Hentschel, now or in the past.”
What cannot be verified is if this message is really from Joe Perkins.
Yes, it is his name on the text, but it’s a screenshot with no verification or proof of the phone number associated with the name.
Regardless of the name at the top, the message shows Ms. Hentschel was clearly targeted and there was an apparent conspiracy to derail her career.
It is especially of interest as there is also an email from Santina Leuci, Chief Executive Editorial Producer at ABC News, to Kerry Smith, senior vice president for ABC News, stating Ms. Hentschel was a good employee and deserves a second chance.
However, as of the publication of this article, Ms. Hentschel is still unemployed.
So the question that remains is who is truly responsible for the tortious interference.
What's next?
As with most things, the cover-up is worse than the crime. And the alleged crime that started this all – the destruction of the gopher tortoise burrows – is still a crime. But the City of Stuart is denying it ever happened which was followed by a story of a cover up of something that is alleged to not have even happened.
It is clear that those who are mentioned in the lawsuit as defendants were aware of the NPR article that would eventually be published.
The effort to pivot from the original story of what probably started out as a true story about tortoises was changed to benefit the City of Stuart and developer’s public relations efforts. The conversation of environmental concerns was and is now instead focused on one person, Ms. Hentschel, making the story about her, derailing her career as some kind of sacrificial lamb to keep the focus on something other than the alleged environmental violations.
The focus of everyone’s attention is no longer on the original claim of the death of the tortoises, nor is it on what did or did not happen within the City of Stuart.
We still need to know why someone would allegedly create a false tip about something that *could* be proven.
The girlfriend of a then-City employee supposedly let her boyfriend know about egregious environmental damage and destruction. He reported it to his superiors and an environmental consultant which prompted an investigation. It has been proven that gopher tortoises existed (and exist) on this specific parcel and the surrounding parcels.
Yet the story is focused on the reporter originally looking into the claims.
As Mr. Overdorf was quoted in saying at the close of the NPR article, “Even though it is 1,000% entirely, completely false, it sticks,” Overdorf says. “It is oil that unfortunately doesn’t leave you.”
I wonder if Ms. Hentschel feels the same way.
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