Mysterious callers sought in Page corruption case

Q: Could Ernest Page really be this stupid?

A: Yes!

Threatening a witness after he testified while the jury is deliberating, priceless!

"Investigators are trying to find those responsible for a series of threatening phone calls to a witness who testified against former Orlando Commissioner Ernest Page during his corruption trial last week.A spokesman for the State Attorney's Office said an unnamed witness in the case received three calls on Friday before a jury returned a guilty verdict against Page on two felony charges.

Randy Means, chief of investigations for the State Attorney's Office, said a "key witness" in the case was threatened Friday, but the agency would not release the witness' name because of security concerns. The first two calls were made by a man and the third by a woman. All of the calls were placed from a pay phone at the Orange County Courthouse.

"There are some people in the [Southwest United Communities] community who stood to gain financially, and we assume there are people who are angry at the loss of potential revenue," Means said. "Tampering with a witness is very serious, and we consider this tampering."

In the third call, which authorities consider the most serious, a woman told the witness, "This is not over. You better watch your back. We'll be looking for you," according to a police report. "