Who left the voicemails Owens referenced and what evidence links them to the Stamford school incident?
Executive summary
Candace Owens says she received three racist, threatening voicemails as a 17‑year‑old senior at Stamford High in 2007; police investigated, forensic analysis was sought, and her family later settled a lawsuit with the Stamford Board of Education for $37,500 [1] [2] [3]. Reporting at the time and later profiles say the messages were “allegedly by several of her white classmates” — four boys in a car are specifically mentioned in some pieces — and the son of then‑mayor Dan Malloy’s family was among those whose relatives were questioned by police [1] [4] [5].
1. The basic claim: voicemails, racial epithets and death threats
Owens’ account and contemporaneous local reporting describe three voicemails left on her phone in 2007 that contained graphic racist slurs and death threats, which caused her to stay out of school and to become the subject of a police investigation [6] [1] [7]. Local outlets and later profiles repeatedly summarize that the calls were “threatening and racist epithet‑filled” and that the family subsequently sued the Stamford Board of Education and received a $37,500 settlement [3] [2] [7].
2. Who did Owens and police say left the messages?
Multiple local stories report the messages were “allegedly” left by several of Owens’s classmates; some pieces name “four boys in a car” as the source she later described and note that at least one teen was charged in the case [1] [4]. News12 and other contemporaneous reports state police questioned the mayor’s son in connection with the probe, indicating investigators focused on students within her school circle [8] [5].
3. Forensic steps and the evidentiary record
Stamford police sent voicemails for forensic analysis and “tapped specialists” to use spectrographic techniques intended to filter background sounds and extract voice features — a step reported publicly as part of the evidence work‑up [1]. News12 noted police sent tapes for forensics and were awaiting results before proceeding further in the case [8]. Those reports show law‑enforcement took the recordings seriously and sought technical corroboration rather than relying solely on accusation.
4. Public and legal outcomes reported
Reporting documents arrests and at least one court appearance by a teen charged with threatening Owens; News12’s coverage said “several arrests” were made and that a teen made a first court appearance [8]. Separately, Owens’s family filed a civil suit against the Stamford Board of Education alleging failure to protect her, which ended in a settlement reported at $37,500 [2] [3]. Available sources do not detail criminal convictions or the full forensic findings in court records within the provided reporting.
5. Disputed details and what sources explicitly say (or don’t say)
Sources repeatedly use qualifying language — “allegedly” and “accused” — when identifying classmates as the callers, and emphasize police investigation and forensic testing rather than an immediate, uncontested identification [1] [8]. Some pieces identify a group of four boys as the set that left the messages; others focus on a single teen who was charged or questioned. The reporting does not, in these excerpts, present published audio transcripts, a court judgment definitively naming every caller, or the public release of forensic voice‑match results [1] [8] [4]. Therefore, claims beyond “police investigated, arrests were reported, and a settlement occurred” are not supported by the provided sources.
6. Context and competing perspectives
Owens framed the episode as formative to her life and later political identity; local profiles and interviews cite her narrative and the school‑district settlement as corroborating elements of the incident [6] [4]. At the same time, some contemporaneous reporting notes denials from the teens involved — for example, Owens wrote that one boy she believed orchestrated the calls denied the allegation vehemently [6]. The press coverage therefore records both Owens’s accusation and denials from accused students, plus police investigative steps [6] [1].
7. Takeaway and limitation of current reporting
The available reporting establishes: Owens received three threatening voicemails in 2007; police investigated and used forensic analysis; at least one teen was charged and “several arrests” were reported; and Owens’s family later settled a civil suit with the school district for $37,500 [1] [8] [2] [3]. The provided sources do not publish complete forensic findings, court rulings naming every caller, or audio evidence in the public record; they also record denials by at least one accused teen [6] [1]. For definitive attribution of each voicemail to a particular individual and a transcript of the evidentiary record, available sources do not mention those specifics.