CRESSKILL ? The 22-year-old woman stood in the shower, rubbing grapefruits, oranges and soap all over her "cursed" body, in what a local psychic said would help save a deteriorating relationship.
Another woman, coming off a divorce, ended up sleeping with $3,000 cash, candles, ribbons and a grapefruit under her bed.
Together, the two women lavished the "seer" with more than $30,000 in cash, watches, clothes and furniture in an attempt to remove curses that she said had been passed on by their mothers, authorities allege.
Tammy Mitchell, 41, of Broadway was charged Thursday with theft by deception for conducting what authorities said were elaborate scams on the two women, who went to the self-proclaimed "gypsy" after seeing the advertisement for "Annmarie ESP."
The younger victim first visited Mitchell at her condo in November for a $65 reading, said Police Detective Sgt. Norman Saunders. Telling the woman she was cursed, Mitchell embarked on an elaborate scam to fleece her, he said.
"She told her she would never be happy, never be lucky in love," Saunders said.
Mitchell first made the woman sleep with white thread, red wine and salt in a pillowcase under her bed, the sergeant said. Then she persuaded her victim to remove $600 from the bank and rub the money and the fruit on her body while making the sign of the cross.
The following day, Mitchell repeated the ritual, this time rubbing the oranges and grapefruits on the woman's body herself, Saunders said.
The woman paid $5,500 for Mitchell's "services," he said.
"She then told the victim to smash an orange with her foot," Saunders said. "When she did, an evil head popped out.
"She told her that part of the curse was dead."
Within days, Mitchell asked for another $7,000 and sent the woman home with the grapefruits to take into the shower, Saunders said. When the woman couldn't pay the money in cash, Mitchell persuaded the victim to buy her a dining room set, shoes and clothes, he said.
The relationship failed anyway, Saunders said, and the woman, in turn, went to police.
Another woman responded to an ad in a home mailer. Having recently emerged from a divorce, the 42-year-old victim received the same spiel about being cursed and took $3,000 out of the bank, Saunders said.
The scam ran mostly the same, and involved fruit implanted with plastic skulls and bags of odd items placed under the bed at sleep time. Mitchell promised both women she would return the money once the curses were reversed, Saunders said.
Police found Mitchell hiding in a closet. They charged her husband, Ricky Ristick, 41, with hindering apprehension for allegedly hiding her, Saunders said.
"She told us that she was basically a good person," he said, "but also a con artist."
Ristick was released after posting $2,500 bail.
Looking into Mitchell's future, Saunders said she would remain held on $30,000 bail at the Bergen County Jail pending a court appearance.
Source: http://www.northjersey.com/page.php?qst ... VlRUV5eTM=
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