A trial involving harassment via Twitter took an odd turn Thursday when the judge revealed a letter he’d received earlier this week from a stranger claiming to have relevant evidence about the case.

The letter writer, whose name was not made public, alleged he is a former acquaintance of the three women Gregory Elliot is charged with criminally harassing on Twitter, according to a portion read to the court by Ontario Court Justice Brent Knazan.

“In the interest of justice I must inform you that (the three women) conspired in my presence to fabricate a criminal harassment complaint against Elliot,” the man wrote.

He added that he was told by two people in the summer of 2012 that the conspiracy extends to the Ministry of the Attorney General.

The names of the two people are familiar to the defence because their Twitter handles have come up in the tweets in this case, said Elliot’s lawyer, Chris Murphy.

Crown prosecutor Marnie Goldenberg said she was left speechless by the letter, which she first heard about in court.

Knazan said he was obliged to make the “unconventional and inappropriate” letter part of the trial record, though it is not considered evidence.

“I had thought and hoped it might just be a nuisance,” he said. “I am reluctant to let a stranger upset a trial by writing the judge, but the particular allegations almost lead the police and the Crown counsel no option but to investigate, if only to confirm there is no basis for what the writer says.”

The allegations in the letter are now being investigated by police, confirmed Det. Jeff Bangild.

Knazan noted that he does not think Elliot had anything to do with the letter, and that the allegations would not affect his assessment of the evidence.

Knazan provided the name of letter writer to both Crown and defence, at their request.

Murphy argued that the man might be a potential defence witness or a Crown witness.

The allegations in the letter about a conspiracy to fabricate complaints could be linked to questions Murphy has previously asked complainant Stephanie Guthrie about during cross-examination, he said.

Murphy alleged that the three complainants gathered with friends in the summer of 2012 and hatched a plan to harass Elliot by creating a parody account and using a derogatory hashtag.

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Guthrie, the first woman to report Elliot to the police, has testified that Elliott continued to tweet harassing comments at her or about her even after she blocked him on Twitter.

The trial resumes in May with the continued cross-examination of Guthrie.

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