The Luke Wenke Files

The transcripts below (contained within two separate PDF viewers) feature word-for-word accounts of what was said during an evidentiary hearing to determine whether Luke Wenke needed involuntary mental health treatment. The proceedings took place on February 18th, 2025 and April 10th, 2025 at the Robert H. Jackson federal courthouse in Buffalo, New York.

During the first proceeding, forensic psychologist Dr. Corey Leidenfrost testified about the findings of two mental evaluations he performed on Luke Wenke in 2024 and 2025. Based on both evaluations, Dr. Leidenfrost concluded that Wenke suffers from persistent grandiose, persecutory, and erotomanic delusions.

More specifically, Dr. Leidenfrost highlighted Luke Wenke’s obvious fixation with certain individuals, including myself, noting that during one of the evaluations, he struggled to get Wenke to talk about anything but me. Leidenfrost said that he had to repeatedly redirect Wenke back on topic, only for Wenke to derail into another unrelated tangent about me, Ryan, Ryan’s father, and/or his cyberstalking victim (The Minnesota attorney).

To demonstrate the distinction between a delusion and an overvalued/extreme but culturally congruent belief or idea, Dr. Leidenfrost cited Luke Wenke’s belief that he and his romantic obsession, Ryan, are destined to be together despite a complete lack of evidence to suggest that he and Ryan have ever had a romantic relationship (or that Ryan is interested in one). In Leidenfrost’s words, Wenke’s beliefs transcend into the delusional realm because he takes it far beyond what a rational person would, to the extent that it leads to legal problems and other damage to his life.

Blaming My Website for Luke Wenke’s Behavior

During cross-examination, Luke Wenke’s public defender, Frank Passafiume, focused heavily on my website. He first implied that I wouldn’t have created this website if I were truly as afraid of Luke Wenke as I claim to be, or that my decision to create this website at least calls my claim of fearfulness into question.

He also questioned whether Dr. Leidenfrost took my word at face value when it came to my claim that Luke Wenke’s personality underwent a very noticeable sea change in 2019 or 2020. This was a very strategic way to cast doubt on Leidenfrost’s assessment about said behavioral shift, because it serves as an automatic reminder that I’m not an expert while also paving the path for one to question my intentions. Leidenfrost pointed out that he relied on multiple sources of information to draw his conclusions about Luke Wenke’s descent into mental illness, effectively countering any implied suggestion that he had over-relied on my perspective.

Additionally, Passafiume suggested that my website serves as evidence that Luke Wenke isn’t delusional, because it’s a real, actual thing that makes Wenke feel understandably targeted and singled out, and that his alleged “delusion” is therefore rooted in reality. (This is my interpretation of Passafiume’s viewpoint based on his questioning of Leidenfrost.)

Of course, Passafiume didn’t mention that Luke Wenke began stalking me years before this website existed. He also failed to acknowledge that Luke Wenke’s stalking arguably did not worsen due to my website. It was already on an unstoppable trajectory when I made the site, which is precisely why I created the site. After three years of failing to deter Wenke through silence and by living in hiding, it was safe to say that he clearly had no plans to stop tormenting me. His behavior had only escalated, and there was no reason, whatsoever, to believe it would shift in any other direction. What the fuck did I have to lose, at that point?

I had two choices: continue to suffer in silence, shame, and solitude, or share my truth and perhaps gain some support while preserving a last remaining morsel of my dignity. Yet the defense used this decision to try delegitimizing my victimhood, which I find interesting, since these are lawyers, not psychological experts. How are they suddenly so well-versed on how stalking victims are “supposed” to act when it took two years and multiple evaluations to even tap the surface of their own client’s dysfunction?

But I don’t disagree completely with the defense.

In all fairness, the defense would go on to make some very valid points throughout the two evidentiary hearings that took place and in their written arguments afterward. While I highly respect Dr. Leidenfrost and think there’s immense value to his testimony, especially when it comes to Luke Wenke’s erotomanic delusions and dangerousness, I think he grossly overestimated the likelihood, or even the possibility, that forced treatment could help Wenke.

During the second hearing, which took place two months later, the defense presented testimony from two Bureau of Prisons psychologists who had concluded that Luke Wenke essentially suffers from a personality flaw or narcissistic traits which are very difficult to effectively treat. These experts, Dr. Robin Watkins and Dr. Kaitlyn Nelson, noted that while treatment is available, there’s also a good chance that not much improvement would occur.

I think this is a much more realistic take on Luke Wenke’s condition from several angles. It acknowledges that he’s more lucid and coherent than I think the prosecution gave him credit for. Luke Wenke clearly suffers from delusions, but I think the prosecution failed to acknowledge that he’s not completely lost in space. He understands right from wrong, and is aware of and capable of following certain rules and norms (for example, he managed to survive genpop without getting his ass kicked, despite his massive tendency to run his mouth in situations where he feels safe doing so).

Treatment will never help Luke Wenke because he doesn’t want it, doesn’t think he needs it, and has resisted it every step of the way while adamantly denying that he’s mentally ill. For treatment to work on any meaningful level, in my humble and admittedly non-expert opinion, Wenke would first have to accept that he’s mentally ill. That’s never going to happen, and anyone who thinks it will is more disconnected from reality than Wenke himself.

USA v. Luke Wenke – Transcript
February 18^th, 2025

CASE #1:22-cr-00035, DOC. #202-1