A martial arts instructor who was jailed for trying to poison Barack Obama a decade ago is back in the spotlight.

James Dutschke was sentenced to 25 years in prison after a bizarre saga that is the focus of a new Netflix series, Tupelo Kings. 

The series follows Dutschke's feud with an Elvis impersonator in Tupelo, Mississippi who was initially arrested for sending ricin letters to Obama and other public officials.

Bizarre feud revisited

Police at first arrested Paul Kevin Curtis, an Elvis imitator and Dutschke's neighbor, but Curtis was quickly cleared and released.

"I respect President Obama," Curtis said at the time. "I love my country."

The ricin threats highlighted Curtis' unusual rivalry with James Dutschke, a Tae Kwon Do teacher and wannabe politician who was later charged with sending the letters and fondling girls at his martial arts studio.

Dutschke was accused of framing Curtis after a strange years-long feud that saw Dutschke threaten to sue over Curtis' claimed membership in Mensa, a society for people with high IQs.

The personal war got even weirder when Dutschke mocked Curtis as a Barney the Dinosaur impersonator in a tempestuous sentencing hearing.

Their rivalry began when Curtis, a government skeptic with a penchant for conspiracies, alleged that he uncovered an organ harvesting operation at a local hospital, and Dutschke refused to publish the story in his newsletter.

25 years in prison

The small-town dispute exploded into a national story when Dutschke attempted to poison President Obama, Senator Roger Wicker (R-Ms.), and state judge Sadie Holland and blame Curtis for the crime. Holland, who died in 2020, was the mother of state Representative Steve Holland, whom Dutschke ran against unsuccessfully in 2007.

"To see a wrong and not expose it, is to become a silent partner to its continuance," the letters said. "I am KC and I approve this message."

The letters to Obama and Wicker were intercepted, but Holland opened hers and the contents burnt her nose, although she was otherwise unharmed.

Dutschke initially tried to withdraw his guilty plea and offered to eat the letters' contents on a peanut butter sandwich to prove they were not poisonous. But he ultimately was sentenced to 25 years in prison after pleading guilty to the poisoning and separate state charges for molesting underage girls.

He is serving his sentence at a federal prison in Tucson, Arizona, where he is due to remain for another 10 years.