Tustin Man Arrested in Threat to Zappa Daughter
A Tustin man was arrested Thursday on suspicion of threatening to kill Moon Unit Zappa, the daughter of the late musician Frank Zappa, because he believed they stole the lyrics to a popular song from him, authorities said.
Timothy Mark Brownfield sent letters to the FBI’s office in Santa Ana, threatening to kill Moon Unit Zappa, said Thom Mrozek, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles.
Mrozek said Brownfield, 40, was angry because he believed that the Zappas stole the lyrics to “Valley Girl,” a 1982 hit in which Moon Unit, then 14, satirized the stereotype of teenage girls from the San Fernando Valley.
If convicted, Brownfield faces five years in federal prison, Mrozek said.
Frank Zappa, who headed the Mothers of Invention and recorded dozens of albums, died of prostate cancer in 1993 at age 52.
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