New England 'Mrs Christmas' destroys her idyllic life after fight over ornamental CHICKENS erupted at $800,000 cottage

By NATASHA ANDERSON, US SENIOR NEWS REPORTER Published: 18:47, 7 June 2026 | Updated: 18:47, 7 June 2026 For more than 40 years, Vanessa Cooke-Case welcomed thousands of people with a cheery smile to her award-winning Christmas tree farm.  The 65-acre Fabulous Firs facility in Poughkeepsie, upstate New York, was packed with rosy-cheeked families shopping and visiting the in-house hot chocolate bar while enjoying the atmosphere of 'the most wonderful time of the year.'  Cooke-Case's husband Scott Case, 56, was her partner, with the family frequently sharing their pride at a business that would not have appeared out of place in a syrupy Hallmark movie.   Sadly, life is rather less festive for the 50-year-old organic farmer these days, after a move to a storybook $800,000 cottage in the New Hampshire village of Laconia went disastrously wrong.  Cooke-Case has been accused of being a neighbor from hell who terrorized those living close to her with her dogs, a gun and a garage raid that saw the disappearance of two of her neighbors' ornamental chickens, according to a probable cause affidavit. She is also accused in the court filing of having written two lists on a walkway outside her cottage - one of 'neighbors that she loves' and another containing the names of 'neighbors that need to die.' Vanessa Cooke-Case and her husband Scott Case are the owners of the Fabulous Firs Christmas Tree Farm in Poughkeepsie, upstate New York. A criminal complaint's accusations of Cooke-Case assaulting her neighbors clash with the picture-perfect farm she promoted The couple live in this storybook cottage in New Hampton, New Hampshire, where Cooke-Case allegedly launched a violent assault on her neighbors last weekend, according to a probable cause affidavit Cooke-Case's life careened off the rails last weekend and she is now behind bars and facing eight criminal charges. She has pleaded not guilty to all counts. The immaculate chestnut blow-dry the businesswoman sported during a court appearance was the only clue that she was not an everyday criminal suspect.  Prosecutors say Cooke-Case - who once deemed herself a 'spreader of light and love' - found herself behind bars after brandishing a Glock pistol outside her home, according to a court summary obtained by the Daily Mail. She is accused of firing shots toward at least two of her neighbors and into a property where an 85-year-old woman was sitting inside, the record said. Quite what prompted the alleged gun attack remains unclear - but the claims made against Cooke-Case do not make for edifying reading.  The incident began after Cooke-Case was allegedly caught trespassing on neighbor Kevin McKenna's property, according to a probable cause affidavit seen by The Laconia Daily Sun. Police said in the report that she stole the 65-year-old's garage door opener and snatched two of the aforementioned ornamental chickens out of the garage. Hundreds of families visit the farm each year to cut down their own Christmas tree and sip on a warm drink from the farm's hot chocolate bar Cooke-Case appeared in court virtually from the Belknap County Jail on Monday, sporting a glossy blowout as she faced the judge. She pleaded not guilty to all charges and was remanded to jail until her trial Your browser does not support iframes. New Hampshire State Troopers issued Cooke-Case a no-trespass order, court documents say. But they were called back to the same address just hours later after Cooke-Case escalated her campaign of terror, the affidavit said.  Cops who drove to the scene at 8pm said in the filing that they found Cooke-Case standing outside her cottage and shooting towards the home of a neighbor, 85-year-old Mary Covill.  Cooke-Case fired shots from her Glock into the air and turned her attention to other nearby residents - Brenda Fortin, 51, and her 49-year-old husband Roger, according to the affidavit. She screamed at them that they needed 'to die', the case summary stated. Cooke-Case is also accused of issuing a blood-curdling threat to resident Kevin McKenna, by allegedly telling the Fortins that she planned to insert her 9mm handgun into McKenna's mouth.  She was further accused of unleashing her dogs into a neighbor's chicken coop, with Cooke-Case's pets killing one of the birds, the probable cause affidavit said. Other neighbors told police that she was firing her weapon from the street and screaming that 'everyone will die,' according to the filing. The 50-year-old organic farmer is the 'smiling' face of the Christmas tree business, who prides herself on providing customers with a 'friendly atmosphere from start to finish' Cooke-Case allegedly threatened her neighbors with a Glock on Saturday, May 30, after trespassing and stealing an ornamental chicken. She is also accused of firing shots towards at least two neighbors and into a home where an 85-year-old woman was inside, according to a probable cause affidavit. She has pleaded not guilty When troopers approached her home, Cooke-Case was outside shooting, the affidavit alleged. Officers witnessed her fire a 'few more rounds' into the air before she lay down on the ground and put her hands in the air, according to the filing. Police tried to take her into custody, but she pulled away and tried to run, officers claimed in the affidavit. She is accused of kicking New Hampshire State Trooper Daniel Ingram while trying to resist arrest. Officers determined that Cooke-Case fired at least 20 shots in the air from two guns during her violent rampage. Shell casings were found in and around her home, the affidavit said. She also claimed to have bombs inside her home, which troopers in the filing had smelled of gunpowder, and on her person. Cops said in the affidavit that neighbors initially tried to help Cooke-Case - but retreated on seeing two sinister lists she had allegedly scrawled on a sidewalk outside her home.   'They're walking up to her house, and there's a stone walkway where they notice their names are written on the stone walkway, along with other neighbors,' Trooper Daniel Ingram wrote in an affidavit obtained by WMUR. Case, 56, is the 'worker bee' who handles all the behind-the-scenes work on the cut-your-own tree farm. He has not been charged with any crime Fabulous Firs was born in 1984 when Scott Case and his father planted their first batch of Christmas trees on the land. Since then, four generations of family members have worked on the farm, which is home to thousands of trees The neighbors asked Cooke-Case about the list and she allegedly told them that those individuals were 'neighbors that she loves,' the filing said. When they asked her about a list of names scribbled on the walls, Cooke-Case told them: 'Those are neighbors that need to die,' according to the affidavit. The farmer has been charged with two counts of felony reckless conduct with a deadly weapon and one felony charge of criminal threatening with a deadly weapon. She was hit with misdemeanor charges for resisting arrest, harassment, criminal trespassing, theft, and assaulting a law enforcement officer. Cooke-Case also received violations for disorderly conduct and having her dogs at large. She appeared in court virtually from the Belknap County Jail on Monday, sporting a glossy brown hairstyle as she faced the judge. Cooke-Case pleaded not guilty to all charges and was remanded to jail until her trial, with the judge ruling that she was a danger to the community. She is scheduled to appear in court again next week for a probable cause hearing.  Cooke-Case's once-thriving family tree business did not open in Christmas 2024 for the first time in its 40-year history and has remained closed since. It is unclear whether the mysterious hiatus is linked to Cooke-Case's alleged meltdown.  Cooke-Case holds a master's degree in mental health counseling and previously worked across several corporate sectors. She was a production consultant on the first season of The Apprentice, served as a business manager at UBS Financial Services and was even a drug and alcohol counselor at New York University. Her LinkedIn profile suggests that she held these various positions while also working on the farm. Cooke-Case is the 'smiling' face of the business, who prides herself on providing customers with a 'friendly atmosphere from start to finish,' according to local newspaper coverage. No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.