By . Daily Mail Reporter . A 'landlord from hell' who is serving a four-year prison sentence after terrorizing tenants who refused to move out has defended his actions in a jailhouse interview. For more than three years Kip Macy and his wife Nicole stalked their tenants in the San Francisco apartment block, threatened them with a semi-automatic . weapon, shut off power, changed the locks without telling them, and tried to have the . windows boarded up while one tenant was still at home. The . couple even tried to saw through a supporting beam in one of the Market . district flats to make it unfit to live in, but were stopped when the tenant, who was in, managed . to bend the blade. In June, the couple were convicted of burglary, stalking and attempted grand theft - but Macy has now stood by his actions, saying he was pushed to terrorize his tenants after the law failed to help. Jailed: Kip Macy, left, and his wife Nicole, right, were jailed for four years in June for terrorizing tenants to make them move out. Kip has said some of the charges - like burglary - were overreactions . The campaign of terror began soon after . the couple bought an apartment block for $995,000 in 2005 and tried to . evict the five tenants already living in it. 'There wasn't actually any legal way of . doing it right, since we had done everything right legally, and it . hadn't worked,' Macy, 39, told ABC's 20/20. 'That's when we started making bad . decisions.' He said that one tenant, Scott Morrow, was particularly problematic as he refused to leave. 'We harassed him a bit because [we] . no longer had anything to lose,' Macy said. 'He had parts of his floor cut out from underneath, also illegal - but whatever.' Cruel: Among the terror they inflicted, they cut a hole in the floor of one tenant's apartment . Destruction: They also tried to saw through a supporting beam so it would be deemed unfit to live in . Violent: When they tried to saw a hole in one tenant's apartment, he was in and bent the blade . The couple were also found guilty of burglary after moving belongings from the tenants' apartments, including property of his building manager, Ricardo Cartagena. 'I regret, you know, having moved the . Mexicans' stuff into the hallway,' Macy told ABC, but added: 'I don't see how that . was burglary, or theft, since I neither stole their stuff.' But Macy blamed his wife for the idea, saying she wanted to buy the apartment block before forcing out the tenants so they could sell the individual apartments for a profit. Within a year, the Macys were involved in litigation with Morrow, one of the tenants. Mrs . Macy set up a fake email account in Mr Morrow's name and sent a . message to his lawyer saying his services were no longer needed. She then sent an email threatening to dismember the lawyer's children, in an effort to make Mr Morrow look unstable. Exasperated: Building manager, Ricardo Cartagena, had belongings taken from his apartment and said the landlords had threatened to kill him with a gun. The terror continued for three years . Scene: The couple had bought the apartment block, pictured, in 2005 with a plan to kick out the tenants and sell the individual apartments. But it was not so straightforward to get them to leave . The couple also changed the locks on the . apartment leased to Erik Hernandez and Jason Lopez. The Macys then went into the apartment, dismantled furniture and stole $2,000, a Gucci watch and a phone, court documents said. Mrs Macy also broke into the apartment and poured ammonia on the tenants' clothes and furniture. The couple . also threatened the building manager with a semi-automatic weapon and . ordered the windows to one of the apartments to be boarded up while the . tenant was still inside. When the Macys were arrested in 2008 . they posted bail and left the country. They were tracked down in Italy . last year and brought back to the U.S. where bail was set at $2 million . each. As they were sentenced, San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón said: 'The actions of these defendants are so . outlandish and brazen that it sounds like the plot line of a horror . movie.'
Kip Macy and his wife Nicole inflicted terror on their tenants in San Francisco for more than three years in a bid to get them to move .
Couple ordered power and water to be cut off, boarded up windows, changed locks, cut holes in the floors and took belongings .
Kip Macy, who is serving 4 years in prison, has defended his actions, saying the law had failed to help them remove the tenants .
He said the burglary charges were not true as he simply moved things .
He blamed his wife for the plan to buy the block, kick out the tenants and then sell the individual apartments to make money .
By . Daily Mail Reporter . A 'landlord from hell' who is serving a four-year prison sentence after terrorizing tenants who refused to move out has defended his actions in a jailhouse interview. For more than three years Kip Macy and his wife Nicole stalked their tenants in the San Francisco apartment block, threatened them with a semi-automatic . weapon, shut off power, changed the locks without telling them, and tried to have the . windows boarded up while one tenant was still at home. The . couple even tried to saw through a supporting beam in one of the Market . district flats to make it unfit to live in, but were stopped when the tenant, who was in, managed . to bend the blade. In June, the couple were convicted of burglary, stalking and attempted grand theft - but Macy has now stood by his actions, saying he was pushed to terrorize his tenants after the law failed to help. Jailed: Kip Macy, left, and his wife Nicole, right, were jailed for four years in June for terrorizing tenants to make them move out. Kip has said some of the charges - like burglary - were overreactions . The campaign of terror began soon after . the couple bought an apartment block for $995,000 in 2005 and tried to . evict the five tenants already living in it. 'There wasn't actually any legal way of . doing it right, since we had done everything right legally, and it . hadn't worked,' Macy, 39, told ABC's 20/20. 'That's when we started making bad . decisions.' He said that one tenant, Scott Morrow, was particularly problematic as he refused to leave. 'We harassed him a bit because [we] . no longer had anything to lose,' Macy said. 'He had parts of his floor cut out from underneath, also illegal - but whatever.' Cruel: Among the terror they inflicted, they cut a hole in the floor of one tenant's apartment . Destruction: They also tried to saw through a supporting beam so it would be deemed unfit to live in . Violent: When they tried to saw a hole in one tenant's apartment, he was in and bent the blade . The couple were also found guilty of burglary after moving belongings from the tenants' apartments, including property of his building manager, Ricardo Cartagena. 'I regret, you know, having moved the . Mexicans' stuff into the hallway,' Macy told ABC, but added: 'I don't see how that . was burglary, or theft, since I neither stole their stuff.' But Macy blamed his wife for the idea, saying she wanted to buy the apartment block before forcing out the tenants so they could sell the individual apartments for a profit. Within a year, the Macys were involved in litigation with Morrow, one of the tenants. Mrs . Macy set up a fake email account in Mr Morrow's name and sent a . message to his lawyer saying his services were no longer needed. She then sent an email threatening to dismember the lawyer's children, in an effort to make Mr Morrow look unstable. Exasperated: Building manager, Ricardo Cartagena, had belongings taken from his apartment and said the landlords had threatened to kill him with a gun. The terror continued for three years . Scene: The couple had bought the apartment block, pictured, in 2005 with a plan to kick out the tenants and sell the individual apartments. But it was not so straightforward to get them to leave . The couple also changed the locks on the . apartment leased to Erik Hernandez and Jason Lopez. The Macys then went into the apartment, dismantled furniture and stole $2,000, a Gucci watch and a phone, court documents said. Mrs Macy also broke into the apartment and poured ammonia on the tenants' clothes and furniture. The couple . also threatened the building manager with a semi-automatic weapon and . ordered the windows to one of the apartments to be boarded up while the . tenant was still inside. When the Macys were arrested in 2008 . they posted bail and left the country. They were tracked down in Italy . last year and brought back to the U.S. where bail was set at $2 million . each. As they were sentenced, San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón said: 'The actions of these defendants are so . outlandish and brazen that it sounds like the plot line of a horror . movie.'
who is serving a four-year prison sentence after defended his actions in a jailhouse interview. For more than three years Kip Macy and his wife Nicole stalked their tenants in the San Francisco tenants after the law failed to help. Jailed: Kip tenants to make them move out. Kip has said some of the charges - like burglary - were particularly problematic as he refused to leave. their stuff.' But Macy blamed his wife for the idea, saying she wanted to buy the apartment kick out the tenants and sell the individual get them to leave . The couple also changed the windows to one of the apartments to be boarded up