April Caldwell, alias Onassys Bloomberg, also known publicly as the “Voodoo Bone Lady,” a local tour guide who offers Voodoo tours, was arrested on the evening of January 14 and charged with aggravated battery after shooting her boyfriend just after 7:30pm. The incident took place in the 600 block of Royal Street.
A local Tarot card reader, posted on social media: “I just did readings for a couple who were IN the store at the time! . . . They told me the whole story . . . Apparently she just walked in all calm, they began arguing, and she just pulled out a pistol and shot him. It was an in/out to his side. He bent over, and was talking the whole time, asking her, ‘Why’d you shoot me??’ She stayed and waited for the police, saying she had acted in self defense because he had threatened to kill her.”
This is not the first time Caldwell has been the subject of controversy. In October 2019, Caldwell and her boyfriend verbally assaulted Brian Webber, a former employee of Caldwell, inside Rouses at the corner of St. Peter and Royal Streets. That incident resulted in Caldwell’s boyfriend punching Webber in the face. The next day, he physically assaulted Webber again at the corner of Bourbon and St. Ann. Webber was hospitalized as a result of the attack.
The incident enraged the local French Quarter tour guide community, who lit up social media with numerous accounts of negative experiences with Caldwell. On October 10, several tour guides showed up at the city’s Ground Transportation Bureau (which issues tour guide licenses) and demanded Caldwell’s license be revoked. Having heard of the protest, Caldwell also showed up at the Ground Transportation Bureau and video recorded the affair. Caldwell’s license was not revoked.
On her website, Caldwell claims to be “a God-Gifted Psychic, Voodoo Priestess, Holistic Healer, Medium and Success/Life Coach.”
