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ST. GEORGE — An Arizona man accused of making a death threat against a southern Utah judge is now in federal custody. Federal agents allege the man also threatened to execute a Scottsdale rabbi if charges filed against him in Utah's 5th District Court were not dropped.
Jeffrey Mindock, 50, of Tempe, Arizona was arrested last week on a federal complaint following a joint investigation spearheaded by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The report alleged that Mindock threatened to execute a rabbi and many others, according to a complaint filed in federal court earlier this month.
Federal prosecutors allege that on the morning of Nov. 3, Mindock sent an email to a rabbi of a synagogue in Scottsdale, Arizona, asking the rabbi to "try to convince" a judge in Utah to "drop the charges against" him in a state case filed in 5th District Court in St. George.
The complaint went on to allege that Mindock continued by writing, "If you do not use your influence to right this wrong I will execute you and every other JEW [sic] I can find tonight at midnight of your Sabbath."
The email continued, "If you wish to communicate with me further, I will only meet in person," and listed an address for the sender in Tempe and was signed "Shalom, Viktor Sitkevicz," federal prosecutors said.
