After threatening the life of a Madison County judge in a series of social media posts, a Huntsville man was arrested Wednesday and charged with first-degree making a terroristic threat.
According to a report from a local news station, Cyrus Bachelder, 50, was angered after Judge Claude Hundley ruled against him in a custody case. Among the concerning posts from Bachelder was one from August 6 stating, “Judge Hundley of Madison County... Dead...The first day of the year, January, you will all be dead.”
Chief Deputy DA of Madison County Tim Gann addressed the threats and arrest.
“You would think with the amount of volume we have and the work that our judges do, it would be more common, but it happens, and when it does, we take it very seriously,” Gann stated.
Former District Court judge Martha Lynn Sherrod explained the importance of prosecuting cases like Bachelder's.
“These threats pose such a threat to the independence of the judiciary,” Sherrod said. “We cannot ignore them because, as you know, in and around America today, there’s no sanctuary for you.”
Bachelder has been booked into the Madison County Jail and is being held on a $15,000 bond. He will undergo a felon examination on September 23. Additionally, judges of the 23rd Judicial Circuit will recuse themselves from the case due to the victim being a Madison County Circuit Judge.
The charge of first-degree making a terroristic threat is a Class C felony in the state of Alabama.
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