‘Noose in your future.’ Man sends threatening voicemail to New Mexico official, feds say
An Ohio man left a threatening voicemail for a New Mexico district attorney, saying, “there should be a noose in your future,” federal officials said.
That man 47-year-old Donald Walter Fowler was sentenced to three years of probation on Oct. 9 after pleading guilty to a federal offense, according to court documents.
Fowler’s attorney could not be reached for comment.
The message to the Dona Ana County District Attorney left on Oct. 26, 2023, included multiple racial slurs, according to the criminal complaint. Gerald Byers is the district attorney in the county and received the threatening voicemail, his attorney said.
“You’re a filthy corrupt (expletive) (expletive),” the message said, according to a transcript provided in the complaint. “I hope you and your family get what’s coming to you.”
When questioned by the FBI in Ohio, Fowler said he left the message because he was frustrated with the government, court documents said.
“Because you turn the news on every (expletive) day, and you see this (expletive) happened and nobody does a damn thing about it,” Fowler told the FBI. “So now, (you) redress your government and now you get in trouble for redressing your government. Maybe it’s not nice to say, ‘I hope something bad happens to you and your family.’ Where the hell’s the compassion or anything where where’s anything going that they do anything against the cops and the brutality and just the ugh, whole (expletive) over it.”
He discussed cases of police brutality with agents, but said he did not know which case led him to make the call, according to court documents.
The district attorney’s investigator’s report said the call came after body camera footage of Teresa Gomes being fatally shot by Las Cruces Police Officer Felipe Hernandez, KTSM reported.
Fowler told investigators that he did not intend to travel to New Mexico to hurt someone, according to court documents.
Fowler pleaded guilty to interstate threats in June, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in New Mexico.
Las Cruces is about a 220-mile drive south from Albuquerque.
This story was originally published October 10, 2024 at 12:17 PM with the headline "‘Noose in your future.’ Man sends threatening voicemail to New Mexico official, feds say."
