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William Kaetz, 56, mailed a message to the judge’s house last month asking that a case he had pending be expedited, asking that the judge be recused and saying that the “excessive delay” was “unacceptable to him,” U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said.
Less than a week later, Kaetz left a voicemail telling the judge the case should have been decided weeks ago, that he “wanted the judge off his cases and off the bench, and adding that he “would not take ‘no’ for an answer,” the U.S. attorney said.
Then came an email Sunday to the judge’s personal account and to others, including the general address for the U.S. Marshals Service, Carpenito said.
In that message, Kaetz claimed that the judge had been “avoiding and stonewalling” his case, that the judge was a “traitor,” that being a traitor “has a death sentence,” and that “there will come a time to take down those people that fail to do their job,” a complaint on file in U.S. district court says.
Kaetz noted that he has pending motions before the judge and that he would try his best “not to harm the traitor” judge but that the “traitor” judge needed to be dealt with, Carpenito said.
Kaetz then threatened to publicly reveal the judge’s home address, writing: “God knows who has a grievance and what will happen after that,” he said.
Records show several lawsuits filed in local and federal courts pro se by Kaetz, including one involving child support and another over the purchase of a car.
His arrest comes amid heightened concern for the safety of federal judges.
This past summer, an assailant dressed as a deliveryman killed the son of U.S. District Court Judge Ester Salas and wounded her husband at their Middlesex County home.
SEE: Did Attorney Who Killed NJ Federal Judge's Son Dressed As Deliveryman Do Same To Cali Lawyer?
Kaetz was scheduled for a video-conferenced first appearance Monday in U.S. District Court in Newark on charges of making an interstate communication containing a threat to injure a person and with threatening to assault and murder a federal judge.
Carpenito credited special agents of the FBI and deputy U.S. Marshals for the District of New Jersey with the investigation and charges, handled by Asistant U.S. Attorney Dean Sovolos of his National Security Unit in Newark.
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ALSO SEE: A Fair Lawn man accused of fighting with and spitting on police threatened borough officers and their families on social media after a judge released him, authorities said.
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UPDATE: A 65-year-old shopper from Hackensack and a cashier helping her load groceries into her car were seriously injured when they were struck by a runaway sedan in the Paramus ShopRite parking lot Saturday night, authorities said.
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