John Walthall was indicted in federal court 2009 for attempting to swindle an elderly couple out of $5.5 million. He fled, but was eventually captured and convicted. While awaiting sentencing, "he told another inmate
that he wanted 'to get rid of the people involved in” his
prosecution, including “the judge, the prosecutors, and the
FBI agents.'" That's a bold plan, of course. But not a very wise one.
Entirely predictably, the inmate snitched, and they transferred Mr. Walthall to a federal prison and put an undercover agent in there as well wearing a wire. Mr. Walthall was subsequently recorded by the agent as saying that "he wanted the murder to be
“nice and painful,” with the judge’s arms and legs “cinched” and his body “shoved in a . . . wood chipper.” He also
explained that he wanted [the informant] to find an FBI agent involved
in his case, “and his wife, and family,” and to “make their
bodies disappear.”"
First of all, that's almost certainly not going to happen. Second of all, those statements are likely not going to play well at all when you're subsequently sentenced for attempted first degree murder.
Mr. Walthall's poor decision making didn't end there. He now had lots of additional time in prison to work on his upcoming legal defense to the attempted murder charges. So he prepared and "submitted a 1,664-page document outlining
872 reasons for the district judge to recuse himself and
complaining that, while Walthall was in prison,
“DOJ/FBI/BOP-employee directed, and controlled
Entrapment Officers” had employed “Gangsters, Serial Murderers, and Professional Terrorists, from Mexico,
Colombia, and Nigeria” to extort money from him."
The district court denies his request to represent himself, he's found guilty and sentenced to the statutory maximum of 20 additional years in prison, and the Ninth Circuit affirms.
