He served 5 years for threats to ‘chop up’ a Tri-Cities judge. Now, another deadly threat

A Tri-Cities convicted felon is back in jail for threatening to kill a Superior Court judge.

He just finished serving five years in a Washington state prison for threatening to “chop up” the same judge.

Brandon L. VanWinkle stayed out of trouble for seven months after he was released in April 2021.

But now he’s facing three new charges since January, including threats to kill Judge Alex Ekstrom, a violent shoplifting attempt at Columbia Center mall and thousands of dollars in damage inside the Benton County jail.

VanWinkle, 43, already has 10 felony convictions and a history of mental health issues, according to court records and previous Herald stories.

At the time of his sentencing in 2016 for threatening Ekstrom, VanWinkle’s attorney said he’d been diagnosed with an antisocial personality disorder stemming from some childhood abuse.

VanWinkle was originally arrested in November 2015 on drug paraphernalia charges.

Those charges were eventually dropped, but while in custody in court, he attacked another inmate being sentenced for child abuse.

At the time, a psychologist testified that VanWinkle’s own childhood abuse triggered the incident.

Court documents show he also threatened his attorney and a deputy prosecutor, leading his lawyer to tell sheriff’s detectives that she believed he was capable of following through on his threats.

He later expressed remorse for his behavior and in August 2016 was sentenced to seven years in prison.

Columbia Center robbery

VanWinkle was being monitored by the Washington state Department of Corrections after his release from prison five years later. But he stopped following the rules in November 2021, according to court documents.

He showed up at Concept in the Columbia Center mall about 11:30 a.m. on Jan. 4, according to court records.

He asked to see a necklace and bracelet. An employee brought the jewelry up to the register for him to buy, along with some clothes.

VanWinkle grabbed the clothes and walked up to the register and said, “I’m out!”

The store owner confronted him when he tried to leave, and demanded the items back. When he grabbed VanWinkle, a fight started, according to court records.

VanWinkle allegedly hit an employee in the face when she tried to get the items back. After leaving the store without the clothing, he was arrested by police.

Jail vandalism

Four days after he allegedly tried to force his way out of his cell, he is accused of having a destructive outburst.

When told he would have to be locked down in his cell, VanWinkle began throwing feces on other inmates in the pod.

He also allegedly removed a shower curtain, broke a video visitation monitor, pulled several feet of video cord out of the wall and spit blood and saliva on the walls.

Finally, he used the video cord to make a makeshift barrier on the stairs and armed himself with “a large black object.”

Corrections officers used pepperballs to get him to retreat into his cell. Pepperballs are similar to paint balls, except they contain the same active ingredient as pepper spray.

He told corrections officers that if he was put back in that pod, he would do the same thing again, according to court records.

He caused nearly $2,000 in damage and was charged with second-degree malicious mischief. show court records.

Judge threats

On Feb. 3, VanWinkle was supposed to be in court for a motion to either dismiss the charges or get treatment.

VanWinkle is serving as his own attorney in both cases with help from a public defender.

The hearing was scheduled for a day when Judge Ekstrom would normally be hearing cases. Since Ekstrom was the subject of VanWinkle’s previous threats, he removed himself from hearing the case.

It was delayed until the following Monday when Judge David Petersen could hear the case.

When a jail corrections officer told VanWinkle about the delay, he allegedly told the officer “to tell him (Ekstrom) that I’m going to kill him.”

Then he told the officer to get out of his cell.

The officer reported the threat to a Benton County sheriff’s deputy, and VanWinkle was charged with intimidating a judge.

This story was originally published May 18, 2022 at 5:00 AM.