Man who threatened to ‘chop up’ judge is found dead in Tri-Cities park. Family has questions
When a 44-year-old man was discovered dead at the east Columbia Park boat launch this summer, it came as a shock to his brother despite his troubled past.
Brandon L. VanWinkle had a lengthy criminal history filled with threats to judges and deputy prosecutors and had recently finished a 2 1/2-year prison term for a yearlong string of crimes.
“He was out for two weeks,” his brother Troy “Rocky” Hollenbaugh told the Tri-City Herald. “He had just gotten a job doing commercial cleaning.”
VanWinkle told his family and friends that he planned to meet a woman in Yakima and that was the last contact with him, Hollenbaugh said.
A passing bicyclist found VanWinkle’s body on the boat launch ramp at 2:25 a.m. on Aug. 4, Coroner Bill Leach said. An autopsy showed he died from a methamphetamine overdose. His backpack was discovered nearby.
Hollenbaugh still wonders how his brother ended up on the ramp after telling everyone about his plans.
“It was a weird series of events,” he told the Herald. “I just need some closure.”
VanWinkle lived a troubled life with frequent run-ins with the law. Hollenbaugh said the length of time that VanWinkle spent alone in a cell contributed to his problems.
But his interactions with Hollenbaugh were always positive, he said.
“He was a great brother,” he said. “I don’t know how many times he’s had by back. He was always trying to get you to do better.”
Threats and robbery
VanWinkle initially made the news after he threatened to “chop up” Judge Alex Ekstrom in 2015. He was upset that Ekstrom ordered him to wear extra restraints.
The threats led to a trial that required a state Appeals Court judge to preside over the case because of a conflict of interest with Ekstrom’s connection with other judges in the area.
During his sentencing in 2016, VanWinkle said his comments were taken out of context.
VanWinkle had been out of prison for about 10 months, when he got into trouble again.
When he was released from prison in April 2021, he was supposed to stay in touch with the probation officers with the Washington Department of Corrections.
He stopped reporting in November and two months later was caught stealing clothes at a store at the mall.
When an employee tried to stop him, he hit her in the face.
He was arrested and four days later he had a destructive outburst in the jail, including throwing feces, breaking things and spitting blood and saliva. He was charged with malicious mischief.
The day VanWinkle was supposed to be in court on those charges, Judge Ekstrom was the judge hearing cases that day. Since he was the victim of VanWinkle’s previous threats, the judge removed himself from hearing the case and scheduled it for another judge.
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,” according to court documents.
Then he sent a letter to Deputy Prosecutor Brittnie Roehm saying his friends were going to follow her home and attack her for charging him “with crimes he did not commit,” according to court records.
The letter went on to say that he didn’t order this, but he can’t stop it because he is in jail.
The cases then had to be transferred to a different deputy prosecutor, and VanWinkle sent another letter, this one claimed that members of the Gypsy Jokers motorcycle gang would wait for that deputy prosecutor after work and follow him home and shoot him.
It’s unclear if VanWinkle had any ties to the Gypsy Jokers.
Both attorneys believed that he was trying to influence their decisions by sending the letters.
This story was originally published January 6, 2025 at 5:00 AM.