Kansas congressman cross-examined in court by man accused of threatening to murder him
A Lawrence man who called a Kansas congressman in June stating “this is a threat to your life” questioned that same congressman in federal court Wednesday about his reaction to the voicemail and whether he would listen if a constituent told him they were a messenger from God.
Defendant Chase Neill began representing himself Wednesday in a federal trial over allegations he threatened to murder U.S. Rep. Jake LaTurner, a Republican who represents eastern Kansas, including part of Wyandotte County.
Last year, U.S. District Judge Holly Teeter ruled Neill was competent to follow court proceedings and stand trial following a psychological evaluation. However, an earlier order from a magistrate judge raised serious concerns about Neill’s mental health. Those concerns included what his mother described as changed behavior following a head injury within the last five years.
On Wednesday morning, Teeter granted Neill’s motion to represent himself but warned him it was a bad idea.
Later that day, LaTurner took the stand as a witness for the prosecution at the trial at the federal courthouse in Topeka.
Prosecutors played a voicemail in court Wednesday that Neill allegedly left LaTurner on June 6 of last year. In the voicemail, Neill declared he is the “son of God”, the “Messiah” and “Ephraim.” After making claims about conversations around witchcraft in Congress, Neill said on the voicemail that he was making a death threat against LaTurner and every other member of Congress.
“I will kill you but the insurance will say it is an act of God and that it is covered by the freedom of speech,” the voicemail said.
In his testimony, LaTurner detailed security upgrades in his Topeka office following Neill’s voicemail, securing police protection at his home and his worry for his family in the aftermath.
“This threat was so clear that it made me nervous for my staff,” he said.
The second-term congressman remained composed as Neill, the man accused of threatening him, then cross-examined him about how he interpreted the voicemail.
Neill referenced passages from the Bible and asked LaTurner whether it had occurred to him that the references to himself as the son of God and the killing coming by an act of God indicated to him that he was delivering a message in the voicemail.
“I thought it meant something more nefarious, that there would be an attempt to kill me but it wouldn’t be detectable,” LaTurner said. He said the references to being the “Messiah” seemed unreasonable and nonsensical.
In a series of questions, Neill asked LaTurner if he was familiar with Old Testament doctrine in the Bible in which prophets spoke for God in the first person and whether he would listen if a constituent told LaTurner he was a religious heir sent to deliver a message.
LaTurner drew a line between acceptable constituent communication and violent threat. He told Neill his office would listen to constituents, but that it becomes a different matter when death threats are involved.
“I thought the whole voicemail was unreasonable, especially the death threats part,” LaTurner said when Neill asked whether he found the claim in the voicemail that he was Ephraim unreasonable.
LaTurner was the final witness for the prosecution. Neill began making a case in his own defense Wednesday afternoon and the trial is scheduled to wrap up Thursday.
Before Neill began representing himself, his public defenders argued in opening statements Tuesday that Neill never represented a true threat to LaTurner and that his weapons are “meteors and plagues.”
The case comes amid a growing number of threats against elected officials including an attack last year on then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband. In November of 2021, a Missouri man was sentenced to two and half years in prison for threatening to kill Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, a Kansas City Democrat.
On the stand, LaTurner said Neill’s voicemail was the second death threat he had received since joining Congress. Shortly after his election in 2020, LaTurner said, an anonymous letter with a death threat was sent to his home.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
This story was originally published January 18, 2023 at 5:17 PM.
