Man uses mail to harass

BLUEFIELD — A Mercer County man who was arrested last week on a federal criminal complaint, is scheduled to appear before a federal magistrate judge next Tuesday at U.S. District Court in Beckley.

Thomas Creighton Shrader, 55, of Rock, is accused of using the mail, “to engage in a course of conduct that caused substantial emotional distress to that person and placed that person in reasonable fear of the death of, or serious bodily injury to, the person,” according to an affidavit detailing the facts supporting the criminal complaint.

Special Agent Terry Schwartz of the FBI, stated in an affidavit attached to the complaint that Shrader had been convicted in McDowell County on two counts of first-degree murder for a double homicide that occurred on July 16, 1975. Schwartz stated in his affidavit that one of the victims in the double homicide was the mother of Shrader’s ex-girlfriend. He stated that Shrader served 18 years for that crime and “during the course of his incarceration, Shrader continued to contact (his ex-girlfriend) through letters and phone calls.”

According to Schwartz’s affidavit, “during the course of his incarceration,” Shrader instituted a civil complaint against his ex-girlfriend, “costing her and her family thousands of dollars in legal fees.” The ex-girlfriend and her family moved to another state, but “Shrader has continued to harass (her) and her family through letters and phone calls,” according to Schwartz’s affidavit.

Local law enforcement officers in the state where the family had moved, listened to some of Shrader’s calls. One officer who listened to a call, identified himself as an officer and told Shrader to stop calling the ex-girlfriend and her family “or he would be prosecuted,” Schwartz stated in his affidavit. The family contacted the FBI on Oct. 26, after they received a 32-page letter from Shrader “containing numerous threats and harassing language.” Schwartz swore the affidavit before Federal Magistrate Judge R. Clarke Vandevort on Nov. 12, and Vandevort issued an arrest warrant. Shrader was arrested the following day, and had his initial appearance before Vandevort who scheduled his preliminary/detention hearing for Nov. 17.

According to an order entered Friday at U.S. District Court in Bluefield, the government and defense counsel agreed to continue the preliminary hearing until 10 a.m., on Nov. 24, at U.S. District Court in Beckley. Assistant U.S. Attorney L. Anna Forbes represented the government at the hearing on Nov. 17, and Assistant Federal Public Defender Christian M. Capece represented the defendant.