Dad warns he’s ‘more committed’ to killing judge than being a present father, feds say
A man threatened to kill a California superior court judge who presided over a case involving his family in a series of menacing emails, federal prosecutors said.
“I am more committed to murdering you than I am to being present as a father,” he wrote in a July 2023 email directed toward the judge, according to court documents.
“You’re already dead,” the email continued.
Byrom Zuniga Sanchez also threatened other judges, attorneys and police, and later warned in October 2023 that he’d carry out a shooting at the courthouse where his family law case took place, prosecutors said.
“The remainder of my life will be dedicated to assassinating judges, attorneys, and a police station’s entire shift staff,” Zuniga’s July 2023 email stated.
The judge who was in charge of Zuniga’s family law case told an FBI special agent that the threats caused them to fear for themselves and their family, leading to “increased stress, anxiety” and “sleepless nights,” an affidavit says.
Authorities believe Zuniga, who used to live in Laguna Niguel, about a 55-mile drive southeast from Los Angeles, sent the threatening messages while in Mexico, where he had relocated, according to prosecutors.
On Feb. 27, Zuniga was arrested in San Diego after trying to re-enter the U.S., prosecutors said.
Now, a federal grand jury has indicted him on two counts of threats by interstate and foreign communication, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California announced in a March 11 news release.
Information regarding Zuniga’s legal representation wasn’t immediately available.
“The chilling threats allegedly made by Zuniga Sanchez via e-mail and online caused profound fear for many people in the legal and law enforcement community, and forced some to take extra security precautions,” Amir Ehsaei, the acting assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles field office, said in a statement.
A possible motive
Zuniga made the threats against the superior court judge from May 2023 to July 2023, according to prosecutors.
One of his emails appeared to offer a motive — that the judge somehow damaged Zuniga’s relationship with his son, the affidavit says.
“I haven’t received your resignation, and you’ve failed to justify your existence after all damage you have caused,” Zuniga wrote in a June 2023 email, according to the indictment.
The judge oversaw court proceedings involving Zuniga’s family at the Lamoreaux Justice Center in Orange County from 2019 to 2021, according to the affidavit.
Following the emails, Zuniga posted a threatening message to Instagram that was directed toward the courthouse in September 2023, prosecutors said.
“With access to a weapon, it is easier for me to walk into a courthouse and indiscriminately assassinate (sic) because I notified lawyers and judges,” Zuniga wrote on Instagram, according to prosecutors.
The next month, he threatened a shooting at the courthouse, prosecutors said.
Prior to the case, Zuniga has been accused of several criminal offenses in Orange County, “including evading police/reckless driving, invasion of privacy, violation of a court order, and criminal threats,” the affidavit says.
He’s also “the subject of multiple domestic violence protective orders and a workplace violence order,” according to the affidavit.
If Zuniga is convicted, he could face up to five years in federal prison for each count of threat by interstate and foreign communication, according to prosecutors.
He’s detained in federal custody in San Diego and is expected to appear in federal court in Los Angeles for an arraignment within the upcoming weeks, the attorney’s office said.
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