Story perspectives

Agents Arrest Two for Witness, Judge Threats; Death Undetermined

8/6/2026

Summary

Story summary

Agents arrested Edward James Porter of Illinois after he threatened to kill witnesses in the Nolan Wells case by calling them on July 31, and arrested Joseph Alfredo Vasquez Dumarce of Sacramento for bomb threats against Judge Ashlee Cole and Michelle Francine Edwards of Cincinnati for 21 bomb-threat calls to Mississippi offices.
An autopsy listed the death as “undetermined.”
Attorney Ben Crump warned that toxicology reports and online harassment harm the family.

History

Historical Context

On April 19 1995, anti-government militants Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols detonated a Ryder truck bomb at the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, killing 168 people and prompting Congress to pass the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act in 1996. Today, the arrests of Edward Porter in Illinois and Joseph Dumarce in Sacramento echo that legacy, driving tighter security for judges and witnesses.

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Story summary

Agents arrested Edward James Porter of Illinois after he threatened to kill witnesses in the Nolan Wells case by calling them on July 31, and arrested Joseph Alfredo Vasquez Dumarce of Sacramento for bomb threats against Judge Ashlee Cole and Michelle Francine Edwards of Cincinnati for 21 bomb-threat calls to Mississippi offices.
An autopsy listed the death as “undetermined.”
Attorney Ben Crump warned that toxicology reports and online harassment harm the family.

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