Alabama Man Accused of Bomb Threats to Mississippi Coroner and Sheriff’s Office After Nolan Wells Case Grand Jury Declined Charges
MONTGOMERY, AL — A 41-year-old Alabama man is facing a federal charge after investigators say he threatened a Mississippi coroner and the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office in connection with the Nolan Wells death investigation. Claude Henry Bates Jr. of Montgomery was arrested in Alabama on Friday and is now in U.S. Marshals custody.
Federal court records accuse Bates of sending threats across state lines to kill or injure a person and to destroy a building. Investigators say the calls came days after a Jackson County grand jury declined to file criminal charges in Wells’ death.
How investigators say the bomb threats were made
According to a criminal complaint, a man called the office of Jackson County Coroner Bruce Lynd Jr. from a blocked number at 10:19 a.m. on Sept. 25. The caller said he had placed a bomb under the coroner’s vehicle and then hung up.
That call was not recorded, but investigators say they identified the phone number used and traced it to Bates. FBI Task Force Officer Jonathan Rayner wrote that the sheriff’s office also received two bomb threats or warnings just before that call. Those calls were recorded, and investigators believe Bates made all three.
FBI says phone records linked Bates to the calls
Agents interviewed Bates in Montgomery on Sept. 29. According to Rayner’s filing, Bates voluntarily showed them his call history on his cellphone. Investigators say the records showed calls made from his phone at the same time as the threats by using the *67 feature to block caller identification.
Bates told investigators that someone else had used his phone to make the calls. Investigators said other records contradicted that account, and they continued to treat him as the suspected caller. The complaint does not say Bates has entered a plea.
Threats followed a unanimous grand jury decision in the Wells case
The alleged threats came shortly after Jackson County prosecutors announced that no criminal charges would be brought in Wells’ death. District Attorney Angel Myers McIlrath said in a Monday video statement that the grand jury was unanimous in declining to return an indictment after reviewing evidence from witnesses and others.
McIlrath said the matter had drawn attention from outsiders and influencers, but she said the community should not be divided by the case. Her remarks came as the district attorney addressed the emotional reaction surrounding the long-running investigation into Wells’ death.
Nolan Wells disappeared on July 4 and was found two days later
Wells disappeared during a July 4 party, and his body was found two days later. The case drew broad attention in Jackson County and beyond, especially after investigators and family members pressed for answers about what happened in the hours before his death.
Previously released documents show that both the state medical examiner and an expert hired by Wells’ family concluded that the cause and manner of death were undetermined. Those documents also said drowning was considered a diagnosis of exclusion, meaning it could not be confirmed as the explanation based on the available evidence.
Bates is held by U.S. Marshals before federal court hearing
Bates remains in the custody of U.S. Marshals while he waits for a federal detention hearing scheduled for Wednesday. The charge against him is a federal offense because prosecutors say the threats crossed state lines and involved an alleged plan to damage property and harm a person.
The Biloxi Sun Herald reported that Bates’ arrest is the latest in a series of arrests involving threats against witnesses tied to the Wells investigation. Federal court documents have not yet detailed any further alleged conduct beyond the Sept. 25 calls.
