A Kenai man was arrested on Monday, Oct. 30, for threatening to “kidnap and injure” a U.S. Senator — who is believed to be Lisa Murkowski.
According to court documents, Arther Charles Graham, age 46 of Kenai, sent an email to a U.S. Senator on Sept. 28, the contents of which suggest Graham was upset by a lack of intervention from the senator in an apparent dispute between Graham and his landlady.
An affidavit submitted to a federal judge on Oct. 27 by Austin Hunter, a special agent with the U.S. Capitol Police, states there was probable cause to believe Graham had willfully transmitted “interstate and foreign commerce communications containing a threat to kidnap and injure United States Senator 1.”
Throughout Special Agent Hunter’s affidavit, the threatened senator remains unnamed. Based on references to this senator as “she” and “her,” however, it has been widely speculated that “United States Senator 1” is Lisa Murkowski, given the fact that she is Alaska’s only female senator.
In his affidavit, Hunter outlines the Capitol Police incident investigation, beginning October 2 when his office was notified of Graham’s email by one of the senator’s congressional staff members.
In that email — submitted through the senator’s website — Graham references his uncertainty regarding an eviction notice he expected to receive from his landlady. He then writes, “I’m in the dark here. Until I get new information [United States Senator 1], my plan is ima’ hunt you down, cut the flesh off your body and wear your skin like clothes. I’ll live inside of YOU [United States Senator 1].”
Then on Oct. 10, a pair of FBI special agents were dispatched to question Graham at his residence in Kenai. According to Hunter’s affidavit, Graham admitted to the FBI agents he had sent the email, confirmed the threatening statements were from him, and also stated he knew sending the message was against the law.
Based on these facts, Special Agent Hunter determined there was probable cause to request a warrant for Graham’s arrest.
A Capitol Police spokesperson could not be reached for comment.
This isn’t Graham’s first foray into threats of kidnapping, harm, or death via the internet, though. In a series emails sent from 2019 to 2020, he made repeated (graphic) death threats against prominent, New York-based, investigative journalist, Frank Parlato, as well as several women mentioned in some of Parlato’s articles.
Parlato documented the messages he received from Graham in several articles published to his website, the “Frank Report.” According to one such article, Parlato states, “In an email sent to me yesterday, a man named Arthur C. Graham has threatened the life of Allison Mack, Kristin Kreuk, Nicki Clyne, and myself.”
In the articles, Parlato posted the emails sent by Graham, which bear a similar tone and contain similarly graphic content to his Sept. 28 email.
“Imma’ hunt down Nicky Cline and murder her,” Graham wrote in one email. And, later in the same message, “Nobody will ever see Allison Macks face ever again. Why will nobody see her face again, you might be asking yourself? Thats because Imma’ cut her face off with a [expletive] switchblade.”
In a phone interview with KSRM, Frank Parlato verified the threats Graham made against his life. According to Parlato, Graham initially wanted help exposing several Alaskan politicians and members of law enforcement he believed were connected to the infamous sex cult “NXIVM,” which Parlato is known to have investigated.
“I told him I didn’t think that his theories were true, and when I did tell him that then he turned to making rather pathetic types of threats,” said Parlato. “He probably sent me about a total of maybe 8 or 10 where there were threats, and about 20 or 30 total emails.”
The New York journalist said he reported Graham’s threats to the Kenai Police Department. “They told me that they were all well acquainted with Charles. They knew that he had made a number of threats, including some accusations against the police themselves, and also that they believed he was mentally disturbed.”
Parlato has not been contacted by Graham since the threatening emails in 2020.
As of this Wednesday, Graham was being held at the Anchorage Correctional Complex. Although, he is scheduled to make an initial appearance before a U.S. magistrate judge on Nov. 3, according to court documents.
A press release sent out Wednesday afternoon from the Department of Justice states an investigation into the case is being led by the U.S. Capitol Police.
The FBI Anchorage Field Office, the Kenai Police Department, and the Alaska State Troopers are assisting with the investigation.
Graham is the second person arrested this week for making threats against a U.S. Senator. Two days ago a different man was taken into federal custody after he threatened to kill Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nevada.
Last year, a Delta Junction man was sentenced to 32 months in prison for threatening to murder Alaska Senators Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan.
