CLAYTON, Mo. (AP) — A former St. Louis-area dentist has been charged with threatening three judges involved in his divorce and child custody dispute.
Jeffrey Reuter, 51, pleaded not guilty Thursday to three felony counts of interfering with a judicial officer. He was arrested Wednesday in Bonne Terre after a three-hour armed standoff with police attempting to serve him with a warrant, St. Louis County Circuit Court said in a news release.
Reuter, a former dentist in Kirkwood, delivered an “anti-government manifesto” to the three St. Louis County judges on Dec. 7, shortly before an order of protection obtained by his ex-wife was set to expire, the release said. It demanded that they pay him $2.5 million, give him shared custody of his daughter and write a letter of apology to her. He also wanted the judges to vacate previous judgments against him and to purge all cases in which he has been involved from the state files.
He gave the judges a Dec. 31 deadline, writing that “Failure to satisfy these demands will compel me to take pre-emptive, defensive measures against … further unlawful conduct on your part.”
Reuter is requesting to be represented by a public defender in the case.
During his divorce and custody battle, Reuter voluntarily shut down his dental practice, allowed his house to go into foreclosure, stopped paying his taxes and failed to register his vehicle, the release said. In 2017, he was found in contempt of court for failing to pay more than $20,000 in back child support and medical expenses, as well as stalking and threatening to kill his ex-wife, the release said.
Reuter’s cash-only bond was set at $150,000, and the criminal case has been assigned to a judge from another circuit. Federal weapons charges are pending, the release says.
