Gruich fires attorney in judicial threat case

A Michigan man accused of threatening an Oneida County judge and a local newspaper publisher has dismissed his attorney and retained new legal counsel, prompting the court to postpone his upcoming jury trial and schedule a new trial date.

During a March 2 motion hearing, Forest County judge Leon Stenz granted a motion allowing Peter Gruich to replace his attorney. A one-day jury trial will be held after Gruich’s new counsel has time to prepare. 

The court had previously scheduled a mid-March jury trial.

Gruich faces two criminal charges, one for threatening injury or harm through a computer message, a misdemeanor, and another for threatening a judge, a felony. If convicted of the latter, he faces a maximum prison sentence of six years, while the misdemeanor charge carries a sentence of up to 90 days in jail.

According to court records, Gruich told the court he and his attorney, Brian Bennett, could not agree on defense strategy. Bennett confirmed to the court that he had been discharged and that Gruich had already contacted another lawyer, Jonas Bednarek, who would take over the defense.

Gruich said the new attorney would not be ready to proceed and was not available on the previously scheduled trial date, leading the court to order a new trial date to be set in consultation with counsel, the court clerk, and the district attorney. 

Alleged threats

The charges stem from incidents in October 2024 when Gruich allegedly sent emails that investigators allege threatened Oneida County judge Michael Schiek and Lakeland Times publisher Gregg Walker.

According to the original criminal complaint, Walker received a threatening email on Oct. 17, 2024, and reported it to the sheriff’s department.

The message read in part: “Hey punk, it would be a shame if your ‘newspaper’ burned down or if your local pigs stated [sic] getting killed, wouldn’t it? You and your police chief need a big lawsuit you f—g punk. F—k you, Pete Gruich Nazi Killer.”

On October 22, the complaint stated, Oneida County clerk Tracy Hartman allegedly received an email with the subject header: “I am thinking of financing a lawsuit against your Nazi judge and cops that need yo [sic] be killed.”

The message itself allegedly stated: “Hey a—e, I like suing corrupt p—y judges and cops that need to be killed. Does that bother you or those f— —g a—s that you work for? F—k you, Pete Gruich Nazi Killer.” 

The complaint says the email referred to Schiek because it was sent one day after Minocqua Brewing Company owner Kirk Bangstad made an initial court appearance before the judge on criminal defamation charges, which were later dismissed. Investigators say Gruich told them he became upset after hearing about Bangstad’s arrest on that charge and sent the emails while angry.

Gruich later told detectives in an interview that he was disgusted with himself for sending the messages and had no intention of carrying out any threats. His contact with Bangstad was actually a fundraising appeal from Bangstad that had landed in his spam folder, Gruich told detectives.

Gruich told detectives he had had no prior contact with Bangstad and that he was unsure how Bangstad knew to reach out to him.

“Gruich went on to reiterate that the email sent by Bangstad was in Gruich’s spam email folder, but that Gruich had contributed to various fundraisers on GoFundMe so Bangstad could have potentially obtained Gruich’s information,” the detectives’ report states. “Gruich went on to state that Gruich had read further into Bangstad’s story after receiving the email from Bangstad and admitted that Bangstad’s story got Gruich ‘worked up.’”

Specifically, Gruich told detectives that Bangstad stated that Bangstad was under a gag order “for the First Amendment,” which upset Gruich. The report states that Gruich then became emotional when he was asked if there were other factors contributing to his sending of the emails.

“Gruich proceeded to explain that Gruich’s main motivation was in defense of the things that Gruich’s father had fought for in World War II,” the report states. “Gruich stated it was also coming up on the anniversary of Gruich’s father’s death, which was on November 19, and Gruich was extremely emotional during the time leading up to that date.”

Gruich also told detectives that his own interactions with a Michigan judge had influenced his conduct.

“Gruich indicated the judge in Michigan ‘put him through hell’ for four years for being harassed and, as a result of that interaction, the judge was fired and lost the judge’s retirement,” the report states.

Earlier court proceedings

After being taken into custody and jailed in Oneida County, Gruich appeared in court in December 2024 for a hearing in the case.

At that time, Oneida County judge Mary Sowinski lowered his cash bond from $50,000 to $40,000 while keeping in place non-monetary conditions such as prohibiting him from accessing the internet or contacting the alleged victims.

Sowinski also recused herself from the case because Schiek served as Oneida County’s presiding judge.

“The particular circumstances of this case is that the judge who is alleged to have been threatened by Mr. Gruich in this case is the presiding judge of this county, which means that this court is obligated to follow the orders and directives and otherwise comply with the demands of that presiding judge,” she said then. “I have been instructed by the district court office that under those circumstances it is appropriate for this court to recuse itself from further work on Mr. Gruich’s case.”

Stenz was subsequently assigned to the case.

In February, Stenz significantly reduced Gruich’s cash bond from $40,000 to $2,000 after defense counsel argued that Gruich had already spent about two months in custody and had limited financial means. Gruich’s attorney told the court that Gruich regretted any contact with Kirk Bangstad or anyone associated with him, the Times reported at the time.

“He’s deeply remorseful and wishes to get this thing moving forward,” the attorney said.

District attorney Jillian Pfeifer did not oppose a bond reduction but maintained that some cash bond was appropriate given the seriousness of the charges. While Stenz reduced the bond, he maintained several restrictions, including prohibitions on weapons’s possession and using social media.

Richard Moore is the author of “Dark State” and may be reached at richardd3d.substack.com.