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WINTERSVILLE -- A Bloomingdale man charged with retaliation after he allegedly threatened the life of a common pleas court judge waived his right to a preliminary hearing Monday, sending his case directly to the May term of the Jefferson County grand jury.
Wintersville County Court Judge Michael Bednar ordered John Molnar Sr. released on his own recognizance, but warned him he’ll be back behind bars if he goes near the Jefferson County Courthouse, Common Pleas Judge Joseph Bruzzese Jr., Sportsman’s Trading Post or its employees. He’s also confined to his home and will have to wear an electronic monitor.
Molnar, 74, was taken into custody April 15 after he allegedly tried to buy a cartridge for a 9 mm handgun he claimed a neighbor had given him for protection, but he didn’t have the gun with him or know the model number. The clerk who waited on him told authorities Molnar “started talking about his son being in trouble with the law for discharging a firearm in the city of Steubenville with an illegal silencer."
Molnar’s 38-year-old son, also named John, entered a guilty plea the following day to charges of discharging a firearm on a public road, unlawful possession of dangerous ordinance, vandalism and improperly transporting a firearm in a motor vehicle, all felonies. He admitted renting a room at the Super 8 for a month and then using a Franciscan University of Steubenville sign across the road for target practice. Bruzzese sentenced him April 20 to a year in prison and ordered him to make $3,000 restitution to the university.
The clerk told deputies Molnar Sr. was upset because Bruzzese "would not let his son plea out the case" and was going to send him to prison. She said he also bemoaned the fact that the judge had survived an August 2017 assassination attempt that left the shooter, 51-year-old Nathaniel Richmond, dead.
Molnar Sr. allegedly told the clerk Bruzzese “was shot because he is a gun-hating man who took everything away from that man, and sometimes you have no choice."
The clerk said Molnar told her Richmond "did not do it right" and "maybe the next guy will do it right."