Laguna Beach Man To Be Retried Amid Plot To Kill Judge: Report

LAGUNA BEACH, CA — A former Laguna Beach resident was set to begin retrial this week after he reportedly plotted to murder federal prosecutors, FBI agents and a judge, the Los Angeles Times reported.

John Arthur Walthall, 66, was convicted in 2016, but his case was overturned by the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in 2019 after the court failed to inform Walthall of his right to self-representation, the Times reported.

Read more from the Los Angeles Times: Retrial begins of Laguna Beach man accused of plotting to kill judge, prosecutors and FBI agents

Walthall, during his trial, levied claims that the courts system, along with his former defense attorney, Timothy Scott, were conspiring to send him to prison to die.

According to court documents, Walthall had launched a plan to kidnap U.S. District Judge Andrew Guilford, who previously sentenced him to 14 years in prison following a 2012 conviction on four counts of wire fraud and one count of failure to appear in court. Walthall planned to force Guilford to exonerate him and afterward, torture and shred him in a wood chipper, the Times reported. He also reportedly asked two inmates to join him in the scheme, which also included killing prosecutors and two FBI agents.