A former University of Wisconsin-Madison graduate student has been arrested and charged with threatening fellow students, staff members, and faculty members at the school.
Arvin Raj Mathur, 32, was arrested by federal agents on Friday night after getting off a plane he had taken from Copenhagen where he had been enrolled in a different university, reports the Associated Press.
Authorities say Mathur threatened nine people at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, vowing to hide the flesh of their children in hamburger meat, reports the Detroit News. The threatening emails allegedly started last summer.
One graduate student and teaching assistant reported that the suspect had been sending him harassing and defaming messages, falsely claiming the victim was a Chinese operative. The victim alleges Mathur’s claims put his life and profession in danger.
An anthropology professor was another victim. Mathur allegedly sent an email to the professor with the subject line “Call the police.” In the body of the email, the message said, “If you don’t, I will show up and murder every single person that you have ever been close to,” reports the Detroit News.
Mathur also allegedly sent an email to an assistant professor with the subject line, “We are going to kill your daughters.” A female anthropology professor also reportedly received an email from Mathur, titled “We’re going to kill your family.”
UW Madison police worked with Google since the suspect allegedly sent the emails via a Gmail account he had on record with the university. Google provided investigators with location coordinates showing the Gmails were coming from Copenhagen in late February.
Several other threats were sent to various individuals and groups of people after the location of the sender was located by the school.
At the beginning of March, an email from Mathur’s account said he would return to Madison on March 15 for an “evening of fun” with all of his best friends. Mathur was arrested as he got off the plane at Detroit Metropolitan Airport Friday night.
He’s being held at the St. Clair County Jail in Michigan without bond.
