A recently released Oklahoma City inmate is back behind bars after allegedly threatening to kill Oklahoma County District Judge Kathryn Savage, her husband and their “whole family,” according to police. Terry Dale Pullen, 41, was arrested Saturday and is now being held in the Oklahoma County jail, where a judge has denied him bond.
Threats Followed a Lawyer's Refusal
According to a report citing police, Pullen made repeated phone calls threatening both Judge Savage and her husband, attorney Malcolm Savage, and is also accused of threatening sexual violence toward the judge during those calls. The threats grew serious enough that Edmond police began keeping watch over the Savage family's home, the same report states. In one of the calls, Pullen reportedly punctuated his threats by saying, “I swear to God.”
Pullen told Malcolm Savage he was angry because Savage would not represent him as an attorney, the report notes. Malcolm Savage said he had declined to take the case because his wife, Kathryn Savage, had presided over a hearing in Pullen's 2021 case while she was serving as a special judge.
A Short Window Since His Release
The timeline laid out in the report shows how little time passed between Pullen's release and his latest arrest. He was released from prison in June after completing a sentence for the attempted robbery of an Oklahoma City convenience store in 2021, and just a month later, in July, he was accused of disorderly conduct in Oklahoma City. By October, he was in custody again, this time accused of threatening a sitting judge and her family.
Kathryn Savage was first elected as a district judge in 2022 and ran unopposed this year when she filed for reelection, per the same account. Her position has kept her connected to Pullen's case since that earlier hearing, a link that police say ultimately fueled his anger toward both her and her husband.
Part of a Wider Pattern of Threats Against Judges
The calls against the Savage family are described in the report as another example of the risks facing judges in Oklahoma and across the nation. Oklahoma has seen other alarming cases this year: in March, a California man was arrested after allegedly threatening Oklahoma County Special Judge Sara Murphy Bondurant in a social media post, and in September, Oklahoma judges were warned that a prison inmate in Indiana had threatened to send letters laced with fentanyl to courthouses across the nation.
Those warnings reflect a trend tracked at the federal level as well. In the past five years, the U.S. Marshals Service has investigated more than 1,000 serious threats against federal judges and justices, according to a 2025 U.S. Courts annual report. Separately, written testimony from Judge Robert Conrad Jr. before the U.S. House of Representatives stated that the volume of hostile threats and communications directed at judges has more than tripled over the past decade, according to the U.S. Courts statement.
For now, Pullen remains in the Oklahoma County jail without bond as the case against him moves forward. The Wichita Eagle carried a USA TODAY Network/Reuters Connect version of a story that originally appeared on The Oklahoman, detailing police allegations about threats made against the judge and her husband.
