Man accused of menacing Obama appears in court

The customer had mussed hair, an $85,000 check and an odd question for the teller: Was her bank solvent?

“With all the mess going on under President Obama with banks and the economy,” the man said last month, according to court papers, “I’m sure if citizens happen to lose their money, they will rise up and we could see killing and deaths.”

Then he opened a savings account at Zions First National Bank in St. George, Utah.

Daniel James Murray, 36, originally from upstate New York, whose neighbors had nicknamed him “Cape Man” and who said his license plate read “ACHOSEN1,” appeared in Las Vegas federal court Monday accused of threatening Obama. He was ordered to be transferred to Salt Lake City to face the charge, which carries a possible sentence of five years in prison.

A lanky man with glasses and dark stubble, Murray remained stone-faced as a prosecutor listed his alleged menacing statements, including, “We are on a mission to kill the president of the United States.”

Other defendants awaiting their turn in court gaped.

Murray suffers from severe mental illness and has been committed at least eight times, his mother, Barbara, told investigators.

He also has been accused of trying to attack his father with a knife, prosecutor Amber Craig said, and this year he broke his mother’s windshield. Afterward, his mother got a restraining order. The prosecutor said he was dangerous and a flight risk. U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert Johnston agreed but said that Murray’s “mental health status seems to be severely compromised.”

In upstate New York, Murray was considered a harmless oddball, neighbors told the Albany Times-Union. He strolled around in a cape, talking to himself, and put a glowing cross in his backyard.

In February, he sold his home for $240,000, the newspaper reported. He pocketed about $100,000, Craig said, but has been homeless for some time.

Authorities said he was registered as the owner of eight firearms, but it was unclear whether he still owned them.

Murray listed his job as “messenger” when he opened his bank account May 19, the prosecutor said. When asked what type of messenger he was, Craig said he replied: “A messenger of God.”

On May 22, Craig said, Murray visited his father’s former workplace, the Los Angeles County Fire Department, and gave a secretary two shell casings and a religious CD, saying “he was going to see the president.”

On May 27, Murray returned to the St. George bank. That morning, Obama was 120 miles away in Las Vegas.

Murray asked to withdraw $12,698 in cash. When the teller said he lacked proper identification, he allegedly replied: “Not to be disrespectful, but if I don’t get this money, someone is going to die.”

A branch manager allowed the withdrawal.

“I have traveled thousands of miles to be here and know things that are going to happen . . . the banking system will fail and people will die . . . there will be chaos in the world,” he said, according to the court papers.

The next day, he withdrew the remaining $72,000 and closed his account.

On Friday, he was arrested outside a casino in Laughlin, Nev. He carried two folding knives, Craig said, and bullet casings were scattered in his car’s passenger seat.

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ashley.powers@latimes.com