Springfield Man Found Guilty of Threatening Greene County Judge

SPRINGFIELD, MO. — Aden Xavier Warr Harper, of Springfield, was found guilty of two counts of Tampering with a Judicial Officer, a Class D felony, on February 18, 2026, in Greene County Circuit Court following a two-day jury trial presided over by Special Judge David Allen Cole.

On April 23, 2024, Harper appeared via video from the Greene County Jail for a civil order of protection hearing before a Greene County Circuit Judge. After the judge denied his request for an order of protection, Harper directed a series of vulgar and threatening statements at the judge, telling the court that the judge and his family would “get what they deserve” and offering his “condolences” to the judge’s family. On April 30, 2024, in a separate criminal hearing before the same judge, Harper again made threatening statements, warning the judge that if the judge did not recuse himself from the case, Harper could “send word out to the streets” to have civilians come after the judge to arrest him, and asking whether the judge wanted Harper to “use deadly force on you or your family.”

At trial, Harper testified that his conduct was uncharacteristic and driven by frustration rather than genuine threats. In rebuttal, prosecutors presented evidence that Harper had made similar threatening statements against a different judge in an unrelated matter the prior year. The jury deliberated approximately one hour before returning guilty verdicts on both counts. The jury also found, in a separate phase of the trial, that Harper had been convicted of two or more prior felonies on different occasions, qualifying him as a persistent felony offender. Harper, who has five prior felony convictions dating back to 2003, is currently serving an unrelated prison sentence. As a persistent offender convicted of a Class D felony, he faces sentencing at the Class C felony range of three to ten years in the Missouri Department of Corrections for each count. Sentencing is scheduled for April 1, 2026.

“The integrity of our courts and the safety of those who serve in them are foundational to our entire system of justice. Threats against a judge—whether made in open court or elsewhere—will not be tolerated, and this verdict sends a clear message that such conduct carries serious consequences.” said Greene County Prosecuting Attorney Dan Patterson.

The case was investigated by the Greene County Prosecutor’s Office Investigator Allen Neal and prosecuted by Assistant Prosecuting Attorneys Joe Wantuck and Joe Bliss.

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