Oregon newspaper owner jailed in Alabama for allegedly threatening 77-year-old woman over Methodist church split

The owner of a local newspaper in Oregon is in custody in Alabama, accused of making multiple threats of violence in Mobile, including threatening to kidnap, imprison and rape a 77-year-old church secretary, according to court documents.

Richard David Colvin, a 60-year-old Mobile resident, is accused of violating interstate communications laws.

The federal government’s indictment shows he is angry, in part, about the split in the United Methodist Church.

According to published reports in Oregon, Colvin is the owner of The St. Johns Review, which appears in 13 North Portland neighborhoods and has published a weekly or monthly print edition for nearly 120 years.

According to the criminal complaint, Colvin called Christ United Church in Mobile on November 23, 2023, and identified himself by name.

The 77-year-old receptionist answered the phone and Colvin began cursing at her.

“Colvin was extremely angry and used extremely foul and vulgar language directly toward (the receptionist),” FBI agent Michael Burton wrote.

Colvin, the officer said, described how he was going to kidnap the woman, put her in a cage and repeatedly rape her. He said he was going to “cut off his own penis” and use it to sexually abuse her.

Every time the receptionist tried to talk, Colvin would call her something sweary.

Between December 28, 2023, and February 22, 2024, Colvin called the church’s prayer line and left three voicemail messages, expressing his anger over Christ United Church’s separation from the United Methodist Church.

The church, one of the largest congregations in Mobile, left the UMC in 2023 over disputes over gay marriage and the ordination of openly gay clergy.

“You guys are all blasphemers up there in that church in my hometown of Mobile,” Colvin said.

“I can’t wait to get to church and tell you what I think about you destroying a United Methodist Church with 8 million members because of who is underperforming (swear word) (swear word).”

On Feb. 27, 2024, the pastor of a Baptist church in Mobile returned Colvin’s call, at which point Colvin again began using profanity. The pastor told Colvin he did not want to be spoken to in that manner, and Colvin threatened to kick his ass, the officer wrote.

The pastor hung up and Colvin called back immediately. The pastor advised Colvin to put the phone in a desk drawer while he delivered his tirade.

Colvin responded, “If you do that, I’ll come over there and (expletive) kill you.”

According to charging documents, Colvin called the FBI office in Mobile and accused the agency of failing to investigate his reports of foreign terrorism and of preventing his elderly mother from receiving painkillers.

He told someone in the FBI that if he were king, “I would chop your (expletive) heads off.”

He called the FBI several more times.

FBI agents interviewed Colvin’s brother, a deputy with the Mobile County Sheriff’s Office. He told them his brother has a mental illness and has been prescribed medication for the condition.

He said his brother was retired from the U.S. Navy Reserve, but he didn’t want to seek help from the VA because he didn’t trust the medical community.

Court documents also show that Colvin made similar calls while living in Oregon, and his phone number was blocked by the FBI, the U.S. Department of Justice, the DEA, two Oregon sheriff’s departments and the Portland Police Bureau.

The Alabama FBI agent wrote that because of the nature and volume of Colvin’s calls, there was “increasing concern that Colvin might commit an act of violence.”

Colvin was initially placed in the Baldwin County Jail, where he wrote in a handwritten letter to a federal judge that he “ate well, joined prayer groups and sang.”

Colvin has since been transferred to an undisclosed prison.

Attempts by AL.com to reach an attorney for Colvin were not immediately successful.

Colvin’s next court appearance is in September.