Judge Increases Bond For Walmart Stabbing Suspect After Public Outcry

A judge in Traverse City, Michigan, raised the bond for mass stabbing suspect Bradford James Gille to $1 million on Wednesday, following public outcry over a previous judge’s decision to set the bond at $100,000.

At a bond review hearing on Wednesday, Judge Michael Stepka of the 86th District Court pointed to the seriousness of the charges and the risk that Gille would potentially skip future court dates to justify the increase, The Detroit News reported. Stepka said that raising the bond “will assure the victims and the public in general that it’s unlikely Mr. Gille is going to get out.”

The day before Gille allegedly went on a stabbing rampage, wounding 11 people at a Traverse City Walmart last Saturday, authorities in Petoskey, Michigan — which is around 70 miles north of Traverse City — obtained a court order to place Gille in protective custody. The order was issued after Gille had multiple concerning encounters with Petoskey police, and authorities were actively searching for him when the mass stabbing took place.

The prosecution asked the judge during Wednesday’s hearing to completely revoke Gille’s bond, but Stepka said that Michigan’s Rules of Criminal Procedure require a defendant to be charged with murder or to have two previous convictions for violent felonies in the past 15 years for bond to be revoked, according to The Detroit News. Gille was charged with 11 counts of assault with intent to murder and terrorism. He pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Grand Traverse County Prosecutor Noelle R. Moeggenberg also argued for Gille’s bond to be revoked over a “gun gesture” that he allegedly made at a camera during his first court appearance earlier this week. Gille’s defense attorney, Janet Mistele, disputed Moeggenberg’s statement.

Mistele also said that neither Gille nor his family has the resources to secure his release under the $100,000 bond. Gille would have had to come up with $10,000 to secure release with a bail bondsman, but now he’ll have to post $100,000 to work out his release, which is extremely unlikely.

After Gille’s first court appearance in front of Magistrate Tammi Rodgers, the judge was criticized for setting a $100,000 bond and telling him he could not visit any Walmart.

“Eligible for bond? This individual just went on a rampage, and by the grace of God didn’t end anyone’s life,” said Michigan state Senate Minority Leader and Republican gubernatorial candidate Aric Nesbitt. “Allowing him to be released into the community spits in the face of those who protect and serve, and only puts more people at risk.”

Gille has had multiple run-ins with law enforcement over the years. In 2017, he was found not guilty by reason of insanity after he was charged with dismembering and mutilating dead bodies he had dug up at a cemetery.