Three people charged with threatening judge, witness and officials tied to Nolan Wells investigation

The threats came amid rampant speculation and scrutiny of the investigation, deepened in part by uncertainty surrounding Nolan Wells' final hours. Three people have been charged with threatening a judge, a witness and local officials connected to the investigation into the death of Nolan Wells None of the three appear to know Wells, his family or the boating group, or be part of the investigation.

The teenager, who was Black, had traveled to the uninhabited island with a group of friends from high school, all of whom were white. He did not return with his friends to the mainland that evening. His body was found two days later off the island’s coast.

Authorities have not made any arrests or named any suspects. An independent autopsy commissioned by Wells’ family found the 18-year-old’s cause of death to be “undetermined” pending further investigation. Attempts to reach the defendants for comment were unsuccessful.

Phone numbers listed for some of the defendants in affidavits weren’t active and a call to another number went unanswered. Emails sent to addresses listed in an affidavit for one of the defendants went unanswered. It is unclear if they have attorneys yet.

One of the defendants, Edward James Porter of Illinois, allegedly called an unnamed witness on July 31 and threatened to kill them and their family, according to an affidavit. Porter also allegedly told another person in Mississippi in a phone call that he would cut them up and put them “into a suitcase.” Porter was charged on July 31 in federal court for the Southern District of Mississippi for the threat. Porter threatened two members of the family of Bart Edminston Jr., a 21-year-old who knew Wells and provided aid to the boat the group used on July Fourth, said family attorney Russell Latino.

Latino said that one of the family members who Porter threatened is a witness in the investigation into Wells’ death. An Ohio woman was also charged with allegedly placing bomb threats at the George County Chancery Clerk’s Office and the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office on July 23. The woman, Michelle Francine Edwards, allegedly called the clerk’s office 21 times and said, “the clock is ticking,” according to an affida…