Dover man charged with threatening presidential candidates found dead as jury deliberated

CONCORD — A Dover man charged with threatening to kill three 2024 presidential candidates has died.

Tyler Anderson, 30, had been on trial this week and the case was in the hands of the jury.

On Thursday, prosecutors filed a motion to dismiss the indictment against Anderson, stating the "government has learned that the defendant is deceased. There is no case or controversy.” The judge granted the motion and discharged the jury around noon.

Anderson was arrested in December on three counts of transmitting in interstate commerce a threat to injure the person of another. He was accused of threatening to kill 2024 Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy at an event in Portsmouth in a text. He was later found to have sent similar messages to the campaigns of former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. He faced up to 15 years in prison and $750,000 in fines in total for the three charges.

The defense argued Anderson believed he was sending the messages to bots, not real people, and that his communication could not be considered a "true threat." Witnesses included FBI agents, campaign staff, and Verizon employees.

On Tuesday, the case went to the jury. After deliberating for several hours, the jury informed the judge they had "reached a unanimous verdict on one count but were unable to reach a consensus on the others." The judge instructed them to come back the next day to continue deliberations.

Those deliberations, however, were canceled Wednesday. The judge notified the jury "that something has come up which requires the court to postpone today's deliberations."

The Concord Police Department was asked to locate Anderson Wednesday night after a missing person report was placed, according to the agency’s Deputy Chief John Thomas. Anderson was found in a car in one of the Concord Hospital parking garages just after 8 p.m.

Responding officers who located Anderson in the car saw chemicals scattered around, causing police to retreat and call for the city’s fire department and hazmat service.

“It appears there was some sort of chemicals in the vehicle,” Thomas said Thursday afternoon. “I can’t tell you what the chemicals were but it was enough that it caused the officers to back away and not approach without the proper breathing apparatus.”

The hazmat team arrived to the scene around midnight Thursday, and Anderson was ultimately pronounced deceased, per Thomas. Concord police cleared the scene around 4:30 a.m.

Anderson’s body was transported to the New Hampshire medical examiner’s office. It was unclear Thursday when an autopsy could potentially be performed, according to Thomas.

The incident remains under investigation by Concord police. Foul play is not suspected in Anderson’s death.

Ian Lenahan contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Dover man charged with threatening presidential candidates found dead as jury deliberated