Man Pleads Not Guilty to Threatening Ex-Boss

VENTURA —  William McDowell was so angry at his former boss and another businessman that he stalked them and threatened their lives repeatedly for four years, authorities said Monday.

Ventura County sheriff’s deputies arrested McDowell on Friday night at his Ventura home. He was later charged with one count of stalking and three counts of making terrorist threats. He pleaded not guilty to those charges in court Monday.

Investigators said McDowell worked for First American Title about four years ago when he started having regular disagreements with his supervisor, Robert Noe. McDowell soon left the company and was replaced by John Holden.

After leaving the company, McDowell threatened both Holden and Noe, said Det. Joe Evans.

“He made death threats against these individuals and they were made on a couple of occasions in front of numerous witnesses,” Evans said. “This is no ‘he said, she said’ case.”

McDowell, who started a rival title company after leaving First American, threatened Noe and Holden at least three times in front of co-workers and friends, including once when a physical fight resulted between McDowell and Holden, authorities said.

The threats continued for years, Evans said, but the victims didn’t want to seek help from authorities because they feared an investigation would only make things worse.

“It was fear,” Evans said.

But in May, Holden and Noe learned of another death threat. In that incident, McDowell allegedly told another man he intended to kill both men, Evans said. That’s when they decided to alert authorities.

Regardless of whether the threat was serious, Evans said, it’s against the law.

“You can’t make death threats,” Evans said. “He basically terrorized these people for all these years. Enough was enough.”

But Evans said he was concerned enough about Holden and Noe’s safety that he asked to increase McDowell’s bail from the standard $100,000 to $1 million. A judge on Friday granted that request.

McDowell is scheduled to appear in court again July 12 for a preliminary hearing.