PARAGOULD, Ark. — A St. Francis County man faces 135 charges related to a series of threatening letters authorities say were sent to school officials, public servants, and private citizens across Arkansas over an 11-month period.
An arrest affidavit by Paragould police identifies the suspect as Cody D. Taylor. The charges include 62 felonies and 73 misdemeanors. On Sept. 12, Greene County District Judge Curtis Hitt found probable cause for Taylor’s arrest and set his bond at $750,000 with several conditions, including GPS ankle monitoring and a mental health evaluation.
According to the affidavit, the letters were mailed between Oct. 1, 2025, and Sept. 5, 2026. Investigators allege Taylor used a local educator’s name and address in many of the letters, leading to over a dozen police reports being falsely filed against the educator.
The letters reportedly contained threats of death, kidnapping, stalking, sexual acts, and shootings targeting multiple government buildings, and were made to appear as if they were sent by other private citizens, police said. Some recipients received letters on multiple occasions.
Paragould police said that despite months of interviews with individuals listed as both senders and recipients, they were unable to determine the source of the letters until Sept. 5, when investigators received a tip submitted to a local agency. Information in the tip was consistent with details from the letters, the affidavit states. Investigators traced an IP address associated with the tip and identified Taylor as its user.
On Sept. 11, police executed search warrants at Taylor’s residence in St. Francis County, during which they also collected his DNA. According to the affidavit, Taylor told officers at the scene that he believed their presence was related to letters he had sent. Police said Taylor later admitted in an interview to having mailed the letters to various recipients, including school officials, public servants, private citizens, and even celebrities, and that he had posed as other individuals while doing so.
As part of the Sept. 12 order setting Taylor’s bond, the court prohibited him from contacting any victims or witnesses and barred him from possessing weapons. Judge Hitt’s order also specified that the bond could be met through surety or another form acceptable to the Greene County sheriff.
Police and court officials continue to investigate the case. All suspects are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.