Updated Jan. 5, at 4:42 p.m.

BAY CITY — a U.S. District Court judge in Bay City has granted a continuance in a case against Russell Hesch, who has been charged with threatening U.S. Rep. Bart Stupak, so Hesch can have a psychiatric evaluation performed.

The decision was made at a pre-trial conference in U.S. District Court Jan. 5.

Attorneys for Hesch, 74, filed paperwork the day before, stating Hesch may be suffering from dementia.

Hesch’s attorneys, David R. Cripps and Robert Dunn, filed a motion for a criminal responsibility evaluation Tuesday, Jan. 4, stating that Hesch’s primary care doctor reported that he is “exhibiting some early signs and symptoms of possible dementia,” according to court records.

The motion also states that a licensed psychologist confirmed that Hesch may be suffering from dementia after a diagnostic evaluation.

Hesch was charged last June with conspiring to threaten, kidnap or murder a United States official. Police allege that he and his son, David Hesch of Loveland, Colo., sent a threatening letter to Stupak.

Among the threats contained in the two-page letter was a statement that said, “I will paint the Mackinaw Bridge with the blood of you and your family members.”

The letter called for Stupak’s resignation, and said that if he didn’t resign, he should follow in the footsteps of his son, Bart Stupak Jr., who committed suicide in 2000.

Stupak did not seek reelection last November.

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