Rochester man appears in third threats case

(ABC 6 News) – A Rochester man appeared in Olmsted County Court Friday on a third threats case.

Nurdin Sheikh, 42, was previously charged with threatening a woman with a knife in 2022, then sending a foreboding email to an Oronoco church in 2024.

According to court documents, Sheikh is also accused of sending a nearly identical, threatening email to a SE Rochester church in 2024.

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ABC 6 NEWS — A Rochester man has pled not guilty to two felony counts of threats of violence and one felony count of terroristic threats for two incidents that took place almost two years apart.

Nurdin Sheikh, 42, made his first Olmsted County appearance and pleaded not guilty to all of the charges Aug. 30.

The first set of charges stem from an incident that took place in 2022. According to court documents, Sheikh allegedly threatened a woman with a knife, and said he was going to kill the woman.

Court documents claim a man heard Sheikh yelling and placed himself in between Sheikh and the woman.

Sheikh was arrested and brought to the Adult Detention Center.

In June 2023, Sheikh had an omnibus hearing scheduled for this case, which court documents say he failed to appear for. A warrant was issued for his arrest.

Over a year later in July of 2024, an Olmsted County Sherriff’s deputy was dispatched to a church in Oronoco, which said they had received a threatening email.

According to court documents, the email contained multiple threatening phrase including “this is as stern as I will be,””I have love of loud bombs and sharnpnel of nails,” [sic] and “I burn churches too.”

Detectives traced the email to an address in Lewiston, Maine where Sheikh was staying. He was arrested and brought back to Olmsted County.

Sheikh will next appear in court for a settlement conference for the charges on November 21. Currently, he has a pre-trial set for March 25, 2025 and a jury trial set for March 31, 2025.