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Macomb County judge presiding over divorce case in fear after man’s violent threats to ex-wife

Ex-wife has obtained restraining order against man

MACOMB COUNTY, Mich.A Macomb County man has been charged by federal authorities for stalking and threatening his ex-wife.

The situation got so bad that the judge in his divorce case filed a report saying even she felt unsafe.

The FBI said Vires Al-Hakiem texted his estranged wife a video in June and said, “you see that gun? I put it inside your head and will empty 17 bullets in your [explitive] head and go show this to [explitive] judge what I say.”

Judge Rachel Rancilio was elected to the circuit court bench in 2016. Investigators compared a screenshot from the video to Al-Hakiem’s driver’s license and determined it was the same person.

The complaint goes on to say that the Macomb County judge that was presiding over the divorce at the time the text message was sent also observed the video on the victim’s phone and perceived it as a threat to her as well.

The judge filed a police report with the Macomb County Sheriff’s Office and as a result, the sheriff’s office has been and continues to conduct welfare checks at the judge’s residence.

The following month Al-Hakiem allegedly text a photo of several long guns and magazines laid out on a bed. Along with the picture he texted, ‘that is how ready I am. That is all am gonna say.”

The victim told investigators that is a photo from the master bedroom of Al-Hakiem’s parents’ home in Shelby Township.

The victim lives in Sterling Heights and said Al-Hakiem has repeatedly shown up at her home uninvited and posts videos about her on social media.

The 42-year-old Shelby Township man is from Iraq and a citizen of the Netherlands. He has no immigration status in the United States. The couple married in December of 2020 and divorced last month.

Read: More local crime coverage


About the Authors
Priya Mann headshot

Priya joined WDIV-Local 4 in 2013 as a reporter and fill-in anchor. Education: B.A. in Communications/Post Grad in Advanced Journalism

Kayla Clarke headshot

Kayla is a Web Producer for ClickOnDetroit. Before she joined the team in 2018 she worked at WILX in Lansing as a digital producer.

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