Green’s Dictionary of Slang

(orig. US) unpleasant, threatening.

1935		(con. 1920s) J.T. Farrell Judgement Day in Studs Lonigan (1936) 608: When you were in the dumps you thought [...] yourself to be a miserable no-good, bad-news bastard.
1968		‘Sl. of Watts’ in Current Sl. III:2 9: Bad news, adj. Unpleasant, disagreeable.
1975		E. Torres Carlito’s Way 118: I knew he was a bad-news cat right away.
1988		D. Woodrell Muscle for the Wing 136: The bad-news duo came in the door.
1995		R.L. Stine New Year’s Party 80: What a bad-news guy. It’s not safe to be around him.
2005		Schultz & Northrup New Feminine Brain 198: All of Cathy’s friends would panic when she began going out with another ‘bad news’ guy.