WA WA - Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Wales, 49, murdered, Seattle, 11 Oct 2001

[snowleopard]

Good read on the case (I think this is Lucy's source). The pilot mentioned is interesting.
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2007/08/06/an-unsolved-killing

 

[Koshka]

10/11 will be the 16th anniversary of this case. May this be the year of justice.

 

[Koshka]

News: https://www.seattletimes.com/seattl...ce=facebook.com&utm_campaign=owned_buffer_f_m

Snipped: "The FBI has found evidence strongly suggesting that the fatal shooting of Seattle federal prosecutor Thomas Wales in 2001 involved a conspiracy and a hired gunman, according to an FBI official familiar with the investigation.

Agents had pursued a single-shooter theory in the case and focused on a former Bellevue-area airline pilot who has long been a leading suspect in the shooting."

 

[Blondie in Spokane]

Reward raised to $1.52million in unsolved murder of federal prosecutor shot dead inside his home by man lurking in his backyard in 2001

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...-murder-federal-prosecutor.html#ixzz57qn5RF9d

 

[starviego]

Some oddities:

--Police finally did a door-to-door canvas of the neighborhood to see if anybody had seen anything--FOUR YEARS LATER

--The FBI sent its agents on a wild goose chase across the country, trying to track down every Makarov replacement barrel ever sold, as though thekiller would conveniently keep the evidence and hand it over on demand.

--The US Attorney in Seattle, John McKay, according to his own version, was fired by the Bush administration because he was trying too hard to solvethe case.

When the government fires the prosecutor for trying too hard to solve the crime, there can only be one reason: THE GOVERNMENT DOES NOT WANT THISCRIME TO BE SOLVED.

 

[Blondenorski]

Hi-Just new to this...can anyone fill me in please....thanks!!!

 

[snowleopard]

Here is a good article detailing the crime:
Who Killed Tom Wales?
Interestingly, the witness interviewed died in a traffic accident a few weeks after being interviewed.

 

[AgeofAquaruis]

Everett woman charged with lying about suspect in Thomas Wales cold case

 

[imstilla.grandma]

That could be a break in the Thomas Wales murder case is leaving more questions than answers as a 34-year-old woman from Everett now awaits a jury trial.
Woman Charged with Lying About Suspect in Cold Case Murder of Washington Prosecutor

 

[J. J. in Phila]

It would be nice if it was a break, but it would be likely that the killer would have known who the target was. "Judge" and "attorney general" are very vague, at best. The might have said "prosecutor," or "US Attorney," or even "government attorney."

 

[roguelady]

I remember when this happened. I lived in the Seattle area and I knew the Wales family when they first moved to Seattle. We were neighbors on Queen Anne Hill. My belief all along was this was a professional hit. After all these years, there is no way they will figure out who contracted to have him killed. He was a prosecutor and therefore he had numerous enemies. Unfortunately, he was easily killed because their home was in a regular urban neighborhood and he was sitting in a downstairs (underground) basement with windows on street view. He was an easy target. I can just picture him sitting at his desk and someone came up, shot him quickly and took off. Now we know why people have gated communities and security guards. This was a different time. Very sad for his family.

 

[Tighthead]

I’m jumping into this case via the podcast “Someone, Somewhere” and it’s very engaging.

Interestingly They talk about how few enemies Wales made through his work. He handled an exceptionally light caseload and his most common cases involved employee bank theft. The pilot case stood out as a result.

 

[AgeofAquaruis]

I'm starting to think it was an inside job. Imho

 

[Tighthead]

I'm starting to think it was an inside job. Imho

What do you mean by that? Someone who had also worked the helicopter investigation?

That would make sense if they were worried about exposure in the malicious prosecution action.

 

[JerseyGirl]

https://www.usnews.com/news/best-st...ed-of-lying-in-unsolved-slaying-pleads-guilty

A woman who was sought by federal prosecutors for allegedly lying to a grand jury investigating the 2001 murder of Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Wales has pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor obstruction charge.

The Seattle Times reports U.S. District Judge James Robart sentenced Shawna Reid of Marysville, Washington, to time served — a total of nine days in custody since she was indicted in 2019 — with no additional supervised release, plus a $25 fine.

 

[J. J. in Phila]

From what I could gather Reid told FBI agents that someone bragged about the killing, then denied it under oath. She would have been 13 when the killing took place.

 

[dotr]

Oct 11 2021 rbbm.
$2.5M Reward Offered for Help Solving 20-Year-Old Killing of Seattle Prosector
''Rewards totaling $2.5 million are now being offered for information that helps solve the killing of federal prosecutor Thomas C. Wales in Seattle 20 years ago.''

''Investigators have long believed he was assassinated and focused on a commercial airline pilot who had been prosecuted by Wales as a possible suspect.

The pilot had been involved in a business that sought to build civilian helicopters using military parts. Wales prosecuted the company and the pilot for fraud; the company pleaded guilty, but Wales eventually dropped charges against the pilot, who has always denied any involvement in the killing.

More recently, investigators have looked into whether a hitman was hired to carry out the killing, court records show.''

''They’ve taken out advertisements in gun-industry publications and released a sketch of a man with a chipped front tooth who was seen dragging a small, nylon suitcase through Wales’ upscale neighborhood shortly before the shooting.''

 

[Richard]

The FBI is pursuing evidence suggesting that the longtime suspect in the 2001 shooting death of federal prosecutor Thomas Wales enlisted the help of a notorious drug cartel to arrange the killing, according to sources familiar with the case...

LINK:
20 Years After Unsolved Killing Of Federal Prosecutor Thomas Wales In Seattle, Details Emerge About The FBI’s theory ~ Borderland Beat

 

[kemo]

The podcast Somebody Somewhere had a very good series on this case. They raised serious questions about the prosecution of “the pilot”. There was no specific law banning the retro-fitting of a military helicopter for civilian use. He was prosecuted under vague laws against selling unsafe aircraft. The case fell apart and was dismissed because it didn’t look like there was sufficient evidence to prove the helicopter in question was unsafe. There is some reason to suspect that the real purpose of the prosecution was to discourage others from getting into the helicopter retro-fitting business and it was done at the behest of the FAA and Bell Helicopters.

It isn’t clear how this would provide a motive to kill Wales but I find it very interesting.

 

[JnRyan]

I just found out about this case while researching Makarov semi-auto pistols. In the mid 90's, some 5-7 years before this I had a chance to buy a used one for ~$125. (The problem was that the caliber was 9x18mm specific to Russian designed guns and the ammo was almost impossible to find in the US. The 9x18 is slightly smaller than the far more common 9mm Parabellum and just slightly larger than the 9mm Kurz or .380. For this reason several different makes of conversion kits became available to convert the gun to .380.) Apparently from the bullets and spent shell casings at the scene the FBI found out the murder weapon was a Makarov converted to .380 and even identified the conversion kit manufacturer. They still failed to solve the case.

A hit in 2001 by such a gun is not surprising. In the 90's due to their very low cost, they were referred to our area as "Woodrow Wilson Specials" - a derogatory reference to the Woodrow Wilson Bridge in DC IOW, purchased very cheap, used once and then thrown off a bridge into the water.

Finding this gun is probably impossible if it was a hit as it has long been disposed of. LE is going to need a tip to find this killer.