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Home Front: Culture Wars
2 Sex Offenders Whacked in Washington, Apparent Vigilante Killing
2005-08-28
Two Bellingham men believed to be registered sex offenders were shot to death early Saturday morning and authorities are looking for a suspect who posed as an FBI agent to get into their house, Bellingham police said. The case is being handled as a double homicide, said Bellingham Police Lt. Craige Ambrose. Police cordoned off two houses Saturday, at 2825 and 2827 Northwest Ave.

The victims’ identities are being withheld until police can notify their next of kin.

Police said the suspect posed as an FBI agent to gain entry to one of the houses near the corner of Northwest and West Illinois Street. He is described as a white male in his late 40s, about 5-feet-9 to 6 feet tall and weighing 190 pounds. He was last seen Friday night at the residence by neighbors and a resident of the home.

The roommate found the two dead men around 3 a.m. Saturday. The three roommates and the suspect were last together around 9 p.m. Friday at the house, according to the Bellingham police.

The suspect arrived at the house Friday night wearing a black baseball cap with an FBI insignia on the front and a blue jump suit with a white stripe down the legs, the roommate told police. The suspect is not an FBI agent, Ambrose said.

The man presented himself to the three roommates as a member of the FBI and said he wanted to talk to them about their Level III sex offender status, according to police. The fake FBI agent told the roommates that one of them was on a “hit list” on an Internet site, according to the police. The roommate who reported the deaths left while the FBI imposter was still there, Ambrose said.

Ambrose would not confirm which roommates, if any, are registered sex offenders. But Sheryl Craig, a block watch captain, said neighbors previously received sex offender notices about all three residents from law enforcement.

The Bellingham Police Web site lists one sex offender living at 2825 Northwest Ave. and the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Web site lists two other sex offenders as living in the 2800 block of Northwest. The Whatcom County Assessor’s Web site shows one of the sex offenders listed with Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office as the owner of 2825 Northwest Ave.

Neighbors said the suspect stayed at the house for approximately two hours, according to the police.

Craig said she never noticed problems from any of the three sex offenders. “They really kept to themselves,” she said. “I only saw them on their daily walks.

“We (neighbors) were told to let them be, but keep an eye on them,” she said.
This looks like a pretty cold-blooded and well-planned homicide, with the shooter being a skilled amateur rather than a professional. Posing as a law-enforcement officer to commit a double homicide is very bad karma though. With an eyewitness available, police will be combing through the lists of former victims and relatives, unless the instigators had the presence of mind to bring in a complete outsider for the actual hit.
Posted by:Atomic Conspiracy

#8  sad that our justice system recycles these unreformed predators back onto the streets. I shed no tears for these two.
Sex offenders are notoriously recidivist and shouldn't be treated like any other prisoner, especially teh pedophiles. Remove their equipment and drown em in anti-testosterone/agression drugs, with electronic monitoring after lengthy jail sentences.
Posted by: Frank G   2005-08-28 22:00  

#7  boo hoo fukin hoo
Posted by: duck4moo   2005-08-28 21:55  

#6  think if the killer was black they would describe him as such? I've noticed mainly whites are identified by race in the news (huge generalization, I know) but if they really want to solve crimes instead of being PC, describe all by apparent race or skin color...we all can relate
Posted by: Frank G   2005-08-28 20:10  

#5  Shall we chalk this up as a community service?

Although I don't have the stones to do this myself - I certainly can understand the fear, frustration and anger that can lead to this type of vigilante action. I live in southern California and have a daugher the same age as Samantha Runion would have been. For those of you unfamiliar with her - she was the 5 year old snatched from in front of her mom's apartment, sexually abused and murdered by an animal named Avila. He was recently sentenced to death in California.

We have a couple of afternoon talk radio personalities at a local (LA) radio station (KFI). These two recently called attention to a group home in the area that received a particularly nasty sexual predator who was released following a 14 sentence. He was quoted as sayingssomething to the effect of "I might as well kill the next one to avoid going back to prison". I thought that someone would off this guy just as soon as media spotlight shifted somewhere else, but it hasn't happened yet.

I don't want to see a return to Dodge city, with gunfights in the street - however, decent people deserve to be safe, to let their kids play outside without fear of predation. If the government won't defend us - who will?

I hope the guy who performed this gets away clean. I also hope it leads to a few more sex offenders demise. These people can't be cured - but they can fixed.
Posted by: Robjack   2005-08-28 17:08  

#4  It appears to be some sort of halfway house or group home arrangement.

I think it is just as likely to be a pre-emptive killing by someone whose family or friends have not yet been victimized.
It is very unlikely that there was any connection between the crimes of the two dead pervs. A revenge killer would therefore have less reason to whack both of them. The killer couldn't have beem that concerned about a witness or he would not have let the third one get away.
Leaving that witness also indicates that the killer is not especially worried about a visual ID. As I mentioned, this might be because he is an outsider brought in by a victim's family, but it is more probably because an investigation of victims would not lead police to him under any circumstances.
Posted by: Atomic Conspiracy   2005-08-28 16:47  

#3  Why would three sex offenders live together?

The killer is likely to be a relative of a victim. What would a jury say?
Posted by: Kalle (kafir forever)   2005-08-28 16:03  

#2  Oops, forgot the pic:
Posted by: Atomic Conspiracy   2005-08-28 15:25  

#1  He is described as a white male in his late 40s, about 5-feet-9 to 6 feet tall and weighing 190 pounds.
Paging Charles Bronson, Charles Bronson please go to the white telephone.
Posted by: Redneck Jim   2005-08-28 15:12  

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