Thomas Wales

Thomas Crane Wales (June 23, 1952 – October 12, 2001) was an American federal prosecutor and gun control advocate who was the victim of an unsolved murder. In 2018, FBI investigators announced they strongly suspected the killing to have been carried out by a paid hitman.

Thomas Wales
Born(1952-06-23)June 23, 1952
Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
DiedOctober 12, 2001(2001-10-12) (aged 49)
Seattle, Washington, U.S.
Cause of deathMurder
EducationHarvard University (BA)
Hofstra University (JD)
OccupationAssistant United States Attorney

Early life and education

Thomas Wales was born in Boston, Massachusetts. He was a graduate of Milton Academy, where he roomed with Joseph Patrick Kennedy II, the son of Robert F. Kennedy. Wales graduated from Harvard University and the Maurice A. Deane School of Law, where he graduated with distinction in 1979 and served as the Editor-in-Chief of the Hofstra Law Review.[1][2]

Career

In 1995, a student at the high school that Wales' son attended brought a gun to school and shot and injured two classmates. Soon after, Wales became involved in Washington CeaseFire, most visibly as a vocal supporter of an unsuccessful 1997 state referendum that would have required gun owners to use trigger locks.[3] Wales later became president of CeaseFire. As a community volunteer, he was active in civic organizations and served as a trustee of the Federal Bar Association.[1][2]

Wales worked as an Assistant U.S. Attorney at the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington in Seattle, specializing in the investigation and prosecution of fraud in banking and business.[2][1]

Death

On the evening of Thursday, October 11, 2001, at approximately 10:40 p.m., Wales was sitting at a computer in his office in the basement of his home at 108 Hayes Street.[4][5] A gunman avoided the security lights in Wales' backyard and shot him once in the neck and once in the chest through a window, using a Makarov pistol fitted with an aftermarket barrel.[6] The killer left shell casings behind. The shots were heard by a neighbor who called 9-1-1.[7] It has been reported that a lone male suspect was seen fleeing the scene.

Wales died at a hospital the next day. He is believed to be the only U.S. federal prosecutor in history to have been victim of an assassination.[8]

Murder investigation
Sketch of possible witness

Following the murder, the federal government offered a $1 million reward for information "leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible" for Wales' murder.[1] As of 2018, however, the case remained unsolved and no evidence has been found to establish a motive.[9][10][11] An airplane pilot living in Bellevue, a firearms enthusiast who Wales had prosecuted, was investigated and his home searched, but he was not charged. Agents believed he resented Wales' off-duty activism as a leading gun-control advocate.[12] The pilot later filed a malicious prosecution claim but the suit was dismissed.[13]

In early 2003 Scott Lee Kimball, later found to be a serial killer, was working as an FBI informant. He had told agents that a former cellmate of his when he had been in federal detention awaiting trial in Alaska had confessed to having killed Wales. But when he was given the chance to meet with the man, by then released as well, Kimball failed to steer the conversation toward the crime in the way the agents had coached him and seemed, in fact, to barely be acquainted with the man. Kimball failed a lie detector test administered afterwards, and agents suspected he had fabricated the account even as he continued to insist he had not.[14]

In June 2007, the FBI cut the staff assigned to the case down to two.[15]

In February 2018, an FBI official reported the investigation had found "evidence strongly suggesting" Wales was murdered by a contract killer and, for the first time, indicated that his death was likely a conspiracy involving a small group of people.[11] The United States Department of Justice, meanwhile, announced that then-Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein would arrive in Seattle on Wednesday, February 21, 2018, to brief media on the progress of the 16-year-old investigation.[11]

First in 2011 and then in 2018, the FBI released footage of Wales's grown children requesting tips and publicizing the $1 million reward.[16][17]

Legacy

In his memory, the Thomas C. Wales Foundation was established to support civic engagement, and Thomas C. Wales Park in Seattle was dedicated in 2011.[18][19]

See also

References
  1. "Thomas Crane Wales". fbi.gov. FBI. Retrieved February 20, 2018.
  2. "Milton Graduate, Federal Prosecutor, Victim of Seattle Gun-Man". milton.edu. Milton Academy. October 16, 2001. Retrieved February 20, 2018.
  3. Ayres, B. Drummond (November 5, 1997). "THE 1997 ELECTIONS: REFERENDUMS; Oregon Stays With Its Law On Suicides". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 18, 2020.
  4. "108 Hayes St, Seattle, WA 98109 - 3 beds/4 baths". Redfin. Retrieved May 6, 2023.
  5. "Who Killed Tom Wales?". Seattle magazine. July 8, 2022. Retrieved May 6, 2023.
  6. "Tracing gun barrel is next hurdle in probe of federal prosecutor Thomas Wales' death". The Seattle Times. October 7, 2016. Retrieved May 6, 2023.
  7. Federal Prosecutor and Advocate of Gun Control Is Shot to Death Archived May 15, 2006, at the Wayback Machine October 2001
  8. Fallows, James (October 11, 2014). "The Search for the Killer of Tom Wales Goes On". The Atlantic. Retrieved February 20, 2018.
  9. Unsolved murder: Investigation into the shooting of Tom Wales moves slowly Archived August 30, 2008, at the Wayback Machine December 19, 2001
  10. Assassination on Queen Anne: A year later, there are few leads in the slaying of assistant U.S. attorney and gun-control advocate Tom Wales Archived May 25, 2006, at the Wayback Machine September 18, 2002
  11. Carter, Mike (February 20, 2018). "Seattle federal prosecutor Thomas Wales was possibly killed by hired gunman, FBI official says". Seattle Times. Retrieved February 20, 2018.
  12. "FBI cuts agents looking into murder of Tom Wales". June 3, 2006.
  13. FBI scours 2 houses owned by pilot in Wales case September 20, 2006
  14. Smith, Jordan Michael (2021). "The Snitch". The Atavist. No. 115. Retrieved August 6, 2021.
  15. FBI cuts agents looking into murder of Tom Wales: At least two will remain on case of federal prosecutor June 3, 2006
  16. Seeking Information in 2001 Murder of Tom Wales, retrieved May 9, 2022
  17. $1 Million Reward in Thomas Wales Murder Case, retrieved May 9, 2022
  18. Brodeur, Nicole (April 14, 2011). "New Thomas C. Wales Park eases pain of an old case". The Seattle Times.
  19. "Thomas C. Wales Park". seattle.gov. City of Seattle. Retrieved February 20, 2018.
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