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Sex Offenders Murdered in Bellingham, WA

By Jeralyn, Section Crime Policy
Posted on Mon Aug 29, 2005 at 10:09:57 AM EST
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Two released sex offenders who were on a registration list available on the Internet have been murdered. A man is believed to have posed as an FBI officer, went to their apartment and shot them.

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.

Is this an isolated case of vigilante justice, or will this be the beginning of a trend?

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    Sex Offenders Murdered in Bellingham, WA | 12 comments (12 topical)
    Re: Sex Offenders Murdered in Bellingham, WA (none / 0) (#8)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Wed Aug 31, 2005 at 08:44:21 AM EST
    re: sarcastic unnamed one You said you were uneasy with level 3's living together; I thought about that, too, but whenever you hear about a sex offender, they seem to always have other sex offenders as roommates. It made (makes) me a little uneasy, too, but when I really sat and pondered it for a while, it occurred to me that they have a tough time even finding a town they can live in. People protest their very existence and make their lives hell; it must be next to impossible to find a place to live. So I have a feeling this is just borne of necessity - if someone finds a place that will let them live, others come too. They may also be the only friends that each has. So I don't have a lot of sympathy; they put themselves in this position. But I do wonder how much the circumstance play into the chances of reoffending - someone who may not reoffend living with someone who's predatory...will it lead to temptation or pressure? Interesting thought, and it makes you wonder if there shouldn't be some studies on it to see if it should be addressed.

    Re: Sex Offenders Murdered in Bellingham, WA (none / 0) (#9)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Wed Aug 31, 2005 at 01:00:26 PM EST
    It brings me no discomfort or pain to know that two sick and cancerous dogs have been put down. In fact, my heart is less heavy knowing that they will with absolute certain never harm another child again. All you bleeding heart liberals can cry your shallow tears for child rapists, but had it been my child who was the victim I'd have done the same thing myself. Raping/torturing pre-pubescent children is probably the most evil and horrific crime imaginable. It is worse than murder in my eyes as it is a psychological death that haunts the victim until the day they die. They do not get the satisfaction of dying quickly, but rather they get to be ‘living dead’. These bastards DESERVED what they got. It’s too bad we paid for their 'life' during their prison vacations. I hope more of these take place to send a message that if courts won’t protect our kids, then good people will.

    Re: Sex Offenders Murdered in Bellingham, WA (none / 0) (#10)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Wed Aug 31, 2005 at 07:21:33 PM EST
    We can only hope that this will be a trend. The shooter only did what our government should be doing.

    Re: Sex Offenders Murdered in Bellingham, WA (none / 0) (#1)
    by sarcastic unnamed one on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:02:53 PM EST
    Well, since I've blabbed on enough in the past in support RSO databases, I'll blab some more here. Obviously the actions of the murderer are indefensible, and if they were facilitated by the RSO database, my support of the databases will be tempered. Is there potential for misuse of the databases? Of course, as we see here. Do the databases offer any positve benefits? Well, that's probably hard to prove either way. When you lock your car at night and wake up to find it not stolen in the morning, was it because of the locks? I'm also somewhat uneasy about groups of level 3 RSO's choosing to live together, especially if they contacted each other via info from the databases.

    Re: Sex Offenders Murdered in Bellingham, WA (none / 0) (#2)
    by TomK on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:02:53 PM EST
    This is right next to my house. Just a couple miles away. There was a big storm in Bellingham about the willingness of the city to put sex offenders next to the college campus. Quite a bit of outrage. The lists i have seen on the bham police websites only list level 3 sex offenders, who are at high risk to reoffend and do not pass through treatment. I'm ambivelent about this. I have female friends who have seen level 3 sex offenders by campus and know girls who have been raped on campus. I'd rather have these guys dead then raping my friends. On the other hand, vigilante justice isn't good. It obviously is bad that this happened, but I'm not shedding any tears for dead level 3 sex offenders.

    Re: Sex Offenders Murdered in Bellingham, WA (none / 0) (#3)
    by jen on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:02:54 PM EST
    I have no tears in me for those particular victims either, just for the fact that a cold blooded killer gets to committ murder for fun and no one will try to hard to catch him.

    Re: Sex Offenders Murdered in Bellingham, WA (none / 0) (#4)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:02:54 PM EST
    The point is this: vigilantism is never justified. The law exists so that arrest, trials, and punishment, if deserved, is meted out rationally and with justice for all. Everyone is revolted by the foulest set of crimes (except a few crazies) but a society requires laws and if the laws are bad, or poorly enforced, then you change them. You don't go around killing people. Dirty Harry is a character in a film, not a role model, duh.

    Re: Sex Offenders Murdered in Bellingham, WA (none / 0) (#5)
    by DawesFred60 on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:02:54 PM EST
    That will happen, that is the reason you don't have list's, like that, people will kill sex nuts, and that person who killed will now go to a hell called prison, sad, sad, world but the bush aganda is setup to kill as many as can be killed. Bush Bin Laden one guy in one idea.

    Re: Sex Offenders Murdered in Bellingham, WA (none / 0) (#6)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:02:54 PM EST
    Dan Abrams has been reading the names of sex offenders on his program. It all goes to create an atmosphere of encouraging vigilante and dollar justice. Although the sex offender is not a sympathetic victim -a victim nonetheless. Not all sex offenders are alike and a blanket policy of contempt and isolation from society is wrong.

    Re: Sex Offenders Murdered in Bellingham, WA (none / 0) (#11)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:03:14 PM EST
    JR and Jackson This is the USA a country built on law and justace. Taking the law into your own hands breed’s contempt of the law. I’m sure this is fine by you until you are on the receiving end. Then you will sing a different tune. God deliver us from the arrogant bigots that infest this country. Only the intelligent individuals of the USA stand between the mentality of the mob and the rule of law. In 1866, the Supreme Court wrote: "It is the birthright of every American citizen when charged with a crime, to be tried and punished according to law. The power of punishment is alone through the means, which the laws have provided for that purpose, and if they are ineffectual, there is immunity from punishment, no matter how great the offender the individual may be, or how much his crimes may have shocked the sense of justice of the country, or endangered its safety. By the protection of the law, human rights are secured; withdraw that protection, and they are at the mercy of wicked rulers, or the clamors of an excited people."Ex Parte Milligan , 71 U.S. (4 Wall.) 2, 118-19, 18 L.Ed. 281 (1866). God deliver us from people like you.

    Re: Sex Offenders Murdered in Bellingham, WA (none / 0) (#12)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:03:23 PM EST
    what the 2 victims did were wrong but they went to prison and paid for there crime and were released and then there posted on the internt with there names addresses photos and all the info a psycho needed to find them and kill them how can a person convicted of a crime ever reform if the punishment never ends how can they work get a place to live when they have a brand on there forehead the sex offender registry that was set up to protect children are getting them killed like the duncan murders i read his blog he was very disturbed about having to register and the label hung on him label them a sex offender take away there pride and everything else they have they wont try to reform they will strike back on society what do they have to lose nothing and now the sex offenders are being murdered with the help of the state being so kind to post there address and a current photo of them not to mention taking away there right to vote own firearms to defend themselves and there loved ones and any other way the state can continue to punish them long after they have served there sentence the punishment should end the day after they are released from prison give them a chance to reform and maybe we can break this repeat offender and the 2 murders that just happened and if they do it again make sure they stay in jail along time

    Sex offenders living together (none / 0) (#13)
    by Trajan on Fri Jan 19, 2007 at 02:55:10 PM EST
    There is a post about sex offenders living together in this sex offender's blog...
    http://strangefutures.livejournal.com/
    I'd like to knwo what other people think

    Sex Offenders Murdered in Bellingham, WA | 12 comments (12 topical)