Killings of 2 Bellingham sex offenders may have been by vigilante, police say

By Jonathan Martin and Maureen O'Hagan

Seattle Times staff reporters

BELLINGHAM — Last Friday night, a man claiming to be an FBI agent dropped in on three Level 3 sex offenders living together, supposedly to warn them of an Internet "hit list" targeting sex offenders.

The man was not an FBI agent, but he may have been enforcing a hit list of his own creation.

Two of the roommates were found dead early Saturday of gunshot wounds, and Bellingham police are investigating a crime that authorities say may be one of the nation's most serious cases of vigilantism aimed at sex offenders.

The killings also highlight a potential problem about Washington's 1990 law requiring sex offenders to register their addresses so the public can keep track of them.

Bellingham Police Chief Randall Carroll said it is too early to conclude that Hank Eisses, 49, and Victor Vasquez, 68, were killed because they were sex offenders. Police released a sketch of the suspect, who is still at large.

But Carroll noted that their address — and descriptions of their crimes — were posted on the city's Web site, and if someone used that information to target Eisses and Vasquez, it could have a broad impact.

"Certainly if sex offenders were targeted and attacked because of their offense, the Legislature could decide they could repeal our sex-offender notification law," Carroll said.

Eisses owned the house where the killings took place, and had rented rooms for the past three years to Vasquez and James Russell, 42.

Russell was there the night the suspect showed up, but he soon left to go to work. When he returned about 3 a.m., he told police, he found his roommates dead. Based on their estimated time of death, and the fact that Russell was at work, he is not considered a suspect, according to police. Results of an autopsy are expected later this week, Carroll said.

Vasquez was convicted in 1991 of molesting several relatives. According to court documents, his victims endured regular abuse, sexual and otherwise. He was on Department of Corrections supervision at the time of the murder.

Russell was convicted in 1994 of molesting a 3-year-old girl, and released from DOC supervision about three weeks ago after serving 5 ½ years in prison.

While the public is understandably concerned about sex crimes, Kit Bail, a DOC official, said the three men have been quiet, law-abiding offenders while living together. None of the three had violated supervision conditions, she said, and none had reoffended.

"In a sense, they are a success story," said Bail, the DOC's field supervisor for Whatcom County. "These guys were doing fine. They were employed. They were living according to the conditions."

The killings, she said, should "not be the basis on which we change the laws on registration, but if it is a vigilante act, it gives one pause. It gives me concern about other Level 3 sex offenders living responsibly — or even irresponsibly — in the community. Murder is not the response anywhere."

A fake FBI agent

Eisses was sentenced to 5 ½ years in prison in 1997 for raping a 13-year-old boy at his home in Sumas, near the Canadian border. He was released from DOC supervision about two years ago, Bail said.

He bought a blue house with a white picket fence in Bellingham's Columbia neighborhood — about a half-mile from a middle school — with the help of Theodore Kingma. In a brief interview, Kingma said he met Eisses at church. "He confessed his sins, and he lived right with God and the neighbors," said Kingma. "That's all I know."

It is unclear how Eisses met Russell and Vasquez. One of Russell's relatives said Russell's sex-offender status made it difficult to find a place to live until he moved in with Eisses.

According to police, Russell said a man wearing a blue jumpsuit and a hat with an FBI logo dropped by at about 9 p.m. on Friday to warn the trio of the alleged "hit list."

There were no FBI agents in the neighborhood that day, prompting the bureau to open an investigation of impersonation, said FBI spokeswoman Robbie Burroughs. The case does not qualify for federal hate-crime prosecution because the law does not appear to cover sex offenders, she said.

Too much information?

In response to a series of vicious sex crimes against children, Washington became the first state to require sex offenders to register their address upon release from prison. Level 3 offenders like Eisses, Vasquez and Russell, considered the most likely to commit a new crime, must register for life.

Since then, most states and the federal government have passed similar mandatory-notification laws.

A searchable, statewide database maintained by the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs provides block-specific addresses for Level 2 and 3 offenders. Other municipalities — including Bellingham — go further by giving exact addresses.

That information has led some to take the law into their own hands. In 1993, Joseph Gallardo planned to move into his family's home in Lynnwood after serving about three years for the statutory rape of a 10-year-old girl.

The home was burned after neighbors heard of Gallardo's plan. He then planned to move to New Mexico but encountered fierce protests there. He returned to Lynnwood, where he still lives. He has not been convicted of another crime.

John La Fond, a lawyer who fought the notification law on behalf of the American Civil Liberties Union, said posting sex offenders' addresses "almost becomes a confession by the state that they cannot keep the society safe from harm, and invites society to take matters into its own hands."

In researching a 2005 book on notification laws, he found dozens of assaults and harassment against sex offenders. Eisses and Vasquez, he said, may be the first deaths.

Don Pierce, head of the police-chiefs association, said the case will renew the debate on publishing sex offenders' addresses.

"I think there are risks and this may prove to be an example of one of those risks," said Pierce. "I also think the public and Legislature have said there's a risk to the general public if they don't know with specificity where a sex offender lives."
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What do you guys think?

una del dupe'

Oh give a shit factor somewhere between -100 and -99

Someone posted this the other day but it doesn't break my heart that some sex offender is taking a dirt nap.

Charles Bronson

deju vu all over again

<DU> Save the sex offenders!!!  Do it for the . . . uh, errr . . . umm . . .   Ban the guns!  Yeah, that's it -- ban the guns! </DU>

It's a good start, hope he keeps on killing the sickos. Hell the rest of should join in the hunt.

too fuckin bad, dont molest children

[nelson voice] Haha [/nelson voice]

Those listings are proving useful.

Sorry about the dupe, maybe some people will see it who missed it last time.

Quoted: It's a good start, hope he keeps on killing the sickos. Hell the rest of should join in the hunt.

+1, some people need killing.  

I have no moral dilemma whatsoever with this.

[ACLU]
Oh no!

Sex offenders were killed because someone misused the sex offender registry! How horrible! We must now stop registering sex offenders! Do it for the children!
[/ACLU]


Frankly, I don't give a rip.

And I might just throw a brick at the first person who argues we should do away with the registry because a couple of sex offenders got wacked.

Quoted: Sorry about the dupe, maybe some people will see it who missed it last time.

I missed it last time.

Glad to see the post...

Quoted: Bellingham police are investigating a crime that authorities say may be one of the nation's most serious cases of vigilantism aimed at sex offenders.

So how soon til child molesters are protected by Federal hate-crime legislation?

"In a sense, they are a success story," said Bail, the DOC's field supervisor for Whatcom County. "These guys were doing fine. They were employed. They were living according to the conditions."

So the best indicator of a reformed child-molester (no such thing)  is they have a job?????  



That entire article makes me ill.

That's a bummer.

I thought for a second the dead sex offender toll went up two more.

I guess today i won't celebrate 4. but celebrate 2 over again.

Quoted: Quoted: Bellingham police are investigating a crime that authorities say may be one of the nation's most serious cases of vigilantism aimed at sex offenders. So how soon til child molesters are protected by Federal hate-crime legislation? "In a sense, they are a success story," said Bail, the DOC's field supervisor for Whatcom County. "These guys were doing fine. They were employed. They were living according to the conditions." So the best indicator of a reformed child-molester (no such thing)  is they have a job?????   That entire article makes me ill.

Indeed.

The jackass that murdered that little girl a month or two ago was also living according to the conditions.

Nice name and avatar, BTW....

IT WILL HAVE TO COME OUT! ONLY, BITS OF IT!!!

Call me when this becomes a terrible epidemic, by that I mean nationwide eradication of these molesters.  Until then, I am fresh out of Give a Shit brand Compassion Pills.

I don't see anything wrong with a publicly availible hit list of the worlds most undesired people.

My give damn seems to broken again.

luckily 2 of the suspects were caught on tape:

it seems a third suspect was wearing a name tag with the name "Jafar" on it.

My heart bleeds.  Truely it does.

On the other hand, why let them out of jail.  If you don't want people killing child predators then don't fucking let them out.  It's for their own safety.

Quoted: My heart bleeds.

So do the dead guys'

Some people just need killin'

Quoted: Sorry about the dupe, maybe some people will see it who missed it last time.

I haven't seen it!

BigDozer66

Swift Justice, Fuck 'em.

I did miss it the first time around, thanks.

Did someone forget a shovel?

Now you will recieve us! We do not ask for your poor or your hungry. We do not want your tired and sick. It is your corrupt we claim! It is your evil that will be sought by us. With every breath we shall hunt them down. Each day we will spill their blood, 'till it rains down from the skies! Do not kill, do not rape, do not steal. These are principles which every man of every faith can embrace! These are not polite suggestions. These are codes of behavior and those of you that ignore them will pay the dearest cost! There are varying degrees of evil. We urge you lesser forms of filth, not to push the bounds and cross over, into true corruption, into our domain. For if you do, one day you will look behind you and you will see we three and on that day YOU WILL REAP IT! And will send you to whatever god you wish.

And shepherds we shall be, for thee my Lord for thee, power hath descended forth from thy hand, that our feet may swiftly carry out thy command. We shall flow a river forth to thee, and teeming with souls shall it ever be. In nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti.

Not a dupe here....

My 2 cents....

I'm glad they were shot.  Should have happened immediately after the court proceedings.

Quoted: Not a dupe here.... My 2 cents.... I'm glad they were shot.  Should have happened immediately after the court proceedings.

+1



They were not killed because "their addresses were made public", they were killed because they molested children.  Don't fucking molest little kids if you don't want to be punished for it.


I am sorry, but if people start killing registered sex offenders the only thing that proves to me is that the criminal justice system is failing and people are being forced to take matters into their own hands.  Rapists and people who fuck with women and children should be fucking executed immediately following the verdict.  

law-abiding offenders

Oxymoron?

WHY THE FUCK would 2 rapists be allowed to live at the same address??  What the FUCK is that state thinking?  They would have turned it into a fucking rape house.  Glad somebody had the balls to do them.  I bet he's the father of a former victim.  But that took HELL OF A LOT OF BALLS to sit with those scum for 2 hours!!!  Holy shit!!

Quoted: While I certainly agree that Sex Offenders should have their addresses known, and locations tracked, I am equally foreceful that more criminals should have their adddresses made public. thieves, burglars, and other felons should be made known to the public. I have lived in my home for 11 years, and just found out recently, through a conversation with a an LEO, that a known burglar lived on my street. Damnit! We should push for even more laws to keep people aware of their neighbors. TRG

+1

IMHO, some crimes require extreme punishment. Sex crimes, especially against cheildren sould be mandatory death, no exceptions.

Though working outside the is wrong, at times what choices are people left with.
CH

Police are seeking this man for questioning...

Quoted: Quoted: Not a dupe here.... My 2 cents.... I'm glad they were shot.  Should have happened immediately after the court proceedings. +1 They were not killed because "their addresses were made public", they were killed because they molested children.  Don't fucking molest little kids if you don't want to be punished for it. I am sorry, but if people start killing registered sex offenders the only thing that proves to me is that the criminal justice system is failing and people are being forced to take matters into their own hands.  Rapists and people who fuck with women and children should be fucking executed immediately following the verdict.

But because they were killed. All molesters will have extra protection and now folks wont be able to research their areas for the safety of their children. Now they wont be kept on a list available for anyone in the public that NEEDS to know where thers creeps live. Count on it, this will backfire and end up endangering children even more.

I am not saying I am defending the turds, they should either be locked up for life or be executed immediately.

They better not do away with that list. I'm looking at moving and the list is invaluable to me.

I want to know where the perverts live so I know which direction to point muzzles can stay away.

Where do we get those registries/lists again?

Oddly enough, I heard the other night on the local news that the online Sex Offender registry is visited more times by Mainers than the state website itself.

It's a powerful tool.  I know that one goat fucker lives less than 5 miles from me.

Quoted: Where do we get those registries/lists again?

Go to the Illinois State Police website.

we've got plenty of winners in this state...

Best news I heard all day! no dupe here, first I hear of this and thanks for posting. Looks like this guy's off to a good start, keep up the good work! Molesters and sex offenders do not deserve to breathe the same air we do, dirt nap for all!!!!!!!!!!!!

Quoted: Quoted: Sorry about the dupe, maybe some people will see it who missed it last time. I missed it last time. Glad to see the post...

+1 and I say the good guys ONLY GOT TWO????????

Quoted: It's a good start, hope he keeps on killing the sickos. Hell the rest of should join in the hunt.

Well, that is not really good, because the law can be changed to protect them, then you will never know where they are. Just that they are somewhere in your city, which is not good.

Quoted: Best news I heard all day! no dupe here, first I hear of this and thanks for posting. Looks like this guy's off to a good start, keep up the good work! Molesters and sex offenders do not deserve to breathe the same air we do, dirt nap for all!!!!!!!!!!!!

I agree to a point. Molesters and rapists should be put down. But also keep in mind that the kid that got drunk and took a leak on a wall and got caught also has to register as a sex offender

I-4an-I Society - 2
Sex Offenders - 0

Quoted: Oddly enough, I heard the other night on the local news that the online Sex Offender registry is visited more times by Mainers than the state website itself. It's a powerful tool.  I know that one goat fucker lives less than 5 miles from me.

I thought TRG lived in Texas?

Its kinda hard to feel sorry for them.  If they were kept in prison like they should be then they would be safe.  There will probably be a lawsuit by the families of these two cadavers suing the state for not protecting them...kinda like that asshole's family at the Los Angeles Bank Shootout.

Sounds like a good start to me, maybe he was just not close enough to NO to shoot looters so decided on child rapists?  


either way, I give him a big thumbs up!  

Quoted: Russell was there the night the suspect showed up, but he soon left to go to work. When he returned about 3 a.m., he told police, he found his roommates dead. Based on their estimated time of death, and the fact that Russell was at work, he is not considered a suspect, according to police. Results of an autopsy are expected later this week, Carroll said. Russell was convicted in 1994 of molesting a 3-year-old girl, and released from DOC supervision about three weeks ago after serving 5 ½ years in prison.

Too bad, looks like one got away.

Has anyone considered that it may have been the victims themselves seeking revenge.
Now the three year old would still be too young for such things but the 13 YO boy would be 18 now and could be looking for a little pay back.