Posted on 03/14/2005 4:08:49 PM PST by FreedomCalls
A Bellevue gun collector was arrested and held for 23 days as a material witness in the slaying of federal prosecutor Thomas Wales, according to court records, jail logs and people familiar with the investigation.
The man is not considered a suspect in Wales' killing, but he was jailed in January as part of the FBI's nationwide search for a unique gun barrel used in the crime.
Wales was shot to death while sitting at a computer in the basement of his Queen Anne home on Oct. 11, 2001. Shell casings and slugs found at the scene and recovered from Wales' body have led FBI and Seattle police homicide investigators to focus on finding an Eastern European Makarov semiautomatic handgun equipped with a replacement barrel.
The Bellevue gun collector — who has not been charged with any crime and has since been released — came to the attention of the FBI because he is believed to have purchased two Makarov replacement barrels. He also owned several Makarov handguns, but the two barrels weren't attached to any of those guns, according to two people familiar with the probe.
One of those barrels remains unaccounted for and the collector has not explained where it went, one source said.
Agents' interest in the gun collector was piqued by the fact that he lives within a few miles of the chief suspect in the Wales slaying — a former airline pilot in Bellevue who had been prosecuted by Wales in a fraud case several years ago. No charges have been filed.
The collector is also a pilot, although investigators have turned up no indication the men know one another. The Times is not identifying the men because neither has been charged with a crime.
Eric Stahlfeld, the collector's attorney, said, "I have been assured that my client is neither a target nor a subject of this investigation." He said his client has "fully complied" with a federal grand jury subpoena issued last fall. The collector declined to comment.
Steven Clymer, the special federal prosecutor in the Wales case and chief of the criminal division of the U.S. Attorney's Office in Los Angeles, said yesterday he could not comment.
The investigation into Wales' killing is one of the largest ever conducted by the FBI. The Department of Justice has offered a $1 million reward for information that helps solve the case. Wales, 49, worked in the U.S. Attorney's Office in Seattle for 18 years, and also served as president of Washington CeaseFire, a group that advocates for gun control.
Seattle police homicide investigators obtained a sealed search warrant for the collector's house on Jan. 13. In an order sealing the warrant, King County Superior Court Judge William Downing noted that the search was connected to the Wales investigation. It is not known what investigators found.
Hours later, the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives searched the house on a second warrant, looking for evidence of federal firearms violations. According to the ATF search warrant, officers in the first search "observed a large number of weapons in the residence and attached garage," possibly including machine guns. Agents seized 16 weapons.
Federal Bureau of Prison records show the collector was booked into the Federal Detention Center at SeaTac on Jan. 11 and was held until Feb. 3.
The federal material-witness statute, which is used sparingly, allows agents to arrest an individual who might have information relevant to a crime if a prosecutor can demonstrate the person might flee. Court documents in other cases involving the collector indicate he routinely travels outside the country.
The unique forensic markings on the shell casings and slugs recovered from the Wales crime scene have sent the FBI on a nationwide search for replacement barrels for the Makarov, which are manufactured exclusively by Federal Arms in Minnesota. The company had made about 3,500 of the barrels before Wales was killed and, under subpoena, provided the buyers' names to federal agents. The FBI so far has tracked down and tested more than 2,500 of them.
Last August, the FBI placed a two-page advertisement in Gun News magazine asking owners of the barrels to come forward.
A source familiar with the investigation said the two barrels owned by the collector are believed to be the only ones shipped to Bellevue. One of the barrels and several Makarov handguns owned by the collector have been test-fired and did not match the ballistic evidence from the Wales crime scene. The other barrel remains unaccounted for, the source confirmed.
Investigators are trying to determine if the missing barrel was sold or provided to their prime suspect, either directly or through others.
The collector is a former gun dealer who had his federal license revoked by the ATF in 2003. Agency records say he didn't have an active commercial business as required by licensing regulations. He has appealed.
In September 2002, U.S. Customs agents seized the collector's van as he attempted to cross the U.S.-Canadian border at Blaine. They found a secret compartment under the vehicle. While it was empty at the time, according to court documents, two drug-detection dogs "alerted strongly to the outside area of the hidden compartment."
The collector told agents at the time that he had the compartment built to "safeguard his personal items" and that he'd never used it.
The van later was returned to the collector, but he has sued the government for damages.
In 1997, the documents in that lawsuit state, the ATF seized 10 weapons and parts for machine guns, all of which the collector had illegally imported from Canada. An investigative report from U.S. Customs in the court file states the collector has been suspected of arms smuggling.
"the ATF seized 10 weapons and parts for machine guns, all of which the collector had illegally imported from Canada."
To me, this indicates that this man is not a law abiding citizen. I am now wondering why he wasn't charged with these crimes and serving time when the Makarov murder took place.
This country is becoming more and more like Soviet Russia with each day.
In Washington state, it is illegal to have parts/pieces of fully automatic weapons. No Class III here for anyone - except manufacturers and the military. LEOs don't even carry Class III. No supressors, either.
But, you can get a Destructive Device license. Go figure.
Hey - how's it going? Still have that SL-8?
I have an East German Makarov, and I have to disagree. It looks to me like the Commies just stole the design for the Walther and called a Makarov. It's the only auto pistol I have ever owned that hasn't jammed on me (so far). I've never been a fan of autos for that very reason.
You betcha. Now that I live in a sane state I'm thinking of a full-auto license myself. There was a moose in my front yard over the weekend. EAT HOT LEAD, BULLWINKLE!!
He'd be an @$$hole if he commented....
I mean that Clymer would be a Clymer....
You didn't think they were going to limit that to Middle Eastern types, did you?
It doesn't seem to me to be very "easy" (or very efficient for that matter) to seize every rebarrelled Marakrov in the nation in order to solve a single murder no matter how heinous. How many man-hours have been spent on this that could have been spent on other more pressing crimes?
Bump
I just re-read my last post and I would like to reassure one and all that I won't allow my grandson to actually own the Makarov but I will teach him to be competent, safe and responsible with it. When we are not at the range it will live in my safe. There, now I feel better.
Michael Frazier
18 USC §3144. Release or detention of a material witness.
If it appears from an affidavit filed by a party that the testimony of a person is material in a criminal proceeding, and if it is shown that it may become impracticable to secure the presence of the person by subpoena, a judicial officer may order the arrest of the person and treat the person in accordance with the provisions of section 3142 of this title. No material witness may be detained because of inability to comply with any condition of release if the testimony of such witness can adequately be secured by deposition, and if further detention is not necessary to prevent a failure of justice. Release of a material witness may be delayed for a reasonable period of time until the deposition of the witness can be taken pursuant to the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure.
Great! That's what we need! The ATF knocking down our doors and locking us up because we bought a replacement barrel 10 years ago and god forbid have a few "interesting" collector pieces around. And the drug dog "alerted" at the hidden compartment??? How dare they mention (insinuate) that if nothing was found? What country am I in again?
Boy that's nice. Searching your belongings with no evidence you are involved in a crime other than possesion of a tool that thousands of others have. These federal judges sure know how to use the Constitution as toilet paper. I sure hope no one shoots anyone with a 5R barrel.
Wake up! To me, this indicates that the government didn't have a friggin case.
I do wonder at: Release of a material witness may be delayed for a reasonable period of time... and exactly what might be considered reasonable. I suppose the detention time could be extended to months, not just 23 days, if a judge happens to agree with federal investigators....
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