Freed Mass. Killer Charged In Double Murder

TACOMA, Wash. -- A convicted Massachusetts killer now accused of slaying a neighbor couple told police he shot them after the man insulted him when he tried to collect a $50 debt, according to court documents.

Daniel Thomas Tavares Jr., 41, was charged Tuesday with two counts of aggravated first-degree murder, a charge that carries a penalty of death or life in prison without parole.

He pleaded not guilty and was ordered held without bail. The Pierce County prosecutor has 30 days to decide whether to seek the death penalty against Tavares.

Investigators say Tavares fatally shot Brian and Beverly Mauck, 30 and 28, who had recently purchased a home in Graham, about 40 miles south of Seattle.

The Maucks were found dead on the morning of Nov. 17, in the living room of their home, with three close-range gunshot wounds to each of their heads, court papers said.

Massachusetts prosecutors had attempted to keep Tavares behind bars after he completed his sentence for manslaughter in June, according to published reports.

The office of Worcester District Attorney Joseph Early requested that Tavares be held on $50,000 bail on charges that he assaulted two guards at the Sousa-Baranowski Correctional Center while serving time for the 1991 stabbing death of his mother.

Bail was approved by a district court judge but overturned in July by Superior Court Judge Kathe Tuttman, who approved Tavares' appeal of the bail and released him on personal recognizance, according to court documents.

"Obviously, we tried to keep him incarcerated," said Tim Connolly, a spokesman for the district attorney.

Reached by the Boston Herald at home, Tuttman said she could not comment.

Darrel Slater, the father of the slain woman, expressed anger that his daughter's accused killer had been released.

"It's because of stupidity in Massachusetts that my daughter is dead," Slater told the Herald.

Tavares' wife, Jennifer Lynn Tavares, 37, was charged Tuesday with rendering criminal assistance, a gross misdemeanor. She also pleaded not guilty and posted $5,000 bail.

Officials say the Tavareses met through a prison pen-pals Web site.

A pretrial hearing for the couple has been set for Dec. 6. At that time the prosecutor will ask for a delay in the trial date, which initially was set for January, said Deputy Prosecutor Gerald T. Costello.

Daniel Tavares also is charged with one count of unlawful possession of a firearm. He was forbidden to have a gun as a condition of his parole.

Investigators linked Tavares to the Maucks' slayings through shoe impressions found in blood on the floor of the living room and a bloody palm print found on a door jamb in a bedroom.

Tavares initially told investigators he heard gunshots while he was in bed with his wife at their home. He also described two men and a red truck he said he saw outside. "These various statements were later acknowledged to be lies," Costello said in the charging papers.

Jennifer Tavares initially told police she was having sex with her husband at 7 a.m. when she heard shots fired. She later said that was a lie she told trying to provide an alibi for her husband, Costello said.

Daniel Tavares told police he went to the Maucks' house to collect a $50 debt, but Brian Mauck insulted him and "after spending 20 years in prison" he was not going to put up with being called an insulting name, court papers said.

Tavares pulled out a gun and shot Brian Mauck in the back of his head and then stopped Beverly Mauck from running out of the house and shot her in the back of the head, investigators said.

He dragged her body to where her husband was lying, placed her body over his and covered them both with a blanket because "he respected them," court papers said.

Investigators said Jennifer Tavares had obtained a .22 caliber gun from a family member for self protection before Daniel Tavares moved in with her. Later, she was asked to return the gun and claimed she did not know what had become of it. Daniel Tavares said they threw the gun off a cliff.

"It's because of stupidity in Massachusetts that my daughter is dead," Slater told the Herald.

You vote for these idiots, you live there and support them with your tax dollars. You call Republicans evil if they want to lock up criminals...... so Massachusetts...STFU and deal with it, you sheep. The smart people like Ted Kennedy, John Kerry and the this idiotic judge know what's good for you.

Daniel Tavares also is charged with one count of unlawful possession of a firearm. He was forbidden to have a gun as a condition of his parole.

Well there should be another law to make it really, really, really, really illegal to own a firearm if you're a criminal. How 'bout that Massachusetts? Cause good people don't need firearms. Just call the cops. That's what the wife should have done right after her husband was shot in the head and the criminal grabbed her and shot her in the back of the head.

So when these "victim's" families in the beautiful and intelligent Northeast whine about cr#p happening.....it's your own fault for putting up with it.

I think that they should maybe pass a tax on bullets to pay for the victims of crime and ....er....have anger management classes put in public school also.

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Freed Mass. Killer Charged In Double Murder

Police: Killer 'Insulted' Over $50 Debt