Posted on 04/20/2002 8:16:20 AM PDT by TheErnFormerlyKnownAsBig
A top FBI agent yesterday urged people who "knowingly or unknowingly" played a role in last October's slaying of federal prosecutor Thomas Wales to reveal themselves.
"There is reason to believe that there are people who have knowledge of this homicide," said Charles Mandigo, special agent in charge of the Seattle FBI office. "It is time for them to come forward."
Asked whether agents are looking for an accomplice, such as someone who may have driven the killer to or from the scene, Mandigo said the suspected involvement was "of that general nature, yes."
The statement was the most substantive indication to date that investigators are making progress in the 6-month-old case, which has stymied authorities eager to solve the slaying of one of their own.
Mandigo and police Chief Gil Kerlikowske also said yesterday that the Justice Department has offered a $1 million reward to anyone who helps lock up Wales' killer.
The reward was recently approved by Attorney General John Ashcroft at the request of Seattle officials.
Wales, 49, was working in the basement of his Queen Anne home the night of Oct. 11 when an assassin walked to his back-yard window and shot the prosecutor several times in his neck and torso. He died about three hours later.
A neighbor told police she saw a man walk quickly to a car soon after the shooting and drive away.
The investigation has consumed more resources in the Seattle FBI office than any case in the past seven years -- including the investigation into Algerian bomb-smuggler Ahmed Ressam, according to Mandigo.
Six agents are working the case full time, he said, and up to 14 others have joined in at different points in the investigation. Two Seattle police detectives have also been assigned to the case.
Late last year, law enforcement officials reportedly searched the Bellevue home of a man who had been prosecuted by Wales.That person had filed a claim against the popular assistant U.S.attorney for malicious prosecution.
Mandigo and Kerlikowske wouldn't confirm that search yesterday, or say whether the people wanted for questioning are potential suspects in the killing.
In addition to the possibility that the killing may have been related to Wales' work as a white-collar fraud prosecutor, investigators continue to look at leads stemming from Wales' prolific involvement in gun-control advocacy, and his personal life.
"Some avenues are certainly more promising than others," Mandigo said, adding, "I am very confi- dent that ...we will solve this case."
P-I reporter Sam Skolnik can be reached at 206-467-1039 or samskolnik@seattlepi.com
This story could also be the investigators trying to shake something loose by putting out the "unwitting helper" line.
If they believe the killer had a driver waiting for him then that leaves open the possibility the driver would be dumb enough to believe "hey that's the story I will use. I was just giving a friend a ride. I didn't know I was driving a hit man to his killing date".
It sounds more than mere convienence that his ex was out of the country at the time. What a perfect alibi. But it will most likely turn out to be some ticked off former prosecution subject in a white collar crime. My Law and Order addiction makes me think odd things about relatives and killings.
"The sort of people who would rather see a woman raped in an alley and strangled with her own underwear,than see that same woman defend herself with a firearm"
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