Thomas C. Wales

Thomas Crane Wales (born 1952 - died October 11 2001) was an American federal prosecutor and gun control advocate from Seattle, Washington, who was the victim of an unsolved murder.

Life and work

Wales was born in Boston, Massachusetts. Wales was a graduate of Milton Academy, where he was roommates was Joseph Patrick Kennedy II, whose father Robert Kennedy was assassinated. Wales graduated from Harvard University. He attended Hofstra Law School, where he graduated with distinction in 1979 and served as the Editor-in-Chief of the school's Law Review.

In 1995, a student at the high school that Wales's son attended brought a gun to school and shot and injured two classmates. Soon after, Wales became involved in [http://www.washingtonceasefire.org/ Washington CeaseFire] , mostly visibly as a vocal supporter of an unsuccessful 1997 state referendum that would have required gun owners to use trigger locks. Wales later became president of CeaseFire. As a community volunteer, he was active in civic organizations and served as a trustee of the Federal Bar Association.

Wales worked as an assistant U.S. Attorney in Seattle specializing in the investigation and prosecution of fraud in banking and business. [ [http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/08/06/070806fa_fact_toobin An Unsolved Killing] August 6, 2007, "The New Yorker"]

Death and legacy

On the evening of October 11, 2001, Wales was sitting at his computer in his home office in his basement when a gunman avoiding the security lights in his backyard shot Wales through a window in the neck with a handgun. The killer left shell casings behind. The shots were heard by a neighbor who called 911. [ [http://www.cephasministry.com/nwo_gun_control_advocate_shot.html Federal Prosecutor and Advocate of Gun Control Is Shot to Death] October 2001] In his memory, the [http://www.walesfoundation.org Thomas C. Wales Foundation] was set up to support civil commitment. Marlis DeJong organizes the annual [http://www.tomwalesrun.com/ Tom Wales Memorial 5K Run] .

Murder investigation

As of 2007, this murder case remains unsolved and no evidence has been found to establish a motive. [ [http://www.seattleweekly.com/news/0151/news-anderson.php Unsolved murder: Investigation into the shooting of Tom Wales moves slowly] December 19, 2001] [ [http://www.seattleweekly.com/news/0238/news-anderson.php Assassination on Queen Anne: A year later, there are few leads in the slaying of assistant U.S. attorney and gun-control advocate Tom Wales] September 18, 2002] An airplane pilot that Wales had prosecuted was investigated and his home searched, but he was not charged. The pilot later filed a malicious prosecution claim seek, but the suit was dismissed. [ [http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/PrintStory.pl?document_id=2003266786&zsection_id=2002111777&slug=wales20m&date=20060920 FBI scours 2 houses owned by pilot in Wales case] September 20, 2006]

It has been suggested by the media that John McKay's dismissal was in part due to his request that resource allocation for the Wales investigation remain high. In June 2007, the FBI cut the staff assigned to the case down to two. There is an open reward of one million U.S. dollars for information leading to the conclusion of the case. [ [http://wales.fbi.gov/ FBI Seeking Information - Thomas Crane Wales<] ] [ [http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/272702_wales03.html FBI cuts agents looking into murder of Tom Wales: At least two will remain on case of federal prosecutor] June 3, 2006]

See also

*Jim Bell, a crypto-anarchist and associate of Carl Johnson, the man convicted of threating federal officials whose prosecution Wales worked on shortly before his death.

References

Persondata
NAME= Wales, Thomas C.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Federal prosecutor and gun control advocate from
DATE OF BIRTH=1952
PLACE OF BIRTH=Boston, United States
DATE OF DEATH=2001
PLACE OF DEATH=Seattle, Washington, United States