$2.5M reward to solve US prosecutor’s killing in Seattle

SEATTLE (AP) – A total of $ 2.5 million in rewards are now being offered for information that will help solve the murder of Federal Attorney Thomas C. Wales in Seattle 20 years ago.

Nicholas Brown, newly sworn in as a U.S. attorney for the Western District of Washington, announced Monday at a ceremony marking the anniversary of Wales’ death that the Justice Department had doubled its reward to $ 2 million, on top of the roughly $ 500,000 by the National Association of Former US Lawyers.

Brown also said his office – long withdrawn from the case – is taking over the lead as there are few US assistant attorneys left in Seattle who have worked with Wales. The investigation was overseen by a special New York attorney, Steve Clymer; Transferring oversight to Seattle will allow new eyes and additional resources, Brown said.

“Twenty years is far too long for this crime – this attack on the American judicial system – to remain unsolved,” said Brown.

Wales was an 18-year-old US attorney general who focused on white-collar crime and also served as president of a gun control group called Washington CeaseFire. An armed man shot him to death through a basement window of his house on October 11, 2001, a time when the authorities were in response to the terrorist attacks on Sept.

Investigators have long believed he was murdered and focused on a commercial airline pilot who was prosecuted by Wales as a possible suspect.

The pilot was involved in a business that wanted to build civil helicopters from military parts. Wales prosecuted the company and the pilot for fraud; the company pleaded guilty, but Wales eventually dropped charges against the pilot, who always denied any involvement in the killing.

More recently, investigators have been investigating whether a killer was hired to carry out the killing, court records show.

“The Justice Department will not forget Tom’s contributions to the Ministry and the justice cause, nor will we forget the tragedy of his death,” said Assistant Attorney General Lisa Monaco in a press release. “Although two decades have passed, the Justice Department remains committed to this investigation. Somebody knows something about this murder and we want to do everything we can to encourage them to come forward now. “

Over the years the authorities have asked for public help in solving the case several times, including on several anniversaries of the killing. They placed ads in gun industry publications and posted a sketch of a man with a broken front tooth who was hauling a small nylon suitcase through the upscale neighborhood of Wales just before the shooting.

Brown is the sixth US attorney appointed since the assassination of Wales; everyone has said they hoped to see the case resolved on their watch. Several current and former prosecutors, including Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan, who served as a U.S. attorney from 2009 to 2014, attended the ceremony on Monday, saying they were aware of the prospect of the investigation now that local prosecutors take the lead, enthusiastic.

“It’s personal here,” said Helen Brunner, a recently retired appellate attorney with the US Attorney’s Office. “It will always be personal here.”