Thomas Crane Wales (June 23, 1952 – October 12, 2001) was an American federal prosecutor and

gun control Gun control, or firearms regulation, is the set of laws or policies that regulate the manufacture, sale, transfer, possession, modification, or use of firearms by civilians. Most countries have a restrictive firearm guiding policy, with onl ...

advocate who was the victim of an unsolved

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person without justification or excuse, especially the ...

. In 2018,

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, t ...

investigators announced they strongly suspected the killing to have been carried out by a paid

hitman Contract killing is a form of murder or assassination in which one party hires another party to kill a targeted person or persons. It involves an illegal agreement which includes some form of payment, monetary or otherwise. Either party may ...

Early life and education

Thomas Wales was born in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- m ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

. He was a graduate of

Milton Academy Milton Academy (also known as Milton) is a highly selective, coeducational, independent preparatory, boarding and day school in Milton, Massachusetts consisting of a grade 9–12 Upper School and a grade K–8 Lower School. Boarding is offered ...

, where he roomed with Joseph Patrick Kennedy II, the son of

Robert F. Kennedy Robert Francis Kennedy (November 20, 1925June 6, 1968), also known by his initials RFK and by the nickname Bobby, was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 64th United States Attorney General from January 1961 to September 1964, a ...

. Wales graduated from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...

and the Maurice A. Deane School of Law, where he graduated with distinction in 1979 and served as the Editor-in-Chief of the '' Hofstra Law Review''.

Career

In 1995, a student at the high school that Wales' son attended brought a gun to school and shot and injured two classmates. Soon after, Wales became involved in Washington CeaseFire, most visibly as a vocal supporter of an unsuccessful 1997 state referendum that would have required gun owners to use

trigger lock Gun safety is the study and practice of using, transporting, storing and disposing of firearms and ammunition, including the training of gun users, the design of weapons, and formal and informal regulation of gun production, distribution, and u ...

s. 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 The Federal Bar Association (FBA) is the primary voluntary professional organization for private and government lawyers and judges practicing and sitting in federal courts in the United States. Six times a year, The Association prints ''The Federa ...

. Wales worked as an Assistant U.S. Attorney at the

United States District Court for the Western District of Washington The United States District Court for the Western District of Washington (in case citations, W.D. Wash.) is the federal district court whose jurisdiction comprises the following counties of the state of Washington: Clallam, Clark, Cowlitz, Grays ...

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

, specializing in the investigation and prosecution of

fraud In law, fraud is intentional deception to secure unfair or unlawful gain, or to deprive a victim of a legal right. Fraud can violate civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrator to avoid the fraud or recover monetary compen ...

in banking and business.

Death

On the evening of Thursday, October 11, 2001, at approximately 10:40 p.m., Wales was sitting at a computer in his office in the basement of his home at 108 Hayes Street. A gunman avoided the security lights in Wales' backyard and shot him once in the neck and once in the chest through a window, using a

Makarov pistol The Makarov pistol or PM ( rus, Пистоле́т Мака́рова, r=Pistolét Makárova, p=pʲɪstɐˈlʲet mɐˈkarəvə, t=Makarov's Pistol) is a Soviet semi-automatic pistol. Under the project leadership of Nikolay Fyodorovich Makarov, i ...

fitted with an aftermarket barrel. The killer left shell casings behind. The shots were heard by a neighbor who called

9-1-1 , usually written 911, is an emergency telephone number for the United States, Canada, Mexico, Panama, Palau, Argentina, Philippines, Jordan, as well as the North American Numbering Plan (NANP), one of eight N11 codes. Like other emergency ...

. It has been reported that a lone male suspect was seen fleeing the scene. Wales died at a hospital the next day. He is believed to be the only U.S. federal prosecutor in history to have been victim of an assassination.

Murder investigation

Following the murder, the federal government offered a $1 million reward for information "leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible" for Wales' murder. As of 2018, however, the case remained unsolved and no evidence has been found to establish a motive. An airplane pilot living in Bellevue, a firearms enthusiast who Wales had prosecuted, was investigated and his home searched, but he was not charged. Agents believed he resented Wales' off-duty activism as a leading gun-control advocate. The pilot later filed a

malicious prosecution Malicious prosecution is a common law intentional tort. Like the tort of abuse of process, its elements include (1) intentionally (and maliciously) instituting and pursuing (or causing to be instituted or pursued) a legal action ( civil or crimina ...

claim but the suit was dismissed. In early 2003 Scott Lee Kimball, later found to be a serial killer, was working as an FBI informant. He had told agents that a former cellmate of his when he had been in federal detention awaiting trial in Alaska had confessed to having killed Wales. But when he was given the chance to meet with the man, by then released as well, Kimball failed to steer the conversation toward the crime in the way the agents had coached him and seemed, in fact, to barely be acquainted with the man. Kimball failed a

lie detector A polygraph, often incorrectly referred to as a lie detector test, is a device or procedure that measures and records several physiological indicators such as blood pressure, pulse, respiration, and skin conductivity while a person is asked an ...

test administered afterwards, and agents suspected he had fabricated the account even as he continued to insist he had not. It has been suggested by the media that U.S Attorney John McKay was dismissed in part due to his request that resource allocation for the Wales investigation remain high. In June 2007, the

cut the staff assigned to the case down to two. In February 2018, an FBI official reported the investigation had found "evidence strongly suggesting" Wales was murdered by a

contract killer Contract killing is a form of murder or assassination in which one party hires another party to kill a targeted person or persons. It involves an illegal agreement which includes some form of payment, monetary or otherwise. Either party may be ...

and, for the first time, indicated that his death was likely a

conspiracy A conspiracy, also known as a plot, is a secret plan or agreement between persons (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder or treason, especially with political motivation, while keeping their agree ...

involving a small group of people. The

United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United State ...

, meanwhile, announced that then-

Deputy Attorney General The Deputy Attorney General (DAG) is the second-highest-ranking official in a department of justice or of law, in various governments of the world. In those governments, the deputy attorney general oversees the day-to-day operation of the departme ...

Rod Rosenstein Rod Jay Rosenstein (; born January 13, 1965) is an American attorney who served as the 37th United States deputy attorney general from April 2017 until May 2019. Prior to his appointment, he served as a United States attorney for the District ...

would arrive in Seattle on Wednesday, February 21, 2018, to brief media on the progress of the 16-year-old investigation. First in 2011 and then in 2018, the FBI released footage of Wales's grown children requesting tips and publicizing the $1 million reward.

Legacy

In his memory, the Thomas C. Wales Foundation was established to support civic engagement, and Thomas C. Wales Park in Seattle was dedicated in 2011.

References

External links

''Somebody Somewhere''
a podcast investigation of Wales' murder {{DEFAULTSORT:Wales, Thomas C. 1952 births 2001 deaths 2001 murders in the United States American murder victims Assistant United States Attorneys Deaths by firearm in Washington (state) Dismissal of U.S. attorneys controversy American gun control activists Harvard University alumni Maurice A. Deane School of Law alumni Milton Academy alumni Assassinated lawyers Lawyers from Boston People murdered in Washington (state) Unsolved murders in the United States