Singlecoil
I don't reMember
- Joined
- Jul 26, 2002
- Posts
- 1,273
Is his picture on this page?
http://www.letvafly.com/meetvapeople.php
Wales probe aided by suspect's wife?
By Steve Miletich
Seattle Times staff reporter
Thomas Wales was slain in 2001. The FBI's chief suspect is an airline pilot.
The estranged wife of the chief suspect in the killing of Seattle federal prosecutor Thomas Wales is providing information to the FBI, according to her sworn declaration in the couple's divorce proceedings.
She also is seeking a restraining order against her husband, a Bellevue airline pilot, asserting in the recently filed declaration that he is "capable of anything."
The pilot has not been arrested in Wales' killing, but he has been the continuing subject of a lengthy federal grand-jury investigation. The Seattle Times is not naming him or his wife because he hasn't been charged with a crime.
Wales, 49, who prosecuted the pilot in a fraud case in 2000, was shot to death in his Queen Anne house on Oct. 11, 2001, by an assailant who fired from outside a basement window.
In an interview Tuesday, the pilot's wife said that she has no information implicating him in Wales' killing but that she has told the FBI about what she called his threatening conduct toward her.
The investigation is a top priority of the FBI, with a $1 million reward. If Wales were killed because of his work, he would be the first federal prosecutor in U.S. history to be slain in the line of duty.
The pilot and his wife, whose relationship began after Wales was killed, were married in July 2005, according to court papers. The couple lived in Snohomish, but he moved back to a house he has long owned in Bellevue after he filed for divorce in January.
In her declaration, the pilot's wife wrote that she and her three children, who were born before the marriage and are not the pilot's, "have suffered tremendously" because her husband is the chief suspect in Wales' slaying.
"My home was searched, my children awakened by twenty (20) FBI agents with guns and continuous communications with the FBI regarding the case," she wrote. "I have and will fully cooperate with the investigation. My husband on the other hand refuses to talk to the FBI."
An FBI spokesman declined comment on her declaration.
She also wrote that she received a phone message from him March 2, "stating he would create a Web site in my name, with my address, my phone and pictures of me stating I am a whore because I stated to some acquaintances he was the suspect."
Her husband, she wrote, has a history of stalking women and stalked her when they briefly separated earlier in the marriage. In a 2000 Bellevue court case, the pilot was accused by a former girlfriend of standing outside her window to intimidate her.
The pilot's wife also wrote that she feared filing the declaration, which contests his proposals for dividing their assets.
"He is capable of anything, and I am fearful that if I do not do as he wishes, and simply by responding that he may retaliate," she wrote.
Her declaration asks the court for a restraining order to keep her husband 500 feet from her home or work. At a hearing this morning, a Snohomish County court commissioner told attorneys for the pilot and his wife to work out a mutual restraining order to keep them away from each other.
In Tuesday's interview, she said she knew before marrying her husband that he was a suspect in Wales' killing but "blew it off like no big deal."
She said that if she contests his terms in the divorce, he has promised "all-out war."
The pilot's attorney in the divorce case, Mark Podrasky, declined comment Tuesday.
Court documents show the pilot has been working for Virgin America, a new airline that is awaiting approval by the Federal Aviation Administration to begin flying. He previously worked for US Airways and Republic Airlines.
His Bellevue and Snohomish homes were searched by FBI agents in August after the Seattle FBI office received an anonymous letter from Las Vegas regarding the Wales case, according to the FBI.
The letter's author wrote that the killing was carried out by a hit man from Las Vegas, a claim the FBI discounted as an amateurish attempt to throw off investigators. The letter was postmarked about the same time the pilot was in Las Vegas during a flight stopover, sources said.
In 2000, the pilot was prosecuted by Wales on charges that he and others improperly altered a Vietnam-era military helicopter to make it look a like a civilian model they could sell. The charges against the individuals were dropped, but a company they had formed pleaded guilty.
After the plea deal, the pilot sued the government for malicious prosecution, seeking more than $125,000 in legal fees. The case was dismissed by a federal judge.
Seattle Times staff reporter Mike Carter contributed to this story
Steve Miletich: 206-464-3302 or [email protected]
http://www.letvafly.com/meetvapeople.php
Wales probe aided by suspect's wife?
By Steve Miletich
Seattle Times staff reporter
Thomas Wales was slain in 2001. The FBI's chief suspect is an airline pilot.
The estranged wife of the chief suspect in the killing of Seattle federal prosecutor Thomas Wales is providing information to the FBI, according to her sworn declaration in the couple's divorce proceedings.
She also is seeking a restraining order against her husband, a Bellevue airline pilot, asserting in the recently filed declaration that he is "capable of anything."
The pilot has not been arrested in Wales' killing, but he has been the continuing subject of a lengthy federal grand-jury investigation. The Seattle Times is not naming him or his wife because he hasn't been charged with a crime.
Wales, 49, who prosecuted the pilot in a fraud case in 2000, was shot to death in his Queen Anne house on Oct. 11, 2001, by an assailant who fired from outside a basement window.
In an interview Tuesday, the pilot's wife said that she has no information implicating him in Wales' killing but that she has told the FBI about what she called his threatening conduct toward her.
The investigation is a top priority of the FBI, with a $1 million reward. If Wales were killed because of his work, he would be the first federal prosecutor in U.S. history to be slain in the line of duty.
The pilot and his wife, whose relationship began after Wales was killed, were married in July 2005, according to court papers. The couple lived in Snohomish, but he moved back to a house he has long owned in Bellevue after he filed for divorce in January.
In her declaration, the pilot's wife wrote that she and her three children, who were born before the marriage and are not the pilot's, "have suffered tremendously" because her husband is the chief suspect in Wales' slaying.
"My home was searched, my children awakened by twenty (20) FBI agents with guns and continuous communications with the FBI regarding the case," she wrote. "I have and will fully cooperate with the investigation. My husband on the other hand refuses to talk to the FBI."
An FBI spokesman declined comment on her declaration.
She also wrote that she received a phone message from him March 2, "stating he would create a Web site in my name, with my address, my phone and pictures of me stating I am a whore because I stated to some acquaintances he was the suspect."
Her husband, she wrote, has a history of stalking women and stalked her when they briefly separated earlier in the marriage. In a 2000 Bellevue court case, the pilot was accused by a former girlfriend of standing outside her window to intimidate her.
The pilot's wife also wrote that she feared filing the declaration, which contests his proposals for dividing their assets.
"He is capable of anything, and I am fearful that if I do not do as he wishes, and simply by responding that he may retaliate," she wrote.
Her declaration asks the court for a restraining order to keep her husband 500 feet from her home or work. At a hearing this morning, a Snohomish County court commissioner told attorneys for the pilot and his wife to work out a mutual restraining order to keep them away from each other.
In Tuesday's interview, she said she knew before marrying her husband that he was a suspect in Wales' killing but "blew it off like no big deal."
She said that if she contests his terms in the divorce, he has promised "all-out war."
The pilot's attorney in the divorce case, Mark Podrasky, declined comment Tuesday.
Court documents show the pilot has been working for Virgin America, a new airline that is awaiting approval by the Federal Aviation Administration to begin flying. He previously worked for US Airways and Republic Airlines.
His Bellevue and Snohomish homes were searched by FBI agents in August after the Seattle FBI office received an anonymous letter from Las Vegas regarding the Wales case, according to the FBI.
The letter's author wrote that the killing was carried out by a hit man from Las Vegas, a claim the FBI discounted as an amateurish attempt to throw off investigators. The letter was postmarked about the same time the pilot was in Las Vegas during a flight stopover, sources said.
In 2000, the pilot was prosecuted by Wales on charges that he and others improperly altered a Vietnam-era military helicopter to make it look a like a civilian model they could sell. The charges against the individuals were dropped, but a company they had formed pleaded guilty.
After the plea deal, the pilot sued the government for malicious prosecution, seeking more than $125,000 in legal fees. The case was dismissed by a federal judge.
Seattle Times staff reporter Mike Carter contributed to this story
Steve Miletich: 206-464-3302 or [email protected]
Last edited:
