Washington man charged for killing 2 sex offenders (Reuters)

[Up2Late]

(In other news, the many problems of "sex offender, on-line data bases" just moved to a new level. Has this happened before, or is this guy the first?)

Washington man charged for killing 2 sex offenders

Thu Sep 8, 2005 09:35 PM ET

By Reed Stevenson

SEATTLE (Reuters) - A 35-year-old Washington state man was charged with double murder on Thursday after telling police that he had decided to hunt down and kill two sex offenders listed in an online sex offender registry. Michael Mullen told police that he decided to find and murder sex offenders in Bellingham, Washington, 90 miles (140 km) north of Seattle, after the high-profile arrest of a sex offender in Idaho in July.

"He provided information about the murders that only the person responsible should have known," the Bellingham Police Department said in a statement. Mullen, who turned himself in on Monday, killed two men who were roommates in a house in Bellingham on August 27, possibly as revenge for being molested as a child, Police Lt. Craige Ambrose said.

"He had claimed being abused as a juvenile during our interview with him," Ambrose said. Mullen asked police, "Can I have a speedy trial?" during a preliminary hearing, according court officials.

"I would like to plead guilty," he said at the hearing. Sex offenders in most U.S. jurisdictions are required by law to register with local police when they take up residence, and such information is often provided on a Web site for community residents. The prosecutor's office for Whatcom County said that Mullen would face arraignment on September 16.

<http://go.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=9604362&src=rss/topNews>
(more at link above)

[Vietnam68]

1. It has happened before -- see this

http://nsona.blogspot.com/2005/09/crimes-against-sex-offenders.html

No idea if the third case was prompted by the registry.

"Robert Tunley, a Level III sex offender, was beaten and shot six times in Yonkers, N.Y., in 2004. The shooter, Joshua Torres, thought Tunley had molested his 2-year-old daughter.

In one of the most famous cases, Ellie Nessler killed a man on trial for molesting her son and four other boys in California. Nessler was walking to the witness stand to testify against Daniel Driver in 1993 when she pulled out a gun and shot him.

Two men killed James Edward Hammett, who was convicted of sexual abuse and molestation, in 2002 at his Alabama home. Jerry Wayne Payton Jr. and Oliver Andrew Brown shot Hammett five times."

[Mountainman]

2. I think the registry is a good idea but it has it's problems.

Who should get the protection, our children or the sex offenders? I think both should be safe from violence but I would put the children first if it came to that. Since offenders often repeat their crimes I hesitate to knock the registry idea.

My brother was charged and convicted with a molestation of a child and I know that he will never change. Many times I have stepped in to protect children that he has gotten close to. He should be listed on a registry but he moves around and never is where they think he is.

Quite frankly, I feel children would be safer if my brother were dead but I don't want someone to murder him.