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 fitted with an aftermarket barrel. The killer left shell casings behind. The shots were heard by a neighbor who called
9-1-1. The FBI state that a lone male suspect was reported to have been observed fleeing the scene.
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. The pilot later filed a
malicious prosecution 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 test administered afterwards, and agents suspected he had fabricated the account even as he continued to insist he had not. In June 2007, the
FBI 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 and, for the first time, indicated that his death was likely a
conspiracy involving a small group of people. The
United States Department of Justice, meanwhile, announced that then-
Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein would arrive in Seattle on Wednesday, February 21, 2018, to brief media on the progress of the 16-year-old investigation.
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. == See also ==