The Worcester, Ma., district attorney knew that Daniel T. Tavares Jr., a convicted killer wanted on assault charges in Massachusetts, had fled to Seattle in July, yet failed to seek a warrant that would have allowed authorities to arrest him outside New England, reports the Boston Globe. In October, a month before Tavares allegedly executed a couple, Massachusetts investigators asked Washington authorities to try to find him and determine whether he was involved in white supremacist activities, but warned them not to contact him, said an FBI official.
Tim Connolly, a spokesman for Worcester District Attorney Joseph D. Early Jr., said Tavares’s name had been entered into a national criminal database so that officers in other states would know he was wanted in Massachusetts if they stopped him for another reason. “If you had nationwide warrants for everybody, it just wouldn’t be workable,” Connolly said. Jennifer Heilbrun, sister of the man Tavares allegedly killed last month, was “sickened” to learn that a judge had released Tavares despite his record. She directed most of her anger at the judge, but she also blames Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, who appointed the judge while he was governor.
Link: http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/11/28/worcester_da_knew_wanted_killer_went_to_wash/