A man turned himself in to authorities in the killing of two convicted child rapists, saying he picked the victims from a sheriff’s Web site, police said.
Michael Anthony Mullen, 36, called 911 on Monday to claim responsibility for the killings, and officers who talked to him said he gave information that only the killer would know, according to a police news release. He was jailed for investigation of two counts of first-degree murder.
Hank Eisses, 49, and Victor Vasquez, 68, were found shot to death at their apartment Aug. 27. They were both classified as Level III sex offenders, considered the type most likely to reoffend. Sex offenders in Washington are required to register with local authorities, and the information is provided on the Web.
Mullen told authorities he targeted at least one of the two men after checking the county sheriff’s Web site July 13, according to the police statement.
The bodies of Eisses and Vasquez were found by a roommate, also a sex offender. He said a man wearing a blue jumpsuit and a cap that said FBI on it came to their home, told them he was an FBI agent and said one of them was on a “hit list” on an Internet site, police said.
The roommate said he left while the “FBI” visitor was still there and found the bodies when he returned about four hours later.
Days after the killings, The Bellingham Herald received an unsigned letter claiming responsibility for the killings. Police notified convicted Level 3 sex offenders in the area as a precaution, but said the letter was vague and could be a hoax.
Vasquez was convicted in 1991 of molesting several relatives who suffered regular abuse, sexual and otherwise, according to court documents. He was released from prison about two years and remained under Department of Corrections supervision.
Eisses was sentenced to 5½ years in prison in 1997 for raping a 13-year-old boy at his home in Sumas. He was released from supervision about two years ago, said Kit Bail, Corrections Department field supervisor for Whatcom County.