DOJ deploys new tech, $2.5M reward in unsolved 2001 murder of Seattle federal prosecutor Tom Wales

SEATTLE - Marking a quarter-century since federal prosecutor Thomas Wales was assassinated inside his Queen Anne home, top law enforcement officials in Western Washington issued a stark warning to those responsible: the investigation is far from cold, and federal agents are using modern tools, including artificial intelligence to re-examine decades of evidence.

At a Friday news conference at the U.S. Courthouse in downtown Seattle, Acting U.S. Attorney Neil Floyd and FBI Special Agent in Charge Mike Herrington emphasized that solving the October 11, 2001, murder remains a top priority for the Department of Justice.

"The people that are responsible for this should be concerned because we’re not done investigating," Floyd said. "When we say active, we mean we’re doing stuff. We’re not just sitting by waiting for the phone to ring."

Officials also announced the reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction has been increased to up to $2.5 million.

"It’s real money, and it’s life-changing money," Floyd said. "And we are quite serious about that reward."

A Personal and Intimate Attack

The backstory:

On the night of October 11, 2001, at approximately 10:40 p.m., Wales, 49, was sitting at his computer typing in the basement office of his home. A gunman standing in the backyard fired multiple shots through the basement window. Wales died at a hospital early in the morning the next day.

"It became clear to me that this was a very personal, a very intimate murder," Floyd said, after visiting the backyard of the home where the deadly shots were fired.

Wales served for 18 years as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Washington, specializing in complex white-collar fraud prosecutions. Outside the courtroom, he was a prominent civic leader. He served as president of the Seattle Planning Commission, a member of the Queen Anne Community Council, and an advocate with the gun control group Washington Ceasefire.

For his family, the loss carries a daily weight. His daughter, Amy Wales, has reflected on her father's warmth, recalling how he would tell his children every night before bed, "Have a good sleep and a good dream, and I’ll see you in the morning light."

"I miss his joy and I also miss his sense of justice," Amy Wales told FOX 13. "He really believed in the system of justice that we have in this country. His murder is a miscarriage of that system, and we are working so that those who killed him are brought to justice."

In a statement reflecting on the 25th year since her father’s death, Amy wrote, in part, "Although I have now lived more years without him than with him, I remain profoundly grateful for the time we had together. His strength, courage, and kindness inform the moral compass that guides me today… Justice for my father is overdue, but the commitment of the people gathered at today’s press conference strengthens my resolve and keeps me hopeful. Your efforts honor his memory and reaffirm the values by which he lived, served, and loved."

Harnessing New Technology and AI

Dig deeper:

Over the past 25 years, the investigation into Wales' death has evolved into one of the largest cases in FBI history, accumulating a casefile with more than 51,000 reports and thousands of interviews. Floyd said the crime touched the core of the Department of Justice itself.

Among the primary technical challenges has been the murder weapon: a Soviet-era Makarov pistol fitted with an aftermarket replacement barrel. The FBI’s exhaustive search, titled the "Makarov Project," resulted in testing over 2,000 replacement barrels across the country.

Now, investigators are leveraging modern technology and artificial intelligence to comb through legacy evidence collected decades ago.

"We are using all of our resources, including new tools that are now available, like Super Intelligence, to go back through the same data, try and find new angles of investigation, and hopefully identify information that we may have overlooked," Floyd explained.

FBI Special Agent in Charge Mike Herrington noted that while digital evidence was sparse in 2001, modern analytical techniques offer new ways to extract leads from physical evidence.

"Some may look at that timeline and incorrectly assume that this case is cold. That’s not how we see it," Herrington said. "It is not uncommon for us to solve a case, years or decades after the fact. We’re the Federal Bureau of Investigation. This is what we do."

Herrington added, "We have a long memory in the FBI and the Department of Justice and we remain committed to this. But not just committed, actively working and following every avenue that we can."

'The Answers Are in the Community'

Despite advanced technological efforts, investigators maintain that human information remains the vital missing piece of the puzzle.

"We believe that the answers we are seeking ultimately are in the community," Floyd said. "At least one person knows who killed Tom Wales. We know that person has people around them that over 25 years, they’ve likely spoken to. And we know that those people have people around them that may have heard something."

Herrington added a direct appeal to anyone holding information: "It’s time for them to come forward with the truth."

How to Submit a Tip

What you can do:

The U.S. Department of Justice is offering a reward of up to $2,500,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for the murder of Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Wales.

• Email: Tips can be sent anonymously to walestips@fbi.gov
• Phone: Contact the FBI Seattle Field Office at (206) 622-0460
• Website: Submit tips online at tips.fbi.gov

"We have a long memory in the FBI and the Department of Justice, and we remain committed to this," said Herrington. "But not just committed, actively working and following every avenue that we can."

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