The Washington-state prosecutor who locked up Bay State mom-killer Daniel T. Tavares Jr. last week is blasting Massachusetts for its lax oversight of violent ex-cons, who have now killed four innocent people in his Tacoma-based county in the past 14 years.
Fresh off putting away the Somerset-bred Tavares for life in the horrific double-slaying of vibrant young newlyweds, Pierce County Prosecutor Gerald A. Horne told the Herald: “Hopefully, the awful tragedy will move your state’s authorities to act more responsibly in controlling seriously violent criminals, rather than breathing a sigh of relief that an impulsively violent fugitive has taken residence in a distant state.”
In an extensive interview, the all-business Horne, who was elected in 2001, laid out his macabre experience with the Massachusetts criminals who have beaten a path to his state and left four people dead and one wounded since 1994.
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“Massachusetts has that reputation for being that revolving door,” said Horne, who also was involved in the murder prosecutions of vicious Rockland biker-gang member Henry Lewis Marshall III and the Vickers brothers of Worcester, remorseless career criminals.
Horne is especially furious that Pierce County officials did not get the same warning about Tavares’ presence in the jurisdiction that was relayed to former Gov. Mitt Romney when he traveled to Washington state during his presidential campaign.
“The concern was well-founded because of reported threats to the former governor and because Tavares fits the description of a ‘homicidal maniac,’ ” said Horne.
“Yet, while showing a concern for the former governor, Mass. authorities showed little or no concern for unaware citizens in Pierce County. They never informed our local sheriff about this dangerous man, nor would they even issue an ‘arrest warrant’ that would be effective in our state,” Horne said.
Pierce County Superior Court Judge Vicki Hogan sentenced Tavares, 41, to life in prison without parole for murdering Beverly and Brian Mauck in their home in Graham, Wash., Nov. 17. Tavares agreed to plead guilty in a deal with prosecutors to avoid the death penalty.
Tavares spent 16 years in a Massachusetts prison for killing his mother Ann, 46, in 1991. He was released last July.
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