Murder: True Crime Stories - UNSOLVED: The Federal Prosecutor Murder 2

Episode Date: January 15, 2026

In the aftermath of Tom Wales’s murder, investigators faced a troubling reality: the killing of a federal prosecutor just weeks after 9/11 risked being lost in the chaos of a nation at war. In Part 2, Murder: True Crime Stories follows the decades-long investigation marked by missed opportunities, unreliable informants, anonymous confessions, and a single suspect who remained just beyond the reach of prosecution. As the FBI pursues theories involving revenge, contract killers, and organized crime, this episode explores how Tom’s case became one of the most haunting unsolved murders in American legal history—and why justice remains elusive more than 20 years later. If you’re new here, don’t forget to follow Murder True Crime Stories to never miss a case! For Ad-free listening and early access to episodes, subscribe to Crime House+ on Apple Podcasts. Murder True Crime Stories is a Crime House Original Podcast, powered by PAVE Studios 🎧 Need More to Binge?  Listen to other Crime House Originals Clues, Crimes Of…, Killer Minds, Crime House Daily and Crimes and more wherever you get your podcasts! Follow me on Social Instagram: @Crimehouse TikTok: @Crimehouse Facebook: @crimehousestudios YouTube: @crimehousestudios To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hi, Crime House community. It's Vanessa Richardson. Exciting news. Conspiracy theories, cults and crimes is leveling up. Starting the week of January 12th, you'll be getting two episodes every week. Wednesdays, we unravel the conspiracy or the cult, and on Fridays we look at a corresponding crime. Every week has a theme. Tech, bioterror, power, paranoia, you name it. Follow conspiracy theories, cults and crimes now on your podcast app, because you're about dive deeper, get weirder, and go darker than ever before. This is Crime House.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Tom Wales had devoted his entire life to the justice system. But in the wake of his murder, it wasn't clear if the system would return the favor. Things probably would have been different if he'd been killed two months earlier. It would have been national news. The whole weight of the United States government, government would have come down on Seattle, and there would have been a countrywide manhunt for his killer. But timing is everything. Tom's death came exactly one month after 9-11, and in the shadow of the war on terror, his case didn't get the attention it deserved. Instead, weeks turned into months, which turned into years, and still there was no closure.

Because of that, we're still searching for the truth. But every day, we're getting one step closer. People's lives are like a story. There's a beginning, middle, and an end. But you don't always know which part you're on. Sometimes the final chapter arrives far too soon, and we don't always get to know the real ending. I'm Carter Roy, and this is murder, true crime stories.

a Crime House original powered by Pave Studios. New episodes come at every Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, with Friday's episodes covering the cases that deserve a deeper look. Thank you for being part of the Crime House community. Please rate, review, and follow the show. And for early, add-free access to every episode, subscribe to Crimehouse Plus on Apple Podcasts. This is the second of two episodes on the Murder,

of 49-year-old Tom Wales in 2001. Last time, I introduced you to Tom, his years of public service, his work as a federal prosecutor in Seattle, Washington, and his outspoken activism on gun reform. We also walked through the final months of his life, the night he was shot, and the early clues detectives found at the scene. Today, I'll break down the investigation that spent. more than two decades, sending authorities down a long winding road. It's a story that involves anonymous written confessions, a nationwide hunt for a very specific

gun, and even a brush with a serial killer. All that and more coming up. On October 11, 2001, 49-year-old assistant U.S. attorney Tom Wales was murdered. He'd been working in his home office when, and he had been working in his home office when, assailant fired three or four bullets through a window that hit him in the neck and torso. He died a few hours later at the hospital. The first question investigators needed to answer was why. Was Tom killed because of his role as a federal prosecutor or was the motive more personal?

Detectives created an exhaustive list of anyone who might have had a problem with Tom. That included his ex-wife and any woman he dated since his divorce. They thought that maybe this was a crime of passion, but Tom and his ex-Elizabeth were still good friends, and none of the women he went out with seemed suspicious. They were all cleared, and so were any other personal connections, which left just one possibility that someone had, in fact, targeted Tom because of his job. And since Tom was a federal prosecutor, that meant the investigation fell under the FBI's jurisdiction. The Bureau gave the investigation the code name Seprom, which stood for Seattle Prosecutor

Murder, and they announced a reward of $25,000 to anyone who brought them a tip that led to a prosecution. But to many in Seattle, that amount seemed incredibly low. Tom Wales had been a high-level government employee. The Bureau should have been pulling out all the stops to find his murderer. It led to questions about how important the case really was to the Justice Department. The Bureau didn't send any reinforcements in from their D.C. headquarters. After the terrorist attacks a month earlier, they said they were all tied up with post-9-11 assignments. And when it came time for Tom's funeral, lots of people expected the United States.

state's attorney general, the top prosecutor in the federal government to pay his respects, he did not, nor did any top official from the AG's DC office. The message was clear. The feds were busy with other concerns, and this was, for now, a Seattle problem. Left to its own devices, the FBI Seattle field office did what it could, Since Tom's personal connections had already been cleared, they started to look at the rest of the potential suspects. They fell into two categories, the white-collar criminals who Tom prosecuted, and the pro-gun lobbyists who fought against Tom's activism. Tom had become a staunch anti-gun proponent after a child at his son's school shot and injured two students.

That was back in 1995, and it propelled Tom to join Washington's seat. ceasefire, the state's leading organization for gun reform. In 1997, Tom had campaigned for a referendum that would have required trigger locks on all guns, among other safety measures. That ballot measure failed, but Tom had remained outspoken about his beliefs in the four years since. He even went on the local news after 9-11 and argued against arming commercial pilots. Many people disagreed with him, Even so, the FBI didn't think someone would murder him for simply having an opinion. In their eyes, killing Tom with a gun would have only bolstered his points about needing more gun reform. So, investigators focused on the defendants who Tom prosecuted, and one man caught their attention.

41-year-old James Anderson, the Seattle pilot Tom had indicted a year old. earlier. Tom had accused Anderson and his business partner of illegally altering a military helicopter for civilian use. He alleged that they'd submitted false maintenance records to get their certification from the FAA, putting civilians at risk in the process. And they'd done it all to avoid paying thousands of dollars for their proper equipment. It seemed like an open and shut case until Tom's key expert witness did a 180. Ultimately, the prosecution fell apart and Tom dismissed the charges, but afterward, Anderson tried to sue for damages. He even accused Tom of misconduct. Anderson's suit failed, and he had to pay over $125,000 worth of legal fees.

Investigators thought that might be enough motive for him to take revenge on Tom. So they started poking around and asking questions, and it wasn't long until they found some very suspicious information. On the night of Tom's murder, Anderson and a friend had gone to see 2001 a space odyssey. The theater was approximately 10 minutes away from Tom's home in the Queen Anne neighborhood. For detectives, this was the first red flag. Unfortunately, we don't know what time the movie ended, but it was probably before Tom's murder, which took place at 10.40 p.m. Not long after that, Anderson made a call from his home in another suburb about 20 minutes away from Tom's house. The person he called hasn't been publicly identified, but they confirmed that they spoke to Anderson directly.

Again, the details are hazy, but according to the FBI, the time between Anderson leaving the movie and making that phone call was incredibly tight. If he was the killer, he would have had to go straight from the theater to Tom's house, shoot him, and then race back home. According to one agent, it wasn't impossible, but it was unlikely. In any case, the timeline alone wouldn't be enough to eat. implicate Anderson. Investigators needed more, which was a problem since they didn't have much to go on. They hadn't found many clues at the crime scene, except for the bullets and casings. Based on those, authorities knew Tom had been killed with 380 caliber bullets that had been

fired from a Makarov semi-automatic handgun. So the next step was to see if Anderson had that type of gun. The FBI searched Anderson's home from top to bottom. We don't know exactly what they found, but at the end of the raid, they'd collected 27 boxes filled with potential evidence, and they didn't stop there. They also searched two more residences. One was the house where Anderson used to live. There they found a bullet in a wall, which they removed for testing. The second place they searched was a friend's home that Anderson often visited.

Agents discovered another bullet into shell casing there, which they also sent off for analysis. Beyond collecting evidence, detectives also spoke to Anderson's old neighbors. At least two of them claimed to have seen Anderson firing a handgun into the ground in his backyard. None of it directly tied Anderson back to Tom Wales, but it seems suspicious.

At the very least, it proved he had access to a gun and felt comfortable using it. Investigators hoped they were finally getting somewhere. Now, all they could do was wait. Before long, the forensics came back, but the results weren't what the FBI expected. According to the lab, there was no connection between the bullets they tested and the ones found in Tom's basement.

And despite an exhaustive search of all three residences, detectives never found a Makarov pistol. It must have been a huge weight off Anderson's shoulders. In addition to running his own company, he was a commercial pilot for U.S. airways. But when the feds alerted his employer that Anderson was a person of interest in a homicide case, the airline grounded him. Without more evidence, though, the FBI couldn't charge him with anything. The problem was they weren't sure where to go next. Anderson had been their strongest suspect. They had no idea who else would have wanted Tom Wales dead. But just when it seemed like the investigation was going to stall,

and unlikely informant put a new suspect on their radar, one with a very long rap sheet. After 49-year-old Tom Wales was murdered in October 2001, the FBI narrowed in on James Anderson. He was a Seattle pilot who Tom had previously investigated for fraud and conspiracy. But when investigators couldn't drum up enough evidence to charge Anderson, they had to go back to the drawing board. And just as they were debating where to turn next, a tip fell into their laps. In late 2001, an inmate at an Alaskan jail reached out.

His name was Scott Lee Kimball. If you recognize that name, it's because Scott is a notorious serial killer with at least four victims, maybe more. But back in 2001, he hadn't murdered anyone yet. At the time, he was in his mid-30s and in prison on fraud charges, and he had some information he thought the FBI might want to know.

According to Kimball, one of his fellow prisoners, a man named Jeremiah Jones, had bragged about murdering Tom Wales. Kimball had passed along reliable information about another inmate before this, so the FBI took his claim seriously. But they knew they had to move slowly. They needed to gather a lot more evidence before charging Jones with anything. In the meantime, they continued to work with Kimball on several other cases, and by the spring of 2002, the FBI was so happy with Kimball's sleuthing skills that they actually helped him get released on a plea deal.

When he got out in December of that year, Kimball kept working with the bureau as a paid informant. They set him up with an apartment and gave him a stipend that ended up totaling around $50,000. His FBI handlers had no idea that while he was snitching on other criminals, he was committing the first of his murders right under their noses. They wouldn't learn about that for several more years. And until then, they needed Kimball's help if they wanted to solve Tom Wales's case. In the time since Kimball had first given investigators his tip, Jeremiah Jones had been released from the Alaskan prison.

Now, the Seattle FBI wanted Kimball to make contact with him while wearing a wire. The plan was for Kimball to buy a gun. from Jones. During the exchange, they hoped he could get Jones to talk about Tom's murder and ultimately confess. On March 11, 2003, Kimball flew to Seattle to meet with Jones. But almost immediately, the FBI could tell something was off. Jones spoke to Kimball like they barely knew each other. Agents listening in had a hard. hard time believing that Kimball and Jones had been close enough for the man to confess to murder. And even though they'd coached Kimball on what to say, he never brought up Jones's supposed

confession. It was almost like he didn't want Jones to call him a liar on the recording, which made the FBI wonder if Kimball had been telling the truth or if he'd made the whole thing up to get a plea deal. After the failed meetup, Kimball was brought back to FBI headquarters, where agents made him take a polygraph test. They asked if Jeremiah Jones had actually confessed to murdering Tom Wales. Kimball doubled down and said yes, he was telling the truth. But the test result said otherwise.

As far as the Seattle FBI was concerned, Kimball was an unreliable source. He had no idea who'd killed Tom Wales, and they didn't need or want his help. After that, Kimball went back to Colorado, where he'd already killed at least two women, and the Seattle FBI went back to Square One. For the next three years, there wasn't much development in the case. No matter where they looked, investigators kept cut. coming up against dead ends.

But then, in late January 2006, the Seattle FBI field office received a letter. And the envelope had been addressed by hand, but the note was typed. The author called himself Gidgett, and the subject was, Regarding Thomas C. Wales. According to Gidgett, he was a hitman who'd been hired to kill Tom Wales. He said he lived in Las Vegas and had driven to Seattle for the job, even though he had very few details about who his target was or why he was going after him. He said he agreed to do it because he'd just been laid off and needed the money. In the letter, he claimed that he hit out

in Tom's backyard until he shot him two or more times through the basement window. Then he waited a few minutes to see if Tom would get up. When he didn't, Gidgett went to drop the gun off at an undisclosed location. After that, he said he collected his money at another spot, then left Seattle and went home to Vegas. It was the moment the FBI had been waiting for, but there were a few issues. The return address on the envelope was a Las Vegas address, but when the FBI looked into it, It led them to a business, not a residence, and they couldn't find a connection between the business and Tom's murder.

Authorities weren't in agreement that the letter wasn't telling the whole truth, but they were divided on whether it was the work of a crazy person with no ties to the case, or if it was the actual killer trying to muddy the waters. One detail that stood out was Gidgett's claim that he'd been contacted by a stranger and given little to no details about his target, and yet he agreed to a contract killing. FBI agents said that was an incredibly unlikely scenario. A real, experienced hitman would do his due diligence and only take work from trusted references. A random request from a stranger would put them on edge and make them suspect an undercover police operation. Second, Gidgett claimed that he traveled on his own dime and didn't get paid until after completing the hit. Once again, that seemed off to FBI agents.

They knew that contract killers usually had their expenses covered and were paid up front. That said, Gidgett did seem to know a lot about the case. So even though it was a long shot, the FBI decided to follow up. They sent the letter to the forensics lab for testing, which found no traces of DNA. If Gidgett was telling the truth about being a hitman, that wasn't necessarily a surprise. He would have known to wipe his prints off any evidence. Next, the Bureau had its behavioral sciences unit take a look at the letter. Their analysis suggested the writer could have been connected to the crime.

The contents fit a pattern called post-offence manipulation of investigation communications. A lot of times, criminals insert themselves into investigations, either to mess with authorities or to try to steer them in the wrong direction. If that was the case, then it seemed like Gidgett was trying to point the FBI toward Las Vegas instead of Seattle. To their surprise, when investigators looked into the Sin City connection, it led them to a person who'd slipped through their fingers once before, a Seattle man who they'd had their eye on for years. Pack your body bags. We're going on a slaycation. Tim, what's a slaycation? A slication is a murder or mysterious death that happens while you're on vacation.

Oh, so if two people go on vacation and one murders the other and tries to make it look like an accident? Slikation. Just like in episode 13, the shoveboat. What if you go on vacation and you get murdered? Sliccation. What if you go on vacation and you decide to murder someone else? Sliccation. Like in our two. Part Ocean City Murders episode. That was nuts, but they're all nuts.

So if you like to mix humor with horror and travel, join me, Kim Davis. And me, Adam Tex Davis, and me, Jerry Colbert. As we look at the craziest slacations that will have you asking what that actual F is wrong with people. You can find Slaycation on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcast. Just remember, getting away can be murder. This is Slakeasy.

In January 2006, FBI agents got a break in the Tom Wales case when they received a letter. The author claimed to be a Las Vegas hitman who had been contracted to kill the federal prosecutor. The Bureau wasn't sure how trustworthy the author was, but they decided to look into the Las Vegas angle anyway. They'd spent more than four years investigating at this point without making any real progress. and they still had only one true suspect, a Seattle pilot named James Anderson. Well, they didn't expect to find a connection to Anderson in Las Vegas. It turned out, Anderson had been in Sin City

for a five-hour layover on his way to Washington, D.C. on January 23rd. The same day, the letter had been post-sponsored. smart. Suddenly, everything clicked into place. It seemed like Anderson had gone out of his way to get to Nevada and mail the letter to make it look like it was coming from a place where he didn't live. Either that, or it was a big coincidence that the real killer had mailed the letter on the exact day Anderson was passing through Vegas. With renewed confidence that Anderson was their guy, the FBI doubled down. That August, they did another sweep on his former Seattle Holmes,

searching for any shred of evidence that might break open the case and prove his guilt. Once again, they found nothing. But they weren't giving up. Four months later, in December, they subpoenaed Anderson. He spent eight hours giving handwriting samples, which the FBI compared to the handwriting on the FBI, the envelope from Gidgett's letter. Unfortunately, we don't know what the results were, but one thing was clear. The case was weighing on Anderson. The following month, he and his second wife, Andrea,

filed for divorce, and in March, Andrea asked for a restraining order. She said that at one point, she told some acquaintances that Anderson was still the main suspect in Tom's murder. When Anner's Anderson found out what she'd said, he freaked out. Andrea claimed he'd called her names and threatened to docks her by creating a website with all of her personal information on it. She also alleged that Anderson had stalked her and his former wife. Andrea was worried that his behavior would only escalate. According to her, he was capable of anything. Anderson denied all of Andrea's accusations, and in the end, the judge overseeing the divorce dismissed Andrea's request. Instead, he ordered both Andrea and Anderson to stay away from each other.

It wasn't the outcome Andrea was hoping for, and she still felt like Anderson was a danger to society. And that might be why she agreed to testify against her ex-husband in front of a grand jury that summer. The FBI was ready to see if they could indict Anderson for murder. But the results were disappointing. The grand jury didn't find enough evidence to prosecute Anderson. So once again, he was free to go, and investigators were left with no clear path forward. Four years after Tom Wales was killed, the investigation was at a stalemate. The FBI, still believe they had the right man, but they couldn't prove it. They needed someone to come forward and give them new information.

Otherwise, they might be stuck in the dead end forever. So they called on Tom's kids, Amy and Tom Jr., to appeal to the public. Amy and Tom made a video which the FBI posted on their website and released to news outlets. They talked about their dad. and how much they missed him, they begged for someone to share any leads they might have. Like the FBI, they believe that someone out there knew something, and they hope that all these years later that person or persons might have the courage to come forward. To sweeten the pot, the FBI also increased the reward for information to $1 million.

If that didn't help convince someone to speak up, they didn't know what would. Sadly, that still wasn't enough. The tip lines remain silent. But eight years later, there was some movement in the case. In 2019, the FBI announced they were pursuing a new angle that involved an old suspect. They no longer thought that 57-year-old James Anderson had pulled the trigger, but they did think he had hired someone to kill Tom Wales. The FBI's theory went like this.

Back in the year 2000, Tom Wales indicted James Anderson and his business partner Kim Powell. He charged them with fraud, but the case fell apart, and Tom had to dismiss the charges. Afterward, Anderson sued, seeking damages and claiming misconduct by Tom. That suit was also dismissed, leaving Anderson angry and probably wanting revenge. None of that was new information, but now the FBI believed they knew what Anderson had done next. Early on in the investigation, there were rumors that Anderson had connections to the Sinaloa Mexican cartel. As a commercial airline pilot for U.S. Airways, Anderson had the means to smuggle drugs aboard his flights, which the FBI thought he had, in fact, done.

They also thought he'd built up enough goodwill with the cartel that when everything went down with Tom, he asked them to take him out. The cartel had strong ties to a drug ring in an area of Washington called Kitsap County, about 40 miles west of Seattle. The theory went that the cartel asked the Kitsap crew to find someone to carry out the job. They had the perfect person in mind. A man from a town called Snohomish who owed them money. The Snohomish man took the job to clear his debt and enlisted a friend to be his lookout. As far as the FBI was concerned, the Snohomish man didn't know who Tom Wales was or why he'd been ordered to kill him, just that he had to do it. It was a dramatic theory that had the potential to break the entire case wide open.

But before doing anything else, the FBI had to prove there was a link between Anderson, the drug cartel, and the hitman, which meant they needed a witness. That person was 34-year-old Shauna Reed. Back in 2001, she was still a teenager, but she'd been dating. the man who was supposedly the lookout for the hitman. FBI agents had questioned her two years earlier in 2017 when they were first piecing together their new theory. At the time, Shauna said her ex-boyfriend had bragged

that he was involved in the murder of a, quote, judge or attorney that lives on top of a hill. But when agents had brought Shauna before a federal grand jury, the following year, she denied saying that. Still, the FBI was certain she knew more than she was letting on. And that's why they decided to charge her with lying to a grand jury and obstructing justice in 2019. They hoped that if they prosecuted her for lying,

she might finally tell the truth. Unfortunately for investigators, Shauna had a long history of drug use that undermined the case which led the indictment to fall apart. Ultimately, the most prosecutors could do was get reed to plead guilty to a misdemeanor obstruction charge in August 2021. But by then, investigators had plenty of practice rolling with the punches, they wouldn't let an uncooperative witness deter them. Instead, they forged a head, drafting a detailed memo for the head of the criminal division at the U.S. Attorney's Office in Albany, New York. In it, they laid out their

theory and all the evidence they had. They argued that a small group of people had allegedly participated in the killing, then worked to obstruct the investigation. Ideally, they wanted charges brought against all of them. James Anderson, Shauna Reed, the hitman, the lookout, anyone involved. At the same time, the DOJ doubled the reward for information, raising it to roughly $2.5 million. And that wasn't all. In late 2021, the department announced another development. The SEPROM Task Force, the team assigned to the Wales case, would now formally unite with several other agencies. These included the FBI, the Seattle Police Department, the DOJ, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Washington, and the King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office.

The case finally had the manpower and the expertise investigators had pushed for all along. That was over four years ago. The case is still active, and authorities are hoping to uncover a new lead, but so far not much has changed. Despite being the only serious suspect for more than two decades, James Anderson has maintained his innocence, and to this day no one has been charged for Tom Wales murder. For the people who loved him and the colleagues who shared his belief in public service, the lack of answers has been just as painful as his death.

Tom built his career on the idea that justice is something you pursue even, even when it's difficult. The fact that his own case remains in limbo was the worst kind of irony, but it's also moved the needle forward. For investigators, his case has become a measure of institutional resolve, a question of whether the system can bring clarity to a crime that targeted one of its own. Because someone killed Tom Wales, Someone made a plan, waited in the dark, and pulled the trigger. More than 20 years later, that person is still at large. But if Tom taught us anything, it's that the truth will prevail one way or another.

Thanks so much for listening. I'm Carter Roy, and this is Murder True Crime Story. Come back next time for the story of another murder and all the people it affected. Murder True Crime Stories is a Crime House original powered by Pave Studios. Here at Crime House, we want to thank each and every one of you for your support. If you like what you heard today, reach out on social media at Crime House on TikTok and Instagram. Don't forget to rate, review, and follow Murder True Crime Stories wherever you get your podcasts. your feedback truly makes a difference.

And to enhance your murder true crime stories listening experience, subscribe to Crime House Plus on Apple Podcasts. You'll get every episode early and ad-free. We'll be back on Friday. Murder True Crime Stories is hosted by me, Carter Roy, and is a crime house original powered by Pave Studios. This episode was brought to life by the Murder True Crime Stories team, Max Cutler, Bronchapiro, Alex Benadon, Natalie Pertsovsky, Sarah Camp, Alex Burns, Molly Quinlan Artwick, Honeyas Said, and Russell Nash.

Thank you for listening. Looking for your next listen? Hi, it's Vanessa Richardson, and I have exciting news. Conspiracy theories cults and crimes is leveling up. Starting the week of January 12th, you'll be getting two episodes every week. Wednesdays we unravel the conspiracy or the cult, and on Fridays we look at a corresponding crime. Follow conspiracy theories, cults, and crimes now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, or wherever you listen.