Hmmm ... what was their first clue? 
Posted on 06/07/2005 10:28:27 AM PDT by Graybeard58
BOSTON -- On the morning of April 25, Gregory Despres hitchhiked to the Canadian border crossing at Calais, Maine, carrying a homemade sword, a hatchet, a knife, brass knuckles and a chain saw stained by what appeared to be blood.
Customs officials confiscated the cache of weapons and fingerprinted Despres, but allowed him to enter the United States -- not knowing the gruesome scene about to unfold in the hitchhiker's hometown.
The following day, in the village of Minto, New Brunswick, the decapitated body of a well-known country musician named Frederick Fulton was discovered on his kitchen floor. Police found the 74-year-old man's head in a pillow case under a kitchen table and the body of his common-law wife, Veronica Decarie, stabbed to death in a bedroom.
A history of violence between Despres and his neighbors immediately made him a suspect in the murders, and the 22-year-old was arrested April 27 after police in Massachusetts saw him wandering down a highway, wearing a sweatshirt with red and brown stains.
Despres, now held at a jail in Plymouth on first-degree murder charges, is scheduled to return to a Boston federal court on July 21 for an extradition hearing.
While authorities on the Canadian side of the border await his return, a question for customs officials lingers: At a time when the U.S. is tightening its borders, how could a man toting a bloody chain saw be allowed to enter the country?
Bill Anthony, a spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, said the Canada-born Despres couldn't be detained because he is a naturalized U.S. citizen and wasn't wanted on any criminal charges on the day in question.
Anthony said Despres was questioned for two hours before he was released. In the interim, he added, customs agents employed "every conceivable method" to check for warrants or see if Despres broke any laws in trying to re-enter the country.
"Nobody asked us to detain him," Anthony said. "Being bizarre is not a reason to keep somebody out of this country or lock them up... We are governed by laws and regulations, and he did not violate any regulations."
Anthony conceded it "sounds stupid" that a man wielding a bloody chain saw couldn't be detained.
Indeed it does.
I kind of have a rule about picking up hithchhikers. If they have 5 or more weapons...I just keep going.
It doesn't sound stupid...it IS STUPID
Great, we get to foot the bill for this psycho's extradition etc.
They must not have recognized him without his hockey mask on.
"At a time when the U.S. is tightening its borders,"
We are?
Legalism will be our undoing. How I yearn for a return to the ways of the Old West. Sure a few innocents got unjustly run up, but, overall, more of the bad guys got caught and strung up.
You won't find any real country music on CMT. It's just pop stars with southern accents; pretty faces with cowboy hats and microphones strapped to their heads doing a choreographed 2-step.
Bill Anthony, a spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, said the Canada-born Despres couldn't be detained because he is a naturalized U.S. citizen and wasn't wanted on any criminal charges on the day in question.
Why am I laughing?? If I didn't know better, I'd swear this was from the Onion.
Ping out folks. This is nuts!
Sounds like it...he had how many bloody weapons?
You know . . . Frederick FULton!
He's that guy . . . you know, the one who used to wear a shirt . . . he was always standing and walking . . .
In Boston all he needs to do is saying he was expressing his cultural values and they'll let him out.
"Customs officials confiscated the cache of weapons and fingerprinted Despres, but allowed him to enter the United States"
Awesome.
Hmmm ... what was their first clue?
What did he do tell them they were props and he just got back from a shoot?
it "sounds stupid" that a man wielding a bloody chain saw couldn't be detained
Not to the ACLU.... they'd be suing for the fact he'd been questioned for two hours, if not for the inconvenient fact that he does turn out to be a murderer.....
White guy, wore glasses.
Oh great. We have Officer Barbrady working on our borders...
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