Where serial killers go for a quiet tipple

Sydney Morning Herald (Australia) ^ | October 30 2002 | Charlie LeDuff

[TheMole]

Serial killers drank here, they say at this bar on Holly Street.

Its name is the Waterfront Tavern. It is a good bar that should not be judged bad simply because some customers misbehaved so spectacularly, patrons said this week.

That is what they said in the mid-1970s after Ted Bundy drank here. Bundy confessed to killing 20 women.

They said it in the late 1970s after Kenneth Bianchi drank here before local police charged him with killing two college roommates. He and a cousin, Angelo Buono, were later convicted in the Hillside Strangler case in Los Angeles.

They said it over a year ago, after James Kinney, who also regularly drank here, was arrested for the murder of a woman found dead off Interstate 5. He pleaded guilty.

Now they are saying John Allen Muhammad, accused in the Washington DC-area sniper case, drank here. "I don't know, we just seem to attract them," said Millie Ulmer, the early morning bartender. "This town is full of drifters, but even so, Muhammad didn't look right to me. Little did I know."

Bellingham, which has a sister city relationship with Port Stephens, NSW, is a border town, the jumping-off place to the Alaskan tundra and the Canadian wilds. The area is home to a mix of hippies, yuppies, militiamen, fishermen, American Indians and tramps.

The bar is a stone's throw from the mission where Muhammad and his teenage travelling companion, John Lee Malvo, stayed. Drinks are cheap. Budweiser is what Muhammad drank as he whiled away mornings watching cable news and The Price is Right.

"He looked clean, and he was very polite and articulate," said Lynne Farmer, the owner. "He always had his own money. He applied for a job, but we threw the application away like we do with all guys from the mission."

Muhammad was belligerent, fellow patrons say; he railed against the United States and spoke up for the World Trade Centre attackers.

"I wanted to take him outside when he was cheering for 9/11," said Drew Samdilands. "I had a gut feeling about the guy and I wanted to kick his head in, but they probably would have put me in jail."

On Monday three Virginia counties indicted Muhammad and his juvenile partner Malvo in a string of fatal shootings and other capital punishment crimes. Similar charges were filed last week in Maryland and Alabama.

Despite the guest list, people who drink at the Waterfront described themselves as warm, well-adjusted. Perhaps it was their accepting attitude that let so many notorious characters feel welcome.

"Live and let live," said Pete Davis, who is unemployed. "Of course, we only know after the fact that they're bad guys. I don't know. Maybe we should name sandwiches after them."

[TheMole]

Ping for B'ham.

[Eva]

I think that they got it just about right. They forgot to mention that Whatcom county is also home to an unusually large number of Vietnam Vets, many of whom are still suffering from ptsd. It's just the last outpost.

I should also mention that Bellingham is often listed as one of the top places in the country to retire.