PORT ANGELES — The man who murdered a Forest Service officer and a Sequim-area retiree probably was on his way to kill his former wife, Clallam County Sheriff Bill Benedict said Tuesday.
Shawn Matthew Roe also intended to “probably go out in a blaze of glory, shooting law enforcement officers” at her house in Shelton, he said.
Roe, 36, of Everett was shot to death by Clallam deputies Sept. 20 outside the Longhouse Market & Deli in Blyn after a manhunt prompted by the shooting death of U.S. Forest Service Officer Kristine Fairbanks of Forks.
Shortly before her death, Fairbanks, 51, had told a State Patrol dispatcher she was checking a Dodge van without plates at the Dungeness Forks Campground about six miles south of Sequim.
She identified Roe as the person driving the van.
Roe shot and killed Richard Ziegler, 59, not long after after killing Fairbanks, authorities said.
Benedict revealed Roe’s apparent plans during remarks he made while presenting Deputies Matthew Murphy and Andrew Wagner with medals of valor at the Clallam County Courthouse during a commissioners’ meeting on Tuesday.
He did not say how he had confirmed Roe’s intentions.
Confirms statement
Benedict’s statement confirmed a claim made three days after the shootings by Roe’s former mother-in-law, Patti White of Shelton.
“It is my firm belief that had [Fairbanks] not called in his name, that he would have ended up down here,” she said, “and it is very likely that we would have lost our lives.”
Mary Catherine White divorced Roe in 2006, ending a marriage that had included his confining her against her will in the couple’s home.
He had been convicted of unlawful imprisonment, a felony, and of other acts of domestic violence such as shooting her cell phone when she tried to summon help.
After the divorce, Mary Catherine White feared Roe so much that she carried a .38 caliber revolver in her purse.
The weapon was discovered at the Nisqually Middle School where she taught language arts in Lacey, and White resigned.
After he was killed, Roe was found to be carrying a .22 caliber revolver, his own 9 mm semiautomatic pistol and a similar weapon he took from Fairbanks.
Fairbanks worked with only a K9 partner as she patrolled 300,000 acres of public lands.
Her dog, Radar, a German shepherd, was found unharmed in her Forest Service SUV after she was killed with one shot to the head.
Officers did not discover Ziegler’s body until after the Longhouse shootout.
After shooting Fairbanks, Roe abandoned his vehicle, shot Ziegler to death in the foundation of the home he was building near Louella Road, and stole his truck, police said.
Roe later went to the Longhouse and bought a bottle of Scotch.
Benedict said he thought Roe next hoped to drive to Shelton.
Deputies were alerted to him and shot him after he fired one of the 9 mm weapons at them outside the store, police said.
More than 3,000 people — including federal, state, county and municipal law enforcement officers — bid Fairbanks, a 22-year-veteran of the Forest Service, farewell at a memorial service at Civic Field in Port Angeles on Sept. 29.
She had graduated from Sequim High School and worked as a seasonal ranger in Olympic National Park before joining the Forest Service.
She was survived by her husband, Brian — a Fish and Wildlife officer — and her daughter, Whitney, 15.
Ziegler had moved to 4 wooded acres off Jonrey Road south of Sequim to build a home and fish after retiring in May from his job as a corrections officer at Clallam Men’s Colony in San Luis Obispo, Calif.
His family moved his body to California, and planned a memorial service at a later date.
His will directed that his body be cremated and his remains placed in a tackle box, said his mother, Helene Ziegler, of Cambria, Calif.
________
Reporter Jim Casey can be reached at 360-417-3538 or at jim.casey@peninsuladailynews.com
