PORT ANGELES — Clallam County sheriff’s deputies are now saying that two homicides were committed Sunday at separate locations, and that the 34-year-old man they believe committed both killings remains in Clallam County jail today.
Patrick B. Drum is being held for investigation into the slayings of Jerry Wayne Ray, 56, and Gary Lee Blanton, 28, both of whom the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office said were Level III registered sex offenders, according to a statement issued by the Sheriff’s Office.
Ray’s body was found with multiple gunshot wounds at 31 Heuhslein Road in the Agnew area east of Port Angeles, the statement said.
Not long after that discovery Sunday morning, deputies responded to a suspicious-person call on Blue Mountain Road about six miles south of U.S. Highway 101 between Sequim and Port Angeles. There, deputies found an abandoned car with a note that tied the car’s driver and suspicious person, Drum, to the Heuhslein Road crime scene, according to deputies.
Following a 3.5-hour manhunt that included officers of the Sheriff’s Office, U.S. Border Patrol, State Patrol, Port Angeles and Sequim police departments, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and state Fish and Wildlife plus a helicopter from the federal Customs and Border Patrol agency, Drum was captured near Milepost 0.6 on Geillor Road east of Blue Mountain Road.
The area is densely forested with many ravines and wetlands.
During the search for Drum, investigators acted on a tip and Sequim police units entered a residence at 5011 Sequim-Dungeness Way and found Blanton dead of several gunshot wounds.
Investigators said Drum knew both victims and had a “particular animus” toward sex offenders. He recently moved into the Sequim-Dungeness Way house rented by Drum.
More details are expected this afternoon.
