Maine killings raise questions about sex offender registries

CORINTH, Maine (AP) - A man who shot two sex offenders to death in Maine got their names from the state's online sex offender registry, authorities said Monday, renewing fears that such lists expose ex-convicts to vigilante violence.

Investigators were uncertain what relationship, if any, Marshall had with the two victims, who were killed Sunday morning at their homes 25 miles apart.

But the two men were among 34 names Marshall had looked up on the state Web site, said Stephen McCausland of the Maine Department of Public Safety. Investigators said they discovered that he visited the Web site because he typed in his name to receive extra information online, including street addresses.

The Web site was disabled while police searched for Marshall but was restored Monday afternoon.

''The Web site is back on. It is there by law. The reason why the information is available to the public is well documented,'' McCausland said. The sex offender registry is designed to let people know of child molesters and other sex offenders in their midst.

All states have sex offender registries, and almost all post the information online.

But the killings added to a growing unease with such Web sites. Jack King from the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers in Washington said making sex offenders' addresses public can be an invitation to violence.

Carlos Cuevas, of the Crimes Against Children Research Center at the University of New Hampshire, said more research is needed into the effectiveness of sex offender registries. ''Is it effective in lowering the rates of child victimization?'' he said.

Harassment, vandalism, assaults and even killings of sex offenders have been reported from coast to coast.

''There are going to be crazy people out there,'' King said. ''And there's going to be vigilantism.''

The registered sex offenders shot to death in Maine were Joseph Gray, 57, of Milo and William Elliott, 24, of Corinth.

Gray's name was posted because he had moved to Maine after a Massachusetts conviction for sexual assault on a child under 14, McCausland said. Elliott was convicted of having sex with an underage girl, he said.

When he shot himself, Marshall had with him a laptop computer and two handguns, said Dave Procopio, spokesman for the Suffolk County, Mass., District Attorney's Office.

Marshall, a restaurant dishwasher from North Sydney, Nova Scotia, had come to Houlton, Maine, to visit his father, authorities said.

Investigators believe he used his father's pickup during the killings. The father had not realized his son and truck were missing, McCausland said. Marshall also took two handguns and a rifle from his father, the spokesman said.

Police tracked Marshall to Boston after finding his pickup abandoned in Bangor along with the rifle and then discovering bullets hidden in a bus stop restroom that were of the same caliber as one of his father's handguns.

Maine's Web site has the names of more than 2,200 sex offenders. It contains such information as the offender's name, address, date of birth, identifying characteristics and place of employment, as well as a photograph. Depending on the crime, the offender is required to register either for 10 years or for life.

In Washington state, the Whatcom County Sheriff's Office posts a warning on its registry under the heading ''Vigilantism - Zero Tolerance,'' urging people not to use the information to harass offenders.

Gray and Elliott were shot about five hours apart. Neither man appeared to have caused a stir recently.

Gray and his wife moved a couple of years ago from Massachusetts to Milo, a town of about 2,400, said Kenny Hudak, a local police sergeant. Gray had been reclusive, he said.

Gray's wife, Janice, said that their dogs started barking about 3:30 a.m. Sunday and that she looked through a window and saw a figure in a black jacket at the front door. She then heard two shots and saw two flashes as bullets were fired through the front window, she said.

She called her husband's name but got no response, she said.

''All I know is someone came to my house and took my husband from me,'' she said. ''He was a very loving, good man.''

In Corinth, residents were alerted when Elliott moved into a vinyl-sided trailer in the woods. The property was covered with trash, tires and at least a dozen junked vehicles.

''I think more people were concerned about the mess than him being a sex offender,'' said Mary Hadley, who lives across the road.