Thread: U.S. Border Patrol Comes Under Scrutiny

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Jun 7, 3:12 PM EDT

U.S. Border Patrol Comes Under Scrutiny

By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN
Associated Press Writer

BOSTON (AP) -- On April 25, Gregory Despres arrived at the U.S.-Canadian border crossing at Calais, Maine, carrying a homemade sword, a hatchet, a knife, brass knuckles and a chain saw stained with what appeared to be blood. U.S. customs agents confiscated the weapons and fingerprinted Despres, then let him into the United States.

The following day, a gruesome scene was discovered in Despres' hometown of Minto, New Brunswick: The decapitated body of a 74-year-old country musician named Frederick Fulton was found on his kitchen floor. The man's head was in a pillow case under a kitchen table. His common-law wife was discovered stabbed to death in a bedroom.

Despres, 22, immediately became a suspect because of a history of violence between him and his neighbors, and he was arrested April 27 after police in Massachusetts saw him wandering down a highway in a sweat shirt with red and brown stains. He is now in jail in Massachusetts on murder charges, awaiting an extradition hearing next month.

At a time when the United States is tightening its borders, how could a man toting what appeared to be a bloody chain saw be allowed into the country?

Bill Anthony, a spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, said the Canada-born Despres could not be detained because he is a naturalized U.S. citizen and was not wanted on any criminal charges on the day in question.

Anthony said Despres was questioned for two hours before he was released. During that time, he said, customs agents employed "every conceivable method" to check for warrants or see if Despres had broken 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 what appeared to be a bloody chain saw could not be detained. But he added: "Our people don't have a crime lab up there. They can't look at a chain saw and decide if it's blood or rust or red paint."

Sgt. Gary Cameron of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police would not comment on whether it was, in fact, blood on the chain saw.

On the same day Despres crossed the border, he was due in a Canadian court to be sentenced on charges he assaulted and threatened to kill Fulton's son-in-law, Frederick Mowat, last August.

Mowat told police Despres had been bothering his father-in-law for the past month. When Mowat confronted him, Despres allegedly pulled a knife, pointed it at Mowat's chest and said he was "going to get you all."

Police believe the dispute between the neighbors boiled over in the early-morning hours of April 24, when Despres allegedly broke into Fulton's home and stabbed the couple.

Fulton's daughter found her father's body two days later. His car was later found in a gravel pit on a highway leading to the U.S. border. Despres hitchhiked to the border crossing.

After the bodies were found on the afternoon of April 26, police set up roadblocks and sent out a bulletin that identified Despres as a "person of interest" in the slayings, according to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

The bulletin caught the eye of a Quincy police dispatcher because it gave the suspect's Massachusetts driver's license number, missing a character. The dispatcher plugged in numbers and letters until she found a last known address for Despres in Mattapoisett. She alerted police in that town, and an officer quickly spotted Despres.

In state court the next day, Despres told a judge that he is affiliated with NASA and was on his way to a Marine Corps base in Kansas at the time of his arrest.

After the case was transferred to federal court, Despres' attorney, Michael Andrews, questioned whether his client is mentally competent.

Fulton's friends in Minto, a village of 2,700 people, told the New Brunswick Telegraph-Journal that he was a popular musician, a guitarist known as the "Chet Atkins of Minto" and a 2001 inductee in the Minto Country Music Wall of Fame.

That is so sad!!

Get Troops to the Borders Now!!

We are not the dumping ground for the world's "off their rockers". We got enough of our own already!

Glad they caught him, though!

He would have just purchased another chain saw and gone to sawing US Citizens that rubbed him the wrong way!

Next time, Border Patrol, when someone has something worrisome enough to confiscate like a chain saw with something red on it, use one of those little test kits that will tell you immediately if it's human blood. You should have a stock of those in the refrigerator at all time. Then, while you may not know who he killed, you'll have cause to detain him.

AND, may I ask why is this person a naturalized citizen of the United States? What made that necessary?

You know....I think I just figured out how to solve our problems. We're going to do away with the Naturalization Service. We really don't need any more citizens do we? Do we need any more foreigners in the US? I can't think of one thing we need new citizens from other countries to do for us at this time. Maybe in a couple of decades, we can "revisit" the issue again.

From now on, we should just have foreign visitors that come, visit, spend money, and then go home.

You're all over-reacting. Just because they let a blood-soaked lunatic with an arsenal of deadly weapons across the border is no reason to over-react.

BobC--I see that dry wit is acting up again!!

Originally Posted by Judy

BobC--I see that dry wit is acting up again!!

You two!

Well good GOD. If you went to people three days ago and said this story had actually taken place, they'd have locked you in a mental hospital! But here it is! You couldn't make this crap up!

And that was before the airliner stowaway!!

I agree that the whack-o's get whackier alla time...the part that really bothers me is that they're HERE. Ye Gads...

Nope we don't need any MORE foreigners in this nation. Nada, zip, zilch, none....NO WAY...we're full up...thank you very much...and we need to get all of those in here illegally OUT of here...NOW...

I smell a revolution brewing...I hope it's an outbreak of common sense!!

RR

Revolution!! I never considerd myself that type before. There was always a way to resolve it with intelligence and common sense and facts and data and papers and letters and meetings and phone calls. You know, business style.

But, I've never tried to deal with a bunch of maniacs out to rule the world before!!

That's a new challenge!!

But, we're up to the task.

I agree totally on the border security and the need for troops. But where in the article does it mention the US Border Patrol. I only see references to the RCMP and US Customs, the BP guys wear green and the Customs wear blue like reular cops.