Time and again, it has been seen that even law enforcement makes big mistakes, and sometimes there are laws to prevent them from acting up. And just in case you’re getting confused with our wording, see, we’re talking about the old case of Brian and Beverly Mauck Lawsuit where two lives could have been saved, but nah, the state didn’t act up early and it was too late already when they did decide to do something.
Meet the Maucks and Their Killer
I bet you’d want to meet Brian and Beverly pretty much instantly if you have heard of this case. The two of them were 30 and 28 years old, respectively. They were newlyweds who couldn’t get enough of each other and were really the kind of people you’d root for, at least that’s what the people close to them thought. But the thing is, this blissful life of theirs was over by November 2007 in the most tragic way. Actually, a killer by the name Daniel Tavares Jr., somehow and for some reason thought they owed him money for a tattoo and so he shot both of them.
When the details of this case came out, it shocked and saddened the hearts of millions in the country. But the true shocking part came when the investigation delved deep into the backstory of Daniel Traveres. Why? Well, it turns out, he was actually a convicted murderer before, like he had served a pretty lengthy sentence after killing his own mother back in 1991. But the thing is, the state released him back in June 2007, about 16 years later, but he wasn’t done yet.
How a Simple Error Led to a Double Murder
After his release, Tavares did not just lay low in Massachusetts. Nah, in actuality, he was a part of a prison pen-pal program and through this, he even got married to a woman. Then he packed up his things and moved to Graham, Washington. If it seems like “out of sight, out of mind,” that’s because it was pretty deliberate. But yeah, even after this, Massachusetts officials were aware of his departure from the state. They very well knew what he was capable of.
The question then is, why didn’t they bring him back? This is the most mind-boggling part for many, that the arrest warrant was only valid in New England states. So, outside that area, like in Washington, the police were powerless to act. This is the part that gets a lot of people angry about this whole thing because it could have been very well avoided.
Still, the system just stayed silent. Nobody enlarged the warrant. Nobody warned Washington. No nothing!
After four months, it finally went off.
Finally, on November 17, 2007. He did what we already told you in the beginning: the gruesome killing of two people. And no doubt, when the details came out, after his arrest, he was sentenced to life in imprisonment in 2008.
The Lawsuit That Held Massachusetts Accountable
Jump to November of the year 2010. This was the time when the lawsuit happened, and the families of the Maucks, who were still deeply hurt from their loss, decided to bring the matter to court. The state had it coming. And sure enough, just down the line, a federal civil rights lawsuit was lodged with the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington. The main argument in this case so far is that the state knew about the potential danger with that killer, but they did nothing about it, and eventually it cost two lives.
The case went on, and the families sought compensation in the range of $16 million to $20 million for the harm caused.
