Suspect in 2 Sequim killings "was a walking time bomb"

A lot of people in Shelton were grateful when Shawn Roe recently packed up and moved someplace else.

Roe, who police say killed a U.S. Forest Service officer and a Sequim-area man Saturday before dying in a shootout with sheriff's deputies, left a wake of fear and uneasiness when he left Shelton a couple of months ago, say those who knew him.

"We thought he was a walking time bomb and we were relieved to see him go," said Chief Deputy Dean Byrd of the Mason County Sheriff's Office. "I'm just sorry he had to take with him an innocent bystander and a fellow law-enforcement officer — a woman with a teenage daughter."

The main targets of Roe's threats and rage were his ex-wife, Mary Catherine White, and her mother, Patti White. Both women would eventually take out protection orders against Roe and arm themselves against Roe's fury.

Both were also among those who expressed relief Monday in learning of Roe's death, even as they mourned the deaths of Forest Service officer Kristine Fairbanks, 51, and Richard Ziegler, 59, the two people authorities say Roe gunned down.

"This past Saturday night, our living in fear for our lives, as well as the fears of others who feared for our safety, came to a terrible end," Mary Catherine White said in a statement released Monday. "Domestic violence reached beyond our relationships and violently touched those of innocent community members."

Authorities say Fairbanks was fatally shot on a remote road in the Olympic National Forest after she pulled over Roe for driving a van without license plates. Police believe the two struggled before Fairbanks was killed.

"The confrontation occurred outside the van and outside the car," Clallam County Sheriff Bill Benedict said Monday. "From the evidence, it appears to be struggle."

Fairbanks is the sixth Forest Service officer or ranger to die in the line of duty since 1918 and the first to die from gunshot wounds since 1989.

After the slaying, Roe took Fairbanks' 9-mm duty weapon and drove off in his van, said Benedict.

Authorities believe Roe abandoned the van in a densely wooded area. He then reportedly walked to a nearby home and fatally shot Ziegler.

Ziegler, a California Department of Corrections retiree who moved to the area in May, was found dead in a fifth-wheel trailer where he was living while building a house nearby, said Benedict.

Roe was killed by sheriff's deputies outside a Blyn deli and market just before 9 p.m.

Authorities believe Roe had traveled to the area from his home in Everett about 10 days ago and had been staying at the Dungeness Forks Campground in the Olympic National Forest. Roe was on probation, but had allegedly told his probation officer that he would no longer be checking in, Benedict said.

As authorities continue to investigate the shooting, court documents and those who knew Roe on Monday painted a picture of a man who was prone to threats and violence, hoarded guns and ammunition and bragged that he could live off the land.

About two years ago, when Roe lived in the Shelton area, Mason County sheriff's deputies began making regular visits to his home. According to police and court documents, at least eight incidents were reported from the Roe residence in August 2006.

Most of the calls came from Roe's ex-wife, who claimed in a 2006 court document that his instability and violence had been escalating over the past couple of years, partly in response to his increased use of alcohol and drugs. "He is not himself anymore and I can't trust he will be safe around me, my daughter or himself," she wrote.

In her divorce and protection-order petitions filed in 2006, White claimed Roe had tackled her, put her in compliance holds, threatened to kill her on many occasions and once shot her cellphone because she'd tried to call a friend for help. She claimed Roe threatened to shoot out the tires of her car if she tried to leave.

In response to one of the incidents, Roe tried to turn the tables on White and himself filed a request for an order of protection against White, claiming she threatened him after she hit him with her cellphone. In the same request, Roe admitted, "I did grab a gun and yelled at her."

His request for a protection order was denied.

Protection orders were granted to White's parents, though, after Patti White filed a petition claiming Roe scratched her car with his keys, threatened to burn her house down, and said he was going to "shove her teeth down" her throat. She was so afraid for such a long time that her husband taught her how to handle a gun and, for a period, she carried a small firearm with her at all times, she said.

Mary Catherine White lost her job as a teacher at Nisqually Middle School in Lacey in 2006 because her fear of Roe led her to believe she needed a weapon on her at all times despite the school's zero-tolerance policy.

"I feel she was vindicated in that respect," said Byrd, the Mason County chief deputy. "She was completely right. All of her fears were founded."

In her statement, Mary Catherine White wrote, "Many people did not believe the truth about Shawn Roe. It was easier to say that I was crazy, overreacting or just plain female."

She thanked the Mason County Sheriff's Department, State Patrol and the state Department of Corrections (DOC) for taking her "warnings seriously" and being "proactive" in protecting her family as far as possible under current law.

Nevertheless, family friends said, Roe flouted all of the laws and prohibitions against him.

Despite court orders, Roe stalked his ex-wife, called her, threatened her and left nasty letters whenever he felt like it.

At one point in 2006, police confiscated more than 60 items, including firearms, ammunition and a crossbow from Roe after a court order banned him from ownership of the items, according to police and court records.

Roe was arrested at his former wife's home on March 15, 2007, and police found he had a loaded handgun tucked into his waistband.

In 2007, Roe was convicted of unlawful imprisonment, a felony, and malicious mischief, a gross misdemeanor, in Mason County. That conviction stemmed from an incident on Aug. 5, 2006, when he refused to let his wife leave during a fight at their home.

Roe was arrested July 21 of this year in Mason County for violating his probation by failing to report to his probation officer and consuming alcohol. Roe was sentenced to 60 days in jail, 30 of which were spent outside of lockup on electronic home monitoring, according to the DOC.

Roe reportedly checked in with his probation officer again in August, but reportedly told his probation officer at some point that he did not plan to come in ever again, according to a family friend.

An arrest warrant for failing to show up at an Aug. 29 meeting was requested by Roe's DOC probation officer, but had not yet been issued by the Mason County Superior Court, said DOC spokesman Chad Lewis.

On Monday, Ziegler was remembered by those who knew him as a soft-spoken man who loved being in the outdoors. He spent 22 years as a correctional officer at the California Men's Colony in San Luis Obispo. Prior to that, he worked in construction and had his own building firm in Colorado for a time, according to San Luis Obispo Tribune.

Ziegler, who was divorced, leaves behind two sons.

Jennfier Sullivan: 206-464-8294 or jensullivan@seattletimes.com

Christine Clarridge: 206-464-8983 or cclarridge@seattletimes.com

Seattle Times news researcher Miyoko Wolf contributed to this report.