Eddie Davidson, a convicted repeat spammer who walked out of a minimum-security prison where he was in the second month of a 21-month sentence for tax evasion and falsifying information in emails offering stocks, has been found dead. He had apparently killed his wife and three-year-old daughter before shooting himself, after forcing his wife to drive there from Denver. A seven-month-old boy, possibly his wife's child (reports aren't clear), survived.
The bodies were found near the town of Bennett, Colorado - where Davidson had run his last spam business, "Power Promoters", and lived last year under another name.
Speaking to the Denver Post, the US attorney Troy Eid said:
"What a nightmare, and such a coward," Eid said. "Davidson imposed the 'death penalty' on family members for his own crime."
What's odd is that Davidson had been cooperating with the FBI, working as a "consultant" to help it investigate other spammers.
But that's done now. It's all a loss. If you ever needed a reason not to indulge spammers, it's there.
