"Spam King" Found Dead With Wife, Daughter

Convicted Spammer Escaped Prison, Apparently Killed Wife, Daughter And Self

(AP)  A convicted spammer who escaped from prison, his wife and 3-year-old daughter were found slain outside a farm house Thursday east of Denver in an apparent murder-suicide.

U.S. Attorney Troy Eid said Edward "Eddie" Davidson, whom the authorities called the "Spam King," and the other two were found at the home in a rural part of Bennett, about 25 miles east of Denver. He said Davidson shot himself.

Eid said the woman and girl were also dead from gunshots.

Authorities had been searching for Davidson, 35, since Sunday, when he and his wife drove away from a minimum-security federal prison in Florence, 90 miles south of Denver.

Davidson was sentenced April 28 to 21 months in prison and ordered to pay $714,139 in restitution to the IRS after pleading guilty to falsifying header information to send spam e-mail, tax evasion and criminal forfeiture.

"What a nightmare, and such a coward," Eid said. "Davidson imposed the 'death penalty' on family members for his own crime."

Arapahoe County undersheriff Mark Campbell said deputies rushed to a home in a subdivision in Bennett after receiving reports of shots fired.

Deputies found Davidson, who appeared to be the gunman, on the driver's side of an SUV in the driveway, and a woman dead on the passenger side.

A girl was found dead in the back of the car, Campbell said. A 7- or 8-month-old boy was found in a car seat uninjured.

Campbell said a teenage girl who was shot in the neck ran to a neighbor's house for help and has been hospitalized. He said the girl had serious injuries, but was coherent and talking when taken to the hospital.

Davidson's relationship to the teen and infant was unclear.

Campbell said they didn't live at the home, which sits on a 35-acre horse property in unincorporated Arapahoe County.

Neighbors told authorities that Davidson used to live in the house, according to Denver media reports.

Eid said that after leaving the federal prison complex in an SUV on Sunday with his wife, Davidson drove to the Denver suburb of Lakewood, got a change of clothes, cash, and then left.

Prosecutors said that from 2002 to 2005, Davidson's business, Power Promoters, and his subcontractors would spam people's inboxes with e-mails promoting items like watches and perfume.

From 2005 through part of 2006, he sent thousands of e-mails from his home in Bennett, sometimes with false information, on behalf of a Houston company promoting a penny stock as an excellent investment, according to a plea agreement. His bank account deposits from 2003 to 2006 totaled $3.5 million, the plea agreement said.

Prosecutors said they also found about $380,000 that he had stashed in his girlfriend's bank account over three years, and purchases totaling $418,000 from a company that sells gold, platinum, palladium and silver coins.

Prosecutors did not identify the girlfriend in court documents.

When Davidson was sentenced, U.S. District Judge Marcia Krieger noted it was Davidson's first serious conviction, and that he was supporting three children, which documents did not identify. She noted Davidson had been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. A condition of his sentence was that he undergo mental health counseling.

"He obviously has some unresolved issues with regard to his childhood and how he was raised that he believes impair his ability to make good decisions in the future," Krieger said during the sentencing hearing.

Michael Arvin, Davidson's attorney during his criminal trial, did not return a phone message left after business hours Thursday.

State Rep. Buffie McFadyen, D-Pueblo, a critic of federal staffing at the Florence prison complex, criticized the U.S. attorney's characterization of Davidson's escape as a "walkway" rather than an escape that posed a risk to the public.

"It's time for the U.S. Attorney's office and the Federal Bureau of Prisons to refer to those who escape from prison, whether minimum security camps or high security prisons, for what they are, escapees," McFadyen told The Gazette of Colorado Springs.

"Three separate federal agencies, the U.S. Marshals, FBI and IRS, were all hunting him," she said. "If he's no danger to the public why were three agencies after him?"

[magoo2u1]

Why do the whackos always take someone else with them?
Why do criminals fail to calculate the penalty for their crimes as if they are not going to get caught?
My observation is that they all get caught because they won''t stop until they are caught. They can''t commit one crime and walk away "ahead" in the game they keep going until they''re nailed. So how do they fail to figure on paying the piper eventually?
What a chickensht ******.

[unmunificent]

Why do the whackos always take someone else with them?
Why do criminals fail to calculate the penalty for their crimes as if they are not going to get caught?
My observation is that they all get caught because they won''''t stop until they are caught. They can''''t commit one crime and walk away "ahead" in the game they keep going until they''''re nailed. So how do they fail to figure on paying the piper eventually?
What a chickensht ******.

Posted by magoo2u1
_____________________

You said it perfectly! I couldn''t have said it any better! How could this B*A*S*T*A*R*D do that to his children?

[libsluv2spit]

humm i think he probably though he can say "ooppps im sorry" and be forgiven...

this guy was a weakminded criminal

[xmanborg]

Whatever

[drew30319-2009]

Another Coward who rather than facing Life as a Man chooses to hurt innocents... disgusting.

In 2006 my daughter was murdered by a Coward as well - except he lacked the backbone to kill himself and instead sits in prison at our expense.

My thoughts and prayers are with the friends and families of this Coward''s victims.

Drew Crecente
Founder and Executive Director, Jennifer Ann''s Group
JenniferAnn.org

[sociald63]

you see - guns dont kill people. idiotic spammers w/ guns kill people

[mswolfestock]

If he wanted to take somebody else with him, he should have shot his bottom-dwelling attorney.

"He obviously has some unresolved issues with regard to his childhood and how he was raised that he believes impair his ability to make good decisions in the future," Krieger said during the sentencing hearing.

Oh PLEEZE!!!!! There ought to be another word to describe this sub-human being -

coward doesn''t come close.

[fredhetz]

zgomer, have you considered expanding your act to encompass some new form of hatred? Your current one-note act grows tiresome.

[tehkummah-2009]

There is a simple, yet effective, treatment for such desperate individuals responsible for murder/suicides.......start with the suicide.

[hypnotoad72]

If he had issues with his past, you don''t take them out on the person nice enough to marry you and your offspring.

zgomer - why do you say he was a liberal, or anything else about his personal beliefs?

[slim1h2o]

"He obviously has some unresolved issues with regard to his childhood and how he was raised that he believes impair his ability to make good decisions in the future," Krieger said during the sentencing hearing.

Obviously, he was right on his decision making process. What a dipstick.

[lochlan-2009]

What a selfish creature. Sure makes you wish there is a Hell.

[nothappyatall]

LOL what a fitting end to the spam king :)
He thought he could FORGE emails and spam everyone so he could get rich at our expense and live the good life, how fast it all cam crashing down, bye bye spam king!

[leftyintexas]

He was liberal. One less one to worry about.

Posted by zgomer at 12:18 PM : Jul 25, 2008

How would YOU know that... or anything else for that matter, Toad?

[libsluv2spit]

Nah, had to be a Republican. Filled everyones email with garbage and used a gun.

Regards,


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Posted by Nancy_Naive at 01:49 PM : Jul 25, 2008
+ report abuse

*********************

it HAS to be a liberal, this guy placed more value on money and fame over his life and his family AND is weak enough NOT to come forward and face the responsibilites and be accountable for his "girls gone wild" style business....a typical liberal mindset

[libsluv2spit]

How would YOU know that... or anything else for that matter, Toad?


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Posted by leftyintexas at 01:41 PM : Jul 25, 2008
+ report abuse


************

because he just did what liberalism promotes...i guess he was expecting to say "oh my bad!" and all of his past wrong doings are magically forgiven.

[libsluv2spit]

"He obviously has some unresolved issues with regard to his childhood and how he was raised..."

U.S. District Judge Marcia Krieger
during Davidson''s April sentencing hearing

***********************

like i said..a liberal...

[mrbrill]

"guy placed more value on money " makes him a liberal? I think you have things backwards if you are to take a look at the way the Repugs Congress promote big business... Let''s see. Can anyone say "Medicare reform" led by the Repugs which now cost taxpayers billions of dollars? And what has happened to these Repugs who voted for it? They are now getting 6 and 7-figure salaries from the same pharmaceutical companies this bill has helped.

%u201CHad the Medicare Reform Act allowed direct negotiation for Medicare patients, similar to the manner in which the Department of Veterans Affairs negotiates primary pharmacy purchasing, we estimate that a typical patient being treated for [heart] disease could save at least 50% annually on the costs of prescription medicines under coverage from the anticipated prescription card plan.%u201D %u2014John Hayes, MD; Heather Walczak, MD; Allan Prochazka, MD; writing in the Journal of the American Medical Association (July 2005)

[klewt]

An innocent woman and a three-year-old child were killed and you people are arguing about his political affiliation and lol-ing about this??!!
What a bunch of heartless morons!

[vranger]

Agreed Klewt, these people are just sick. They''re so eager to trip over each other in their effort to be ''clever'' and ''noticed'' that they wouldn''t recognzie an unselfish compassionate thought if they started at it for an hour in 5 foot letters on a billboard.

[hotflush-2009]

Sorry for his family, but one more pos gone and look at the money we saved on his incarceration.

[hotflush-2009]

Sorry for his family, but one more pos gone and look at the money we saved on his incarceration.

[irliberal]

The guy was mentally ill. I forgive him.

[hotflush-2009]

Sorry for his family, but one more pos gone and look at the money we saved on his incarceration.

so i''m supposed to feel bad for a guy who fills up my inbox w/*** i don''t need or want? I feel bad for his wife and daughter. all they did was enjoy his way of life. why didn''t he take himslef alone?! sad

[libsluv2spit]

Posted by mrbrill at 02:21 PM : Jul 25, 2008
+ report abuse

************maybe you should read and understand the "medicare reform act'' before you flap uyour gums*****

[credibility2]

Those who do this, including women, but primarily men, are cowards and spineless. Instead of facing the music and the piper, they decide to murder their family members instead, and commit suicide. The laws need to be totally revamped. No parole for any criminals, period, regardless of the crime. The innocent should and must be protected from these mongrels.

[sistatee-2009]

I sent this email to the funeral home:
"This is Alexievia. I live in Romania and my mother is very ill in Nebraska. I can send her the $10,000. that the doctor need her new heart for. But can you cash the $12,500. check for her because she so sick? And send to me the $2,500 from your bank account."

[fstop100]

fell sorry for wife and daughter

[summarex]

I wish the people in these situations would go after the government types who caused all the trouble for them instead of their own families. I would so much rather be reading that Davidson dispatched this Eid guy OK corral style.

[cdfoxtrot1]

I wish the people in these situations would go after the government types who caused all the trouble for them instead of their own families. I would so much rather be reading that Davidson dispatched this Eid guy OK corral style.

Posted by summarex

I hope you''re not advocating violence against a US attorney, which I assume is a criminal offense.

In terms of the story, I hate spam and hate all spammers, so, this is one less co_cksucker we have to worry about.

[jasmperez]

Summarex,
What did Eid do wrong?

[summarex]

lilturkey:

They shouldn''t have gone after him the way they did for distributing spam. They would have deserved whatever he did to them as would anyone "stupid" enough to stand with them.

[outwest6]

This cowardly criminal committed the unspeakable crime of murdering his wife and child, there is a place in hell for him. At least with old time criminals you got folks who understood, don''t do the crime if you can''t do the time.

Cyber-idiots like the poster advocating criminal assalt of law officials ought to be sent to prison right along with their Spam King hero!

[meanbiker]

I don''t think it was a murder suicide.. more like a murder with collateral damage..

Glad to hear that he is dead.. one down many more spammers to go...


Sorry to hear about his wide and daughter..

[wl7bzh]

Maybe this could be a precedent for the telemarketers and debt collection agencies buy old debts containing old phone numbers

[summarex]

Nothing weird about it.
These government enforcer types deserve whatever they get. I wish the people who get on the wrong side of them would retaliate against them directly instad of picking alternate (and easier) targets like their own families, schools, restaurants, shopping malls, post offices, skyscrapers, you get the picture.
It''s becoming a commonly held viewpoint!

[smurfcrusher]

I guess this means it doesn''t pay to be a slimeball SPAMmer.

[smurfcrusher]

Be a SPAMmer, go to the SLAMmer.

[smurfcrusher]

Sounds like summarex is an anarchist.

[runningralph]

Summarex is a far out freak. What he calls a commonly held viewpoint is actually a lunatic viewpoint.

[oneworldusa]

Minimum security for SPAMMING? How bout the death penalty by chair for spamming? If people DONT PAY ATTENTION TO SPAM and don''t buy anything from anyone who solicits you, ever, by phone, door, or otherwise, people would have to get OUT of the business of bothering and inconveniencing us!!! When will people learn?

[summarex]

I think that in the next few years we''re going to start seeing just how common that viewpoint is.

[nojoy01]

lilturkey:

They shouldn''''t have gone after him the way they did for distributing spam. They would have deserved whatever he did to them as would anyone "stupid" enough to stand with them.

Posted by summarex at 05:03 PM : Jul 25, 2008

Actually, summarex, what "they" went after him for wasn''t really all that much about spamming. That''s the headline the newspaper people put on it to get your/our attention. To quote the article "restitution to the IRS after pleading guilty to falsifying header information to send spam e-mail, tax evasion". You skip out on enough $$ to the IRS & they''ll come after you every time. After all, that''s how the Feds brought down Al Capone.

[andrew_693]

the only good thing to come out of this is that tax payers won''t have to pay his food in jail anymore. Spammers, people who steal identities, all these nouveau criminals deserve jail time and I don''t mean 5 years, they need to start giving them 20 and higher.

[h5mind]

I''m confused by the sequence of events in this case-- a white collar criminal escapes from a minimum security facility helped by wife and kids and he shows his gratitude by killing her? One question-- if the "spam king" made $3.5 milion how much did his clients rake in during the same period? Was it enough to kill for? It will be interesting to hear the ''injured teen''s'' version of events, if such is ever forthcoming.

[deacon20081]

summarex.............. needs to take his medication.

[jw218389]

Spam is annoying - it shouldn''t be a crime anymore than the annoying billboards that litter our highways.

''Spam control'' is just another excuse to charge you for emails just like the USPS charges you for letters.

ADVERTISING IS NOT A CRIME...

[buttonjockey]

: Spam is annoying - it shouldn''t be a crime anymore
: than the annoying billboards that litter our highways.


Wake up, pal. Spammers routinely break laws to hide their identities, to commandeer unsuspecting PCs used to send spam and they invade our privacy not only by intruding but by data mining as much personal information on us they can get. The only good spammer is a dead one. I only regret that he took other innocent lives.

[tmittelstaed]

My day job is managing an ISP and I am paid to (among other things) clean up after turkeys like this guy. Please do not be surprised by this story, I am not. Spammers are among the worst criminals out there, they show exactly the same indifference to the lives of other people that murderers do. It''s no surprise whatsoever that this spammer was also a murderer, it is exactly the same personality type. Spamming IS NOT advertising like a billboard - billboard advertisers have to pay money to advertise, spammers by contrast force everyone else to pay for their message.
I am not sorry for his wife - she deliberately helped a criminal get away from jail, which is an extremely dangerous risk, anyone doing so takes their life in their hands, she did, and she lost. I am sorry for the children, they did not deserve what happened and had no control over it. Let''s hope that the surviving teenager isn''t separated from her sibling in the aftermath.