A man who killed two registered sex offenders in Washington this summer, because he said "it had to be done," was sentenced to life without parole for the vigilante murders yesterday.
Patrick Drum, 34, first killed his roommate, 28-year-old Gary Blanton in their Sequim home on June 2. After shooting Blanton, Drum drove to Jerry Ray's house, killing him the following morning.
Witnesses called authorities to report seeing a suspicious man in a wooded area of the Olympic Peninsula. The search turned up a rental car abandoned by Drum and containing a note assuming responsibility for "taking care of some problems," the Associated Press reported.
Police used dogs to track Drum down, ending a three-hour manhunt. Once captured by officers, Drum told a detective he gunned down the two men "because they were sex offenders," and would have killed more if he hadn't been stopped, NBC News said.
Blanton was found dead inside the padlocked home he shared with Drum. Blanton had been convicted of rape as a teenager. His wife claimed that he'd been falsely convicted for having consensual sex with a freshman when he was a senior in high school, the Sequim Gazette reported.
Ray pleaded guilty in 2002 to raping a 7-year-old and a 4-year-old, the Gazette said.
Drum has a previous criminal record too, including convictions for burglary and drug charges, Reuters reported.
Attention from the killing earned Drum the support of some fans who have stalked the Blantons' home and spat on them, Blanton's wife said, according to KOMO.
“It was never my intent to hurt the families involved," Drum said in court, according to the Peninsula Daily News. "That's like collateral damage."
There was extra security on hand in the courtroom Tuesday to protect Drum, Fox News reported.
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