Our Borders are so much safer today then 2 years ago, RIGHT!

Man with what appeared to be a bloody chain saw let into U.S.
He was later charged with murder in Canada

The Associated Press
Updated: 3:21 p.m. ET June 7, 2005
BOSTON - On April 25, Gregory Despres arrived at the U.S.-Canadian border crossing at Calais, Maine, carrying a homemade sword, a hatchet, a knife, brass knuckles and a chain saw stained with what appeared to be blood. U.S. customs agents confiscated the weapons and fingerprinted Despres.
Then they let him into the United States.
The following day, a gruesome scene was discovered in Despres’ hometown of Minto, New Brunswick: The decapitated body of a 74-year-old country musician named Frederick Fulton was found on his kitchen floor. The man’s head was in a pillow case under a kitchen table. His common-law wife was discovered stabbed to death in a bedroom.
Despres, 22, immediately became a suspect because of a history of violence between him and his neighbors, and he was arrested April 27 after police in Massachusetts saw him wandering down a highway in a sweat shirt with red and brown stains. He is now in jail in Massachusetts on murder charges, awaiting an extradition hearing next month.
At a time when the United States is tightening its borders, how could a man toting what appeared to be a bloody chain saw be allowed into the country?
Questioned for two hours at border
Bill Anthony, a spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, said the Canada-born Despres could not be detained because he is a naturalized U.S. citizen and was not wanted on any criminal charges on the day in question.
Anthony said Despres was questioned for two hours before he was released. During that time, he said, customs agents employed “every conceivable method” to check for warrants or see if Despres had broken any laws in trying to re-enter the country.
“Nobody asked us to detain him,” Anthony said. “Being bizarre is not a reason to keep somebody out of this country or lock them up. ... We are governed by laws and regulations, and he did not violate any regulations.”
Anthony conceded it “sounds stupid” that a man wielding what appeared to be a bloody chain saw could not be detained. But he added: “Our people don’t have a crime lab up there. They can’t look at a chain saw and decide if it’s blood or rust or red paint.”
Assault, threat charges in Canada
Sgt. Gary Cameron of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police would not comment on whether it was, in fact, blood on the chain saw.
On the same day Despres crossed the border, he was due in a Canadian court to be sentenced on charges he assaulted and threatened to kill Fulton’s son-in-law, Frederick Mowat, last August.
Mowat told police Despres had been bothering his father-in-law for the past month. When Mowat confronted him, Despres allegedly pulled a knife, pointed it at Mowat’s chest and said he was “going to get you all.”
Police believe the dispute between the neighbors boiled over in the early-morning hours of April 24, when Despres allegedly broke into Fulton’s home and stabbed the couple.
Fulton’s daughter found her father’s body two days later. His car was later found in a gravel pit on a highway leading to the U.S. border. Despres hitchhiked to the border crossing.
After the bodies were found on the afternoon of April 26, police set up roadblocks and sent out a bulletin that identified Despres as a “person of interest” in the slayings, according to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
Mental competence questioned
The bulletin caught the eye of a Quincy police dispatcher because it gave the suspect’s Massachusetts driver’s license number, missing a character. The dispatcher plugged in numbers and letters until she found a last known address for Despres in Mattapoisett. She alerted police in that town, and an officer quickly spotted Despres.
In state court the next day, Despres told a judge that he is affiliated with NASA and was on his way to a Marine Corps base in Kansas at the time of his arrest.
After the case was transferred to federal court, Despres’ attorney, Michael Andrews, questioned whether his client is mentally competent.
Fulton’s friends in Minto, a village of 2,700 people, told the New Brunswick Telegraph-Journal that he was a popular musician, a guitarist known as the “Chet Atkins of Minto” and a 2001 inductee in the Minto Country Music Wall of Fame.
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/world/3214919

Thanks, this is good to know ... I'll be doing some traveling next month ...

The real question is: "Who the fuck gives a ride to a man carrying a sword, a hatchet, a knife, brass knuckles and a chainsaw stained with blood?!"

I'm as baffled as you are on this one. What the hell the government is doing to address this, I have not a clue.

George Romero?

I heard this story on the radio.

It is really Shocking that someoen liek this got across the border =/

And they would detain you if you forgot to declare more than one bottle of Alcohol. (i believe thats the limit for undeclared)

apparently there is nothing illegal about carrying a sword , bloody chainsaw, etc to the border crossing. They did take away all the weapons at the border and did check to see if he was wanted for any crimes. At the time of the crossing he wasn't wanted for anything. Plus he was a naturalized US citizen. They had no legal grounds to stop him from crossing.

I'm sorry, but the chainsaw had what appeared to be BLOOD on it? WTH? They could have detained him and checked in at his hometown or WHATEVER. Something could have been done. Geez they stop enough ppl for fuck all, yet someone like this gets thru the net?

Riiiiight.

"bloody chainsaw" Did you get that "bloody chainsaw". Lets see lets brake that up.
First Chainsaw, a portable power saw that has teeth linked together to form an endless chain. Now if we understand this we know that it’s a Blade that can cut people.
Second Bloody, (2) smeared or stained with blood. Now anything covered in blood would be seen as a reason to stop some one legally.
Add the two back together.
Bloody Chainsaw, a motorized unit that can be used as a weapon covered in blood.

Legal ground to stop him from crossing? Oh yes they have a legal obligation to stop him and ask questions about the blood.

Have you seen a picture of this guy?

Along another line of thought, I find it astounding that if someone tried to cross the border with even an ounce of marijuana in their pocket they would be stopped, strip searched, arrested and deported. This guy crosses with a chain saw with blood on it, a sword, a hachet and a knife after just having just killed someone and they let him across.

Un-fucking-believable, when a couple of ounces of MJ are more dangerous than a friggin chain saw.

Maybe I am wrong, but I thought there was laws in the US about caring a blade longer then 3 inches. Does a sword not violate that?

would it have made sense to tell this guy to wait and take a jog over to the Candian side of the border crossing and ask those authorities what they thought of this guy and all his weapons and blood.

Minor thing like respect for jurisdiction and authority.

Probable cuase?

"gee this guy may have killed someone in Canada and has all these weapons on him, lets talk to their cops for just a second"

At least at the border crossings to and from Canada ive been to , only the country you are trying to get into Observe you and converse with you.

Umm..couldn't they have detained him for several days just because of his hair style? Maybe called in a special stylist task force?

But Blood on a Chain saw you can!

Varies by state. I don't believe there are any Federal laws regarding the matter, unless you're trying to catch a plane.

They did detain him while they checked him out. At the time he checked out clean. plus they had no way of knowing that that was blood on the chainsaw. There is lots of stuff that is the same general color.
I'm just waiting for someone to use this as an excuse to further take away our rights. Even though common sence might say to provide a means for the border guards to actually test for blood and/or other substance of interest to law enforcement officials, I have a feeling "they" will use it as an excuse to be even more invasive and anal at border crossings. If you think "they stop enough ppl for fuck all", just wait til you see what will happen now in response to this incident.

He that would give up a little bit of liberty for a little bit of personal safety, deserves neither liberty nor safety" --Benjamin Franklin

Boarders = Like the OLD Chineese wall.. what do you keep out or what do you keep in.. and what will it end in...

"On the same day Despres crossed the border, he was due in a Canadian court to be sentenced on charges he assaulted and threatened to kill Fulton’s son-in-law, Frederick Mowat, last August."

Sounds like they only checked his US Warrants.

The fact he was Guilty and supposed to be going to sentencing in Canada would have shown up, I think.

Since he was in Canada with those weapons and bloody Chainsaw .. this should have been relevant.

Thing is the people that let him in the USA didn't think.

He that would give up a little bit of liberty for a little bit of personal safety, deserves neither liberty nor safety" --Benjamin Franklin

I doubt Franklin would support a man with a bloody saw trying to get into the country, without first finding out where the blood might have come from.

I agree with you on this - the power hungry Patriot Act followers appear to grasp at everything they can in order to further erode our freedom under the guise of security.

Though the things that they can do to you if they even "suspect" that you have drugs are are lot more invasive (since it's pretty difficult to hide a chainsaw up your backside).

When I just out of highschool I went to Tecate Mexico to visit some friends. I guess that seeing a young female crossing back into the US alone from Mexico hit some kind of profile radar for them and they searched me and then completely disassembled my car (took the doors off, the seats out etc. etc.). They found nothing, because there was nothing to be found and then they left me with having to phone my father to drive 150 miles to the border and put my car back together for me because they wouldn't.

So yeah, this warrants repeating:

He that would give up a little bit of liberty for a little bit of personal safety, deserves neither liberty nor safety" --Benjamin Franklin