Suspect’s behavior puzzles police

Keith Paul

Tuesday, April 16, 2002 | 11:09 a.m.

Police and criminal justice experts can't explain why the suspect of a double murder in which a mother and her son were killed allegedly returned to the crime scene Sunday and attacked a surviving family member.

The obsession has investigators further questioning the motives of suspect Timmy J. Weber, who is accused of killing his girlfriend, Kim Gautier, and her 15-year-old son, Anthony Gautier.

But after escaping a police manhunt Sunday, Metro Police are more worried about finding Weber than profiling him.

"We're not interested in therapy. We're interested in apprehension," said Lt. Tom Monahan of Metro's homicide unit. "Once he is in CCDC (Clark County Detention Center), they can analyze him all they want. Right now we need to get him in custody. There will be plenty of time to analyze his behavior when he's in custody."

Weber remains on the run today and police say he is likely still in town. He showed up Sunday at Gautier's home on First Street near Bonanza Road, the scene of the April 4 slayings, and allegedly attacked Gautier's oldest son, 17-year-old Christopher Gautier, with a bat. Weber then eluded a massive police search.

The obsession Weber apparently has with the family appears stronger than the desire to avoid the police, said Neil Boyd, a criminology professor at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, British Columbia and author of several books on crime and violence.

"This isn't about getting away with a crime. It's much more disturbed than that," Boyd said. "He apparently tried to evade capture, but returning to the scene of the crime would appear to make it much more likely he would be captured."

While there are reports of domestic violence in the nearly four-year, on-again, off-again relationship between Weber and Gautier, Boyd said the slayings indicate more than just an argument turned violent.

Weber is accused of assaulting Gautier's 14-year-old daughter shortly after or shortly before he beat Gautier to death and asphyxiated her son in the house.

"The typical domestic murder (profile) doesn't fit," Boyd said. "There is a serious obsession on his part. Coming back to the house tells me he is pretty obsessed with this family."

Police say Weber didn't have a logical reason for going back to the house, like grabbing a piece of evidence left behind. He returned Sunday, 10 days after the slayings and well after the police went through the house.

"Our belief is that he was there for no other reason than to cause the surviving victims harm." Monahan said.

Christopher Gautier was not hurt severely and he and his sister are safe, Monahan said.

But going back to the house and waiting for the surviving children is something even the most experienced detectives say they have never heard of.

Linda Fairstein, who has 30 years experience as a prosecutor in Manhattan, said she had some cases where a suspect came back looking for a witness, but none in which a suspect returned to the scene and waited.

"That makes not sense to me at all," said Fairstein, who retired recently as the chief of the sex crimes unit for the Manhattan district attorney's office.

The recent allegations of attacking Christopher Gautier could lead to additional charges once Weber is caught, Clark County District Attorney Stewart Bell said.

The latest round of violence against the family will also be taken into consideration when a committee of prosecutors gather to decide if Weber will face the death penalty, Bell said.

Monday there were several reported sightings of Weber, but none were determined to actually be him.

The Criminal Apprehension Team, a team of local officers and federal agents, along with other specialized Metro units, are searching for Weber.

Sgt. Ted Lee noted that many fugitives are caught from a tip from the public.

"The public is the big thing," he said. "Someone will see him and make a call."

Gautier family friends say they never knew much about Weber. It wasn't until the slayings they found out he was a seven-time convicted felon. The last Kimberly Bell heard Gautier had dumped Weber.

Now as she she is trying to mourn her friend, the pain is exacerbated by the attack on Gautier's surviving son.

"What is he coming back for?" she said. "He's got some serious problems to come back here and try to kill Christopher."