GUILTY WA - 'John Doe' Scott Shain charged with stealing 20+ identities, Seattle, 2007

[LillyRush]

I saw this in the Seattle Times yesterday too and it's really bothering me. Do you think that this man could maybe be a serial killer that they've not yet tied to different cases? In the article it said that he wasn't even doing the typical thing that identity thefts do (i.e. - getting credit and obtaining other things in another person's name). Also, why else would he do this?

It's under the Desmond identity that he was caught in 1998 trying to alter his fingerprints while applying for a concealed-handgun permit in Seattle.

According to Velling and evidence presented in court, Shain first attempted to obliterate the prints by painting a substance over his fingertips. When that failed, he used some sort of acid to try to burn them off.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2004302802_webjohndoe24m.html

 

[Buffalo]

This is fascinating. You know this guy is wanted for something.

When I was reading this, I immediately thought of this guy. This picture of him is from before he committed his crime, so it's probably seven years ago or so.


http://www.amw.com/fugitives/brief.cfm?id=25245

Kinda looks the same to me. What does everyone else think?

fran

When those photos was taken? Shain has no hair at all at the top of his head while Fisher has some. Their left eyebrows are shaped differently. I don't think they are the same person.

 

[OkieGranny]

From November 2008:

http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle...-months-for-stealing-more-than-20-identities/

On Friday, the 53-year-old Shain — originally indicted on identity-theft charges under the name “John Doe” — was sentenced to 30 months in prison on charges of aggravated identity theft, Social Security fraud and being a felon in possession of a firearm...

Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Johanna Vanderlee said Shain had not used the fake identities to defraud anyone or “enhance his personal lifestyle.” When Shain was arrested last year in Seattle, he was living in a filthy, windowless storage area in a rundown office building on lower Queen Anne. He paid $75 a month in rent...

“Shain told (the doctor) that ‘starting over’ with new identities was initially exciting and fun, but that eventually, he realized he was still himself, with the same problems, and that he used the identities because he wanted to avoid contact with others,” Vanderlee wrote.