Pump'n'dump spammer proves rule #1

Proving rule #1, it's IT Blogwatch: in which fugitive stock-kiting spammer Eddie Davidson kills his family and turns the gun on himself. Not to mention awesome ways to recycle a dumpster...

Robert McMillan reports:

Convicted penny-stock spammer Eddie Davidson has died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, apparently after killing his wife and three-year-old daughter in his hometown of Bennet, Colorado ... Davidson had been a fugitive from the law since walking away from a federal minimum-security prison camp in Florence, Colorado on Sunday. He had been serving a 21 month sentence after pleading guilty to criminal spam charges late last year.
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Called the Colorado "Spam King," Davidson earned millions of dollars between 2003 and 2006 by operating a spamming operation, called Power Promoters, out of his home. He would change the header information in his messages to make it appear as if they had come from legitimate companies such as AOL and then send them out to hundreds of thousands of addresses. more

Kieran Nicholson, Howard Pankratz and Carlos Illescas add:

Sheriff's deputies responded to a report of gunfire in the small plains town of Bennett at about 11:15 a.m. today and found Davidson, 29-year-old Amy Lee Ann Hill and their 3-year-old daughter shot to death. Davidson's most recent spam business, Power Promoters, was based in Bennett. Arapahoe County Undersheriff Mark Campbell said the bodies were found laying near a Toyota Sequoia SUV in the driveway.
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Davidson had pleaded guilty to tax evasion and falsifying information about the sender of e-mail pitches for low-cost, high risk stocks. He was sentenced in April to 21 months in federal prison camp in Florence and reported to begin his sentence in late May. Assistant U.S. Attorney Tim Neff said Davidson had become a "consultant" to the FBI investigating other spammers. more

Here's Angela Gunn (unfortunate name, under the circumstances):

Eddie Davidson, the Colorado dirtbag who started the week by escaping his minimum-security correction facility and ended it by shooting his wife and three-year-old daughter to death (and, yeah, himself -- pity he didn't do that one first)? Isn't, wasn't a king of anything. He was a toad who slung junk mail for a shady stock. He was a coward and a murderer who did all this evil behind an crime you can do by yourself in your basement in your underwear. If you need a noun to apply to someone like that, find a noun besides "king" -- perhaps something that fits comfortably after the words "piece of."
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I ask that everyone who reads this -- colleagues, tech friends, everyone who has cause to speak of these matters -- promise that we are dropping the phrase "spam kings" when what we mean is "prolific spammers." more

Kim Zetter agrees:

Edward Davidson, who was known as the "spam king" (although the moniker has been given to nearly ever spammer who has ever been caught) has been found dead ... Davidson had escaped from a minimum-security facility on Sunday -- essentially a work camp -- allegedly with help from his wife.
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Davidson made at least $3.5 million from spamming ... low-cost high risk penny stocks ... on behalf of an unnamed Houston company. He'd also been ordered to pay $714,139 to the Internal Revenue Service.. more

Jeff Smith recalls the trial:

Edward "Eddie" Davidson's sentencing in April indicated no known criminal history, and federal Judge Marcia Krieger didn't deem the convicted spammer as likely to flee or pose a danger to the safety of others.

But Krieger did order mental health counseling for Davidson, referring to a statement by him that suggested he was under significant stress ... Krieger wasn't sympathetic to Davidson's belief that he came from a rough childhood ... She also didn't buy his argument that his crime was in trying to help people ... Krieger said she felt sorry for his family, and said he should apologize to them for his bad choices. more

Charlie Demerjian thinks the unthinkable: [He should be fired -Ed.]

NOT ALL STORIES have a happy ending, but the tale of escaped spam king Edward "Eddie" Davidson sure does.
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While it is hard not to feel bad for his brutally murdered wife and child, not to mention his wounded daughter, Eddie's suicide itself is the stuff of happy thoughts. Every deceased spammer is a million fewer in-box-clogging, malware-infested mails a day, so lets tip one back for liberal gun laws.
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While he only got a taste of what he deserved, it is a good start. Condolences to his family, none for him. May his colleagues follow his lead in short order. more

Neil Schwartzman offers a more sober perspective:

When doing a job that you love it is natural enough to immerse oneself, to become somewhat myopic, about the relative importance and meaning of one’s work, but every once in a while context is thrust forward, rending fantasy and reverie aside, leaving one faced with a reality of what really matters.

Such are the sad events surrounding the murder-suicide that ended convicted spammer Eddie Davidson’s life today ... CAUCE extends our sympathies to the friends and families of the victims of this needless tragedy. more

And finally...

• The Awesome Way To Recycle a Dumpster

Buffer overflow:

• The Open Road: The rich irony of Kevin Johnson's departure from Microsoft
• Hack a Day: DNS cache poisoning webcast
• Microsoft News Tracker: Microsoft tries enterprise hardware with DATAllegro purchase
• Gadget Lab: Apple Slammed for MobileMe Disaster
• Mary-Jo Foley: Microsoft confirms IE 8 will ship this year
• Beyond Binary: Microsoft looks to 'Mojave' to revive Vista's image
• Gizmodo: Why We Still Need the iPhone App Black Market

Other Computerworld bloggers:

• Eric Ogren: Security is not a solution
• Don Tennant: Microsoft rains mud on SaaS
• Mike Elgan: A gadget that pays for itself -- then keeps on paying
• SJVN: The two essential Firefox extensions
• Mark Hall: PhishMe service identifies, educates gullible users
• Scott McPherson: Newsom intervenes; Dolly vindicates blog
• Douglas Schweitzer: When you just want to leave a message
• Shark Tank: Just because YOU didn't know...
• Shark Bait: Jailed IT administrator Terry Childs

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Richi Jennings is an independent analyst/adviser/consultant, specializing in blogging, email, and spam. A 21 year, cross-functional IT veteran, he is also an analyst at Ferris Research. You can follow him on Twitter, pretend to be Richi's friend on Facebook, or just use boring old email: blogwatch@richi.co.uk.

Previously in IT Blogwatch:

• Horrific DNS vulnerability now exploited
• Steve Jobs isn't too rich or too thin
• A crowdsourced $200 tablet PC