Kevin Heimsoth is a Bellingham, Washington man accused of murdering his school principal wife and her therapy dog and then boasting about it on Twitter to the NRA and President Donald Trump.
The tweets appear to be an attempt to make a bizarre anti-gun rant in which Heimsoth says he “couldn’t have done it without a gun!” and laments that it was hardest to kill the family dog, a therapy animal named Sukha. In a series of other tweets, he trashed Trump, calling the president a loser and other insults.
In addition to his wife, Lynn Heimsoth, and Sukha, Kevin Heimsoth is also accused of shooting the family cat to death. Lynn was the principal at Sunnyland Elementary and a beloved educator. Children knew the therapy animal well. “Each day, Sukha greets children as they arrive at Sunnyland Elementary School. On the day we visited, it was his second birthday, but he is 14 in dog years,” read an article about the dog on the school website in 2018.
Here’s what you need to know:
1. Horrific Tweets in Heimsoth’s Name Refer to Killing His ‘Whole Family’ With the Dog Being ‘the Hardest’
Tweets sent by the Heimsoth account
The extremely disturbing tweets are still up. They are directed toward the NRA and Donald Trump. “Guns don’t kill people, people do. Guns just make it a lot easier. AR-15 makes it super easy,” reads one of those Heimsoth tweets, which are riddled with typos and dated December 26, 2019.
“I jsit killed my whole family, and i couldnt have done it without a gun! I’m too much of a coward, a knife would have been waaay too hard. So, thanks to everyone at the NRA.”
Another tweet reads, “Moscow Mitch and everyone else for making this possible. Some should call for a wellfare check at 909 Marine Dr, #120 in Bellimgham Wa. Lots of blood…thoe dog was the hardest ?.”
A 2017 tweet directed at Trump read, “Yeah!!! With guns it could have looked more like Orlando…you’ve heard what happened in Orlando, right? You haven’t commented….”
2. Sheriff’s Deputies Found Heimsoth’s Wife & the Pets Dead From Gunshots in the Family Condo; Kevin Heimsoth Also Shot Himself But Survived
In a news release, the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Department reported that, on Thursday, December 26th at 1028 hours, Sheriff’s Deputies “responded to a condominium complex in the 900 block of Marine Drive in response to a reported murder and suicide.”
When they got there, they found a “58 year old female deceased in her apartment from an apparent gunshot wound. Her husband age 56, who was also in the apartment, appeared to have sustained a self-inflicted gunshot wound and was transported to a local hospital under Sheriff’s Office guard.”
The release added that “a dog and a cat were also found deceased from gunshot wounds. The Sheriff’s Office does not believe that there is any generalized threat to the community that is connected to this incident. The investigation is in its preliminary stages and no further details are being released at this time.”
Lynn was shot in the head, according to the Bellingham Herald. Kevin Heimsoth remains in critical condition, the newspaper reported.
3. Lynn Heimsoth Was a School Principal Remembered as a Passionate Leader Who ‘Loved Kids to the Core’
Sukha is rockin his back to school outfit! #therapydogintraining
Bellingham Schools Superintendent Greg Baker posted a message about Lynn Heimsoth’s death on the district website, explaining that she was a “passionate, equity-driven” leader.
Directing the message toward families in the district, he wrote, “I am sorry to share news of a tragedy within our Bellingham Public Schools family. We have learned that Sunnyland Principal Lynn Heimsoth was found dead at her home this morning.”
He added: “We are heartbroken by this news. Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office deputies are actively investigating the incident. They have informed us that the public is not in any danger and a suspect has been taken into custody. Her therapy dog Sukha, who was always by Lynn’s side, was also killed.”
Continued the superintendent: “Her death is a profound loss to our Sunnyland community, our school district and to our extended community. Lynn was a passionate, equity-driven instructional leader. She loved kids to the core and always kept students’ needs at the center of her work. She had been principal at Sunnyland since fall 2017. Prior to coming to Sunnyland, she was the principal of Shoultes Elementary in Marysville and worked for Bremerton, North Kitsap and South Kitsap school districts as an elementary teacher and instructional leader.”
Online records show Kevin Heimsoth with past addresses in Washington State, Illinois and Montana.
4. The Kevin Heimsoth Twitter Account Trashed Trump, Calling Him a ‘Liar Liar’ & ‘Big Loser’
Tweets sent by the Heimsoth account
Heimsoth’s Twitter account has two visible tweets on the actual page but a series of direct tweets that show a fixation with writing and trashing Trump. They date back to 2015. Trashing Trump pretty much appears to be the account’s only activity beyond a few other tweets at Fox News and the like. He accused Trump of being weak and a “BIG LOSER” in caps.
Here are some of his other recent tweets, again riddled with spelling errors and typos.
To Trump: “A Coup D’etate does not replace the ousted leader with someone who was hand-picked by the ousted leader…maybe you should go back to that awesome school you went to and actually study this time, or stop using words you don’t understand.” And: “Hahaha! How do you run around all day with your pants on fire, liar liar?”
More of the Heimsoth tweets
To Trump again: “Soooo, have directed someone to re-write the conversation, or is the ‘White House’ or Rudy going to claim executive privilege in order to block its release? Like with your taxes, your answers to Mueller’s questions, your testifying before Congress or the grand jury?”
To Trump and Turkish President Erdogan: “…’the ultimate solution’…could you also call that the Final Solution for the Kurds?” He also directed a vitriolic tweet toward Ivanka Trump.
The account wrote a series of other similar screeds against Trump. One tweet defended The New York Times, saying, “Isnt it funny, the NYTimes only became a failing newspaper when they started criticizing you…how do you explain?” Another read, “@realDonaldTrump Good to see you in Spokane, the NW epi-center for White Supremacists!!! You should feel right at home.”
His two visible tweets say “I’m not following this…kick his ass Chrissy….#presidentpussyassbitch” and “Using MLK to sell trucks…I don’t think that was anything near his dream. TOTALLY INSULTING AND OFFENSIVE. You’ve lost a customer. Never see ME in a Dodge again.”
Lynn Heimsoth indicated on Twitter that she was a Hillary Clinton supporter. She retweeted her husband’s tweet on MLK. Her other tweets say things like, “I love the use of storytelling as a leadership move!”
5. Sukha, the Therapy Dog, Loved Children
The therapy dog
In the article on the school website, Lynn Heimsoth talked about the therapy dog loving children.
“He really loves kids,” she said in that article. “He would choose a kid over an adult any day. After a three-day weekend he is so excited to be back at school.”
Children would come to Lynn’s office to read to the dog. “One student has trained Sukha to read and respond to flashcards with commands including sit, down, beg and crawl. Students also learn leadership by taking on responsibilities such as feeding and brushing him,” the article stated.
“Sukha provides something that we can’t – unconditional love,” Lynn said in the article.
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