Twitter account where Bellingham man may have confessed to killing wife is suspended
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Lynn Heimsoth murder
Sunnyland Elementary School Principal Lynn Heimsoth, her therapy dog Sukha and the family cat were shot to death Dec. 26, 2019, at her home west of Bellingham. Kevin Heimsoth, her husband who reportedly attempted to kill himself after her death, has been charged with murder and animal cruelty.
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The Twitter account that may have been associated with the Bellingham man accused of fatally shooting his wife, a Bellingham elementary school principal, and their two pets has been suspended for violating Twitter’s rules.
Kevin Heimsoth, 56, shot himself and was in the Intensive Care Unit at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle Monday, according to a hospital spokesperson. He is under guard by the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office.
Heimsoth is suspected of fatally shooting his 58-year-old wife, Lynn Heimsoth, at their home in the 900 block of Marine Drive in the early morning hours of Dec. 26. Lynn Heimsoth was the principal at Sunnyland Elementary School.
Her cause of death was declared a handgun gunshot wound to the head and was officially ruled a homicide by the Whatcom County Medical Examiner. Her time of death was declared around 10:30 a.m. Dec. 26, but initial law enforcement investigation suggests shots may have been heard around 2:45 a.m. that morning, the medical examiner said.
Lynn Heimsoth’s therapy dog, Sukha, and a cat were also found fatally shot at the home.
The Twitter account that may have belonged to Kevin Heimsoth sent a series of four reply tweets to the National Rifle Association, President Donald Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell shortly after 3 a.m. on Dec. 26 stating that the user shot and killed their wife and their dog.
In a reply to the NRA’s Merry Christmas tweet — which had 191 comments and 4,700 likes as of Saturday afternoon — the account possibly belonging to Kevin Heimsoth tweeted that “Guns don’t kill people, people do.”
The tweet then goes on to say that the user “jsit (sic) killed my whole family, and i couldnt have done it without a gun!”
The user’s tweet also said that AR-15s make it easier to kill people and that he was a coward and couldn’t have killed his family with a knife. He then thanks the NRA. In a separate tweet replying to the NRA, the user thanked McConnell for making it possible then requested a welfare check at the couple’s specific waterfront condominium in the 900 block of Marine Drive. The user also addressed shooting his wife’s dog.
While the Twitter account belonging to Kevin Heimsoth could not be verified by The Bellingham Herald or others at McClatchy, a number of aspects point to it belonging to Kevin Heimsoth: The account is associated with email accounts and phone numbers that belong to him; the account associated with Lynn Heimsoth followed this account; she retweeted the account at least once.
As of Saturday afternoon, the account and tweets were still up, even though they had been reported to Twitter multiple times, according to social media posts. By Monday afternoon, the account had been suspended and the tweets removed.
A Twitter spokesperson Monday declined to comment further about the account, tweets or how many times they had been reported.
The Bellingham Herald has reached out to the NRA for comment.
Whatcom County Sheriff Bill Elfo said Dec. 27 he could not comment on the Twitter account.
Resources
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence or sexual assault, you can contact the following local resources for free, confidential support:
▪ Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault Services: 24-hour Help Line: 360-715-1563, Email: info@dvsas.org.
▪ Lummi Victims of Crime: 360-312-2015.
▪ Bellingham Police: You can call anonymously at 360-778-8611, or go online at cob.org/tips.
▪ WWU Consultation and Sexual Assault Support Survivor Advocacy Services: 360-650-3700 or wp.wwu.edu/sexualviolence/.
▪ Brigid Collins Family Support Center: 360-734-4616, brigidcollins.org.
This story was originally published December 30, 2019 at 1:18 PM with the headline "Twitter account where Bellingham man may have confessed to killing wife is suspended."
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