On Tuesday, June 6, the Seattle Police Department released copies of what they believe to be a letter Kyle Huff wrote to his twin brother, Kane, dated March 23, 2006âtwo days before Kyle Huff embarked on one of the deadliest shooting sprees in city history. The letter suggests Huff targeted ravers because he objected to the rave culture's attitudes toward sex.
For the last nine weeks, the only clue Huff had given was, "NOW," a word he spray-painted on the sidewalk and on the steps of a neighboring home moments before he arrived at the front porch of 2112 East Republican Street and began shooting. He killed six young peopleâmost of whom had met Huff at a Capitol Hill rave the previous nightâbefore killing himself.
The letter, department spokeswoman Deanna Nollette says, was a "needle in a haystack." An apartment manager on the 2700 block of Northeast 115th Street had been digging through a Dumpster in an effort to find evidence of illegal dumping. The manager, who has not been identified, found what he thought was a crude bomb and on April 24 he phoned police.
"It was a lump of modeling clay with wires coming out of it and a digital clock," says Nollette. But the SPD's bomb squad found the device to be harmless. "In the course of collecting things from the Dumpster," she says, "officers found the letter."
Nollette says handwriting analysts are still comparing the note against other writing samples to determine its authenticity. (The Stranger has a copy of a job application that Huff once filled out for a pizza delivery job in Seattle and the handwriting looks the same.)
The letter begins, "To Kane from Kyle," and its author writes, "I hate leaving you by yourself but this is something I feel I have to do. My life would always feel incomplete otherwise. I can't let them get away with what they're doing."
He appears to be speaking about ravers. It continues: "I hate this world of sex that they are striving to make. This is a revolution brother. The most important thing to happen since man began, to let it die out would be a crime."
On the night of March 24, Huff attended the "Better Off Undead" zombie-themed rave at Capitol Hill Arts Center. Jeremy Martin spotted Huff standing by himself and suggested to his roommate Anthony Moulton that they invite him to the afterparty they were having at their home on East Republican.
Moulton, who survived the shooting, does not remember Huff arguing with anyone at the partyânor do any of the others who were there. Shortly before 7:00 a.m., March 25, Huff went to his truck, which was parked nearby, and strapped bandoliers of ammunition to his chest and a pistol to his side. He also carried a pistol-grip 12-gauge shotgun. He fired first on the people who were on the front porch and then pushed his way into the living room, firing on whomever he could see. "I have enough caps to kill all you fools," he said, according to a survivor. Martin was killed in the shooting.
Those who knew Huff from his childhood in Whitefish, Montana, describe him as a loner, though he and his brother were inseparable. The letter to Kane says, "I hope you will find this after the fact. Don't let the police or FBI keep you from haveing [sic] it, this is my last wish for you to see this."
The letter leads to new questions, too. It was found about a mile from the Huffs' apartment at 12320 Roosevelt Way. Who put it there? And when? It seems unlikely a Dumpster would have remained untouched for a whole month, which is roughly the time before it surfaced.
It would seem Kane Huff might be able to solve this mystery. Nollette would not say whether investigators have sought another interview with Kane Huff, who on the day of the shootings had told police that he did not know of his brother's plot.
"Maybe someday you'll be willing to help me kill this hippie shit," Kyle Huff wrote to his brother. "Bye Kane. I love you."
