Daniel Tavares murder of Beverly and Brian Mauck

The framework of this entire web site was born out of consideration of specific episodes of Forensic Files – and this was one of the most significant ones. Daniel Tavares wore the same shoes to one of his police interviews as he'd worn on the morning of the Maucks' murder. I recalled at least one other episode where the perpetrator had shown up to a police interview with footwear that matched prints at the crime scene. This is when I began to wonder, "How often does this occur? How frequently do the accused make such a blatant blunder that they essentially hand themselves over the to police?" And finally, "Which episodes share these types of events in common?"

Image credit: Episode screen capture from Forensic Files

These mistakes our not-all-too-bright perpetrators make evolved into other potentially overlapping observations among episodes. Ideas like the murder weapon, forensic tools and evidence, and common police phrases all fell under the scrutiny of "When and where else does this occur?" What I first thought I'd flesh out as an interesting spreadsheet became an intricate database which now empowers this site's backend. If you're interested, the About page has more information about the site's inception.

The events that led to discovering Beverly and Brian Mauck's bodies on the morning of their murder were familiar. Recall Brian's friend had stopped at the Maucks' to pick Brian up for a morning of hunting. Seeing no lights on inside the house, he figured Brian was still sleeping and continued on alone. While I don't hunt, I have spent a fair amount of time fishing, mostly with my father. Our typical excursion would start with my arrival at his house around 4:30am with the goal of casting by sunrise. Dad would have already prepared the night before, reviewing his extensive checklist to ensure nothing was overlooked. A 45-minute drive would get us to the boat ramp. This early-morning expedition was excruciating for me. I've never been a morning person, and it's unlikely I'd have gotten more than 4-5 hours of sleep beforehand. There were more than one of these mornings I hoped to arrive at my dad's and find all the lights off inside.

A quick comment about this episode's introduction: By 2010, the series had adopted their "Up next..." lead-in, and Peter Thomas describes "an execution-style murder and a sophisticated [sic] cover-up." With photos, the intro goes on to suggest involvement by 21-year-old neighbor, Jeremy Flynn. But the episode's introduction never shows and only vaguely refers to the genuine perpetrator, Daniel Tavares.

The morning's events after the Maucks' murder

Upon seeing blood and the legs of an apparent body through the Maucks' window, Brian's friend immediately called the police. In a situation where there's potential danger and a possible deceased person, this was the right thing to do, and would be most folks' course of action. Unless you're Susie Mowbray from Where the Blood Drops (s06e21). Instead of contacting authorities after a gunshot ripped through her husband's head, Susie Mowbray called a family friend. "He did it!" was the important information she felt she needed to tell this person. More important than summoning paramedics in an attempt to save her husband's life.

Image credit: Episode screen capture from Forensic Files

I was curious about the specifics of Daniel Tavares' interactions with each of the Maucks on the morning he killed them. Brian answered the door when Daniel paid them an unwelcome visit, around 7am. Research led me to variations in the event sequence that followed, so I'll merely suggest what may've occurred. While Daniel Tavares never openly explained why he pulled his gun and shot Brian Mauck, an overreaction to a perceived insult is a believable rationalization. Tavares had only been out of jail for four months when he committed the murders. He had known issues with mental health, anger management, and feelings of victimization. I feel Tavares' mood often turned on a dime. Bringing a gun to the Maucks' home that morning was an indication that Daniel was either expecting or intending to make trouble.

Justifying why Brian Mauck might've insulted Daniel Tavares that morning is easy. The type of neighbors Daniel and Jennifer were didn't come up, but believing it's acceptable to awaken your neighbors at 7am is worthy of insult. Whatever their dialogue, Brian offended Daniel and then turned his back to him. Brian was shot in the back of the head at close range, and Daniel quickly moved closer and shot Brian twice more.

Hearing the commotion followed by gunfire, Beverly Mauck tried to make an escape. Some accounts say Tavares shot Beverly in the back as she fled. Another describes Daniel grabbing Beverly by her clothes before also shooting her in the back of the head. Like her husband, Beverly was ultimately shot a total of three times. I'm not sure how desperate for money Daniel was, but it's hard to believe this was the outcome of an attempt to collect a $50 debt.

Daniel Tavares' "sophisticated cover-up" at the crime scene

When a person commits murder, I can't imagine how twisted their mind and their thoughts become. Steven Ainsworth, a detective featured in Unholy Alliance (s10e24), talks about the "full-tilt boogie". Described as "that rush of emotion once they've done it [committed murder]", Ainsworth goes on to share that the perpetrator's "brains go out the window". I think one of the related ideas that becomes most distorted may be if and how to clean up the crime scene.

Image credit: Episode screen capture from Forensic Files

When faced with so much blood, I'm guessing Daniel Tavares didn't look for a mop and settle for a broom. Instead, it makes sense that he used the broom to obscure his shoeprints as the episode described. Perhaps tired of sweeping and resweeping the prints he (and Jennifer at some point later) were making, Daniel had the idea to spread sheets over the blood. Of course, going into the Maucks' bedroom and turning on the light potentially left Daniel's fingerprints on-or-near the light switch. And as an experienced criminal, Daniel wiped these off, however with an already-bloody rag. Sadly, most of this effort didn't matter when Daniel failed to notice a clear palmprint he left in blood on the door jam.

Sometimes, the perpetrator oscillates between cleaning and not cleaning. I believe they're often optimistic about how well (and quickly) they can clean up, but they become overwhelmed. Take Andrea Morris' stabbing murder of Pat McRae for instance. Vague attempts were made to clean some of the blood evidence at the scene, but Morris needn't have spent any time. Ignoring the majority of the blood and bloody footprints, Andrea's cleaning gestures had been futile. Next, consider another season-13 episode, Covet Thy Neighbor. After Maurice Wallace killed Olamide Adeyooye in her apartment, he makes one lazy attempt to destroy blood evidence. The bleach Wallace splashed around the blood on Olamide's carpet and clothing did little to obfuscate its evidentiary value.

One of my favorite failed clean-ups is seen in yet another season-13 episode, Best Foot Forward. Ken Otto is turned down by Shamaia Smith, and he shoots her in a camper on his rural property. He burns Smith's body in a fire pit, but investigators are optimistic there's still evidence to be found. After obtaining a warrant to thoroughly search Otto's property, the investigation was delayed more than a week by inclement weather. In addition to the rain's potential impact on detectives' search, Ken spent the entire week demolishing, burning, and burying other potential evidence. "Mr. Otto's property looked like man-made Hell," quipped Detective Curt Stoldt. Despite his effort and personal loss, Ken's hard work proved insufficient.

Image credit: Episode screen capture from Forensic Files

After sweeping the blood, contaminating the bedroom to find bedsheets, and covering the swaths of blood with said sheets, Daniel Tavares still managed to leave fairly clear footwear impressions at the crime scene. It was evident that Daniel (and later Jennifer) was not in a rush to leave the scene of the crime. Why they needed more than five minutes to affect the clean-up effort they made is not apparent to me. In their time spent, neither Tavares even pondered picking up the shell casings. Overall, the extra time spent in the Maucks' home probably created additional evidence that helped secure Daniel's conviction.

Bound for recidivism

It's crystal clear that reform in the American prison system is long overdue. Instead of rehabilitating offenders, today's jail system attempts to punish them. Instead of recognizing and attempting to treat mental illness or addictions, prison actually grooms criminals to become better at committing their crimes. The recidivism rates in the United States speak loudly to the glaring failures of today's prison system.

Daniel Tavares was inevitably going back to jail after his release in 2007. He'd been paroled from a Massachusetts prison after serving 16 years for stabbing his mother to death. He immediately violated his parole when he left his home state and relocated 3,000 miles west in Washington. I was a bit confused by the episode's narrative when it described "no jurisdiction" to re-apprehend Tavares. The first time he failed a mandatory check-in with his parole officer, a warrant for his rearrest should've been issued.

If Daniel really wanted to stay out of trouble and off police's radar, he could've made better choices after he murdered the Maucks. Instead of attempting (badly) to play the role of helpful citizen, Tavares should have simply claimed to have seen or heard nothing on the morning in question. If you're going to make up a story, make one up that doesn't defy reality and rationality. Describing two potential perpetrators and a red pickup truck leads to the police asking more questions. "I didn't get a good look at them – it was far away," could've again been an acceptable answer. But instead, Tavares decided to double-down on his story's details. He described the driver with far too much detail than what could've been garnered from 200 yards away - over 1/10 of a mile!

Image credit: Episode screen capture from Forensic Files

The police continued their ruse and encouraged Tavares to provide his fingerprints in order to rule his out from the unknown prints at the crime scene. For someone who was in violation of his parole, Daniel was awfully cooperative – he allowed investigators to take his finger and palm prints. I wonder, did Daniel or Jennifer ever grow suspicious of the police's intention, or did they truly think they were successfully misdirecting the investigation?

Daniel Tavares deals with mental health issues and problems with emotion regulation. Dropping out of school at grade eight, Tavares continued to live with his mother. In 1988, he finally tried to reconnect with his father in Florida, who he hadn't lived with since his parents' divorce when he was four. Daniel Tavares Sr. landed his son a job as an apprentice welder, setting him up with an employable skill and an income. But the 22-year-old Daniel still struggled with drug addiction, and when he was found with a stolen checkbook, his father gave up attempting to help. Daniel Tavares moved back to Massachusetts to his mother's home.

Despite these personal problems, I'm disgusted when I listen to the dialog between Tavares and Detective Ben Benson. Discussing his manslaughter conviction from 1992, Benson asks about the victim and uses the pronoun 'him'. Daniel is pretty quick to correct Benson, indicating that his victim was a 'her'. Then, without prompting and seemingly proud, Tavares shares more detail by adding his victim was a "family member". Finally, Daniel adds that it was his own mother (pronounced "mutha") that he fatally stabbed in 1991. I'd imagine there wasn't much in Daniel Tavares' sordid past to hang his hat on, so the ability to shock someone by admitting to matricide was the best he could do. Hats off to Detective Benson for remaining cool and collected upon hearing this revelation.

Jennifer (Freitas) Tavares and Daniel's return trip to prison

While serving his 16 years in prison, Daniel used his computer access to set up a profile on a dating website. PrisonFriendship.com is one such site that exclusively hosts personal ads for convicts. We saw this previously in the episode Fashion Police (s13e17) where convicted murderer (among other crimes) Jeremie Overstreet still sports an active profile.

During his 16-year stint, Daniel Tavares used such a site to connect with Jennifer Freitas. Their relationship blossomed, and upon his 2007 release, Tavares immediately relocated to Washington. The couple were married within days. Why Freitas felt her best options for companionship would be found on an inmate dating site is hard to guess. But her commitment to Tavares after the murders was more out of fear than love, according to her testimony at trial. Jennifer told the court Daniel Tavares threatened to harm her and her family if she didn't help him cover up his heinous crime. She received a one-year sentence for her role in the cleanup and attempted coverup.

Image credit: Episode screen capture from Forensic Files

Apparently, a Massachusetts parole board felt Daniel Tavares was rehabilitated after serving 16 years of his 17-to-20-year sentence. Having spent the majority of his adult life incarcerated after stabbing his mother, it's questionable why it was felt he was unlikely to reoffend. Between his addiction issues and emotional instability, Daniel was ill-equipped to handle civilized life outside of prison. Sadly, the lives of two young victims were the price paid to learn this.

The mother of 28-year-old victim Beverly Mauck deserves a shoutout. Karen Slater shared her feelings and heartbreak during a solid interview with Forensic Files. This classy lady suffered the type of loss most of us will thankfully never have to experience.

Where is Daniel Tavares now in 2024?

Daniel Tavares was convicted of two counts of aggravated first-degree murder in February 2008. He was given a life sentence with no possibility of parole. Daniel Tavares is incarcerated at the Monroe Correctional Complex in Monroe, Washington. Daniel Tavares was born in 1966, so he is  58 years old in now in 2024.