# Daniel Tavares
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{{Short description|American serial killer (born 1966)}}
{{Use American English|date=December 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2025}}
{{Infobox serial killer
| name = Daniel Tavares
| birth_name = Daniel Thomas Tavares Jr.
| birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1966}}
| birth_place = [Fall River, Massachusetts](/source/Fall_River%2C_Massachusetts), U.S.
| death_date =
| death_place =
| death_cause =
| conviction = '''Massachusetts'''{{bulleted list|[Manslaughter](/source/Manslaughter)|First degree murder}}'''Washington'''{{bulleted list|[Aggravated first degree murder](/source/Murder) (2 counts)}}
| sentence = '''Massachusetts'''
17 to 20 years (Manslaughter)
'''Both states'''
[Life sentence](/source/Life_imprisonment_in_the_United_States) without the possibility of [parole](/source/parole)
| victims = 4
| beginyear = 1988
| endyear = 2007
| country = United States
| states = [Massachusetts](/source/Massachusetts), [Washington](/source/Washington_(state))
| apprehended = November 2007
| imprisoned = [Monroe Correctional Complex](/source/Monroe_Correctional_Complex), Monroe, Washington
}}
'''Daniel Thomas Tavares Jr.''' (born 1966) is an American [serial killer](/source/serial_killer) who was convicted of stabbing his mother to death in 1991 and committing a double murder upon his release from prison in 2007. He also confessed to and was convicted for the 1988 murder of a woman found buried in a backyard.[{{Cite news |title=State's highest court denies reprieve for mass murderer Daniel Tavares |last=Martinez |first=Andrew |newspaper=[The Boston Herald](/source/The_Boston_Herald) |url=https://www.bostonherald.com/2020/05/06/states-highest-court-denies-reprieve-for-mass-murderer-daniel-tavares/ |access-date=April 30, 2023 |archive-date=June 19, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200619050339/https://www.bostonherald.com/2020/05/06/states-highest-court-denies-reprieve-for-mass-murderer-daniel-tavares/ |url-status=live}}]
==Early life==
Tavares was born in 1966, the youngest of four children, to Ann and Daniel Tavares Sr., who was an officer in the [US Navy](/source/United_States_Navy). His parents divorced when he was four years old, and his father moved to [Florida](/source/Florida) and remarried, leaving Daniel and his siblings to be raised by their single mother.[{{Cite news |title=How Daniel Tavares went from 'runt' to murderer |last=Crimaldi |first=Laura |newspaper=[The Boston Herald](/source/The_Boston_Herald) |url=https://www.bostonherald.com/2007/12/16/how-daniel-tavares-went-from-runt-to-murderer/ |access-date=April 30, 2023 |archive-date=July 25, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210725075352/https://www.bostonherald.com/2007/12/16/how-daniel-tavares-went-from-runt-to-murderer/ |url-status=live}}]
Tavares dropped out of school in the eighth grade and was first arrested at age 19 for an [assault](/source/assault) committed during an overnight [burglary](/source/burglary). A friend of the Tavares family wrote to the judge that Tavares was a "very sincere and honest young man" and said, "I do not believe that you will see this person in your court again once this ordeal is over." Subsequently, Tavares was sentenced to one year of [probation](/source/probation), and months later, he was charged with [trespassing](/source/Trespass_to_land) and possession of [marijuana](/source/Cannabis_(drug)) and received another five months of probation. Months later, he was charged with [robbery](/source/robbery) and given a prison sentence for violating his probation conditions. He would be charged several more times throughout the mid- to late 1980s for drug possession, [disorderly conduct](/source/disorderly_conduct), and [larceny](/source/larceny).[{{Cite news |title=You be the judge: How a violent con was released, only to commit murder |last=Taormina |first=Barbara |newspaper=[The State Journal-Register](/source/The_State_Journal-Register) |url=https://www.sj-r.com/story/news/2007/12/07/you-be-judge-how-violent/47256246007/ |access-date=April 30, 2023 |archive-date=April 30, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230430092225/https://www.sj-r.com/story/news/2007/12/07/you-be-judge-how-violent/47256246007/ |url-status=live}}] During the incident, he also stabbed Richard Pires, who wrote a letter recommending leniency for his assault charge in 1985. When police arrived, Tavares was banging his head on the ceiling, proclaiming, "I can't take it. I'm hearing voices, and I can't take it." He would later give a variety of explanations for why he killed his mother, including that he was given an [LSD](/source/LSD)-laced drink at a bar hours earlier and that his mother's two boyfriends would regularly force him to engage in sexual acts with her, which caused him to snap. In June 1992, Tavares pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced to 17 to 20 years in prison. During his imprisonment, he would file numerous lawsuits and claim that he was harassed and assaulted by correctional officers for being [gay](/source/Homosexuality).[{{Cite news |title=Family of slain Graham couple seeks $20M over killer's early prison release |last=Sullivan |first=Jennifer |newspaper=[Seattle Times](/source/Seattle_Times) |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/family-of-slain-graham-couple-seeks-20m-over-killers-early-prison-release/ |access-date=April 30, 2023 |archive-date=October 22, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211022043815/https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/family-of-slain-graham-couple-seeks-20m-over-killers-early-prison-release/ |url-status=live}}][{{Cite news |title=The fateful release of 'pure evilness' |last=Tizon |first=Tomas |newspaper=[Los Angeles Times](/source/Los_Angeles_Times) |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-dec-02-na-tavares2-story.html |access-date=April 30, 2023 |archive-date=February 26, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210226210539/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-dec-02-na-tavares2-story.html |url-status=live}}]
In 2015, Tavares was found guilty of the October 27, 1988, murder of Gayle Botelho, who was found buried beneath a tree in the backyard of his previous address. Prosecutors stated that she was murdered over a [cocaine](/source/cocaine) debt. He confessed to the murder on at least four occasions, first to law enforcement while imprisoned in 2000. On another occasion, he claimed not to be the person who shot her, stating that she was killed by "rival drug dealers".[{{Cite news |title=Prosecutor: Daniel Tavares killed Gayle Botelho over cocaine debt |last=O'Connor |first=Kevin |newspaper=[The Herald News](/source/The_Herald_News) |url=https://www.heraldnews.com/story/news/crime/2015/11/18/prosecutor-daniel-tavares-killed-gayle/32987574007/ |access-date=April 30, 2023 |archive-date=April 30, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230430090512/https://www.heraldnews.com/story/news/crime/2015/11/18/prosecutor-daniel-tavares-killed-gayle/32987574007/ |url-status=live}}][{{Cite news |title=SJC upholds conviction of Fall River man who killed woman in 1988 and buried her in backyard |last=Ellement |first=John |newspaper=[The Boston Globe](/source/The_Boston_Globe) |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/05/06/metro/sjc-upholds-conviction-fall-river-man-who-killed-woman-1988-buried-her-backyard/ |access-date=April 30, 2023 |archive-date=October 31, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201031113551/https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/05/06/metro/sjc-upholds-conviction-fall-river-man-who-killed-woman-1988-buried-her-backyard/ |url-status=live}}]
As of 2020, he is serving a life sentence at [Monroe Correctional Complex](/source/Monroe_Correctional_Complex) in [Monroe, Washington](/source/Monroe%2C_Washington).