Escaped 'spam king' allegedly kills self, family

By Margaret Kane, CNET Fri Jul 25, 9:58 AM ET

A convicted spammer who escaped from prison was found dead Thursday night, along with his wife and 3-year-old daughter.

Eddie Davidson, dubbed a "spam king," was sentenced to 21 months in prison in April after pleading guilty to falsifying header information to send spam e-mail, tax evasion, and criminal forfeiture, the Associated Press reported.

Police had been searching for Davidson since Sunday, when he escaped from a minimum-security federal prison in Florence, Colo., 90 miles south of Denver, according to the AP.

Police responding to reports of gunshots found Davidson and his family in an SUV in a driveway in Bennett, Colo., according to news reports. A baby was found in a car seat uninjured, and a teenage girl who was shot in the neck ran to a neighbor's house for help and has been hospitalized. The relationship of the baby and teen to Davidson is unclear, according to the AP.