Warning this is a very gruesome story.

I should point out that all bolded parts of this post are from an AP report from yesterday that I believe will appear in todays papers.

Let's set the scene. It's April 25, 2005 and Dale has returned home from work tired and worn out. He's about one beer short of polishing off a six pack of some premium fruit flavored ale when his chin hits his chest and he begins to snore. TV remote in his lap the LA-Z-Boy has claimed our hero for another night. He'll get about 45 minutes of golden slumber before Mrs. Dale appears to turn off the television and prod him into going to bed. Dale, groggy and feeling that sort of tired that seems to seep right down into your bones, a tired nobody under 35 could understand, attempts to find his feet to make the trek to the upstairs bedroom. The remote falls from his lap to the carpeted floor as he awkwardly pushes and pulls himself out of his leather reclining nest. In his fuzzy state he knocks over the mostly empty beer bottle he left next to the chair, which Mrs. Dale failed to notice, creating a small puddle that he conveniently steps in and soaks up with his white cotton sock. Despite the discomfort he's now confident there is no need to get a towel to clean up his minor spill and he trudges upstairs desperate to collapse on his king sized mattress. As he often does on nights like this Dale forgets to lock the front door and leaves the glass slider in the back open. No big deal really, Dale lives in Maine far from the maddening crowd.

Dale's sleep may not have been so peaceful that night if he knew what had transpired hours earlier north of him in Calais, Maine at the Candadian border. A 22 year old man named Gregory Despres had hitchhiked to the border to attempt to cross from Canada into the United States. Mr. Despres at the time of the crossing was, according to the AP article, "carrying a homemade sword, a hatchet, a knife, brass knuckles and a chain saw stained by what appeared to be blood."

You would think US Customs officials would have at least detained this young man until they could determine if in fact this was human blood on these items. Stranger still from some accounts his clothes were also covered in stains that appeared to be blood. In these post 911 days you would think we would be somewhat cautious about who we let across our borders.

Mr. Despres was found to be an acceptable candidate to enter the United States according to Bill Anthony, a spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection because (and I quote here again from the AP article) "Nobody asked us to detain him," Anthony said. "Being bizarre is not a reason to keep somebody out of this country or lock them up... We are governed by laws and regulations, and he did not violate any regulations."

Oh not to worry they did fingerprint him first and confiscate his cache of bloodstained weapons before allowing him to enter the country. Of course the AP article asks the same question that is likely in your mind right now: "At a time when the U.S. is tightening its borders, how could a man toting a bloody chain saw be allowed to enter the country?"

Yes, how indeed? Well according to Anthony they did question Mr. Despres for two hours before letting him cross the border. So, keep in mind for future travel plans that if you are trying to get into the United States wearing bloodstained clothing and carrying a bloody chainsaw you'll need to allow two hours for questioning and you'll have to forfeit the chainsaw before entering the country.

I wonder if when the guy showed up at the border he looked at least slightly Arabic or at least had brown skin would the fact that he was covered in blood and carrying a bloody chainsaw have mattered a bit more? I mean what exactly do they look for? It's also interesting to note that you can enter Canada from the United States with a chainsaw, not sure about bloody chainsaws, without any issue. So this opens up a whole new sort of vacation package for travel agents. Chainsaw tours, where you plan a stay in Canada and get to hack someone up the day you are scheduled to return. No need to even change your slacks when you're done as long as you don't have a previous criminal record.

Despres was "arrested April 27 after police in Massachusetts saw him wandering down a highway, wearing a sweatshirt with red and brown stains." Hey, where better to head after you've hacked someone up with a chainsaw than the epicenter of filth in this country? Apparently this is exactly what Despres had done, killing and decapitating Canadian country musician Frederick Fulton and stabbing to death his wife.

Now back to Bill Anthony and his story...

Anthony told the AP that "...the Canada-born Despres couldn't be detained because he is a naturalized U.S. citizen and wasn't wanted on any criminal charges on the day in question."  He also added, "customs agents employed "every conceivable method" to check for warrants or see if Despres broke any laws in trying to re-enter the country."

However, the article notes that "On the same day he crossed the border, Despres was due in a New Brunswick court to be sentenced on charges he assaulted and threatened to kill Fulton's son-in-law, Frederick Mowat, in August 2004."

Who knows what they really check when you cross the border. The police report describes Despres as follows "5'3," 140 pounds and skinny, with brown eyes and a brown Mohawk hairstyle. He also has a swastika tattoo on his back."

The report from US customs  "noted he was acting strangely" and according to another report they confiscated the following items from Despres "a chainsaw, a knife, zip cuffs, a hatchet, a sword, two sets of brass knuckles and pepper spray."

I don't know but this seems to point to somebody worth detaining for a while. Yet he was on his way and could have shown up at Dale's front door within about a couple of hours.

At the time of his arrest in Massachusetts two days later Despres was "wearing a green Kevlar flak jacket, the report notes."

He also told police the following:

Despres said he was in the U.S. Marines and that his lieutenant would clear up the matter.

Mr. Despres stated that he spent one week in Russia in 2001.

Despres was 18 years old in 2001.

Mr. Despres stated that he was wanted in Russia for a homicide and stated that he is to serve a 10-year sentence.In court the next day, Despres reportedly told a judge that he is affiliated with NASA and was on his way to a Marine Corps base in Kansas at the time of his arrest.

Also noted in the police report:

 Several red/brown stains and droplets on the blue hooded sweatshirt and green flak jacket.

Have we really done anything at all to improve border security?