Murder Charge Filed as Hunt for DEA Agent Intensifies

A federal drug agent remained at large Friday as authorities stepped up their nationwide search and prosecutors filed a murder charge against him in the shooting of his ex-girlfriend.

Tony Gerard Bailey, 35, has not been seen since late Wednesday, when witnesses and police say he killed Veda Harris and wounded her sister, Wendy Campbell, in a jealous rage.

Bailey, a 10-year agent with the Drug Enforcement Administration, has been on paid administrative leave since 1997, when he was charged with shaking his infant daughter so violently that she suffered severe brain damage, officials said.

A judge dropped the charges against him a year later.

Fullerton police said finding him may prove difficult, complicated by his law enforcement background.

“Obviously, he knows the procedures and protocols of law enforcement,” said Sgt. Joe Klein, noting that those in the search include Bailey’s former DEA colleagues.

“We know that he’s armed, and we’re going to do everything we can to find him, regardless of his background or who he is,” Klein said.

A spokeswoman for the Orange County district attorney’s office said Friday that charges have been filed against Bailey accusing him of murder and attempted murder. If he is convicted, he could be sentenced to life in prison, spokeswoman Tori Richards said.

DEA officials have said that Bailey remained on paid leave even after his acquittal in his daughter’s case two years ago because he was under investigation “for other serious violations of DEA policy.” Since then, Bailey has not had access to his duty weapon, DEA credentials or authority to act as a federal agent, DEA spokesman Lance Williams said.

Police think the weapon used in Wednesday’s shooting is a 9-millimeter handgun which is not his DEA-issued weapon, Williams said.

It was unclear whether it was the same handgun confiscated--and later returned to Bailey--by Anaheim police during the child abuse investigation.

“It could very well be, we don’t know,” Klein said. “We don’t know how many guns he had, but we do know he had one.”

Harris’ friends and relatives said Friday that when Harris moved out of the couple’s Anaheim home three weeks ago after a particularly heated argument, they encouraged her to seek a restraining order against him.

She filled out a police report instead and moved into her sister’s Fullerton home, where Wednesday’s attack occurred.

“I just can’t believe there were all these warning signs and nobody could do anything,” said James Fife, Wendy Campbell’s fiance, who was at her home when Bailey allegedly burst inside and started shooting.