something to add for all the junior crime fighters. i wouldnt skim these articles, nor the comments.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/andygreenberg/2013/09/05/follow-the-bitcoins-how-we-got-busted-buying-drugs-on-silk-roads-black-market/


then, when you are done there, chew on this for a while. again, the meat is in the comments, and they do go on for quite a while.

http://www.reddit.com/r/SheepMarketplace/comments/1rvlft/i_just_chased_him_through_a_bitcoin_tumbler_and/

and just in case you didnt put it together in the hour of reading the comments, http://www.reddit.com/r/SheepMarketplace/comments/1s2upf/the_sheep_market_scam_address_does_not_actually/


ill be nice and try to summarize. early, early on in the tracking it was discovered that the "thief" was somehow manipulating a btc-e deposit address that was being used by many, many btc-e customers.  a user recognized one of the wallet addresses listed by the OP as showing up in HIS chain. as it turns out, the thief dumped the coins onto an exchange and sold them off, early in the chain. so in effect, many people thought they were somehow manipulated into this "scam".

i stated earlier in the thread "thats not how exchange wallets work". i dont think i could have been more wrong. start with your known wallet address, then make a deposit, any amount, into your exchanges deposit address. now follow that on the blockchain. your coins will set there for a few minutes before being transferred out to a house wallet. whoops