- FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives, 1970s
In the 1970s, for the third decade, the
United States FBI continued to maintain a public list of the people it regarded as the Ten Most Wanted Fugitives. Following is a brief review of FBI people and events that place the 1970s decade in context, and then an historical list of individual suspects whose names first appeared on the 10 Most Wanted list during the decade of the 1970s.FBI directors in the 1970s
*
J. Edgar Hoover ( –1972)
*"Acting director":Clyde Tolson (May 2 –May 3 1972 )
*"Acting director":L. Patrick Gray (1972 – 1973)
*"Acting director":William D. Ruckelshaus (1973)
*Clarence M. Kelley (1973 – 1978)
*"Acting director":James B. Adams (1978)
*William H. Webster (1978- )FBI headlines in the 1970s
As a decade, the 1970s are marked by the passing of the Hoover era. The famous Director had formed and defined the Bureau for nearly a half century. And markedly, he was succeeded by a long list of short-term Directors throughout the Nixon-Ford-Carter era who could not match Hoover's larger persona. But eventually, Director William Webster brought stability to Bureau, through the later President Reagan era.
On the 1970s top 10 list, perhaps the most notable is the 2nd appearance of James Earl Ray, in 1977.
"FBI Most Wanted Fugitives" in the 1970s
The FBI in the past has identified individuals by the sequence number in which each individual has appeared on the list. Some individuals have even appeared twice, and often a sequence number was permanently assigned to an individual suspect who was soon caught, captured, or simply removed, before his or her appearance could be published on the publicly released list. In those cases, the public would see only gaps in the number sequence reported by the FBI. For convenient reference, the wanted suspect's sequence number and date of entry on the FBI list appear below, whenever possible.
As the decade began, the following Fugitives were the FBI's Ten Most Wanted:
* 1968 #265 (two years), Charles Lee Herron
* 1968 #279 (two years), Taylor Morris Teaford
* 1968 #282 (two years), Byron James Rice
* 1969 #298 (one year), Warren David Reddock
* 1969 #300 (one year), Cameron David Bishop
* 1969 #301 (one year), Marie Dean Arrington
* 1969 #302 (six months), Benjamin Hoskin Paddock
* 1969 #304 (three months), Joseph Lloyd Thomas arrestedMarch 8 1970 The tenth space had just opened up at the end of the year 1969, but was promptly filled by a new Top Tenner on the list in the first week of 1970.
The most wanted fugitives listed in the decade of the 1970s include (in FBI list appearance sequence order): cite book|author=Federal Bureau of Investigation |title=FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives Program: 50th Anniversary 1950-2000 |publisher=K&D Limited, Inc. |year=2000]
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Year 1970
James John Byrnes
January 6 1970 #305
Three months on the listJames John Byrnes -U.S. prisoner arrestedApril 17 1970 inHuntington Beach, California Edmund James Devlin
March 20 1970 #306
Five months on the listEdmund James Devlin -U.S. prisoner arrestedAugust 15 1970 inManchester, New Hampshire Lawrence Robert Plamondon
May 5 1970 #307
Two months on the listLawrence Robert Plamondon -U.S. prisoner arrestedJuly 23 1970 inMackinac County, Michigan after being stopped by State police when an occupant of his van threw a can out of the van window. A routine license plate check throughNCIC identified Plamondon.Hubert Geroid Brown
May 6 1970 #308
One year on the listHubert Geroid Brown -U.S. prisoner capturedOctober 16 1971 during an armed robbery inNew York City after being seriously wounded in a gunfight with local policeAngela Yvonne Davis
August 18 1970 #309
Two months on the listAngela Yvonne Davis - currently the Presidential Chair and Professor with theHistory of Consciousness Department at theUniversity of California, Santa Cruz and director of theFeminist Studies department; was exonerated on all charges in 1972; was a U.S. prisoner held inWomen's Detention Center in New York City; capturedOctober 13 1970 at a motel room in New York City; fledCalifornia and evaded the police for over two months; was charged in California with conspiracy, kidnapping, and homicide, due to her alleged participation in an escape attempt of George Jackson, aBlack Panther Party member, fromMarin County Hall of Justice during his trial, in which the judge,Harold Haley , was shot to death after being taken outside into a vanDwight Allen Armstrong
September 4 1970 #310
Six years on the listDwight Allen Armstrong - REMOVED from listApril 1 1976 because he no longer met the criteria. Two years on the list
Karleton Lewis Armstrong - CANADIAN PRISONER apprehendedFebruary 16 1972 inToronto ,Canada by theRoyal Canadian Mounted Police .David Sylvan Fine
September 4 1970 #312
Six years on the listDavid Sylvan Fine -U.S. prisoner arrestedJanuary 8 1976 inSan Rafael, California .Leo Frederick Burt
September 4 1970 #313
Six years on the list
Leo Frederick Burt - REMOVED from listApril 7 1976 because he no longer met the criteriaBernardine Rae Dohrn
October 14 1970 #314
Three years on the list
Bernardine Rae Dohrn - PROCESS DISMISSEDDecember 7 1973 Katherine Ann Power
October 17 1970 #315
Fourteen years on the listKatherine Ann Power - REMOVED from listJune 15 ,1984 because she no longer met the criteriausan Edith Saxe
October 17 1970 #316
Five years on the listSusan Edith Saxe -U.S. prisoner arrestedMarch 27 1975 inPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania after a Philadelphia officer recognized her from a photo distributed by the FBI the same day----Year 1971
As the year 1971 began, the Ten Most Wanted list was completely filled with the following long-time Fugitives, who persistently evaded capture, leading to the very first year in which the FBI found it impractical to add any new Fugitives to the top Ten list:
* 1965 #203 (six years), John William Clouser
* 1968 #265 (three years), Charles Lee Herron
* 1968 #279 (three years), Taylor Morris Teaford
* 1968 #282 (three years), Byron James Rice
* 1969 #298 (two years), Warren David Reddock arrestedApril 14 1971
* 1969 #300 (two years), Cameron David Bishop
* 1969 #301 (two years), Marie Dean Arrington arrestedDecember 22 1971
* 1969 #302 (two years), Benjamin Hoskin Paddock
* 1970 #308 (one year), Hubert Geroid Brown capturedOctober 16 1971
* 1970 #310 (one year), Dwight Allen Armstrong
* 1970 #311 (one year), Karleton Lewis Armstrong
* 1970 #312 (one year), David Sylvan Fine
* 1970 #313 (one year), Leo Frederick Burt
* 1970 #314 (one year), Bernardine Rae Dohrn
* 1970 #315 (one year), Katherine Ann Power surrendered 1993
* 1970 #316 (one year), Susan Edith Saxe capturedMarch 27 ,1975 In fact, in 1970 the FBI had packed the list with an extraordinary number of "Special Additions" of whom most evaded capture. Consequently, the 1971 list opened with a total of sixteen Wanted Fugitives at large, nearly twice as many as would typically appear on the list at any other given time.
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Year 1972
By the end of the year 1971, three of the listed Wanted Fugitives had been captured, bringing the opening 1972 list down to a still extraordinarily large number of thirteen Fugitives. Due to further removals from the list in 1972, the FBI found justification to finally list a single new Fugitive late that year.
Mace Brown
October 20 1972 #317
Six months on the listMace Brown (fugitive) -------------- KILLED by police officers in a bank robbery shootoutApril 18 1973 in New York City during which the bank robbers took hostages.----Year 1973
Herman Bell
May 9 1973 #318
Four months on the listHerman Bell ---------------U.S. prisoner arrestedSeptember 2 1973 inNew Orleans, Louisiana by FBI and local officersTwymon Ford Myers
September 28 1973 #319
Two months on the listTwymon Ford Myers ----------- KILLED in shootoutNovember 14 1973 in theBronx ,New York during a shootout with the FBI and theNew York Police Department Ronald Harvey
December 7 1973 #320
Three months on the list
Ronald Harvey -------------U.S. prisoner arrestedMarch 27 1974 inChicago, Illinois amuel Richard Christian
December 7 1973 #321
Five days on the listSamuel Richard Christian --------------U.S. prisoner arrestedDecember 12 1973 inDetroit, Michigan ----Year 1974
Rudolph Alonza Turner
January 10 1974 #322
Nine months on the listRudolph Alonza Turner -------------U.S. prisoner arrestedOctober 1 1974 inJacksonville, Florida by FBI Agents. He told arresting agents, "I knew you'd get me sooner or later, it's just a pity it wasn't later rather than sooner or even later than later" Fact|date=February 2007Larry Gene Cole
April 2 1974 #323
One day on the listLarry Gene Cole ----------------U.S. prisonerApril 3 1974 accompanied by his wife and the kidnap victim when apprehendednearBuffalo, New York . When Cole was first approached he claimed to be part of theSpecial Investigation, Department of Justice .James Ellsworth Jones
April 16 1974 #324
Two months on the listJames Ellsworth Jones -------------U.S. prisoner arrestedJune 15 1974 inCoral Gables, Florida after an off-duty police officer recognized Jones from an FBI Wanted Notice in the police department.Lendell Hunter
June 7 1974 #325
Three weeks on the listLendell Hunter ----------------U.S. prisoner arrestedJuly 31 1974 inDes Moines, Iowa John Edward Copeland
August 15 1974 #326
One year on the listJohn Edward Copeland ----------------U.S. prisoner apprehendedJuly 23 1975 due to citizen cooperation, inDorchester, Massachusetts after riding his bicycle homeMelvin Dale Walker
October 16 1974 #327
Three weeks on the listMelvin Dale Walker -----------------U.S. prisoner apprehendedNovember 9 1974 inVirginia Beach, Virginia after entering a house staked out by Agents on the inside and outside of the house. He attempted to escape by car but was arrested.Thomas Otis Knight
December 12 1974 #328
Two weeks on the listThomas Otis Knight ----------------U.S. prisoner arrestedDecember 31 1974 inNew Smyrna Beach, Florida . Though heavily armed and barricaded behind a door in a rooming house, he was overwhelmed by the FBI Swat Team.----Year 1975
Billy Dean Anderson
January 21 1975 #329
Four years on the listBilly Dean Anderson --------------U.S. prisoner arrestedJuly 7 1979 inPall Mall, Tennessee during a shootout. The lead was based on information from an informant known as "Mountain Man."Robert Gerald Davis
April 4 1975 #330
Two years on the listRobert Gerald Davis --------------U.S. prisoner arrestedAugust 5 1977 inVenice, California Richard Dean Holtan
April 18 1975 #331
Three months on the listRichard Dean Holtan -----------U.S. prisoner surrenderedJuly 12 1975 to local authorities inKauai, Hawaii Richard Bernard Lindhorst, Jr.
August 4 1975 #332
Three days on the listRichard Bernard Lindhorst, Jr. -------------U.S. prisoner arrestedAugust 7 1975 inPensacola, Florida by FBI Agents and local policeWilliam Lewis Herron, Jr.
August 15 1975 #333
Two months on the listWilliam Lewis Herron, Jr. -------------U.S. prisoner arrestedOctober 30 1975 inPeoria, Illinois James Winston Smallwood
August 29 1975 #334
Four months on the listJames Winston Smallwood ----------------U.S. prisoner arrestedDecember 5 1975 inLandover, Maryland after being located in the trunk of a vehicle used in a bank robbery in MarylandLeonard Peltier
December 22 1975 #335
Two months on the listLeonard Peltier ---------------- has become an infamous cause celébre of theAmerican Indian Movement (AIM), for alleged irregularities in his trial; was convicted in 1977 and sentenced to two consecutive terms of life imprisonment for the execution-type murders of two US FBI Agents; CANADIAN PRISONER arrestedFebruary 6 1976 inHinton, Alberta , Canada byRoyal Canadian Mounted Police
----Year 1976
Patrick James Huston
March 3 1976 #336
One year on the listPatrick James Huston -------------U.S. prisoner arrestedDecember 7 1977 inFort Lauderdale, Florida Thomas Edward Bethea
March 5 1976 #337
Two months on the listThomas Edward Bethea --------------U.S. prisoner arrested by FBI upon his arrival in Miami; arrestedMay 5 1976 in theBahamas by Bahamas authoritiesAnthony Michael Juliano
March 15 1976 #338
One week on the listAnthony Michael Juliano --------------U.S. prisoner arrestedMarch 22 1976 inMecklenburg County, Virginia after a metermaid recognized him in a parked carJoseph Maurice McDonald
April 1 1976 #339
Six years on the listJoseph Maurice McDonald ------------U.S. prisoner arrestedSeptember 15 1982 in Penn Station in New York City by local policeJames Ray Renton
April 7 1976 #340
One year on the listJames Ray Renton ---------------U.S. prisoner arrestedMay 9 1977 inAurora, Colorado Nathaniel Doyle, Jr.
April 29 1976 #341
Three months on the listNathaniel Doyle, Jr. --------------------- KILLED in shootoutJuly 15 1976 with local police inSeattle, Washington Morris Lynn Johnson
May 25 1976 #342
One month on the listMorris Lynn Johnson ----------------U.S. prisoner taken into custodyJune 26 1976 in New Orleans, Louisiana after trying to run away along a canal bankRichard Joseph Picariello
July 29 1976 #343
Three months on the listRichard Joseph Picariello --------------U.S. prisoner arrestedOctober 21 1976 inFall River, Massachusetts Edward Patrick Gullion
August 13 1976 #344
Two months on the listEdward Patrick Gullion ----------------U.S. prisoner arrestedOctober 22 1976 inProvidence, Rhode Island where he was employed at a jewelry storeGerhardt Julius Schwartz
November 18 1976 #345
Four days on the listGerhardt Julius Schwartz --------------U.S. prisoner arrestedNovember 22 1976 in the Bronx section of New York City after the police received a tip from a telephone call fromNew Rochelle, New York Francis John Martin
December 17 1976 #346
Two months on the listFrancis John Martin -----------U.S. prisoner arrestedFebruary 17 1977 inNewport Beach, California after a tip from a telephone call----Year 1977
Benjamin George Pavan
January 12 1977 #347
One month on the listBenjamin George Pavan ------------U.S. prisoner arrestedFebruary 17 1977 inSeattle, Washington after a tip from a telephone callLarry Gene Campbell
March 18 1977 #348
Six months on the listLarry Gene Campbell --------------U.S. prisoner arrestedSeptember 6 1977 inAtlanta, Georgia after a neighbor recognized him from a Wanted Flyer in the local post officeRoy Ellsworth Smith
March 18 1977 #349
Three months on the listRoy Ellsworth Smith ---------------- SUICIDE by hanging foundJune 2 1977 inPerry Township, Ohio by theLake County Sheriff's Department ofPainesville, Ohio Raymond Luc Levasseur
May 5 1977 #350 #350
Seven years on the listRaymond Luc Levasseur ----------U.S. prisoner arrestedNovember 4 1984 in Deerfield, Ohio by FBI Agents while driving in his car with his common-law wife and their three childrenJames Earl Ray
June 11 1977 #351
Two days on the listJames Earl Ray ---------- 2ND APPEARANCE ON THE LIST, was also #277 from 1968 for assassination ofDr. Martin Luther King, Jr. ; afterJune 10 escape with 6 other convicts from state prison, he was apprehended not far from the prison inBrushy Mountain, Tennessee onJune 13 1977 . Using bloodhounds, the prison authorities found Ray hiding beneath some leaves in a wooded areaWillie Foster Sellers
June 14 1977 #352
Two years on the listWillie Foster Sellers -------------U.S. prisoner arrestedJune 20 1979 in Atlanta, Georgia upon his arrival at theDelta Airlines Freight Dock Larry Smith
July 15 1977 #353
One month on the listLarry Smith (fugitive) ---------------U.S. prisoner arrestedAugust 20 1977 inToronto , Canada by theMetropolitan Toronto, Ontario Canada Police Force . He was pulled over for illegally driving past a street car's open door. Smith was identified by his fingerprints and delivered to American authorities.Ralph Robert Cozzolino
October 19 1977 #354
Three months on the listRalph Robert Cozzolino -------------U.S. prisoner arrestedJanuary 6 1978 inJonesboro, Georgia Millard Oscar Hubbard
October 19 1977 #355
Two days on the listMillard Oscar Hubbard ----------------U.S. prisoner arrestedOctober 21 1977 inLexington, Kentucky after a tip from area residentsCarlos Alberto Torres
October 19 1977 #356
Three years on the listCarlos Alberto Torres (fugitive) -----------------U.S. prisoner arrestedApril 4 ,1980 after a car rental agency reported a stolen van to the police. Torres was arrested inEvanston, Illinois after area residents noticed a suspicious van parked in the neighborhood and contacted the policeEnrique Estrada
December 5 1977 #357
Three days on the listEnrique Estrada (fugitive) ---------------U.S. prisoner arrestedDecember 8 1977 inBakersfield, California by theNarcotics Task Force of theKern County Sheriff's Office . Narcotics officers had been following a suspect known as "Hank" and after seeing Wanted Flyers realized he was Estrada.----Year 1978
William David Smith
February 10 1978 #358
Eight months on the listWilliam David Smith --------------U.S. prisoner arrestedOctober 27 1978 inChicago, Illinois due to a telephone tip.Gary Ronald Warren
February 10 1978 #359
Three months on the listGary Ronald Warren --------------U.S. prisoner arrestedMay 12 1978 inCumberland, Maryland by the FBI and local policeTed Bundy
February 10 1978 #360
Four days on the list
Theodore Robert Bundy ------------- DECEASED U.S. prisoner arrested by local policeFebruary 14 1978 inPensacola, Florida after he was stopped for speeding while driving a stolen vehicle, andNCIC came back with a hit; was wanted for twice escaping from jail,June 9 1977 and December 1977, while being held on a murder charge. The well known sociopath was a serial rapist and killer throughout the 1970sAndrew Evan Gipson
March 27 1978 #361
Two months on the listAndrew Evan Gipson ---------------U.S. prisonerMay 24 1978 inAlbuquerque, New Mexico Anthony Dominic Liberatore
May 24 1978 #362
One year on the listAnthony Dominic Liberatore -------------U.S. prisoner arrestedApril 1 1979 inEastlake, Ohio by FBI Agents and local police, while he was in bed alone in a house considered "safe" by organized crime in the areaMichael George Thevis
July 10 1978 #363
Four months on the list
Michael George Thevis -----------U.S. prisoner arrestedNovember 9 1978 arrested inBloomfield, Connecticut by FBI Agents and local police; was called "The King of Pornography"Charles Everett Hughes
November 19 1978 #364
Three years on the listCharles Everett Hughes --------------U.S. prisoner arrestedApril 29 1981 inMyrtle, Mississippi by FBI Agents and local police while working in a car repair shopRonald Lee Lyons
December 17 1978 #365
Nine months on the listRonald Lee Lyons ------------U.S. prisoner arrestedSeptember 10 1979 inHungry Valley, Nevada by FBI Agents and theWashoe County Sheriff's department ----Year 1979
Leo Joseph Koury
April 20 1979 #366
Twelve years on the listLeo Joseph Koury ----------------- FOUND DEADJune 16 1991 inSan Diego, California from massive cerebral vascular hypertensionJohn William Sherman
August 3 1979 #367
Two years on the listJohn William Sherman ------------U.S. prisoner arrestedDecember 17 1981 inGolden, Colorado while he was getting into his car outside his residenceMelvin Bay Guyon
August 9 1979 #368
One week on the listMelvin Bay Guyon - U.S. prisoner surrenderedAugust 16 ,1979 after a short gun battle with FBI Agents in Youngstown,Ohio , atSouthside General Hospital where he was seeking medical attention.George Alvin Briton
September 28 1979 #369
Three months on the listGeorge Alvin Briton -------------Known drug dealer, shot 2 FBI agents, arrestedDecember 14 1979 atFt. Smith, Arkansas Earl Edwin Austin
October 12 1979 #370
Five months on the listEarl Edwin Austin ------------U.S. prisoner arrestedMarch 1 1980 in his apartment inTucson, Arizona ; while robbing a bank while armed, Austin bragged of being a Top TennerVincent James Russo
December 24 1979 #371
Six years on the listVincent James Russo ---------------U.S. prisoner arrestedJanuary 4 1985 at his home inBeaver Falls, Idaho ----By the end of the decade, the following Fugitives were remaining at large on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list:* 1968 #265 (twelve years), Charles Lee Herron
* 1970 #315 (ten years),Katherine Ann Power
* 1976 #339 (four years), Joseph Maurice McDonald
* 1977 #350 (three years), Raymond Luc Levasseur
* 1977 #356 (three years), Carlos Alberto Torres arrestedApril 4 1980
* 1978 #364 (two years), Charles Everett Hughes
* 1979 #366 (one year), Leo Joseph Koury
* 1979 #367 (one year), John William Sherman
* 1979 #370 (five months), Earl Edwin Austin arrestedMarch 1 1980
* 1979 #371 (one month), Vincent James Russoee also
Later entries
*
FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives, 2000s
*FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives, 1990s
*FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives, 1980s Prior entries
*
FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives, 1960s
*FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives, 1950s References
External links
* [http://www.fbi.gov/wanted/topten/fugitives/fugitives.htm Current FBI top ten most wanted fugitives at FBI site]
* [http://www.fbi.gov/mostwant/topten/topten.pdf FBI pdf source document listing all Ten Most Wanted year by year (removed by FBI)]
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