One of the U.S. Marshals 15 Most Wanted
Fugitives, escaped murderer Richard Lee McNair, was taken into
custody in Canada today due to the determination – and stamina – of
a pair of officers with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).
McNair, who had been spotted several
times in Canada since his escape from a Louisiana prison in April
2006, was pulled over by RCMP officers this morning on a traffic
stop in Campbellton, New Brunswick. Unlike a prior traffic stop
several months earlier in which McNair was able to elude Canadian
authorities on foot, this time a RCMP constable stayed with McNair
as a lengthy foot pursuit went off the road and into the woods. The
constable was able to catch up and apprehend him.
Prior to today’s arrest, U.S.
Marshals had been actively working with Canadian authorities to
assist in the apprehension of McNair. “I am delighted that Richard
McNair is finally in custody,” said William Sorukas, Chief of the
Task Force Operations Branch for the U.S. Marshals. “This fugitive
had been particularly frustrating, since he was so close to being
apprehended immediately after his escape in Louisiana, and on a few
occasions in Canada. He was a priority for us, and I want to thank
our Canada law enforcement partners for running him down and
bringing him in.”
McNair is probably best known for his
encounter with a Louisiana police officer, which was caught on tape
from a camera mounted in the officer’s police cruiser. The video
shows McNair calmly convincing the officer – who was posted as a
lookout – that he was not a recently escaped fugitive from the
federal penitentiary in Pollock, Louisiana, but rather was on his
way to do roofing work locally.
Prior to his escape, McNair was
serving three life sentences for murder, attempted murder and
burglary in North Dakota. He escaped after concealing himself in a
secret compartment under a pallet of mail bags. Following transport
on a truck from the prison to a local mail facility, he broke out
from his hiding place. That escape was his third since his 1987
murder conviction. He had previously escaped from two facilities in
North Dakota.
U.S. Marshals are awaiting word on
McNair’s extradition back to the United States.
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See
McNair’s Wanted Poster
Read
Original News Release
For more information, go to the U.S. Marshals web site at
www.usmarshals.gov. |