In 1951, the United States FBI, under Director J. Edgar Hoover, continued for a second year to maintain a public list of the people it regarded as the Ten Most Wanted Fugitives.
As 1951 began, only three of the original top ten fugitives from the prior year still remained at large. The FBI had also added six additional fugitives to the list during the prior year, and had already caught one of those as well. As a result of the late year captures in 1950, 1951 began with only eight wanted fugitives named on the list. However, as soon as the second week of the new year began, the FBI promptly filled the two open slots with two new fugitives.
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The "Ten Most Wanted Fugitives" listed by the FBI in 1951 include (in FBI list appearance sequence order):
January 8, 1951 #17
One month on the list
Courtney Townshend Taylor - U.S. prisoner apprehended February 16, 1951 in Mobile, Alabama after a jeweler recognized him from a wanted flyer, sent his clerk to follow Taylor, and then called the FBI and police. Within twenty-five minutes Taylor was in custody.
January 9, 1951 #18
Two years on the list
Joseph Franklin Bent - U.S. prisoner arrested August 29, 1952 in Texas City, Texas; he was shot and wounded during the arrest while attempting to draw his weapon; a citizen had recognized his photo in Pageant magazine.
March 9, 1951 #19
One year on the list
Harry H. Burton - ACQUITTED of murder when witnesses testified he was at his dying mother's bedside at the time of the murder; was arrested February 7, 1952 in Cody, Wyoming by the local sheriff and FBI; had been featured on the True Detective Mysteries radio show.
June 27, 1951 #20
Surrendered before publication
Joseph Paul Cato - U.S. prisoner surrendered to the FBI June 21, 1951 in Cleveland, Ohio after seeing his own Identification Order; had been approved to be placed on the "Top Ten" list, but surrendered prior to the press release date
June 27, 1951 #21
Two days on the list
Anthony Brancato - U.S. prisoner surrendered to the FBI June 29, 1951 in San Francisco, California after seeing the INS story in the San Francisco Call-Bulletin
July 2, 1951 #22
Seven months on the list
Frederick Emerson Peters - U.S. prisoner arrested January 15, 1952 in a Washington, D. C. hotel lobby after two FBI agents recognized him from the Identification Order; further research would be needed to clarify if he was the same lifelong criminal Frederick Emerson Peters (1885-1959) who became infamous as an impostor of famous people dating back to 1902.
July 11, 1951 #23 and also appeared again as #133 in 1960
One day on the list
Ernest Tait - became Fugitive #133 in 1960; U.S. prisoner arrested July 12, 1951 in Miami, Florida by the FBI as a direct result of an Associated Press story in the Miami Herald and the Miami Daily News; he later claimed that he had intended to shoot it out with the police but not with the FBI.
July 25, 1951 #24
One month on the list
Ollie Gene Embry - U.S. prisoner arrested by FBI Agents August 5, 1951 while working as a local filling station attendant, in the process of fixing the automobile radiator of a citizen who saw his Identification Order in the Post Office, and recognized him.
August 20, 1951 #25
Four months on the list
Giachino Anthony Baccolla - U.S. prisoner arrested December 10, 1951 in New York City.
November 12, 1951 #26
Four days on the list
Raymond Edward Young - U.S. prisoner arrested November 16, 1951 in Denver, Colorado, while loading bread trucks on his night job at a bakery.
December 10, 1951 #27
One year on the list
John Thomas Hill - U.S. prisoner arrested August 16, 1952 in Hamtramck, Michigan while asleep in bed during a raid on his home, after a citizen recognized him from a wanted flier.
December 19, 1951 #28
Seven months on the list
George Arthur Heroux - US PRISONER; was caught on July 25, 1952 at Miami, Florida; had been charged along with Gerhard Arthur Puff (Fugitive #30) on December 3, 1951, for bank robbery and both men were soon added to the Top Ten fugitives list; with Puff, he robbed the Johnson County National Bank and Trust Company of Prairie Village, Kansas on October 25, 1951; had probably been the person who bailed out Puff on October 17, 1951; was released from jail on August 23, 1951; had met Puff while in Milwaukee County Jail, after Puff was arrested May 2, 1951 for armed robbery.
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