FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives, 1970s

The FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives during the 1970s is a list, maintained for a third decade, of the Ten Most Wanted Fugitives of the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation.

FBI headlines in the 1970s

As a decade, the 1970s are marked by the passing of the Hoover era. J. Edgar Hoover had formed and defined the Bureau for nearly a half century. 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. Eventually, Director William H. Webster brought stability to Bureau, during the President Reagan era.

On the 1970s top 10 list, perhaps the most notable is the 2nd appearance of James Earl Ray, in 1977. Additionally, in 1971 the list was completely filled with 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. 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. 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.

FBI 10 Most Wanted Fugitives to begin 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:

Name Sequence Number Date of Entry Notes
John William Clouser#2031965 • Dropped from the list August 1, 1972
Charles Lee Herron#2651968 • Arrested in June 1986
Taylor Morris Teaford#2791968 • Dropped from the list May 24, 1972
Byron James Rice#2821968 • Apprehended October 2, 1972
Warren David Reddock#2981969 • Arrested April 14, 1971
Cameron David Bishop#3001969 • Arrested in Rhode Island March 12, 1975
Marie Dean Arrington#3011969 • Arrested in New Orleans, December 22, 1971. Sentenced to life in prison without parole
 • Arrington was the second woman to appear on the list since the list began.[1]
Benjamin Hoskins Paddock#3021969 • Dropped from the list May 5, 1977
Joseph Lloyd Thomas#3041969 • Arrested March 8, 1970

The tenth space had just opened up at the end of the year 1969, but was promptly filled by a new individual on the list in the first week of 1970.

FBI Most Wanted Fugitives added during the 1970s

The most wanted fugitives listed in the decade of the 1970s include (in FBI list appearance sequence order):[2][3]

1970–1974

Name Sequence Number Date of Entry Time Listed
James John Byrnes #305 January 6, 1970 Three months
James John Byrnes was arrested April 17, 1970 in Huntington Beach, California.
Edmund James Devlin #306 March 6, 1970 Five months
Edmund James Devlin was arrested August 15, 1970 in Manchester, New Hampshire.
Lawrence Robert Plamondon #307 May 5, 1970 Two months
Lawrence Robert Plamondon was arrested July 23, 1970 in Mackinac County, Michigan after being stopped by state police when an occupant of his van threw a can out of the van window. A license plate check through the NCIC identified Plamondon.
Hubert Geroid Brown #308 May 6, 1970 One year
Hubert Geroid Brown was captured October 16, 1971 during an armed robbery in New York City after being seriously wounded in a gunfight with local police.
Angela Yvonne Davis #309 August 18, 1970 Two months
Angela Yvonne Davis was captured October 13, 1970 at a motel room in New York City. She had fled California and evaded the police for over two months. She was charged in California with conspiracy, kidnapping, and homicide, due to her alleged participation in an escape attempt of George Jackson, a Black Panther Party member, from the Marin County Hall of Justice during his trial, in which the judge, Harold Haley, was shot to death after being taken outside into a van. She was exonerated on all charges in 1972 after being held in a Women's Detention Center in New York City.
Dwight Allen Armstrong #310 September 4, 1970 Six years
Dwight Allen Armstrong was removed from the list on April 1, 1976, because he no longer met the list criteria. He was eventually arrested in April 1977 in connection with the Sterling Hall bombing. He was sentenced to seven years for second-degree murder on May 5, 1977, and was paroled in 1980.[4]
Karleton Lewis Armstrong #311 September 4, 1970 Two years
Karleton Lewis Armstrong was apprehended February 16, 1972 in Toronto, Canada by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. He was returned to the United States in March 1973 where he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and arson in the Sterling Hall bombing. He was sentenced to 23 years, but had his prison sentence reduced and was freed in February 1980.[4]
David Sylvan Fine #312 September 4, 1970 Six years
David Sylvan Fine was arrested January 8, 1976 in San Rafael, California in connection to the Sterling Hall bombing. He was sentenced to seven years for second-degree murder and eventually released in August 1979.[4]
Leo Frederick Burt #313 September 4, 1970 Six years
Leo Frederick Burt was removed from the list on April 7, 1976 because he no longer met the list criteria. Burt has not been captured and is still at large with state charges still pending against him.
Bernardine Rae Dohrn #314 October 14, 1970 Three years
Bernardine Rae Dohrn was sought in connection to activities associated with the Weatherman group. The process was dismissed on December 7, 1973.
Katherine Ann Power #315 October 17, 1970 Fourteen years
Katherine Ann Power was removed from the list on June 15, 1984 because she no longer met the list criteria. She surrendered to authorities in 1993. She pled guilty and was imprisoned in Massachusetts for six years before being released on 14-years' probation.
Susan Edith Saxe #316 October 17, 1970 Five years
Susan Edith Saxe was arrested March 27, 1975 in Philadelphia after a Philadelphia officer recognized her from a photo distributed by the FBI the same day.
Mace Brown #317 October 20, 1972 Six months
Mace Brown was killed by police officers in a bank robbery shootout on April 18, 1973 in New York City during which the bank robbers took hostages.
Herman Bell #318 May 9, 1973 Four months
Herman Bell was arrested September 2, 1973 in New Orleans by the FBI and local officers.
Twymon Ford Myers #319 September 28, 1973 Two months
Twymon Ford Myers was killed November 14, 1973 in the Bronx, New York, during a shootout with the FBI and the New York Police Department.
Ronald Harvey #320 December 7, 1973 Three months
Ronald Harvey was arrested March 27, 1974 in Chicago.
Samuel Richard Christian #321 December 7, 1973 Five days
Samuel Richard Christian was arrested December 12, 1973 in Detroit.
Rudolph Alonza Turner #322 January 10, 1974 Nine months
Rudolph Alonza Turner was arrested October 1, 1974 in Jacksonville, Florida, by FBI agents.
Larry Gene Cole #323 April 2, 1974 One day
Larry Gene Cole was arrested April 3, 1974. He was accompanied by his wife and his kidnap victim when apprehended near Buffalo, New York. When Cole was first approached he claimed to be part of the Special Investigation, Department of Justice.
James Ellsworth Jones #324 April 2, 1974 Two months
James Ellsworth Jones was arrested June 15, 1974 in Coral Gables, Florida, after an off-duty police officer recognized Jones from an FBI Wanted Notice in the police department.
Lendell Hunter #325 June 7, 1974 Three weeks
Lendell Hunter was arrested July 31, 974 in Des Moines, Iowa.
John Edward Copeland #326 August 15, 1974 One year
John Edward Copeland was arrested July 23, 1975 due to citizen cooperation, in Dorchester, Massachusetts, after riding his bicycle home.
Melvin Dale Walker #327 October 16, 1974 Three weeks
Melvin Dale Walker was apprehended November 9, 1974 in Virginia 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 #328 December 12, 1974 Two weeks
Thomas Otis Knight was arrested December 31, 1974 in New Smyrna Beach, Florida. Though heavily armed and barricaded behind a door in a rooming house, he was overwhelmed by the FBI SWAT Team.

1975–1979

Name Sequence Number Date of Entry Time Listed
Billy Dean Anderson #329 January 21, 1975 Four years
Billy Dean Anderson was arrested July 7, 1979 in Pall Mall, Tennessee, during a shootout. The lead was based on information from an informant known as "Mountain Man."
Robert Gerald Davis #330 April 4, 1975 Two years
Robert Gerald Davis was arrested August 5, 1977 in Venice, California.
Richard Dean Holtan #331 April 18, 1975 Three months
Richard Dean Holtan was arrested July 12, 1975 by local authorities in Kauai, Hawaii.
Richard Bernard Lindhorst, Jr. #332 August 4, 1975 Three days
Richard Bernard Lindhorst, Jr. was arrested August 7, 1975 in Pensacola, Florida, by FBI agents and local police.
William Lewis Herron, Jr. #333 August 15, 1975 Two months
William Lewis Herron, Jr. was arrested October 30, 1975 in Peoria, Illinois.
James Winston Smallwood #334 August 29, 1975 Four months
James Winston Smallwood was arrested December 5, 1975 in Landover, Maryland, after being located in the trunk of a vehicle used in a bank robbery in Maryland.
Leonard Peltier #335 December 22, 1975 Two months
Leonard Peltier become an infamous cause célèbre of the American Indian Movement (AIM), for alleged irregularities in his trial. He was arrested February 6, 1976 in Hinton, Alberta, Canada by Royal Canadian Mounted Police. He was convicted in 1977 and sentenced to two consecutive terms of life imprisonment for the execution-style murders of two U.S. FBI agents.
Patrick James Huston #336 March 3, 1976 One year
Patrick James Huston was arrested December 7, 1977 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Thomas Edward Bethea #337 March 5, 1976 Two months
Thomas Edward Bethea was arrested May 5, 1976 in the Bahamas by Bahamian authorities. Transferred into FBI custody upon his arrival in Miami.
Anthony Michael Juliano #338 March 15, 1976 One week
Anthony Michael Juliano was arrested March 22, 1976 in Mecklenburg County, Virginia, after a meter maid recognized him in a parked car.
Joseph Maurice McDonald #339 April 1, 1976 Six years
Joseph Maurice McDonald was arrested September 15, 1982 at Penn Station in New York City by local police.
James Ray Renton #340 April 7, 1976 One year
James Ray Renton was arrested May 9, 1977 in Aurora, Colorado.
Nathaniel Doyle, Jr. #341 April 29, 1976 Three months
Nathaniel Doyle, Jr. was killed in a shootout on July 15, 1976 with local police in Seattle.
Morris Lynn Johnson #342 May 25, 1976 One month
Morris Lynn Johnson was taken into custody on June 26, 1976 in New Orleans after trying to run away along a canal bank.
Richard Joseph Picariello #343 July 29, 1976 Three months
Richard Joseph Picariello was arrested October 21, 1976 in Fall River, Massachusetts.
Edward Patrick Gullion #344 August 13, 1976 Two months
Edward Patrick Gullion was arrested October 22, 1976 in Providence, Rhode Island, where he was employed at a jewelry store.
Gerhardt Julius Schwartz #345 November 18, 1976 Four days
Gerhardt Julius Schwartz was arrested November 22, 1976 in the Bronx section of New York City after the police received a tip from a telephone call from New Rochelle, New York.
Francis John Martin #346 December 17, 1976 Two months
Francis John Martin was arrested February 17, 1977 in Newport Beach, California, after a tip from a telephone call.
Benjamin George Pavan #347 January 12, 1977 One month
Benjamin George Pavan was arrested February 17, 1977 in Seattle after a tip from a telephone call.
Larry Gene Campbell #348 March 18, 1977 Six months
Larry Gene Campbell was arrested September 6, 1977 in Atlanta after a neighbor recognized him from a Wanted flyer in the local post office.
Roy Ellsworth Smith #349 March 18, 1977 Three months
Roy Ellsworth Smith was found to have hanged himself on June 2, 1977 in Perry Township, Ohio, by the Lake County Sheriff's Department of Painesville, Ohio.
Raymond Luc Levasseur #350 May 5, 1977 Seven years
Raymond Luc Levasseur was arrested November 4, 1984 in Deerfield, Ohio, by FBI agents while traveling in his car with his common-law wife and their three children.
James Earl Ray #351 June 11, 1977 Two days
James Earl Ray made his second appearance on the list (previously #277 for the 1968 assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.) after a June 10 escape with 6 other convicts from state prison. He was apprehended not far from the prison in Brushy Mountain, Tennessee, on June 13, 1977. Using bloodhounds, the prison authorities found Ray hiding beneath some leaves in a wooded area.
Willie Foster Sellers #352 June 14, 1977 Two years
Willie Foster Sellers was arrested June 20, 1979 in Atlanta upon his arrival at the Delta Air Lines freight dock.
Larry Smith #353 July 15, 1977 One month
Larry Smith was arrested August 20, 1977 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, by the Metropolitan Toronto 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 #354 October 19, 1977 Three months
Ralph Robert Cozzolino was arrested January 6, 1978 in Jonesboro, Georgia.
Millard Oscar Hubbard #355 October 19, 1977 Two days
Millard Oscar Hubbard was arrested October 21, 1977 in Lexington, Kentucky, after a tip from locals.
Carlos Alberto Torres #356 October 19, 1977 Three years
Carlos Alberto Torres was arrested April 4, 1980 after a car rental agency reported a stolen van to the police. Torres was arrested in Evanston, Illinois, after locals noticed a suspicious van parked in the neighborhood and contacted the police.
Enrique Estrada #357 December 5, 1977 Three days
Enrique Estrada was arrested December 8, 1977 in Bakersfield, California, by the Narcotics Task Force of the Kern County Sheriff's Office. Narcotics officers had been following a suspect known as "Hank" and after seeing Wanted Flyers realized he was Estrada.
William David Smith #358 February 10, 1978 Eight months
William David Smith was arrested October 27, 1978 in Chicago following a telephone tip.
Gary Ronald Warren #359 February 10, 1978 Three months
Gary Ronald Warren was arrested May 12, 1978 in Cumberland, Maryland, by the FBI and local police.
Theodore Robert Bundy #360 February 10, 1978 Four days
Theodore Robert Bundy was arrested by local police February 14, 1978 in Pensacola, Florida, after he was stopped for speeding while driving a stolen vehicle, and NCIC came back with a hit. Bundy was wanted for twice escaping from jail, June 9, 1977 and in December 1977, while being held on a murder charge.
Andrew Evan Gipson #361 March 27, 1978 Two months
Andrew Evan Gipson was arrested May 24, 1978 in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Anthony Dominic Liberatore #362 May 24, 1978 One year
Anthony Dominic Liberatore was arrested April 1, 1979 in Eastlake, Ohio, by FBI agents and local police, while he was in bed alone in a house considered "safe" by organized crime in the area.
Michael George Thevis #363 July 10, 1978 Four months
Michael George Thevis was arrested November 9, 1978 in Bloomfield, Connecticut, by FBI agents and local police. Was called "The King of Pornography."
Charles Everett Hughes #364 November 19, 1978 Three years
Charles Everett Hughes was arrested April 29, 1981 in Myrtle, Mississippi, by FBI agents and local police while working in a car repair shop.
Ronald Lee Lyons #365 December 17, 1978 Nine months
Ronald Lee Lyons was arrested September 10, 1979 in Hungry Valley, Nevada, by FBI agents and the Washoe County Sheriff's department.
Leo Joseph Koury #366 April 20, 1979 Twelve years
Leo Joseph Koury was found dead on June 16, 1991 in San Diego from massive cerebral vascular hypertension.
John William Sherman #367 August 3, 1979 Two years
John William Sherman was arrested December 17, 1981 in Golden, Colorado, while he was getting into his car outside his residence.
Melvin Bay Guyon #368 August 9, 1979 One week
Melvin Bay Guyon surrendered on August 16, 1979 after a short gun battle with FBI agents in Youngstown, Ohio, at Southside General Hospital where he was seeking medical attention.
George Alvin Bruton #369 September 28, 1979 Three months
George Alvin Bruton was a known drug dealer who shot 2 FBI agents. He was arrested December 14, 1979 in Fort Smith, Arkansas.
Earl Edwin Austin #370 October 12, 1979 Five months
Earl Edwin Austin was arrested March 1, 1980 in his apartment in Tucson, Arizona.
Vincent James Russo #371 December 24, 1979 Six years
Vincent James Russo was arrested January 4, 1985 at his home in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania.

End of the decade

By the end of the decade, the following fugitives were remaining at large on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list:

Name Sequence number Date of entry
Charles Lee Herron#2651968
Katherine Ann Power#3151970
Joseph Maurice McDonald#3391976
Raymond Luc Levasseur#3501977
Carlos Alberto Torres#3561977
Charles Everett Hughes#3641978
Leo Joseph Koury#3661979
John William Sherman#3671979
Earl Edwin Austin#3701979
Vincent James Russo#3711979

FBI directors in the 1970s

*Acting director

See also

References

  1. ↑ O'Shea, Kathleen A. (1999). Women and the death penalty in the United States, 1900-1998. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-275-95952-4.
  2. ↑ Federal Bureau of Investigation (2000). FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives Program: 50th Anniversary 1950-2000. K&D Limited, Inc.
  3. ↑ "A Chronological Listing of the FBI's "Ten Most Wanted Fugitives" March 14, 1950 – January 1, 2000". Federal Bureau of Investigation. Archived from the original on 2002-01-27. Retrieved 2009-03-02.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Balousek, Marv (1997). 50 Wisconsin Crimes of the Century. Badger Books Inc. pp. 130–135. ISBN 978-1-878569-47-9.

External links