FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives, 1980s

In the 1980s, for the fourth 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 1980s 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 1980s.

FBI directors in the 1980s

*William H. Webster ( -1987)
*"Acting Director": John Otto (1987)
*William S. Sessions (1987-)

FBI headlines in the 1980s

As a decade, the 1980s list is notable in that it contains the name of the person with the longest lasting profile as a wanted top Ten Fugitive, Donald Eugene Webb, 25 years to date. The decade's list also contains his runner up, with the second longest profile of all time, Victor Manuel Gerena, now wanted for 22 years to date.

The 1980s brought yet another "first" for the Ten Most Wanted, the first man and woman couple listed together, who were FALN terrorist group associates Donna Jean Willmott and Claude Daniel Marks. The couple also surrendered together seven years later, and then pled guilty together to a Leavenworth prison breakout conspiracy from 1987.

Among the other prominent Fugitives in the decade were Mutulu Shakur, the stepfather of the later famed rapper Tupac Shakur, and also appearing was the sociopath Charles Ng, who had teamed up with the infamous Leonard Lake in as many as 25 sex slave torture murders at Lake's ranch in California. The boss of the Colombo crime family, Carmine John Persico, also made the list in the 1980s.

The decade also was marked by the start of the popular television program "America's Most Wanted", which became a major new publicity venue for profiling and then apprehension of many of the FBI's top Ten Fugitives.

FBI Most Wanted Fugitives in the 1980s

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 new decade opened, the following Fugitives from prior years still remained at large, as the members of the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list:

* 1968 #265 (twelve years), Charles Lee Herron
* 1970 #315 (ten years), Katherine Ann Power surrendered 1993
* 1976 #339 (four years), Joseph Maurice McDonald
* 1977 #350 (three years), Raymond Luc Levasseur
* 1977 #356 (three years), Carlos Alberto Torres arrested April 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 arrested March 1 1980
* 1979 #371 (one month), Vincent James Russo

The most wanted fugitives listed in the decade of the 1980s includes (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 1980

The year 1980 is notable as the very first time that top Ten Fugitives were on the list who remained still at large from each of three decades (1960s, 1970s and 1980s)

Albert Victory

March 14 1980 #372
One year on the list
Albert Victory ------------ US PRISONER arrested at his home February 24 1981 after was traced by New York State Police to Lafayette, California

Ronald Turney Williams

April 16 1980 #373
One year on the list
Ronald Turney Williams -----------US PRISONER arrested June 8 1981 at a stakeout at George Washington Hotel in New York City; was shot and wounded by an FBI Agent----

Year 1981

Daniel Jay Barney

March 10 1981 #374
One month on the list
Daniel Jay Barney -------- SUICIDE by shooting while in a hostage crisis April 19 1981; had taken four hostages in a condominium in Denver, Colorado. After two escaped and the police negotiated the release of the other two hostages, Barneykilled himself.

Donald Eugene Webb

May 4 1981 #375
Twenty-six years on the list, longest time ever
Donald Eugene Webb --- REMOVED, considered dead. He was wanted in connection with the murder on December 4, 1980, of the police chief in Saxonburg, Pennsylvania who was shot twice at close range after being brutally beaten about the head and face with a blunt instrument. On the list since 1981, no person has been on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list longer in its history. He is removed from the list without being captured on March 31, 2007, with no official explanation given.

Gilbert James Everett

May 13 1981 #376
Four years on the list
Gilbert James Everett -----------US PRISONER arrested August 12 1985 in Bismark, Arkansas by local police

Leslie Nichols

July 2 1981 #377
Five months on the list
Leslie Nichols -------------- US PRISONER arrested December 17 1981 in his apartment in Los Angeles, California by FBI Agents and local police----

Year 1982

Thomas William Manning

January 29 1982 #378
Three years on the list
Thomas William Manning ------------US PRISONER arrested April 24 1985 in Norfolk, Virginia

David Fountain Kimberly, Jr.

January 29 1982 #379
Six months on the list
David Fountain Kimberly, Jr. ------------ US PRISONER arrested July 8 1982 in Matacombe Key, Florida by FBI Agents; he was armed with a loaded .38 caliber tucked in his waistband, but the arrest occurred without incident

Mutulu Shakur

July 23 1982 #380
Four years on the list
Mutulu Shakur --------------- Became more famously known in the 1990s as stepfather of legendary slain rapper Tupac Shakur, and father of rapper Mopreme; US PRISONER arrested February 11 1986 in California, on RICO charges for bank robbery to finance a militant organization, and for having aided his sister, Assata Shakur, in her escape from prison in New Jersey, where she had been incarcerated for the murder and wounding of one state trooper and another Black Panther member accompanying her in 1973 while stopped on the New Jersey Turnpike.

Charles Edward Watson

October 22 1982 #381
One year on the list
Charles Edward Watson ----------- US PRISONER arrested October 25 1983 in Slatington, Pennsylvania while leaving his residence----

Year 1983

As the year 1983 opened, and for most of the following months that year, the Ten Most Wanted list remained already filled by long-time fugitives from prior years:

* 1968 #265 (fifteen years), Charles Lee Herron
* 1970 #315 (thirteen years), Katherine Ann Power
* 1977 #350 (six years), Raymond Luc Levasseur
* 1979 #366 (four years), Leo Joseph Koury
* 1979 #371 (four years), Vincent James Russo
* 1981 #375 (two years), Donald Eugene Webb
* 1981 #376 (two years), Gilbert James Everett
* 1982 #378 (one year), Thomas William Manning
* 1982 #380 (one year), Mutulu Shakur
* 1982 #381 (two months), Charles Edward Watson arrested October 25 1983

Laney Gibson, Jr.

November 28 1983 #382
Three weeks on the list
Laney Gibson, Jr. ----------------- US PRISONER arrested December 18 1983 in Montgomery, Alabama at a suburban motel----

Year 1984

George Clarence Bridgette

January 10 1984 #383
Three weeks on the list
George Clarence Bridgette ----------- US PRISONER arrested January 30 1984 in Miami, Florida after a citizen recognized his photo from an Identification Order in a post office

amuel Marks Humphrey

February 29 1984 #384
One month on the list
Samuel Marks Humphrey ------------US PRISONER arrested March 22 1984 in Portland, Oregon

Christopher Bernard Wilder

April 5 1984 #385
One week on the list
Christopher Bernard Wilder ----------- KILLED in shootout April 13 1984

Victor Manuel Gerena

May 14 1984 #386
Twenty-two years on the list to date, still at large, the second longest time ever
Victor Manuel Gerena was wanted in connection with the armed robbery of approximately $7 million from a security company in Connecticut in 1983. He allegedly took two security employees hostage at gunpoint and then handcuffed, bound and injected them with an unknown substance in order to further disable them.

[http://www.fbi.gov/wanted/topten/fugitives/gerena.htm Gerena's FBI Top 10 Most Wanted Fugitive Alert]

Wai-Chiu Ng

June 15 1984 #387
Four months on the list
Wai-Chiu (Tony) Ng - US PRISONER; acquitted April 1985 of murder but convicted of 13 counts of first-degree robbery, and sentenced to seven consecutive life terms; arrested October 4, 1984 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police; became the third suspect, charged in absentia on March 30, 1983 with 13 counts of aggravated first-degree murder; wanted in the February 19, 1983 Wah Mee massacre, the worst mass killing in the history of Seattle, Washington, during which thirteen people were shot to death at the Wah Mee Club, a gambling club in Seattle's International District.

[http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/68438_mak30.shtml Mak spared death for Wah Mee killings]

Alton Coleman

July 17 1984 #388
Three days on the list
Alton Coleman --------------- EXECUTED by the state of Ohio on April 26, 2002; arrested July 20 1984 in Evanston, Illinois by local police due to citizen cooperation; was wanted for the murder of 44-year-old Marlene Walters of Norwood, Ohio, and others, during a six-state killing spree in 1984.

Cleveland McKinley Davis

October 24 1984 #389
Three months on the list
Cleveland McKinley Davis --------------- US PRISONER arrested January 25 1985 in New York City by FBI Agentsand local police----

Year 1985

Carmine Persico

January 31 1985 #390
Two weeks on the list
Carmine Persico - aka Junior - US PRISONER serving a 100 year sentence; was convicted of murder and labor and construction racketeering in 1986; arrested February 15 1985 in Wantagh, New York by FBI Agents; boss of the Colombo crime family based in New York.

Lohman Ray Mays, Jr.

February 15 1985 #391
Seven months on the list
Lohman Ray Mays, Jr. ----------------- US PRISONER arrested September 23 1985 in Cheyenne, Wyoming by local police

Charles Earl Hammond

March 14 1985 #392
One year on the list
Charles Earl Hammond --------------- PROCESS DISMISSED August 4 1986

Michael Frederic Allen Hammond

March 14 1985 #393
One year on the list
Michael Frederic Allen Hammond ---- PROCESS DISMISSED August 4 1986

Robert Henry Nicolaus

June 28 1985 #394
One month on the list
Robert Henry Nicolaus ------------ US PRISONER arrested July 20 1985 in York, Pennsylvania after a citizen recognized his photo on an Identification Order at a post office.

David Jay Sterling

September 30 1985 #395
Five months on the list
David Jay Sterling ---------------- US PRISONER arrested February 13 1986 after being pulled over in a routine traffic stop near Covington, Louisiana by local police

Richard Joseph Scutari

September 30 1985 #396
Six months on the list
Richard Joseph Scutari ---- PROCESS DISMISSED March 19 1986, arrested in San Antonio, Texas

Joseph William Dougherty

November 6 1985 #397
One year on the list
Joseph William Dougherty ------------- US PRISONER arrested December 19 1986 by FBI Agents in Antioch, California outside a local laundromat----

Year 1986

Brian Patrick Malverty

March 28 1986 #398
One week on the list
Brian Patrick Malverty ---------- US PRISONER arrested April 7 1986 in San Diego, California after a citizen recognized his photo on an Identification Order at a post office

Billy Ray Waldon

May 16 1986 #399
One month on the list
Billy Ray Waldon -------------- US PRISONER on death row in California for murder; arrested June 16, 1986 in San Diego, California after local police attempted to pull him over for a routine traffic citation; was wanted for murder of a mother and her 13-year-old daughter during a 1985 robbery in Del Mar, California. Two weeks later, Waldon fatally shot a Kensington man in the head while running from police.

[http://www.kfmb.com/features/crimefighters/story.php?id=59265 Local Death Penalty Case From 1985 Finally Goes To Appeal] , KFMB STATIONS: NEWS 8 (2006-08-08)

Claude Lafayette Dallas, Jr.

May 16 1986 #400
One year on the list
Claude Lafayette Dallas, Jr. ------------- US PRISONER arrested March 8 1987 in Riverside, California by FBI Agents while leaving a convenience store

Donald Keith Williams

July 18 1986 #401
One month on the list
Donald Keith Williams ------------- US PRISONER arrested August 20 1986 in Los Angeles, California by FBI Agents through assistance by a concerned citizen

Terry Lee Conner

August 8 1986 #402
Four months on the list
Terry Lee Conner --------------- US PRISONER arrested December 9 1986 in Arlington Heights, Illinois by the U.S. Marshals Service and the FBI

Fillmore Raymond Cross

August 8 1986 #403
Four months on the list
Fillmore Raymond Cross ------------ US PRISONER surrendered voluntarily to the FBI December 23 1986 in San Francisco, California

James Wesley Dyess

September 29 1986 #404
Two years on the list
James Wesley Dyess -------------- US PRISONER arrested March 16 1988 in Los Angeles, California when he was stopped on a routine traffic violation and recognized by a Los Angeles Police officer

Danny Michael Weeks

Septbember 29, 1986 #405
Two years on the list
Danny Michael Weeks --------------- US PRISONER arrested March 20 1988 at his son's home in Seattle, Washington due to an FBI task force and citizenship cooperation; had been featured on America's Most Wanted

Mike Wayne Jackson

October 1 1986 #406
One day on the list
Mike Wayne Jackson --------------- SUICIDE by shotgun October 2 1986 in Wright City, Missouri

Thomas George Harrelson

November 28 1986 #407
Three months on the list
Thomas George Harrelson ------------ US PRISONER arrested February 9 1987 in Drayton, North Dakota while trying to flee the scene of a bank robbery----

Year 1987

The year 1987 brought another top Ten "first", the first man and woman team to be listed together, who were FALN terrorist group associates Donna Jean Willmott and Claude Daniel Marks.

Robert Allen Litchfield

January 20 1987 #408
Four months on the list
Robert Allen Litchfield --------------- US PRISONER arrested May 20 1987 at Lake Tahoe in Zephyr Cove, Nevada by FBI Agents in close cooperation with U.S. Marshal Service and the Sheriff's office

David James Roberts

April 27 1987 #409
Ten months on the list
David James Roberts ---------------- US PRISONER arrested February 11 1988 in Staten Island, New York in an apartment after hiding for four days, due to FBI investigation and citizen information; had seen himself on the very first episode of "America's Most Wanted". He was one of the earliest men captured as a result of the program, and the first from the Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list.

Ronald Glyn Triplett

April 27 1987 #410
Three weeks on the list
Ronald Glyn Triplett --------------- US PRISONER arrested May 16 1987 in Tempe, Arizona

Claude Daniel Marks

May 22 1987 #411
Seven years on the list
Claude Daniel Marks ------------ US PRISONER pled guilty May 9 1995 to prison escape conspiracy in Illinois; surrendered December 6 1994 along with his partner Willmott (Fugitive #412); bought 36 pounds of explosive from undercover FBI in 1985 to attempt to free FALN leader from Leavenworth prison

Donna Jean Willmott

May 22 1987 #412
Seven years on the list
Donna Jean Willmott ------------ US PRISONER pled guilty May 9 1995 to prison escape conspiracy in Illinois; surrendered December 6 1994 along with her partner Marks (Fugitive #411); bought 36 pounds of explosive from undercover FBI in 1985 to attempt to free FALN leader from Leavenworth prison; The Prairie Fire Organizing Committee was founded 1974 as a front for the extremist Weather Underground Organization. The FALN is a clandestine Puerto Rican terrorist group based in the continental United States. Since 1974, the FALN has been linked to over 130 bombings which have resulted in over $3.5 million in damages, 5 deaths, and 84 injuries. Prairie Fire and the FALN share similar extreme leftist ideologies.

Darren Dee O'Neall

June 25 1987 #413
Four months on the list
Darren Dee O'Neall -------------- US PRISONER arrested October 25 1987 on an auto-theft charge in Lakeland, Florida. Louisiana state police later discovered his "Top Ten" identity. O'Neall had been wanted for the rape and murder of multiple women, one of them a child.

Louis Ray Beam, Jr.

July 14 1987 #414
Four months on the list
Louis Ray Beam, Jr. --------------- US PRISONER arrested November 6 1987 while found at home with his wife in Guadalajara, Mexico. During the arrest, Beam's wife opened fire and critically injured a Mexican police officer.----

Year 1988

Ted Jeffery Otsuki

January 22 1988 #415
Eight months on the list
Ted Jeffery Otsuki ------------- MEXICAN PRISONER arrested September 4 1988 in Guadalajara by Mexican Federal Judicial Police and the FBI who set up a surveillance team and waited for him at his apartment. He had been featured on "America's Most Wanted".

Pedro Luis Estrada

April 15 1988 #416
One year on the list
Pedro Luis Estrada ------------ US PRISONER arrested October 1 1989 by a SWAT team of FBI Agents at his home in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. He had been featured on "America's Most Wanted" which received information leading to his arrest.

John Edward Stevens

May 29 1988 #417
Six months on the list
John Edward Stevens ------------- US PRISONER arrested November 30 1988 in Cincina, Ohio. He was found in a motel with his girlfriend. He had been featured on "America's Most Wanted".

Jack Darrell Farmer

May 29 1988 #418
Three days on the list
Jack Darrell Farmer ------------- US PRISONER arrested June 1 1988 in Lantana, Florida after being featured on "America's Most Wanted". He was recognized by a co-worker who called in.

Roger Lee Jones

May 29 1988 #419
One year on the list
Roger Lee Jones --------------- US PRISONER arrested March 4 1989 in Great Falls, South Dakota, after being featured on "America's Most Wanted".

Terry Lee Johnson

June 12 1988 #420
Two months on the list
Terry Lee Johnson ------------- US PRISONER arrested August 17 1988 in San Diego, California by San Diego Police Johnson was sleeping in his pick up when local police, upon noticing his truck had expired tags, arrested him on an unrelated traffic warrant under the name Lee Johnson. After spending several days in San Diego County Jail Johnson was being released. FBI agents were at the County jail picking up another prisoner when they recognised Johnson from a recent episode of "Americas Most Wanted" and stopped his release.

tanley Faison

November 27 1988 #421
One month on the list
Stanley Faison --------------- US PRISONER arrested December 24 1988 in Detroit, Michigan by FBI and local police. He had been featured on "America's Most Wanted".

teven Ray Stout

November 27 1988 #422
One week on the list
Steven Ray Stout --------------- US PRISONER arrested December 6 1988 in Gulfport, Mississippi after being featured on "America's Most Wanted".----

Year 1989

Armando Garcia

January 8 1989 #423
Five years on the list
Armando Garcia -------------------- US PRISONER arrested January 18 1994 after being featured on "America's Most Wanted".

Melvin Edward Mays

February 7 1989 #424
Six years on the list
Melvin Edward Mays ------------------------ US PRISONER arrested March 9 1995 by the FBI's Chicago Joint Terrorism Task Force; was wanted for terror conspiracy on behalf of Libya; evaded arrest in 1986; was featured on "America's Most Wanted" as well as "Unsolved Mysteries".

Bobby G. Dennie

February 24 1989 #425
Eight months on the list
Bobby G. Dennie -------------------- US PRISONER arrested October 28 1989 in Lake Wales, Florida by the FBI and Polk County detectives due to information received after being featured on "Unsolved Mysteries". He had also been featured on America's "Most Wanted".

Costabile "Gus" Farace

February 24 1989 #426
Nine months on the list
Costabile "Gus" Farace --------- MURDERED by an unknown assailant in Brooklyn November 17 1989. He had been featured on "America's Most Wanted".

Arthur Lee Washington Jr.

October 18 1989 #427
Eleven years on the list
Arthur Lee Washington, Jr. - REMOVED from the list in December 2000 because he no longer met the criteria; according to the FBI, he may have become stricken with AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome); was wanted in the attempted murder of a New Jersey state trooper using a .45 caliber semi-automatic handgun April 12 1989; has been associated in the past with militant black prison groups and the Black Liberation Army; was implied to have been an injection drug user, evidenced by old track marks on both arms.

[http://web.archive.org/web/20001109113900/www.fbi.gov/mostwant/topten/fugitives/washing.htm Washington's Top Ten FBI Fugitive profile (retrieved from archive.org and dating back to 2000)]

Lee Nell Carter

November 19 1989 #428
One day on the list
Lee Nell Carter ------------------- US PRISONER arrested November 20 1989 in Detroit by FBI Agents and Detroit police.Citizens identified him during the broadcast of "America's Most Wanted".

Wardell David Ford

December 20 1989 #429
Nine months on the list
Wardell David Ford --------------- US PRISONER arrested September 17 1990 in New Haven, Connecticut after being featured on "America's Most Wanted". He had also been featured on "Unsolved Mysteries".----

End of the Decade

One fugitive from the 1980s decade list remains on the list as of today:

* 1984 #386 (twenty-three years to date), Victor Manuel Gerena

The following fugitives made up the remainder of the top ten list, at the end of the decade:

* 1979 #366 (eleven years), Leo Joseph Koury
* 1981 #375 (nine years), Donald Eugene Webb
* 1987 #411 (three years), Claude Daniel Marks
* 1987 #412 (three years), Donna Jean Willmott
* 1989 #423 (one year), Armando Garcia
* 1989 #424 (one year), Melvin Edward Mays
* 1989 #427 (three months), Arthur Lee Washington Jr.
* 1989 #429 (one month), Wardell David Ford arrested September 17 1990

-One spot on the list of Ten remained unfilled from a capture late in the year 1989. It was filled the next month.

ee also

Later entries

*FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives, 2000s
*FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives, 1990s

Prior entries

*FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives, 1970s
*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)]