FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives, 1970s

List of FBI fugitives

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.

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.

Name Sequence Number Date of Entry Time Listed James John Byrnes#305January 6, 1970Three monthsJames John Byrnes was arrested April 17, 1970 in Huntington Beach, California. Edmund James Devlin#306March 6, 1970Five monthsEdmund James Devlin was arrested August 15, 1970 in Manchester, New Hampshire. Lawrence Robert Plamondon#307May 5, 1970Two monthsLawrence 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#308May 6, 1970One yearHubert 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#309August 18, 1970Two monthsAngela 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 Alan Armstrong#310September 4, 1970Six yearsDwight Alan 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. Karleton Lewis Armstrong#311September 4, 1970Two yearsKarleton Lewis Armstrong was apprehended February 16, 1972 in Toronto, Ontario, 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. Herman Bell#318May 9, 1973Four monthsHerman Bell was arrested September 2, 1973 in New Orleans by the FBI and local officers. Twymon Ford Myers#319September 28, 1973Two monthsTwymon 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#320December 7, 1973Three monthsRonald Harvey was arrested March 27, 1974 in Chicago. Samuel Richard Christian#321December 7, 1973Five daysSamuel Richard Christian was arrested December 12, 1973 in Detroit. Rudolph Alonza Turner#322January 10, 1974Nine monthsRudolph Alonza Turner was arrested October 1, 1974 in Jacksonville, Florida, by FBI agents. Larry Gene Cole#323April 2, 1974One dayLarry 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#324April 2, 1974Two monthsJames 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#325June 27, 1974One monthLendell Hunter was wanted in a prison escape (he was serving three sentences for rape) and a murder of a 78 year old woman and an assault of a 12 year old grandson in Augusta, Georgia. He was arrested July 31, 1974 in Des Moines, Iowa. John Edward Copeland#326August 15, 1974One yearJohn Edward Copeland was arrested July 23, 1975 due to citizen cooperation, in Dorchester, Massachusetts, after riding his bicycle home. Melvin Dale Walker#327October 16, 1974Three weeksMelvin 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#328December 12, 1974Two weeksThomas 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. He was executed for his crimes on January 7, 2014, at Florida State Prison.

Name Sequence Number Date of Entry Time Listed Billy Dean Anderson#329January 21, 1975Four yearsBilly Dean Anderson was killed July 7, 1979 in Pall Mall, Tennessee, during a shootout with police. The lead was based on information from an informant known as "Mountain Man." Robert Gerald Davis#330April 4, 1975Two yearsRobert Gerald Davis was arrested August 5, 1977 in Venice, California. Richard Dean Holtan#331April 18, 1975Three monthsRichard Dean Holtan was arrested July 12, 1975 by local authorities in Kauai, Hawaii. Richard Bernard Lindhorst, Jr.#332August 4, 1975Three daysRichard Bernard Lindhorst, Jr. was arrested August 7, 1975 in Pensacola, Florida, by FBI agents and local police. William Lewis Herron, Jr.#333August 15, 1975Two monthsWilliam Lewis Herron, Jr. was arrested October 30, 1975 in Peoria, Illinois. James Winston Smallwood#334August 29, 1975Four monthsJames 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#335December 22, 1975Two monthsLeonard 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#336March 3, 1976One yearPatrick James Huston was arrested December 7, 1977 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Thomas Edward Bethea#337March 5, 1976Two monthsThomas 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#338March 15, 1976One weekAnthony Michael Juliano was arrested March 22, 1976 in Mecklenburg County, Virginia, after a meter maid recognized him in a parked car. Joseph Maurice McDonald#339April 1, 1976Six yearsJoseph Maurice McDonald was arrested September 15, 1982 at Penn Station in New York City by local police. James Ray Renton#340April 7, 1976One yearJames Ray Renton was arrested May 9, 1977 in Aurora, Colorado. Nathaniel Doyle, Jr.#341April 29, 1976Three monthsNathaniel Doyle, Jr. was killed in a shootout on July 15, 1976 with local police in Seattle. Morris Lynn Johnson#342May 25, 1976One monthMorris 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#343July 29, 1976Three monthsRichard Joseph Picariello was arrested October 21, 1976 in Fall River, Massachusetts. Edward Patrick Gullion#344August 13, 1976Two monthsEdward Patrick Gullion was arrested October 22, 1976 in Providence, Rhode Island, where he was employed at a jewelry store. Gerhardt Julius Schwartz#345November 18, 1976Four daysGerhardt 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#346December 17, 1976Two monthsFrancis John Martin was arrested February 17, 1977 in Newport Beach, California, after a tip from a telephone call. Benjamin George Pavan#347January 12, 1977One monthBenjamin George Pavan was arrested February 17, 1977 in Seattle after a tip from a telephone call. Larry Gene Campbell#348March 18, 1977Six monthsLarry 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#349March 18, 1977Three monthsRoy 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#350May 5, 1977Seven yearsRaymond 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#351June 11, 1977Two daysJames Earl Ray made his second appearance on the list (previously #277, in 1968, for the 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#352June 14, 1977Two yearsWillie Foster Sellers, the reputed leader of the Dawson Gang, claimed to have robbed more than 100 banks for more than $8 million in the 1970s. He was arrested June 20, 1979 in Atlanta upon his arrival at the Delta Air Lines freight dock. Larry Smith#353July 15, 1977One monthLarry 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#354October 19, 1977Three monthsRalph Robert Cozzolino was arrested January 6, 1978 in Jonesboro, Georgia. Millard Oscar Hubbard#355October 19, 1977Two daysMillard Oscar Hubbard was arrested October 21, 1977 in Lexington, Kentucky, after a tip from locals. Carlos Alberto Torres#356October 19, 1977Three yearsCarlos 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#357December 5, 1977Three daysEnrique 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#358February 10, 1978Eight monthsWilliam David Smith was arrested October 27, 1978 in Chicago following a telephone tip. Gary Ronald Warren#359February 10, 1978Three monthsGary Ronald Warren was arrested May 12, 1978 in Cumberland, Maryland, by the FBI and local police. Theodore Robert Bundy#360February 10, 1978Four daysTheodore 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#361March 27, 1978Two monthsAndrew Evan Gipson was arrested May 24, 1978 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Anthony Dominic Liberatore#362May 24, 1978One yearAnthony 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#363July 10, 1978Four monthsMichael 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#364November 19, 1978Three yearsCharles 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#365December 17, 1978Nine monthsRonald Lee Lyons was arrested September 10, 1979 in Hungry Valley, Nevada, by FBI agents and the Washoe County Sheriff's department. Leo Joseph Koury#366April 20, 1979Twelve yearsLeo Joseph Koury was found dead on June 16, 1991 in San Diego from massive cerebral vascular hypertension. John William Sherman#367August 3, 1979Two yearsJohn William Sherman was arrested December 17, 1981 in Golden, Colorado, while he was getting into his car outside his residence. Melvin Bay Guyon#368August 9, 1979One weekMelvin 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#369September 28, 1979Three monthsGeorge 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#370October 12, 1979Five monthsEarl Edwin Austin was arrested March 1, 1980 in his apartment in Tucson, Arizona. Vincent James Russo#371December 24, 1979Six yearsVincent James Russo was arrested January 4, 1985 at his home in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania.