PORTUGAL: The FBI says the U.S. fugitive George Wright -- a convicted murderer and alleged hijacker -- is under arrest by the authorities

Record ID: 784103

  • Title: PORTUGAL: The FBI says the U.S. fugitive George Wright -- a convicted murderer and alleged hijacker -- is under arrest by the authorities
  • Date: 29th September 2011
  • Summary: VARIOUS OF NEWSPAPER ARTICLES ABOUT GEORGE WRIGHT
  • Embargoed: 14th October 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Portugal, Portugal
  • Country: Portugal
  • Reuters ID: LVAEG8OFMJLA0XSS5Q0Y23X6EYTH
  • Story Text: A murderer who escaped from a New Jersey prison in 1970 and allegedly hijacked a passenger plane has been captured in Portugal after 41 years as a fugitive, the FBI said on Tuesday (September 27).
    George Wright, 68, was arrested by Portuguese police on Monday (September 26) after the FBI, the U.S. Marshalls Service and New Jersey authorities tracked him down to a town outside Lisbon.
    The FBI told U.S. television network NBC, Wright was arrested in Colares, Portugal.
    It was unclear how authorities located him, but some news reports said Wright had recently begun to contact relatives in the United States.
    Neighbours and Colares locals on Wednesday (September 28) identified a whitewashed house in the area of Almocageme as his alleged place of residence for the last 20 years.
    One man, who claimed he knew Wright, said he went by the name of Jorge and that he was married to a Portuguese woman with whom he ran an artefact store.
    "This man was nice, easygoing; he had good contacts here in the community," said Cara de Anjo, adding no one had any idea who he really was.
    Other residents said they had not heard the name of George Wright or the FBI connection, but said they were not surprised he had managed to hide in this area of Portugal for two decades.
    Wright was convicted in 1963 for the murder of gas station owner Walter Patterson during an armed robbery in Wall, New Jersey.
    While serving his 15- to 30-year prison sentence, he escaped from Bayside State Prison in Leesburg, New Jersey, in 1970, along with three other men.
    Eventually he made his way to Detroit, where he joined the Black Liberation Army, a black-nationalist militant group, according to the FBI.
    In 1972, he was among five hijackers who, with three small children in tow, commandeered a Delta flight from Detroit to Miami, the FBI said.
    After landing in Miami, the hijackers demanded a $1 million ransom for the passengers. They insisted the FBI agents deliver the money wearing only swimsuits to ensure they had no concealed weapons.
    The hijackers then forced the plane to fly to Algeria, hoping to seek asylum. Algerian authorities seized the plane and the money, returning both to the United States, but released the hijackers after a few days.
    In 1976, four of the hijackers were located and convicted in France, but Wright remained at large until Monday.
    Wright was being held without bail by Portuguese authorities and faces extradition to the United States to serve the remainder of his sentence for his murder conviction.
    An FBI spokesman could not comment on whether Wright would face additional charges for his role in the Delta hijacking.
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