A convicted murderer who escaped a New Jersey prison and later hijacked a plane was caught in Portugal after 41 years on the run. Hit the jump to read the rest of the story.
@WiL

George Wright, 68, was arrested Monday after the FBI had tracked him to the European country.

“This case should serve notice that the FBI’s determination in pursuing subjects will not diminish over time or distance,” said Michael Ward, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Newark office.

Wright’s wild tale dates back to 1962 when he and three others committed a string of armed robberies, one of which ended with the fatal shooting of gas station attendant and World War II veteran Walter Patterson in Wall, N.J.

“The crime left two young girls without a father,” said Gary Lanigan, commissioner of the New Jersey department of corrections.

Wright pleaded “no defense,” to murder in 1963 and was sentenced to 15-to-30 years in prison. But in 1970, he and three others escaped from Bayside State Prison in Leesburg, N.J. and fled to Detroit where he joined the Black Liberation Army.

Later, in 1972, Wright and four other adults, accompanied by three children, hijacked a Delta flight from Detroit to Miami.

When they landed in Miami, they demanded a $1 million ransom for the passengers – the largest ever ransom demand of its kind at the time.

After releasing the passengers, Wright and the others forced the pilot to fly the plane to Boston and then on to Algeria where they requested asylum.

The hijackers were briefly detained but later let go.

In 1976, French police arrested Wright’s accomplices in Paris where they were tried and convicted.

Wright remained a fugitive until now.
DN