Feds: Man who escaped Ohio prison in '78 caught in Minnesota
TOLEDO, Ohio -- A convicted murderer who escaped an Ohio prison in 1978 by cutting through cell bars and a fence has been captured in Minnesota's capital city, the U.S. Marshals Service said Friday.
Oscar Juarez, 66, was among Ohio's most wanted fugitives and evaded being caught while on the run despite being arrested twice. He was let go both times.
He was taken into custody Thursday night in St. Paul, Minn., at an apartment building on a tree-lined street. It wasn't clear how long he had been in Minnesota, said Pete Elliott, the U.S. marshal for northern Ohio.
"We know if he was in several different states over the years," Elliott said. "It wasn't one thing that led us to his doorstep. It was a number of things and good old-fashioned police work."
Juarez, who was serving a life sentence for killing a Toledo man in 1975, escaped from a state prison in Marion in 1978 by sawing through prison bars and cutting through a fence, according to the marshals. They say he also put a dummy in his bed and covered it with blankets.
Juarez was arrested twice since the escape - in Texas and California - but he went unnoticed because he was using fake identities, the FBI said.
He apparently used at least seven different aliases and worked as a welder and machine operator, the FBI said.