Tuesday, December 4, 2012
Network's "48 Hours" program airs case of fugitive George Wright
The man who spent 41 years on the lam after escaping from prison following his conviction on charges he murdered a man at a Wall Township gas station was the subject of a CBS news show this weekend. "48 Hours'' aired a 42-minute segment on the case of George Wright, who was convicted of killing Walter Patterson at his gas station on the Routes 33/34 circle on Nov. 23, 1962. Wright spent seven years in a U.S. prison for the murder before escaping in 1970. He then hijacked a plane in 1972 from the U.S. to Algeria along with other Black Liberation Army militants. He was captured just last year in Portugal after his U.S. fingerprint matched one in Portugal's database of prints for all citizens. Portugal has refused to extradite Wright to the …
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Miss our live coverage? Read the transcript below!
The case of George Wright, who spent 41 years on the lam after escaping from prison in New Jersey after his conviction in the murder of a Wall gas station attendent in the 1960s, is the subject of a Congressional hearing before the Helsinki Commission. We're covering it live at 2 p.m. The event will be streamed live here. Watch the hearing and join the chat!
Helsinki Commission to hear testimony Wednesday in the case of George Wright
The Helsinki Commission, a Congressional commission headed by U.S. Rep. Christopher H. Smith, R-N.J., Wednesday afternoon is scheduled to hold a hearing on international fugitives, using the case of George Wright -- the escaped prisoner who was convicted of murdering a Wall gas station attendent in the 1960s and is now living in Portugal. Among those scheduled to testify at the 2 p.m. hearing on Captiol Hill is Ann Patterson, of Howell, the daughter of Walter Patterson who was killed by a young George Wright at a Wall Township gas station in 1962 during a robbery. The event will be streamed live here. Portuguese police captured the 68-year-old Wright near the capital Lisbon last September, ending his four decades on the lam after escaping …
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Escaped prisoner George Wright convicted of killing man in Wall
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Thursday, February 2, 2012
LISBON, Portugal — Portugal's Supreme Court has refused a second appeal by the U.S. to extradite American fugitive George Wright. A court ruling provided to The Associated Press on Wednesday showed judges confirmed a decision last month to deny a U.S. appeal for extradition. They issued their ruling Tuesday without providing details. The U.S. can lodge a final appeal at the Constitutional Court in Lisbon. Portuguese police captured the 68-year-old Wright near the capital Lisbon last September, ending his four decades on the lam after escaping from a New Jersey prison. A lower court judge ruled in November that Wright had become a Portuguese citizen and that, under Portuguese law, the statute of limitations on his 15- to 30-year sentence …
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Country will not send back George Wright
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Thursday, December 22, 2011
LISBON, Portugal — Portugal's Supreme Court has refused a request from the U.S. to extradite American fugitive George Wright, his lawyer said Thursday. Wright's lawyer Manuel Luis Ferreira said the court rejected an appeal by the U.S. against a lower court's decision that denied extradition a month ago. "The Supreme Court has denied the appeal," Ferreira told The Associated Press. "They notified me today." The U.S. can now appeal to Portugal's Constitutional Court if it chooses to. Ferreira said he did not have details of the ruling. In Portugal, extradition cases are conducted in secret. Ferreira said Wright intends to remain in Portugal. A Lisbon judge decided against Wright's extradition in November, two months after he was captured in …
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Fugitive killer on lam for 41 years
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Tuesday, November 29, 2011
The U.S. Department of Justice announced Tuesday it has appealed a Portuguese judge's decision denying the extradition of an American fugitive who spent 41 years on the lam on three continents. The appeal to extradite George Wright was filed with the Portuguese Court of Appeals, but U.S. Department of Justice spokeswoman Laura Sweeney declined to provide the legal arguments for it because in Portugal extradition cases are conducted in secret. Wright's lawyer, Manuel Luis Ferreira, declined to comment on the appeal, saying he had not been officially informed of it. Wright, his Portuguese wife and their two grown children were jubilant Nov. 17 when a Portuguese judge decided against Wright's extradition. The judge ruled that Wright, 68, had …
Sunday, November 20, 2011
George Wright killed a man in Wall in the 1960s, fled
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Sunday, November 20, 2011
On a spring day in 1976, while hiding out in Paris, an American member of the Black Liberation Army panicked. Newspapers were trumpeting the arrest of four comrades who had helped him hijack a plane. He needed to get out of France, and fast. George Wright called together his secret network of friends — French radicals and an American sympathizer. They hatched a plan: Wright would slip quietly into Portugal by train and move on to one of its former African colonies, where Marxism and hostility to the West meant he would probably be safe. The plan worked for decades. Then, in September, thanks to a fingerprint from his past, it all came crashing down. More From the Associated Press
Thursday, November 17, 2011
George Wright, an escaped prisoner, killed a man in Wall in the1960s
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Thursday, November 17, 2011
LISBON, Portugal — A Portuguese court has denied a U.S. request for the extradition of captured American fugitive George Wright, who spent 41 years on the lam in a journey that took him across three continents, a court official and his lawyer said Thursday. The U.S. wants Wright returned to serve the rest of his 15- to 30-year jail sentence for a 1962 killing in Wall Township. Wright was captured in Portugal in September after a fingerprint provided by U.S. authorities was matched to his in a national database the country maintains for all citizens and legal residents. Wright's lawyer, Manuel Luis Ferreira, told The Associated Press by telephone the judge accepted his arguments that Wright is now Portuguese and that the statute of …
Friday, October 28, 2011
Wright, convicted murderer of Wall gas station attendent, on lamb for 41 years
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Friday, October 28, 2011
ALMOCAGEME, Portugal — The wife of captured American fugitive George Wright said Friday her husband has various health problems and should not be extradited to the United States. Maria do Rosario Valente said in an interview with The Associated Press at their home that Wright suffers from glaucoma, "very, very high" blood pressure caused by recent stress, and has complained of chest pains. "We're having a bunch of tests done to see what's his current health condition," Valente said. Wright's lawyer, Manuel Luis Ferreira, said he intends to include his client's poor health in his legal arguments against extradition to the United States. "I didn't initially realize how bad he was. Now I've got to know him, I know his problems," Ferreira told…
Friday, October 14, 2011
George Wright, a fugitive for more than 40 years, is fighting extradition to the US
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Friday, October 14, 2011
LISBON, Portugal — A court has allowed captured American fugitive George Wright -- convicted of a Wall Township murder -- to leave jail and stay at his Portuguese home while he fights extradition to the U.S., the Associated Press reported Friday. A judge hearing the case released Wright from custody on condition he stays at his home near Lisbon and wears an electronic tag that monitors his movements, lawyer Manuel Luis Ferreira told the AP. Wright spent seven years in prison before escaping in 1970, and was on the run for 41 years until his arrest in Portugal almost three weeks ago. Wright had been held in a Lisbon jail since he was caught. "He can't leave the house and he can't speak about the case to anyone," Ferreira told the AP. Under …
Kevin McQuade
10:01 am on Friday, November 30, 2012
Wright? Any relation to the " Chickens are Coming Home To Roost " & " I Nver Heard A SINGLE WORD IN 20? YEARS! " CHICAGO STANDARDS WRIGHT'S? more ›