FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives, 1990s
In the 1990s, for the fifth decade, the United States FBI continued to maintain a public list of the people it regarded as the Ten Most Wanted Fugitives. Following is a brief review of FBI people and events that place the 1990's decade in context, and then an historical list of indivdual suspects whose names first appeared on the 10 Most Wanted list during the decade of the 1990s.
FBI directors in decade of 1990s
- William S. Sessions ( -1993)
- Acting Director: Floyd I. Clarke (1993)
- Louis J. Freeh (1993– )
FBI headlines in decade of 1990s
The 1991 film Silence of the Lambs starred Jodie Foster as an FBI Agent Trainee in pursuit of a serial killer. The blockbuster film may have been the first high profile portrayal of women agents in the Bureau.
In 1993 and 1994 the FBI was scrutinized for its role in the Ruby Ridge and Waco incidents.
From 1993, Fox TV produced the highly popular television series The X-files, for an oddly different historical angle on the FBI, as fictional Agents Dana Scully and Fox Mulder encountered the paranormal.
As a decade, the 1990s list stands out above others for its inclusion of a large number of highly notorious suspects, including several major terrorists, foreign and domestic. 1999 includes entry on the top 10 list of the most notorious suspect ever in American history, Osama bin Laden, for the 1998 embassy attacks. Of course, bin Laden's later attack on 9/11 three years later dwarfed that 1998 event.
Though it may seem a bit peculiar that so many 1990s terrorists appear on this top 10 list of fugitives, it should be pointed out that it was not until the aftermath of 9/11 in 2001 that the FBI also began to maintain a separate list of Most Wanted Terrorists.
FBI Most Wanted Fugitives in decade of 1990s
The FBI in the past has identified individuals by the sequence number in which each individual has appeared on the list. Some individuals have even appeared twice, and often a sequence number was permanently assigned to an individual suspect who was soon caught, captured, or simply removed, before his or her appearance could be published on the publicly released list. In those cases, the public would see only gaps in the number sequence reported by the FBI. For convenient reference, the wanted suspect's sequence number and date of entry on the FBI list appear below, whenever possible.
As the new decade opened, of particular note were the two Fugitives from the prior 1980s decade list, who still remain at large today:
- 1981 #375 (twenty-five years to date), Donald Eugene Webb
- 1984 #386 (twenty-two years to date), Victor Manuel Gerena
The following Fugitives made up the remainder of the top Ten list, at the opening of the new decade:
- 1979 #366 (eleven years), Leo Joseph Koury
- 1987 #411 (three years), Claude Daniel Marks
- 1987 #412 (three years), Donna Jean Willmott
- 1989 #423 (one year), Armando Garcia
- 1989 #424 (one year), Melvin Edward Mays
- 1989 #427 (three months), Arthur Lee Washington Jr.
- 1989 #429 (one month), Wardell David Ford arrested September 17, 1990
One spot on the list of Ten remained unfilled from a capture late in the year 1989. It was filled in the first month of the new decade in 1990.
The most wanted fugitives listed in the decade of the 1990s includes (in FBI list appearance sequence order): [1]
1990
Leslie Isben Rogge
January 24, 1990 #430
Six years on the list
Leslie Isben Rogge Imprisoned in U.S. since 1996
- Surrendered May 19, 1996 to Guatemalan authorithies.
- was featured on Unsolved Mysteries
Archive of FBI Ten Most Wanted poster of Rogge
| Seq. | Name | Date listed as fugitive, how long | Last known status, history and crimes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 431 | Kenneth Robert Stanton | October 24, 1990
Seven days |
Imprisoned in U.S. since 1990
|
| 432 | Patrick Michael Mitchell | November 23, 1990
Four years |
Imprisoned in U.S. since 1994
|
1991
| Seq. | Name | Date listed as fugitive, how long | Last known status, history and crimes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 433 | Jon Preston Settle | August 9, 1991
Never published |
Imprisoned in U.S. since 1991
|
| 434 | Robert Michael Allen | September 13, 1991
One year |
Deceased since 1992
|
1992
Throughout the year 1992, there were no additions made by the FBI to the list, for the second time in its history. Once again, all ten spots remained filled from Fugitives who had been listed in prior years, and were still at large:
- 1981 #375 (eleven years), Donald Eugene Webb
- 1984 #386 (eight years), Victor Manuel Gerena
- 1987 #411 (five years), Claude Daniel Marks
- 1987 #412 (five years), Donna Jean Willmott
- 1989 #423 (three years), Armando Garcia
- 1989 #424 (three years), Melvin Edward Mays
- 1989 #427 (three years), Arthur Lee Washington Jr.
- 1990 #430 (two years), Leslie Isben Rogge
- 1990 #432 (two years), Patrick Michael Mitchell
- 1991 #434 (one year), Robert Michael Allen found dead December 23, 1992
1993
Mir Aimal Kansi
February 9, 1993 #435
Four years on the list
Mir Aimal Kansi was executed on November 14, 2002 by lethal injection in a Virginia state prison; convicted November 12, 1997; was a fugitive in Afghanistan, and Pakistan, arrested when he was turned in by an informant, at his hotel in Dera Ghazi Khan, central Pakistan on June 17, 1997; was wanted in murder case of two CIA employees outside CIA headquarters at Langley, Virginia on January 25, 1993, during which three others were shot as well in their cars at the intersection.
Ramzi Ahmed Yousef
April 21, 1993 #436
Two years on the list
Ramzi Ahmed Yousef was imprisoned at the federal "supermax" prison in Florence, Colorado, sentenced to life January 8, 1998; was convicted November 12, 1997 of planning and execution of the 1993 WTC bombing in Manhattan, the mastermind behind the bombing; he was arrested in Pakistan February 7, 1995; had fled Manila, Philippines after the foiled Bojinka plot February 6, 1995 to bomb 11 U.S. airliners;
- Nephew of captured 9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed
- aka Abdul Mahmud Abdul Karim Basit
- Basit may be a stolen Pakistani identity in Kuwait, and Yousef an Iraqi agent
1994
| Seq. | Name | Date listed as fugitive, how long | Last known status, history and crimes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 437 | Joseph Martin Luther Gardner | May 25, 1994
Five months |
Imprisoned since 1994
|
| 438 | Gary Ray Bowles | November 19, 1994
Three days |
Imprisoned on death row since 1999
|
1995
| Seq. | Name | Date listed as fugitive, how long | Last known status, history and crimes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 439 | Gerald Keith Watkins | March 4, 1995
Two months |
Imprisoned in U.S. since 1995
|
| 440 | Juan Garcia-Abrego | March 9, 1995
Nine months |
Imprisoned in U.S. since 1996
|
Abdel Bassett Ali Al-Megrahi
March 23, 1995 #441
Four years on the list
Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi - Scotland PRISONER, murder conviction upheld by appeals court in March 2002; sentenced to life in prison with possibility of parole after 20 years; convicted January 31, 2001; arrested in Holland April 5, 1999; charged in part with "Conspiracy to Destroy a Civil Aircraft of the United States"; was wanted in December 21, 1988 mass murder bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, which killed 259 passengers and crew members and 11 Lockerbie villagers, including nationals of the United States; Libyan intelligence agent, under cover as Chief of Airline Security for Libyan Arab Airlines
Archive demo of Megrahi's FBI Ten Most Wanted poster
Lamen Khalifa Fhimah
March 23, 1995 #442
Four years on the list
Lamin Khalifah Fhimah - ACQUITTED in Scotland January 31, 2001; was a Scotland prisoner, awaiting trial as of January 2000; arrested in Holland April 5, 1999; charged in part with "Conspiracy to Destroy a Civil Aircraft of the United States"; was wanted in the December 21, 1988 mass murder bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland which killed 259 passengers and crew members and 11 Lockerbie villagers, including nationals of the United States
Archive demo of Fhimah's FBI top ten wanted poster
O'Neil Vassell
July 15, 1995 #443
One year on the list
O'Neil Vassell - US PRISONER arrested October 16, 1996 in Brooklyn, New York; wanted on 3 first-degree murder counts from June and July 1993 murders of three individuals in the Bridgeport, Connecticut area. Vassell had a history of assaults and drug charges; was a known member of the "RATs" Jamaican drug posse, was a drug user and had been known to carry a 9mm semi-automatic handgun.
Archive of Vassell's FBI top ten wanted poster
Rickey Allen Bright
December 15, 1995 #444
Three weeks on the list
Rickey Allen Bright - US PRISONER arrested January 7, 1996 in North Carolina; wanted in kidnapping and rape of a 9-year-old Wilkes County, North Carolina girl in October 1995; paroled after 13 years in January 1995 from North Carolina prison; was turned down twice for parole; sentenced to 15-to-life in North Carolina prison in 1981; was wanted in kidnapping and attempted rape of a 7-year-old girl in Gastonia, North Carolina in 1979
1996
Agustin Vasquez-Mendoza
August 3, 1996 #445
Four years on the list
Agustin Vasquez-Mendoza - Imprisoned since 2000 in Maricopa County, Arizona; arrested in Mexico July 9, 2000; was wanted for unlawful flight; indicted in Phoenix, Arizona July 11, 1994 in murder of an undercover DEA special agent in Glendale, Arizona on June 30, 1994, during an undercover drug transaction, kidnapping, attempted armed robbery and assault in a drug conspiracy
Archive demo of Vasquez-Mendoza's FBI top ten wanted poster
Thang Thanh Nguyen
August 3, 1996 #446
One year on the list
Thang Thanh Nguyen - Imprisoned in U.S. since 1998; was extradited to Rochester, New York January 6, 1998 from Bangkok, Thailand after he was turned over to the FBI and transported from Vietnam; was arrested December 22, 1997 in Bac Lieu, Vietnam; was charged by FBI with Unlawful Flight July 14, 1992; arrest warrant was issued and he was indicted in Monroe County, New York July 9, 1992; was wanted in home-invasion robbery and murder of his former employer, a Vietnamese businessman in Irondequoit, New York January 26, 1992
Archive of Nguyen's FBI wanted poster
Glen Stewart Godwin
December 7, 1996 #447
still at large on the list
Glen Stewart Godwin is being sought for his 1987 escape from Folsom State Prison in California, where he was serving a lengthy sentence for murder. Later he escaped from Mexican prison September 1991; murdered an inmate in Mexican prison April 1991; sentenced to prison in Guadalajara, Mexico in 1987; convicted for drug trafficking in Mexico 1987; arrested for drug trafficking in Puerta Vallarta, Mexico in 1987; escaped from Folsom prison June 30, 1987 through a storm drain
Godwin's FBI Top 10 Most Wanted Fugitive Alert
David Alex Alvarez
December 14, 1996 #448
Five months on the list
David Alex Alvarez - Mexico PRISONER arrested May 20, 1997 in Tijuana, Mexico; wanted in murder of four people, including two young gilrs, and wounding of three other people, at Baldwin Park, California September 29, 1996; wanted in kidnapping in California August 1996; paroled in 1994; sentenced to five years, convicted of battery and assault with a firearm in 1992
Archive of FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitive wanted poster for Alvarez
1997
Andrew Phillip Cunanan
June 12, 1997 #449
One month on the list
Andrew Phillip Cunanan - Deceased, by suicide in a German millionaire's houseboat on Indian Creek Canal in Miami Beach, Florida July 23, 1997; was wanted in shooting murder of fashion designer Gianni Versace outside his Miami Beach house July 15, 1997; arrived in Miami Beach on May 10, 1997; wanted in shooting murder of Finn's Point Cemetery worker in Pennsville, New Jersey May 9, 1997; wanted in torture and stabbing murder of Chicago, Illinois real-estate developer Lee Miglin at his home May 3, 1997; wanted in shooting murder of another partner near Duluth, Minnesota about April 29, 1997; wanted in bludgeoning murder of partner in Minneapolis, Minnesota April 27, 1997
| Seq. | Name | Date listed as fugitive, how long | Last known status, history and crimes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 450 | Paul Ragusa | September 6, 1997
Four months |
Imprisoned in U.S. since 1998
|
Ramon Eduardo Arellano-Felix
September 18, 1997 #451
Five years on the list
Ramón Eduardo Arellano-Félix - Killed in a gunbattle with police at Mazatlan February 10, 2002; was at large in Mexico as of 1997; wanted in ordering a hit which resulted in mass murder of 19 people in Ensenada September 17, 1998; charged in a sealed indictment in United States District Court for the Southern District of California, with Conspiracy to Import Cocaine and Marijuana in drug trafficking; one of the leaders of the Arellano-Felix Organization (AFO), which is also known as the Tijuana Cartel.
Archive demo of Arellano-Felix's FBI wanted poster
1998
| Seq. | Name | Date listed as fugitive, how long | Last known status, history and crimes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 452 | Tony Ray Amati | February 21, 1998
Four days |
Imprisoned in U.S. since 1998
|
Harry Joseph Bowman
March 14, 1998 #453
One year on the list
Harry Joseph Bowman - Imprisoned in U.S. since 1999; arrested June 7, 1999 in Sterling Heights, Michigan; indicted in Tampa in August 1997 for three murders; wanted in murder of Outlaws member in Indiana in 1995; indicted for having ordered bombings of rival clubhouses in Orlando and in Cook County, Illinois in 1994; wanted in murder of rival club member in Edgewater, Florida in 1991; wanted in murder of Outlaws member in Ormond Beach, Florida in 1982; former international president of the Outlaws Motorcycle Club in more than 30 cities in the United States and some 20 chapters in at least four other countries
Demo archive of Bowman's FBI wanted poster
Eric Robert Rudolph
May 5, 1998 #454
Five years on the list
Eric Robert Rudolph - US PRISONER, arrested in Murphy, North Carolina, May 31, 2003; His brother cut off his own hand in show of solidarity with Eric; charged October 14, 1998 in a series of southeastern US bombings; at large in the mountains of western North Carolina as of May 1998; last made known contact with a Mr. Nordman, and stole his pickup and supplies, 1998; his pickup was found abandoned at Murphy, North Carolina February 8, 1998; wanted in bombing murder and maiming at a Birmingham abortion clinic January 29, 1998; wanted in double bombing at a nightclub in Atlanta February 21, 1997; wanted in bombing at Atlanta family planning clinic January 29, 1997; wanted in double bombing at office building in north Atlanta on January 16, 1997; wanted in bombing murder at Centennial Park in Atlanta July 27, 1996.
AG John Ashcroft Press Release at FBI on Rudolph's capture
1999
James Charles Kopp
June 7, 1999 #455
Two years on the list
James Charles Kopp - US PRISONER; arrested in Dinan, Brittany, France March 30, 2001; vanished from Ireland on a false passport March 12, 2001; indicted in federal court in October 2000 for use of deadly force; indicted in NY state in June 1999 for second-degree murder; his 1987 Chevrolet Cavalier was found abandoned at Newark International Airport December 18, 1998; disappeared November 3, 1998; wanted in murder of Dr. Barnett Slepian at his home in Amherst, New York October 23, 1998; wanted for shootings of three doctors in Canada in 1997, 1995 and 1994; jailed at Key Road Detentional Facility in Atlanta for his part in July 1988 'Siege of Atlanta' by Operation Rescue.
Archive of Kopp profile at FBI
Osama bin Laden
June 7, 1999 #456
still at large on the list
Osama bin Laden is the leader of Al Qaeda, and is wanted in connection with the August 7, 1998, bombings of the United States embassies in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, and Nairobi, Kenya. These attacks killed over 200 people. Osama and Al-Qaeda are also responsible for the October 12, 2000, attack on the USS Cole off the coast of Yemen, which killed 17. Although bin Laden also later appeared on the first publicly released FBI Most Wanted Terrorists list on Oct. 10, 2001, he was listed there for the 1998 embassy attack, and not for his alleged role in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks that killed nearly 3,000, because the Most Wanted lists name individuals charged with a crime by a prosecutor or under indictment by a grand jury. Bin Laden has been named as an unindicted co-conspirator in, for instance, the federal indictment against convicted terrorist Zacarias Moussaoui, but has not been formally indicted for his role in the September 11 attacks. Bin Laden is the subject of a $25 million reward through the State Department's Rewards for Justice Program targeting international fugitives, especially terrorists, plus $2 million through a program developed and funded by the Air Line Pilots Association and the Air Transport Association.
Usama Bin Laden's FBI Most Wanted Fugitive Alert
Rewards for Justice Wanted Terrorist Osama bin Laden
Rafael Resendez-Ramirez
June 21, 1999 #457
Three weeks on the list
Ángel Maturino Reséndiz aka Rafael Resendez-Ramirez - executed June 27, 2006 in Huntsville, Texas by lethal injection; was a US PRISONER arrested July 13, 1999 in Houston; wanted for murders as 'The Railway Killer' in Jackson County, Illinois June 15, 1999; murder in Houston, Texas June 5, 1999; murder in Fayette County, Texas June 4, 1999; double murder in Weimar, Texas April 30, 1999; murder in West University, Texas December 17, 1998; Murder in Lexington, Kentucky August 29, 1997.
James J. Bulger
August 19, 1999 #458
still at large on the list
James J. Bulger is wanted for his role in numerous murders (18 counts) committed from the early 1970s through the mid-1980s in connection with his leadership of an organized crime group that allegedly controlled extortion, drug deals, and other illegal activities in the Boston, Massachusetts, area. He has a violent temper and is known to carry a knife at all times.
Bulger' s FBI Top 10 Most Wanted Fugitive Alert
As the decade closed, the following were still at large as the Ten Most Wanted Fugitives:
- 1981 #375 (nineteen years), Donald Eugene Webb
- 1984 #386 (sixteen years), Victor Manuel Gerena
- 1989 #427 (eleven years), Arthur Lee Washington Jr.
- 1996 #445 (four years), Agustin Vasquez-Mendoza arrested July 9, 2000
- 1996 #447 (six years), Glen Stewart Godwin
- 1997 #451 (three years), Ramon Eduardo Arellano-Felix
- 1998 #454 (two years), Eric Robert Rudolph
- 1999 #455 (one year), James Charles Kopp
- 1999 #456 (one year), Osama bin Laden
- 1999 #458 (one year), James J. Bulger
See also
- FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives by decade, 2000's
- FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives by decade, 1980's
- FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives by decade, 1970's
- FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives by decade, 1960's
- FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives by decade, 1950's
References
- ^ Federal Bureau of Investigation (2000). FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives Program: 50th Anniversary 1950-2000. K&D Limited, Inc.