Ohio Fugitive Added to Most Wanted List

New ‘Most Wanted’
Ohio Fugitive Added to FBI List

09/30/06

Note: Parsons was captured on October 19, 2006.

An Ohio man on the run for allegedly killing a police officer in 2005 and then escaping from jail while awaiting trial on murder charges has been added to the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list.

John Parsons, 35, becomes the 484th fugitive on the 56-year-old Ten Most Wanted list. He joins a cast of fugitives whose crimes include murder, drug conspiracy and child exploitation. Parsons replaces Ralph “Bucky” Philips, another accused cop killer, who was on the Most Wanted list for less than a week before he was captured on September 8 in New York.

Parsons allegedly shot and killed Officer Larry Cox of the Chillicothe (Ohio) Police Department on April 21, 2005, when the officer confronted Parsons in the course of his investigation of a gas station, shortly after Parsons allegedly robbed a gas station. Parsons was arrested May 1 and held without bond at the Ross County Jail in Chillicothe pending his trial, originally scheduled for October 2006. On July 29, Parsons staged a daytime escape—fashioning a rope out of toilet paper and bed sheets—spurring an intense regional manhunt that lasted more than a week.

More than 400 leads early in the investigation failed to reveal his whereabouts. The FBI’s Cincinnati field office posted a $15,000 reward, which was matched by the local Crime Stoppers group and supplemented by the U.S. Marshals Service, which posted an additional $10,000 reward. Now the FBI is offering a reward of up to $100,000 for information leading to his arrest.

Parsons’ criminal record and danger to society—he’s considered armed and extremely dangerous—are among the criteria that elevate him to national exposure on the Most Wanted Fugitives list. The FBI’s 56 field offices routinely submit candidates for the list, which is ultimately determined by the Deputy Director.

Parsons has a prominent tattoo of two nude angels facing each other on the back of his neck, a tattoo of a naked woman on his left leg, and a tattoo of a skull on his right shoulder. He also has a tattoo on his left leg and right shoulder, and has a scar on his abdomen.

What should you do if you have information about him? Immediately contact your nearest FBI office or local law enforcement agency. If you’re outside the United States, contact the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate. See our Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list for more information.