FBI Celebrates 60th Anniversary of Ten Most Wanted Fugitives Program

Keith L. Bennett, Special Agent in Charge (SAC), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Cincinnati Division, would like to note that March 16, 2010 marks the 60th anniversary of the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitive or “Top Ten” program.

The Top Ten is designed to publicize particularly dangerous fugitives. It is an extremely important law enforcement tool and media involvement is crucial to its success.

The Top Ten began from a newspaper story in late 1949. A reporter for International News Service asked the FBI for the names and descriptions of the “toughest guys” the Bureau would like to capture. The story had so much appeal and generated so much positive publicity that on March 14, 1950, Director J. Edgar Hoover implemented the Ten Most Wanted Fugitive program. Since its inception, 494 fugitives have been placed on the Top Ten list and 463 of those have been apprehended or located.

Among the most notorious individuals who have been placed on the Top Ten list are James Earl Ray, Ted Bundy, Ramzi Yousef, Eric Rudolf, and Osama Bin Laden. One hundred fifty-two of the arrests were linked to information from the general public. Forty-six of those arrested were apprehended as the result of newspaper or magazine publicity. Twenty-seven apprehensions were the direct result of television publicity, including 17 located after their being featured on the Fox Network show America's Most Wanted.

The FBI Cincinnati Office covers the southern half of Ohio. Since 1950, five fugitives have been placed on the Top Ten list by the Cincinnati office:

1. Patrick Eugene McDermott, who was wanted for unlawful flight to avoid confinement for murder at Columbus, was placed on the list February 9, 1955. He was captured July 19, 1955.
2. Thomas Viola, who was wanted for unlawful flight to avoid confinement for murder at Columbus, was placed on the list January 17, 1961. He was arrested March 27, 1961.
3. Earl Ellery Wright, who was wanted for bank robbery and theft from interstate shipment at Ashville, was placed on the list January 14, 1966. He was arrested June 20, 1966.
4. Roy Ellsworth Smith, who was wanted for unlawful flight to avoid prosecution for murder at Kirtland, was placed on the list March 18, 1977. He was found dead at Perry Township on June 2, 1977.
5. John W. Parsons, who was wanted for unlawful escape from confinement resulting from his murder of a Chillicothe Police Officer, was placed on the list September 30, 2006. He was arrested at Chillicothe on October 19, 2006.

Three Top Ten fugitives from other FBI offices were apprehended in the Cincinnati Office territory since the program's inception:

1. Robert Garfield Brown, Jr., who was wanted for unlawful flight to avoid prosecution for armed robbery, assault, and interstate transportation of stolen motor vehicles, was arrested at Cincinnati on January 11, 1960.
2. John Edward Stevens, who was wanted for bank robbery, was arrested at Warren County on November 30, 1988.
3. Clayton Lee Wagner, who was wanted for bank robbery and carjacking, was arrested at Springdale on December 5, 2001.

SAC Bennett notes that the Ten Most Wanted Fugitive program highlights the FBI's reliance on cooperation with other law enforcement agencies, the media, and the public at large in accomplishing its law enforcement mission.