41 Years On The Run
George Wright was taken into custody in Portugal on Monday. This is the same George Wright who pulled off one of the most famous hijackings of an airliner ever. See, back in the day, there were no such things as metal detectors on planes and hijackings were actually not that uncommon. Then at some point someone said, "You know what we should do? Make people walk through a metal detector so there will not be so many guns on the planes."
Anyway, George was convicted of murder in 1962 and sentenced to 15-30 years in jail. That seems like a short sentence compared to now. Anyway, he served 8 years and then escaped from jail. No one hears from him for two years until 1972 when, dressed as a priest he and several other people, including children hijacked a plane, got $1M in ransom from the FBI and then took the plane to Algeria. At that point, the Algerian government gave the US the money back but let the hijackers stay. Later all the rest of the hijackers were caught in France, tried, but not extradited to the US because France accused the US of racism. George Wright was the only one not tried. He had disappeared.
Monday he was found in Portugal where he had been living in the same village for 20 years. He is 68 years old.
This would make a good movie...if hollywood made movies about black people that is.
ReplyDeleteWouldn't the statute of limitations have run out on this a long time ago? Was he arrested for the hijacking, the prison break, or what, exactly?
ReplyDeleteAm I wrong to say, eh, 41 years, he's getting up there, let him be...?
ReplyDeleteHe's an escaped murderer so he gets no pity from me. If he'd just done the hijacking I'd say leave him alone.
ReplyDelete@Worst, huh?
This is such a fascinating case, I was reminded of it when all that DB Cooper stuff came up a couple mos ago.
ReplyDeleteTransformers 4 is probably already in pre-production, yet this story remains untold. Keep up the good work, Hwood.
There's no statute of limitations on murder, which is what he was in prison for when he escaped. He still has to serve the remainder of his sentence, not even including the possible time he could receive for escaping and his subsequent crimes.
ReplyDeleteI'm fascinated by this as well, and also thought of DB Cooper. Also, as to the statute of limitations, federal law states that "no statute of limitations shall extend to any person fleeing from justice." Which escaping and hiding in Portugal probably qualifies.
ReplyDeleteI don't care how old he is. Murder is Murder...He got more time on earth than his victim did. Back to jail you go.
ReplyDeleteI'm guessing that the reason his initial murder sentence was so short (15-30 years) is because (assuming I did my math correctly), he was 18 when he was convicted, so he was a minor at the time of the crime. Plus it doesn't say anything about 1st degree, second degree, etc.
ReplyDeleteCrimes aside, I love stories like this where someone is on the lam for years and years. I too thought of DB Cooper as well as Whitey Bulger. You almost cheer for them in a way.
ReplyDeleteYeah, Sue - I want to almost cheer for a guy who murdered a shop owner who was just doing his job. Yep.
ReplyDeleteI'd cheer for the person who murdered you, that's for sure.
ReplyDeleteWhat? Come on, that was uncalled for. I would not cheer for the person who murdered anyone.
ReplyDeleteOh, quit being such Debbie Downers! I would TOTALLY cheer for this guy. He only killed *one* person, right? The entertainment value of the story alone is worth that to me. He can come live in my gayborhood anytime!
ReplyDeleteMan, that guy in his underwear....looking pretty hot there.
ReplyDelete"I'd cheer for the person who murdered you, that's for sure."
ReplyDeleteWow, that's right up there with "I hope you overdose on your anti-depressants, you fat ass bitch." And you call me an "asshole." What on earth makes you think it's okay to say things like this?
Oh, and guard that anonymity well, Sue Ellen. I don't know about Canada, but here in the U.S., getting caught saying something like that could easily prevent you from getting a law license.
ReplyDeleteWow, that escalated really quickly.
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ReplyDeleteOh no! I bullied a bully! I wonder if I'll get arrested for it. Maybe stop antagonizing me and I'll stop getting ignant.
ReplyDeleteAnd Mooshk, keep bringing up that tired ass comment I made to you months ago because you wouldn't stop antagonizing me either.
Do you not get it? Leave me alone and I will have nothing to say to you.
I wonder who turned this guy in and for how much? He was living there for over forty years. I bet this guy pissed someone off.
ReplyDeleteDo you not get it? Stop saying appallingly nasty things and I will have nothing to say to you.
ReplyDeleteWelp, I guess we're at a crossroads then. If I get antagonized, I'll get ignant, and you'll have something to say.
ReplyDeleteLather. Rinse. Repeat.
(You should like that I copied two of your own comments--even the one you deleted--to "submit" as evidence, right SEM? It's, like, all LAWYERLY and stuff, just the way you like it.)
ReplyDeleteCOMMENT 1:
Oh please. Clutch your pearls elsewhere.
Maybe one day some of you will get the hint that things would be better if you just ignored my posts.
COMMENT 2:
Welp, I guess we're at a crossroads then. If I get antagonized, I'll get ignant, and you'll have something to say.
That's the thing, SEM. You see, YOU did not get antagonized in any way, shape, or form. One poster simply disagreed with you about your oddly cavalier stance toward hijacking murderers, but then YOU went ballistic and wished DEATH upon that poster! Jesus H. Christ himself would that say you have a textbook case of narcissism because you: A) took a non-argumentative comment indicating simple disagreement and made it personal; B) made (yet *another*) fucking "death wish" against a fellow poster; and C) tried to boss your fellow CDaN readers into not reading your posts and not calling you out on your bad behavior. That's right, NARCISSISM. It's an ugly, ugly thing--pretty much like what I imagine your soul to look like.
p.s. What in the world is "ignant?" Indignant? Ignorant? Ignescent? Indigent?
blankprincess, on a whim, I looked up "ignant" on UrbanDictionary.com, and what do you know, they had an entry for it!
ReplyDelete1.ignant
The ignorant way of saying ignorant
"Your ignant"
"You're uneducated."
2.ignant
While ignorant implies doing or saying something foolish not knowing any better, ignant implies that the person knew damn well and chose to act foolish anyway.
3. ignant
proudly, willfully ignorant. Holding up one's ignorance as a virtue, and using it as rhetorical and moral leverage. cf. Ignorance.
"To the C students, I say, 'You too can be president of the United States.'" - George W. Bush
6. ignant
A slang term short for the word ignorant commonly used by black youth. The term is almost always misused and is synonymous with the words dumb and stupid rather than actually meaning ignorant. I most cases, it is preceded by the words 'yo' and/or 'mad.'
Teacher: "What's four plus five?"
Johnny: "Eight"
Rashad: "Yo, you mad ignant son"
7. ignant
]ignant], adj.
1. when you know you wrong
2. a term used to describe an action that, despite one's apparent ability to make better decision, defies accepted standards of behavior
1. " I know that ignant 'ho did not just rub up on my man."
2. "Why was that ignant youngsta rollin his blunt in the back of the bus?
The diagnosis of being a narcissist by an adult who calls herself "princess" is priceless.
ReplyDeleteBahahahahahahahahahashahahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!
Oh yeah, one more thing. Saying that you'd cheer for someone's murderer is not the same as saying that you will murder them. Once again, you don't know shit about shit blankprincess.
ReplyDelete