A Louisiana fugitive who spent half his life on the run was arrested in Mexico Tuesday — and laughed as he was handcuffed more than three decades after he was convicted of trying to kill a lifelong friend.
Greg Lawson, 63, was dragged back to US soil after a whistleblower reported seeing him in Huatulco, a resort area in the southwestern part of the country, the FBI announced.
Video shows the attempted killer — dressed in a khaki shirt and flowing green pants — laughing before being handcuffed for the first time in 32 years.
He has been on the agency’s wanted list since May 1991, when he disappeared from the rural community of Ringgold, home to a dwindling population of 1,370.
Lawson has been found guilty of attempted second-degree murder for trying to shoot his childhood friend to death in what the community remembers as the biggest shooting Ringgold has ever seen, KTBS reported.
Lawson, then 31, had tried to run his victim Seth Garlington’s car off the road moments earlier, leading to a fight in the gas station parking lot where the gun was later pulled.
Garlington survived his injuries, leading to Lawson’s conviction, but he skipped town before the jury could reach a verdict.
Lawson was dragged back to US soil after a thief reported seeing him in Huatulco, a resort area in the southwestern part of the country, the FBI announced.KTBS 3
The FBI has followed numerous leads and alleged sightings across the US over the past 32 years, and tried to renew the effort in 2007 by offering a $10,000 reward for his whereabouts.
Eventually, a solid tip and a coordinated effort with Mexican immigration authorities finally put him back in jail.
Lawson was deported for immigration violations and escorted to Houston, where he was turned over to Louisiana police who had been searching for him for decades.
“We want to thank our partners and the public in this case, who never gave up hope that justice would be served for the victims of Mr. Lawson,” Douglas A. Williams Jr., special agent in charge of the New Orleans FBI, said in a statement.
“There is no doubt that Mr. Lawson could still be in the wind if our partners in Mexico had not been prepared to deal with this matter so quickly.”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
