A fugitive criminal dubbed the “master of disguise” by the FBI for having more than a dozen aliases has been captured in California following a four-year manhunt.
Tyler Adams, 51, was arrested in Newport Beach, California, and is scheduled to be extradited to Hawaii, where he escaped from state custody in 2019.
He is serving time there for stealing $130,000 from a Hawaiian bank and a $5,000 ring from Costco — after previously serving another seven years in prison in San Diego for using the identities of his parents to cover more than $3 million in debt, according to CBS 8.
While on the run, Adams met Navy veteran Racquel Sabean – who he told was Paul Phillips – and the two began a relationship.
Together, they crossed the border into Mexico with their baby girl on April 17, 2022, and on May 31, Sabean’s body was found in Tijuana.
NBC San Diego
Mexican police questioned him about Sabean’s disappearance, but the next day he was spotted entering the US under the alias “Aaron Bain.”
He is wanted by the FBI in connection with his murder.
The FBI says Adams has used several aliases, including Aaron Lee, David Smith, Dominic Braun, David Phillips, Kevin Schoolcraft, Kevin Kennedy, Michael Whitman, Lance Irwin, Brice Johnson, Matthew Kashani, Taylor Chase and Joshua Smith.
Tyler Adams, 51, was arrested following a four-year manhunt. F.B.I
Adams was reported missing from the Oahu Community Center on May 21, 2019, when he failed to return from work.
By September 2020, a judge issued a $50,000 warrant for Adams’ arrest on a second-degree escape charge because he had apparently been in a relationship with Sabean.
Her body was later found in the trunk of her Volkswagen Jetta parked on a residential street in Tijuana, where residents reported a “bad smell” emanating from the vehicle, CBS 8 reported.
After Sabean’s murder, her father, David, admitted there were some “red flags” with Adams and said he “bet my life” he killed her.
He recounted how his daughter once told him, “He’s good to you. But when you’re not around, he’s not so nice to me,” reported US Sun.
“Finally, I’m starting to think this guy is fake, isn’t he?”
Adams is wanted in connection with the May 2022 murder of his girlfriend, Racquel Sabean. CBS
David Sabean also claimed video surveillance showed Adams parking his daughter’s Volkswagen in the street, where her body would later be found.
“I saw it with my own eyes,” Sabean said, claiming Mexican police have surveillance footage but have yet to charge Adams with his murder.
An autopsy later revealed that Racquel Sabean’s neck was broken, her father told CBS 8.
An autopsy concluded that Sabean, a US Navy veteran, had broken his neck. Racquel Sabean / Facebook
In June 2022, the FBI also released a statement asking for the public’s help in helping track down Adams, claiming he was a “fake” and a “master of disguise.”
The San Diego FBI office said Adams was taken into custody in Mexico after an Amber Alert was issued for his 7-month-old daughter, Valentina, who was later found safe with a babysitter in Mexico and remains in protective custody there.
After Sabean’s death, his father said he saw several “red flags” about Adams, whom he recognized as Paul Phillips. NBC San Diego
When Mexican police began questioning Adams about Sabean’s disappearance, they said he was “uncooperative,” NBC San Diego reported, and Mexican prosecutors said he remains a suspect in Sabean’s murder.
He was then able to cross back into the US by providing US Customs and Border Protection with a false identification card, the FBI said.
Adams faces charges including grand theft, fraud by false pretenses, a fugitive warrant out of Hawaii and federal warrants for making false statements and forging identification documents, according to the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.
He has pleaded guilty to misdemeanor grand theft and fraud charges, NBC San Diego reports, and is due back in court on Jan. 3 to face fugitive charges.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
