After allegedly killing her husband, a woman skipped out on her bail, later moved in with her adult daughter, was undetected by police for over 40 years, and has now been found and arrested, as reported by the Houston Chronicle.
M.A.R., 76, allegedly killed her husband, C.R., by flinging a pot of hot grease on him in 1970.
Investigator C.L. said that the case is one of 637 unsolved crimes that are now being revisited by the Harris County District Attorney's fugitive unit.
M.A.R., who now relies on an oxygen tank, was located in the home of her daughter, in Lake Park, South Georgia.
C.L. said that M.A.R. was not found earlier because police did not have her date of birth and later, due to a lack of resources that would have been required to execute an intensive search.
Originally M.A.R. had been arrested in 1970 as a suspect in her husband's death but, after making bail, she disappeared.
Now, due to her advanced age and medical condition, she was driven instead of flown to Houston to face charges. She was booked on murder charges into Harris County jail – with bail unset at press time.
C.L. renewed the search in 2009. Without a birth date – one of the key items required for identification used by modern law enforcement – and files that didn't confirm what happened after her arrest, C.L. could only guess that after M.A.R. met bail she found a way to simply disappear.
C.L. determined that "Things were done a little bit different back then, I guess."
By tracking down her children, as he was able to locate their names and birth dates, C.L. found one address for one of M.A.R.'s daughter's – which happened to be just the one he needed as M.A.R. was living with her.
This was late 2009. C.L., while keeping track of M.A.R.'s whereabouts, began a search for still-living witnesses. He said, "It wasn't just locating her, it was trying to make sure that it was still a case."
Fast-forward to 2011, C.L. determined that he had enough to make his arrest. C.L. asked authorities in Georgia to contact M.A.R. and to question her about her husband's death.
In commenting on other, formerly cold cases, C.L. said, "We're starting to find them here and there now, so it's a sense of accomplishment."
In regards to one particular case, even older than M.A.R.'s, C.L. said, "Being the oldest, it was kind of unique, but they're all gratifying when I find them."
C.L. blames the large number of crimes, occurring over many years, which contribute to cases going unsolved for so long. He said that there are over 10,000 felony arrest warrants, and over 30,000 arrest warrants overall, that are still outstanding.
C.L. said, "It's just a numbers thing. I think that kind of combined to make it somewhat easy for her (M.A.R.) to remain under the radar."
If you have been charged with a crime, whether it is for a recent action or one decades old, contact a criminal defense attorneyfor help. An experienced litigator can best suit your needs.
