FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives by year, 1961

In 1961, the United States FBI, under Director J. Edgar Hoover, continued for a twelfth year to maintain a public list of the people it regarded as the Ten Most Wanted Fugitives.

Throughout the year 1961, six of the ten places on the list remained filled by these elusive long-time fugitives from prior years, then still at large:

* 1950 #14 (eleven years), Frederick J. Tenuto remained still at large
* 1952 #36 (nine years), James Eddie Diggs process dismissed December 14 1961
* 1954 #78 (seven years), David Daniel Keegan remained still at large
* 1956 #97 (five years), Eugene Francis Newman remained still at large
* 1960 #137 (one year), Donald Leroy Payne remained still at large
* 1960 #143 (one year), John B. Everhart remained still at large

But with frequent ongoing captures leading to high turnover in the remaining four slots, in total, the FBI added an additional 17 new fugitive Top Tenners to the list in 1961. Halfway through the year, there was another "first" for the top Ten list, as Richard Laurence Marquette became the FBI's first "special addition," bringing the total number count of wanted fugitives up to eleven on a temporary basis in 1961.

1961 Fugitives

The Ten Most Wanted Fugitives listed by the FBI in 1961 include (in FBI list appearance sequence order):

Thomas Viola

January 17 1961 #146
Two months on the list
Thomas Viola - U.S. prisoner arrested March 27 1961 in Detroit, Michigan after a citizen recognized his photo inan article in American Weekly

William Chester Cole

February 2 1961 #147
Four days on the list
William Chester Cole - U.S. prisoner surrendered February 6 1961 to FBI Agents in Gulf Breeze, Florida. Cole said the "heat" of the investigation was too much.

Willie Hughes

March 15 1961 #148
Five months on the list
Willie Hughes - U.S. prisoner arrested August 8 1961 in Pocatello, Idaho where he had been working as a farm laborer

William Terry Nichols

April 6 1961 #149
One year on the list
William Terry Nichols - U.S. prisoner arrested April 30 1962 near Homestead, Florida where he had started a commercial fishing business

George Martin Bradley

April 10 1961 #150
Three weeks on the list
George Martin Bradley - U.S. prisoner arrested May 1 1961 in Davenport, Iowa by local police officers and identified after routine fingerprinting following an attempted bank robbery

Philip Alfred LaNormandin

April 17 1961 #151
One day on the list
Philip Alfred LaNormandin - U.S. prisoner arrested April 17 1961 in Jersey City, New Jersey the same day, when only a few hours following the announcement to the "Top Ten" list, a local resident recognized his photograph in the evening newspaper

Kenneth Holleck Sharp

May 1 1961 #152
Two months on the list
Kenneth Holleck Sharp - U.S. prisoner arrested July 3 1961 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania after a citizen recognized hisphotograph in the Master Detective magazine

Anthony Vincent Fede

May 22 1961 #153
Five months on the list
Anthony Vincent Fede - U.S. prisoner captured October 28 1961 in Los Angeles, California by FBI Agents while he was carrying a toy pistol and a fake police badge. He said, "I should have given myself up."

Richard Laurence Marquette

June 29 1961 #154, first "special addition"
One day on the list
Richard Laurence Marquette - U.S. prisoner arrested June 30 1961 in Santa Maria, California by the FBI after a citizenrecognized his photograph on a wanted flyer posted in a credit bureau; He was the first "special addition" to the list, bringing the actively wanted total count of Fugitives on the list up to eleven for a short period of time

Robert William Schuette

July 19 1961 #155
Two weeks on the list
Robert William Schuette - U.S. prisoner arrested August 2 1961 in Chicago, Illinois. He had shaved his sideburns andmustache and changed his address 40 times to avoid being recognized. He congratulated the FBI saying "You fellows sure did a good job." In his pocket was a news clipping with picture telling of his addition to the "Ten Most Wanted Fugitives" list two weeks prior.

Chester Anderson McGonigal

August 14 1961 #156
Three days on the list
Chester Anderson McGonigal - U.S. prisoner arrested August 17 1961 in Denver, Colorado by FBI after a citizen recognized his photograph in a newspaper

Hugh Bion Morse

August 29 1961 #157
Two months on the list
Hugh Bion Morse - U.S. prisoner arrested October 13 1961 in St. Paul, Minnesota the evening after a visitor to the FBITour in Washington, D. C. recognized his photo displayed on the "Top Ten" Exhibit

John Gibson Dillon

September 1 1961 #158
Three years on the list
John Gibson Dillon - FOUND MURDERED March 2 1964 on a remote farm in Chelsea, Oklahoma, his badly decomposed body located at the bottom of a 15-feet, water-filled well, with 400 pounds of oil well drilling equipment wired to his feet and body

John Robert Sawyer

October 30 1961 #159
Four days on the list
John Robert Sawyer - U.S. prisoner arrested November 3 1961 in Wickendale, Arizona by a local police officer who recognized his vehicle in an all points bulletin issued by the FBI

Edward Wayne Edwards

November 10 1961 #160
Two months on the list
Edward Wayne Edwards - U.S. prisoner arrested January 20 1962 in Atlanta, Georgia by local police

Franklin Eugene Alltop

November 22 1961 #161
Three months on the list
Franklin Eugene Alltop - U.S. prisoner arrested February 2 1962 in Kansas City, Kansas. Alltop greeted the arresting Special Agents with, "I've been expecting you, I know you'rethe FBI."

Francis Laverne Brannan

December 27 1961 #162
One month on the list
Francis Laverne Brannan - U.S. prisoner surrendered January 18 1962 to the FBI in Miami, Florida. Calling from a phone at a downtown gas station, Brannan told them "Come and get me, I'm tired of running from the FBI."

=See also=

Later entries

*FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives, 2000s
*FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives, 1990s
*FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives, 1980s
*FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives, 1970s
*FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives, 1960s

Prior entries

*FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives, 1950s

=External links=
* [http://www.fbi.gov/wanted/topten/fugitives/fugitives.htm Current FBI top ten most wanted fugitives at FBI site]
* [http://www.fbi.gov/mostwant/topten/topten.pdf FBI pdf source document listing all Ten Most Wanted year by year (removed by FBI)]