Twice-caught Fugitive's Clean Life Led To Decades Of Freedom

By KANTELE FRANKO, Associated Press, San Francisco Chronicle
Thu, 05/28/2015 - 6:43am

The first time, in 1975, the escaped inmate's good behavior helped him avoid a trip back to prison when West Virginia's governor refused to extradite him bac to Ohio, citing Freshwaters' "flawless 16-year residency," according to records obtained by The Associated Press. When they did, using a fingerprint-matching ruse to coax a confession in early May, they said they found a 79-year-old widower apparently retired and living off Social Security benefits at a weathered trailer in rural Brevard County, near Florida's east coast. In the years that followed, Freshwaters had no criminal record, lived with a woman in West Virginia, had two children, was employed and met friends and neighbors who "vouched for his good character," West Virginia's then-governor wrote to Ohio officials after the 1975 arrest. Police got suspicious because they were there with a routine warrant to follow up his ex-wife's complaint about being threatened, not to capture a wanted man. "[...] the primary objectives in our corrections system are the rehabilitation of the criminal offender and the protection of society," wrote Moore, who later experienced that system himself after pleading guilty to corruption-related charges. In Florida, the fugitive had a valid driver's license and had worked as a driver for a landscaping company, said Maj.

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