James Manion, a fugitive on the run for nearly 40 years, was finally found by FBI agents, just living a quiet life in a small North Carolina town, reported the Greensboro News & Record.
He stands accused of murder and aggravated battery in a scheme gone bad.
Manion, 67, who is actually William Claybourne Taylor, was arrested July 28 in little Reidsville by FBI agents. Taylor had been living in the area for about 12 years, where he had gotten married and sold wallpaper, according the News & Record.
Taylor was indicted in the shooting death of former Immigration and Naturalization official Walter Scott and the shooting assault of Eugene Bailey, former mayor of Williston, Florida. They were driving along a rural Florida road with two other men on Jan. 8, 1977, when they were shot.
Authorities charged that the shooting was part of a larger scheme to kill Bailey so Taylor's brother, a struggling lawyer at the time, could become executor of Bailey's multimillion-dollar estate, said the News & Record.
The Taylor brothers were arrested and William Taylor was indicted in 1980 on murder and aggravated battery charges, reported WXII-TV. The News & Record said he posted $20,000 bail and disappeared.
Taylor was silent during an extradition hearing in Guilford County on Thursday, where he agreed to be sent back to Florida, said WXII-TV. Court officials told the television station he expressed concern about the welfare of his wife.
The News & Record said the FBI didn't reveal how they traced Taylor to the small North Carolina town of about 14,000 people.
People in North Carolina who knew Taylor as Manion told The Associated Press he was quiet, but cordial. Neighbors said they often saw him working in his yard and taking his dog to get haircuts.
"I couldn't say enough nice things about both of them," said Preston Trigg. "There was never an inkling of anything amiss."
Trigg told the AP he helped sell them his mother's house in 2002. Neighbors said Taylor's wife, Sheryl Manion, grew up in the Reidsville area and the couple appeared to live a normal life.
A few people told the News & Record there were small oddities about the couple.
"She always signed the checks," Jake Greene told the newspaper. "It always struck me as a little odd."
The couple's home was also in Sheryl Manion's name, according to online property records, said the News & Record.
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