The International Criminal Police Organization was founded in 1923 as a multi-national crime-fighting
force.
The first countries to join were Austria, Belgium, China, Egypt, France, Germany, Greece,
Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Sweden, Switzerland, and Yugoslavia.
The UK was soon on board, and currently Interpol’s own website says its network spans 190 nations.
Its mission as you probably know is to prevent crimes and track down criminals all over the
world.
That be could related to drug trafficking, environmental crimes, organized crime, terrorism,
cybercrime, or even just going after a single person who committed a crime and went on the
run.
These people are sometimes caught decades after the original transgression.
Today we’ll see who’s presently under Interpol’s spotlight, in this episode of
the Infographics Show, Interpol's Most Wanted Americans in 2018.
10: Catherine Marie Kerkow The FBI tells us that if you have met this
woman she might also have been going under the name of Janice Ann Forte, Odile Ann Pesse
or Odile Pesse.
What did she do?
She was involved in the hijacking of Western Airlines Flight 701 from LA to Seattle in
1972.
She and an accomplice said they had a bomb and demanded half a million bucks (that’s
about 3 million in today’s money).
The pair flew to Algeria and were given political asylum but soon moved on.
Where this lady – formerly a member of the Black Panthers – is now is a mystery.
This is about as light as it gets from here on.
9: Prakashanand Saraswati This spiritual leader founded the Radha Madhav
Dham, a spiritual organization based in Texas.
The organization has no ties whatsoever with the founder now, and that’s because in 2011
he was convicted of 20 counts of child molestation.
He was given 280 years to serve behind bars, but the writer of nine books on Hindu ethics
was sentenced in absentia (when he wasn’t there) because he seemed to vanish into thin
air.
It’s believed that he was helped by some of his followers to get into Mexico and from
there he traveled on a fake passport to India.
8: Leo Frederick Burt This man is wanted for allegedly taking part
in a bombing that happened in 1970 at the campus of the University of Wisconsin.
The bombing killed an academic, injured a few more, and caused over two million dollars’
worth of damage.
Burt was identified and charged with sabotage, destruction of government property, and conspiracy.
It’s said he has moved around Canada but is likely in the USA.
If you can help catch the “Ghost of Wisconsin” you might get a reward of $150,000.
7: William Lee Copp This guy is perhaps well known because he
was a junior Olympics gymnastics coach and a member of the USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame.
But he was also caught downloading over 100 videos of acts of child pornography.
He had a court appearance to attend in 2006, and he was never seen again.
In fact, many people on the most wanted list are charged with very similar crimes, but
we’ll include just this one.
6: George Edward Wright Like many others on this list, Mr. Wright
is known to have used many aliases.
You might even have known him as the Reverend L. Burgess.
He was convicted of murder in 1962, but in 1970 he managed to escape from the New Jersey
State Prison.
To add to his crimes, he and others the same year hijacked a plane which was travelling
from Detroit to Miami.
Like something from a Hollywood movie, his disguise that day was cleric’s clothing
and a bible in his hand.
The FBI writes, “He used a gun concealed in the Bible to confront the aircraft's pilot
and crew.”
The gang flew to Miami, released the passengers, and then took the crew to Boston.
There they refueled and flew to Algiers.
No one was hurt and the plane and the ransom they had demanded were returned to the U.S.
Wright is the only one of the hijackers that remains at large.
He was caught in Portugal in 2011, but as he had Portuguese citizenship his extradition
to the U.S. was denied.
It’s believed he is still there, now with his own family.
5: Denise Harvey Harvey is wanted by the police for having
a sexual relationship with a 16-year old boy who played on her son’s baseball team.
In 2008, the 47-year old was handed a 30-year prison sentence for her crime but escaped
to Canada where she was given refugee status.
She called her punishment “cruel and unusual” and it seems that the Canadian government
agreed.
In Canada the age of consent is 16, although it’s 18 if the person is in a position of
trust.
In Florida, it’s illegal to have sex with someone 16 or younger if you are over 24-years
old.
We’ve included this one only because it’s a very controversial case.
Now we’ll get to people who could be said to have committed much more heinous crimes.
4: Santiago ‘Pucho’ Villalba Mederos There are many people on the most wanted list
that are so-called gang-bangers, but we will just include this one.
The member, or former member, of the Eastside Lokotes Sureno gang, is said to have lost
it in 2010 when he went on a couple of shooting sprees in Washington.
He shot and killed two people and injured others.
One of the injured persons later told the press, “He just comes from behind us and
gets in the lane next to us, speeds up to us, gets beside us and he just started shooting.”
The things is, the people in the car were not at all related to gang activity.
It seems Mederos just chose the car at random.
It’s thought that he is now in Mexico.
3: Yaser Abdel Said This controlling father is said to have murdered
his two daughters (aged 17 and 18) for dishonoring the family by not adhering to Egyptian cultural
behavior.
It’s said he told the two girls that he was taking them out to eat, but once they
had gotten into his car (a taxi cab) he shot them in cold blood on New Years’ Day 2008.
One of the girls died instantly and the other survived long enough to call 911.
Some of her last words were, “Help, my dad shot me!
I'm dying, I'm dying!”
The girls had complained that their father beat them and ruled over the house with an
iron fist.
One of the girls once texted a friend, saying, “He treats me like a whore.”
He would spy on them and it’s reported that the girls had expressed in emails to friends
that they were afraid for their lives.
It’s thought that the father is likely still in the U.S. and may even still drive a cab.
There is a $100,000 reward for anyone who can provide information that leads to his
capture.
2: Robert William Fisher This former U.S. Navy Veteran, firefighter
and respiratory therapist was for the most part of his life a person that helped save
lives.
Then on April 10, 2001, it’s said he shot his wife in the back of the head and slashed
his son and daughter’s throats.
Things hadn’t been going well in the household, and it’s reported that his wife was likely
going to divorce him.
Fisher had said he’d rather kill himself than go through a divorce.
It seems he killed his family instead.
After the murders he burned down the house.
It’s thought he is either in the U.S. or Canada, and he is said to be able to live
out in the wild as he has considerable outdoors skills.
He is considered armed and extremely dangerous.
The FBI has offered a $100,000 reward for information leading to his arrest.
1: William Bradford Bishop Jr.
This former U.S. Government Foreign Service Officer is accused of brutally bludgeoning
his wife, mother and three kids to death in Maryland on March 1, 1976.
The FBI writes that he is fond of the outdoors and is capable of living in the wild.
It also states, “He was known to read extensively and may have kept a diary or journal.
A longtime insomniac, Bishop reportedly had been under psychiatric care in the past and
had used medication for depression.”
He is said to be prone to violent outbursts and so is a, “dangerous fugitive.”
The hunted man has possibly been spotted all over Europe, and it’s thought if he’s
not already dead that’s probably where he is now.
So, what do you think about this list?
Which crime is the worst?
Tell us in the comments.
Also, be sure to check out our other video Most Dangerous Computer Viruses In The World.
Thanks for watching, and as always, please don’t forget to like, share and subscribe.
See you next time!