In the 1960s, for a second decade, the United States FBI continued to maintain a public list of the people it regarded as the Ten Most Wanted Fugitives. Following is a brief review of FBI people and events that place the 1960s decade in context, and then an historical list of individual suspects whose names first appeared on the 10 Most Wanted list during the decade of the 1960s, under FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover.
FBI headlines in the 1960s As a decade, the 1960s were the final and most controversial of the Hoover era in the Bureau. The famous Director had formed and defined the Bureau for nearly a half century. During the turbulent 1960s, the FBI continued controversial domestic surveillance in an operation called Cointelpro. It aimed at investigating and disrupting dissident political organizations within the United States, including civil rights leaders, such as Martin Luther King Jr. who was a frequent target of investigation.
As a more friendly face presented to the public, in 1965 Warner Bros. Television presented the series The F.B.I., showing dramatizations taken from actual historical FBI cases, starring Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. as fictional agent Louis Erskine. Epilogues included Zimbalist stepping out of character to alert viewers to Ten Most Wanted Fugitives from the FBI's contemporary list.
FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives to begin the 1960s The FBI in the past has identified individuals by the sequence number in which each individual has appeared on the list. Some individuals have even appeared twice, and often a sequence number was permanently assigned to an individual suspect who was soon caught, captured, or simply removed, before his or her appearance could be published on the publicly released list. In those cases, the public would see only gaps in the number sequence reported by the FBI. For convenient reference, the wanted suspect's sequence number and date of entry on the FBI list appear below, whenever possible.
As the new decade opened, six of the ten places on the list remained filled by these elusive long-time fugitives, then still at large: NameSequence NumberDate of EntryNotesFrederick J. Tenuto#141950On March 9, 1964, federal process against Tenuto was dismissed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, by a U.S. District Judge and subsequently removed from the list.James Eddie Diggs#361952On December 14, 1961, his charges were dismissed in Norfolk, Virginia and subsequently removed from the list.David Daniel Keegan#781954On December 13, 1963, his charges were dismissed in Cedar Rapids, Iowa and subsequently removed from the list.Eugene Francis Newman#971956On June 11, 1965, his charges dismissed in Buffalo, New York and subsequently removed from the list.Angelo Luigi Pero#1071958On December 2, 1960, his charges were dismissed by the U.S. Attorney in New York, New York and subsequently removed from the list.Edwin Sanford Garrison#1121959Arrested in St. Louis, Missouri on September 9, 1960. He was also #59 on the list.
FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives added during the 1960s The most wanted fugitives listed in the decade of the 1960s include (in FBI list appearance sequence order):
1960 NameSequence NumberDate of EntryTime ListedKenneth Ray Lawson#124January 1, 1960Two monthsKenneth Ray Lawson was serving time at Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary for robbing a grocery store when he incited a riot and escaped with four other inmates. He was arrested in Laredo, Texas on March 20, 1960, due to an FBI investigation.Ted Jacob Rinehart#125January 25, 1960Two monthsTed Jacob Rinehart was a longtime career criminal as an armed robber and jewel thief. He was arrested in Granada Hills, California, after a citizen recognized him from a Wanted Flyer in March, 1960. Rinehart told Agents he learned of his addition to the "Top Ten" list while watching a local television show.Charles Clyatt Rogers#126March 18, 1960Two monthsCharles Clyatt Rogers was a convicted murderer, kidnapper, and rapist who escaped a mental hospital in Chattahoochee, Florida. He was arrested in Minneapolis, Minnesota, while standing in a soup line at a Salvation Army center in May, 1960. He was recognized by a police officer who collected FBI Wanted Posters.Joseph Corbett, Jr.#127March 30, 1960Seven monthsJoseph Corbett, Jr. was wanted for the kidnapping and murder of Adolph Coors III, heir to the Coors Brewing Company. He was apprehended in Vancouver, British Columbia, by Canadian police after two Canadian citizens recognized Corbett from a November 1960 Reader's Digest article. Because Coors' remains were found within the state, he wasn't tried on federal kidnapping charges.William Mason#128April 6, 1960Three weeksWilliam Mason was wanted for murder. He had gotten into a knife and fist fight with two men and found them hours later to shoot them. He killed one and wounded the other before fleeing. He was arrested in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on April 27, 1960, due to an FBI investigation.Edward Reiley#129May 10, 1960Two weeksEdward Reiley was wanted for robbing a bank of over $19,000, , and continued to rob others while on the run. He was arrested in Rockford, Illinois, by the local sheriff after an auto salesman recognized Reiley from a Wanted Flyer on May 24, 1960. Upon arrest, he pleaded, "Don't shoot! I'm the guy you want."Harold Eugene Fields#130May 25, 1960Four monthsHarold Eugene Fields, a longtime criminal known for blowing open safes and shooting at police, was wanted for fleeing after he attempted to appeal a burglary charge while on parole. He was arrested in Schererville, Indiana on September 5, 1960. Fields told arresting FBI agents his place on the "Top Ten" list convinced him his days of freedom were numbered and his apprehension came as no surprise.Richard Peter Wagner#131June 23, 1960Two daysRichard Peter Wagner was wanted for escaping prison where he was serving time for committing multiple burglaries across 15 states. He was arrested in Minnesota on June 25, 1960, after a citizen recognized him from a newspaper article. An expert woodsman, Wagner had been a hunting and fishing guide at the lodge where he was captured.James John Warjac#132July 19, 1960Three daysJames John Warjac, a.k.a. Dale Cline, was a mob hitman and was wanted for escaping prison. He was arrested in Los Angeles, California on July 22, 1960, due to an FBI investigation.Ernest Tait#133August 16, 1960One monthErnest Tait was wanted for fleeing after being charged with burglary when he tried breaking into an Indiana bottling company's safe. He was arrested in Denver, Colorado on September 10, 1960, due to an FBI investigation. He was also #23 on the list.Clarence Leon Raby#134August 19, 1960Nine daysClarence Leon Raby, along with another inmate, escaped prison while serving time for drunk driving. After the escape, he killed a local storekeeper after robbing a gas station. As the FBI closed in, he then took a couple hostage before robbing them of their guns, cash, and car. He surrendered to local authorities at his parents' home in Heiskell, Tennessee on August 28, 1960. However, while in custody, Raby's mother, sister, and girlfriend, Lula Mae Mashburn, smuggled him a gun and in his attempt to escape, shot a deputy. He was then shot and killed by the same deputy he had shot.Nathaniel Beans#135September 12, 1960Three weeksNathaniel Beans was wanted for the murder of a woman he was living with. He had a long history of assaults on women and was involved in three other shootings. He was arrested in Buffalo, New York on September 30, 1960, by a police officer who recognized him from a magazine photograph. Stanley William Fitzgerald#136September 20, 1960 Two daysStanley William Fitzgerald was wanted for murder. He had met two men at a bar in San Francisco, California and offered them a ride after overhearing them planning a trip to Reno, Nevada. The next day while driving, he pulled off the highway and robbed them at gunpoint. During the robbery, one of the men attacked Fitzgerald, leading him to shoot both men and kill one. He was arrested in Portland, Oregon on September 22, 1960, by the FBI after a citizen recognized him from a photograph in a newspaper.Donald Leroy Payne#137October 6, 1960Five yearsDonald Leroy Payne, a convicted rapist and child molester, was wanted for posing as the manager of a dance troupe and raping an 18-year-old professional dancer. Federal process' against Payne was dismissed in Houston, Texas on November 26, 1965.Charles Francis Higgins#138October 10, 1960One weekCharles Francis Higgins, a longtime criminal, was wanted for escaping prison while serving a sentence for robbery. He had escaped various prisons, with a prior attempt where he cut the power to the prison entirely. He was arrested in Kirkwood, Missouri on October 17, 1960, by local police after an officer recognized him from a newspaper photograph.Robert William Schultz, Jr.#139October 12, 1960One monthRobert William Schultz, Jr. was wanted for escaping a Sandstone, Minnesota prison where he was serving eight years for an attempted bank robbery. He was arrested in Orlando, Florida on November 4, 1960, due to an FBI investigation.Merle Lyle Gall#140October 17, 1960Three monthsMerle Lyle Gall was wanted for fleeing after being convicted with a 15-year sentence for burglary as a burglary gang leader. He was arrested in Scottsdale, Arizona on January 18, 1961, due to an FBI investigation.James George Economou#141October 31, 1960Five monthsJames George Economou was wanted for escaping prison when he started a fight with another inmate. He was serving time for narcotics and armed robbery of a grocery store. He was arrested in Los Angeles, California on March 22, 1961, after a tip from an informant.Ray Delano Tate#142November 18, 1960One weekRay Delano Tate was the leader of a gang of bank robbers who robbed multiple banks on the east-coast. Their last robbery in New Jersey left an elderly bank guard dead when he was shot reaching for his gun. Tate surrendered to an editor of the New York Daily Mirror newspaper in New York, New York in November 1960, because he felt cornered by the vast publicity afforded by his fugitive status. He was taken into custody immediately by FBI agents.John B. Everhart#143November 22, 1960Three yearsJohn B. Everhart was wanted for escaping prison where he was serving time for murder. He was arrested in San Francisco, California on November 6, 1963. He was taken into custody while painting a house.Herbert Hoover Huffman#144December 19, 1960Ten daysHerbert Hoover Huffman was wanted for torturing and murdering his wife. He had suspected her of cheating and wanted to "teach her a lesson", so he beat and burned her in a hotel room. He had a history of beating women, stabbing someone with an icepick, and threatening others with a gun. He was apprehended in Cleveland, Ohio on December 29, 1960, after a fellow worker recognized him from a Wanted Poster. Kenneth Eugene Cindle#145December 23, 1960 Four monthsKenneth Eugene Cindle, a long time criminal, was wanted for armed robbery of a Wichita, Kansas restaurant with an accomplice. He was apprehended in Cochran County, Texas in April 1961, after a local farmer saw Cindle's photograph on television. The farmer had picked up a hitchhiker earlier that day and recognized him as Cindle. He had been hitchhiking across the county and working odd jobs to avoid apprehension.
1961