In 1951, the United StatesFBI, under Director J. Edgar Hoover, continued for a second year to maintain a public list of the people it regarded as the Ten Most Wanted Fugitives. As 1951 began, only three of the original top ten fugitives from the prior year still remained at large. The FBI had also added six additional fugitives to the list during the prior year, and had already caught one of those as well. As a result of the late year captures in 1950, 1951 began with only eight wanted fugitives named on the list. However, as soon as the second week of the new year began, the FBI promptly filled the two open slots with two new fugitives.
1951 fugitives
The "Ten Most Wanted Fugitives" listed by the FBI in 1951 include :
Courtney Townshend Taylor
January 8, 1951 #17 One month on the list Courtney Townshend Taylor - U.S. prisoner apprehended February 16, 1951, in Mobile, Alabama, after a jeweler recognized him from a wanted flyer, sent his clerk to follow Taylor, and then called the FBI and police. Within twenty-five minutes Taylor was in custody.
Joseph Franklin Bent
January 9, 1951 #18 Two years on the list Joseph Franklin Bent - U.S. prisoner arrested August 29, 1952, in Texas City, Texas; he was shot and wounded during the arrest while attempting to draw his weapon; a citizen had recognized his photo in Pageant magazine.
Harry H. Burton
March 9, 1951 #19 One year on the list Harry H. Burton - ACQUITTED of murder when witnesses testified he was at his dying mother's bedside at the time of the murder; was arrested February 7, 1952, in Cody, Wyoming, by the local sheriff and FBI; had been featured on the True Detective Mysteries radio show.
Joseph Paul Cato
June 27, 1951 #20 Surrendered before publication Joseph Paul Cato - U.S. prisoner surrendered to the FBI June 21, 1951, in Cleveland, Ohio, after seeing his own Identification Order; had been approved to be placed on the "Top Ten" list, but surrendered prior to the press release date
July 2, 1951 #22 Seven months on the list Frederick Emerson Peters - U.S. prisoner arrested January 15, 1952, in a Washington, D. C. hotel lobby after two FBI agents recognized him from the Identification Order; further research would be needed to clarify if he was the same lifelong criminal Frederick Emerson Peters who became infamous as an impostor of famous people dating back to 1902.
Ernest Tait
July 11, 1951 #23 and also appeared again as #133 in 1960 One day on the list Ernest Tait - became Fugitive #133 in 1960; U.S. prisoner arrested July 12, 1951, in Miami, Florida, by the FBI as a direct result of an Associated Press story in the Miami Herald and the Miami Daily News; he later claimed that he had intended to shoot it out with the police but not with the FBI.
Ollie Gene Embry
July 25, 1951 #24 One month on the list Ollie Gene Embry - U.S. prisoner arrested by FBI Agents August 5, 1951, while working as a local filling station attendant, in the process of fixing the automobile radiator of a citizen who saw his Identification Order in the Post Office, and recognized him.
Giachino Anthony Baccolla
August 20, 1951 #25 Four months on the list Giachino Anthony Baccolla - U.S. prisoner arrested December 10, 1951, in New York City.
November 12, 1951 #26 Four days on the list Raymond Edward Young - U.S. prisoner arrested November 16, 1951, in Denver, Colorado, while loading bread trucks on his night job at a bakery.
John Thomas Hill
December 10, 1951 #27 One year on the list John Thomas Hill - U.S. prisoner arrested August 16, 1952, in Hamtramck, Michigan, while asleep in bed during a raid on his home, after a citizen recognized him from a wanted flier.
George Arthur Heroux
December 19, 1951 #28 Seven months on the list George Arthur Heroux - US PRISONER; was caught on July 25, 1952, at Miami, Florida; had been charged along with Gerhard Arthur Puff on December 3, 1951, for bank robbery and both men were soon added to the Top Ten fugitives list; with Puff, he robbed the Johnson County National Bank and Trust Company of Prairie Village, Kansas, on October 25, 1951; had probably been the person who bailed out Puff on October 17, 1951; was released from jail on August 23, 1951; had met Puff while in Milwaukee County Jail, after Puff was arrested May 2, 1951, for armed robbery.
