Post by HeadMarshal on Sept 11, 2013 12:52:31 GMT -5
(Above photo credit: New Hampshire State Police website)
Fugitive Profile as of August 30th, 2014 (Based on New Hampshire State Police website):
Sex: Male
DOB: 03-19-44
Race: White
Hair: Dark Brown
Eyes: Hazel
Height: 5-11
Weight: 210
Build: Medium
Complexion: Medium
Nationality: American
Place of Birth: Newport, New Hampshire
Who to call if you've seen him: New Hampshire State Police Narcotics and Investigations Unit at (603) 223-3857
John William McGrath has been wanted by New Hampshire authorities for nearly 40 years. One of the articles I read mentioned he had been aired on AMW but I have no idea when (probably the mid 90s).
When McGrath was 17 in 1962, he was voted class intellectual at his local high school, and had applied to a College and an University in the State of New Hampshire. The problem was that McGrath was growing increasingly depressed and a psychiatrist had diagnosed him a paranoid schizophrenic. On March 10, 1962, McGrath had gotten to the point where he hated babysitting and his relationship with his parents. He got a rifle his uncle had taken from a deceased Japanese soldier during the Second World War and shot and killed his two brothers, age 14 and 5. He waited two hours for his parents to return home and then he shot both of them to death, his father was also a Second World War veteran.
McGrath drove to a hospital in Concord and confessed his crime. He was put on trial but in 1965 it was determined that he shouldn't stand trial and be committed to a State hospital indefinitely. In the following three years, McGrath responded well to treatments, wrote book reviews for the hospital newspaper, beautifully painted the hospital walls and completed courses in math and science. In 1969 he was granted conditional parole but was later recommitted after it was determined that he was getting narcotics outside of the hospital. A year later that problem appeared to have been eliminated and was put into minimum-security again. On August 13, 1974, McGrath escaped and pretty much dropped off the face of the earth.
Authorities have admitted that they hadn't developed a single investigate lead of McGrath's whereabouts. His fingerprints and dental records have been stored, but authorities weren't able to get a DNA sample since he fled before courts mandated that inmates submit a DNA sample. Further complicating matters, none of his family members were close enough to provide a viable sample either. The one possible clue was that in 1988, McGrath's grandmother Delia Clark died and named him the sole heir of her $32,000 estate. It was never determined if Delia helped her fugitive grandson while she was alive.
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Thoughts? I imagine that his grandmother would have been the only person who could have helped McGrath while on the run. Despite his mental state at the time of the murders, it seemed like after he fled that he could have lived a normal life while on the run, and not even have to leave the New England area. He may have gotten a job in a small town and the local population would assume him to be a decent person and not suspect he was a fugitive who killed his family.
www.nh.gov/safety/divisions/nhsp/wantedpersons/wanted_mcgrath.html (UPDATE from site admin: As of July 27th, 2018, McGrath is still listed on the state of New Hampshire website as one of Public Safety's most wanted fugitives)
www.boston.com/news/local/new_hampshire/articles/2011/08/14/after_37_years_murderers_whereabouts_still_a_mystery/?page=1
news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2199&dat=19620312&id=SVcxAAAAIBAJ&sjid=GuUFAAAAIBAJ&pg=3965,4831563
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