Fugitive, 86, who went on the run nearly 40 years ago ‘after shooting a man dead’ in a bar in 1980 is arrested after cops ‘confirmed his identity by matching his fingerprints’
- Fugitive Walter James Mason charged with murder after forty years on the run
- Police found Daniel Woolley dead with gunshot to head in September 1980
- Prime suspect Woolley managed to evade police & lived under an alias name
- He was finally located on October 10 of this year in Texas and arrested
A fugitive has been arrested on suspicion of murder after being on the run for close to forty years.
Walter James Mason, 86, is accused of killing Daniel Mason Woolley after police found him dead with a gunshot wound to his head at the Sport’s Club bar in the small town of Clayton, Idaho on September 22, 1980.
Another bar goer, Bob Sweeney, was found injured with a gunshot wound to his shoulder, while a woman was injured by a blunt force to her face.
Walter James Mason, 86, (pictured) is accused of killing Daniel Mason Woolley after police found him dead with a gunshot wound to his head at the Sport’s Club bar in the small town of Clayton, Idaho on September 22, 1980
According to local news reports, Mason and Woolley, who was 52 at the time of his death, had been friends.
On the night of the shooting, Mason was allegedly asked to leave the drinking establishment after verbally and physically assaulting his wife.
He returned to the bar a short time later and was physically removed by the bartender’s son and another man. The three men allegedly began fighting in the parking lot before Woolley went outside to intervene.
Mason left the scene and returned with two guns, allegedly proceeding to shoot Woolley in the head before firing more shots inside the bar, one of which hit Sweeney on the shoulder.
According to local paper Post Register, Mason left the Sports Club for another bar across the street where he ordered a drink before leaving unarmed and on foot.
The Custer County Sheriff’s Office tried and failed to track down Mason, who lived in the area and was the prime suspect, at the time of the murder.
Nearly 40 years later, authorities finally found Mason, who had been living under the alias Walter James Allison, in Texas on October 10 of this year.
He was positively identified using finger prints and charged with first-degree murder.
Two Custer County deputies traveled to Eastland to transport Mason to Idaho to await his trial, according to authorities.
Mason is currently being held in an unidentified detention facility and has entered a not-guilty plea. He is reportedly in poor health.