Former fugitive Paul Jackson, who is accused of kidnapping women off the streets and raping them, is now back in the United States and behind bars.
He was arrested in Mexico after more than 24 years on the run, authorities have said. Jackson was recently featured on CNN’s “The Hunt With John Walsh.”
“The best news is he’s now in Los Angeles. We got him back last night,” Deputy Eric Wahlstrom of the U.S. Marshals Service Oregon Fugitive Task Force told CNN on Tuesday.
He is expected to be in court Wednesday for an extradition hearing, according to the Hillsboro, Oregon, police.
Lt. Henry Reimann said that if Jackson waives extradition, Hillsboro police would travel to Los Angeles to pick him up and take Jackson back to Oregon.
Jackson was arrested Monday in Guadalajara, where he had reportedly adopted the name Paul Bennett Hamilton, the U.S. Marshals Service reported.
He was indicted by a Washington County, Oregon, grand jury on the rape and kidnapping charges in June 1990. Jackson’s half-brother, Vance Roberts, was also accused.
A trial date was set, and Roberts and Jackson were released on bond. But in February 1991, the two men fled.
Roberts, who was profiled on “America’s Most Wanted” over a decade ago, turned himself in after 15 years on the run. A jury found him guilty and sentenced him to 108 years in prison.
Wahlstrom said it’s his understanding that Jackson has been living in Mexico for several years, and although he is now in custody, authorities are not done with their case.
“We’re actually going to be looking at who may have been helping him, assisting him, so this case is far from over,” Wahlstrom said. “We’re just so happy to find closure for those victims.”
