Cracking a 56-Year Cold Case: the Dna Trail That Exposed Fugitive William Leslie Arnold
Q1: Why was William Leslie Arnold never caught while living in Chicago or Australia?
A1: Arnold operated entirely before the computerized linkage of federal registries, border patrol databases, and automated fingerprint records. By adopting the alias John Vincent Damon and securing valid secondary documents in the early 1970s, he successfully bypassed international customs without setting off automated alerts.
Q2: Did his Australian family know anything about his criminal history?
A2: No. His Australian wife and children were completely unaware of his real name or his past crimes. They knew him strictly as John Vincent Damon, a successful sales executive who claimed to have lost contact with his American relatives.
Q3: What happened to the other inmate who escaped with Arnold?
A3: James Harding was arrested by law enforcement officers less than one year after the 1967 breakout. Unlike Arnold, Harding failed to secure an enduring identity and remained in the Midwestern United States.
