Wily-escaping murderer to be deported to USA

A convicted murderer who was captured last week in Canada will be deported to the United States.

Photo: Wily-escaping murderer to be deported to USA

Richard Lee McNair, who was sentenced to life in prison for killing a man during a 1987 robbery at a grain elevator building in North Dakota, had spent the past 18 months on the run before he was caught in New Brunswick on Oct. 25.

It was not his first escape.

In 1988, he used a tube of lip balm to slip out off handcuffs while he was held at a police station in Minot, North Dakota. He was captured after jumping from the third floor of a building.

His second attempt featured a daring break through a ventilation duct at the North Dakota State Penitentiary in 1992. He was caught in Nebraska nine months later.

McNair then ducked out of a federal prison in Louisiana last year by hiding among a pile of torn mailbags. He talked his way out of an arrest shortly after when Louisiana police officer spotted him running across train tracks.

McNair, wearing a tank top and shorts, told the officer he was jogging, and the exchange was captured in a 10-minute police dashboard video that hit the Internet and turned him into a sensation.

He also dodged Royal Canadian Mountain Police officers who spotted him in British Columbia shortly after.

Canada's Immigration and Refugee Board ruled Friday that McNair had no grounds to stay in Canada. Officials at the Canada Border Services Agency promised McNair will be under a tight watch when he is handed over to U.S. marshals.

It was unclear when McNair would be deported.