Feds: Man who escaped Ohio prison in '78 caught in Minnesota

Updated: 5:36 p.m. | Posted: 2:19 p.m.

A convicted murderer who escaped an Ohio prison in 1978 by cutting through cell bars and a fence has been captured in Minnesota's capital, the U.S. Marshals Service said Friday.

Oscar Juarez, 66, was among Ohio's most wanted fugitives and evaded being caught while on the run despite being arrested but let go twice.

He was taken into custody Thursday night in St. Paul, at an apartment building on a tree-lined street.

U.S. marshal for northern Ohio Pete Elliott said it appears he's been in Minnesota for 15 years. He said Juarez went by several aliases over the years and was last known as Eleasor Morales Moreno.

Elliott said a new cold case squad formed in February helped find Juarez. The group was also able to capture a fugitive who escaped in 1959.

"It wasn't one thing that led us to his doorstep yesterday," Elliott said. "It was a number of things that our investigators were able to piece together to make happen."

Juarez, who was serving a life sentence for killing a Toledo man in 1975, escaped from a state prison in Marion by sawing through prison bars and cutting through a fence, according to the marshals. They say he also put a dummy in his bed and covered it with blankets.

Juarez was arrested twice since the escape — in Texas and California — but he went unnoticed because he was using fake identities, the FBI said.