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Fugitive sets record on FBI's top 10 list Sought since killing of Saxonburg police chief Dec. 4, 1980 Tuesday, September 14, 1999 By Michael A. Fuoco, Post-Gazette Staff Writer
For 6,705 days, the long arm of the law hasn't reached Donald Eugene Webb, the former Massachusetts man wanted in the killing of Saxonburg Police Chief Gregory Adams during a traffic stop Dec. 4, 1980.
Today, Webb gained further infamy as the fugitive with the longest tenure in the 49-year history of the FBI's 10 Most Wanted list.
Webb, who is 68 if he is still alive, has bested by one day the record set by former top 10 fugitive Charles Lee Herron, who was put on the list Feb. 8, 1968 and arrested June 18, 1986. Webb made the list in May 1981.
Since the FBI began its Most Wanted list in March 1950, the average number of days it has taken to apprehend a fugitive on it has been 316 days. Webb has been on the list more than 21 times as long.
To the frustration of the FBI and other law enforcement agencies who have sought him, Webb has avoided the glare cast by national publicity. In addition to numerous newspaper and magazine articles about the search for Webb, his story has been told three times by the TV show "America's Most Wanted" and he was featured in an episode of "Unsolved Mysteries."
CNN is working on yet another story about Webb, who is accused of shooting Adams twice in the chest when Adams, 31, the married father of 3-year-old and 8-month-old sons, pulled him over for running a stop sign.
At the time of the killing, Webb was wanted for burglary in Colonie, N.Y., and interstate flight to avoid prosecution. The car he was driving, a white Mercury Cougar, was found later parked at a Howard Johnson's motel in Warwick, R.I. There was blood on the floor under the steering wheel, leading investigators to believe that Webb was shot in the leg during the struggle with Adams.
The main focus of the search for Webb has been in the Boston area, where he has a wife, stepson and other relatives.
In 1990, someone claiming to be Webb sent a letter to the FBI, apologizing to Adams' family. But the FBI is unsure whether Webb actually wrote the letter.
Such uncertainty has been a frustrating hallmark of the Webb case.
FBI Special Agent Larry Likar, head of the Greater Pittsburgh Fugitive Task Force, said yesterday that over the years, especially after a spate of publicity, the bureau had received tips about Webb from all over the country. Likar said he remembered getting tips on Webb when he worked in FBI field offices in the Midwest and Puerto Rico.
But agents have been unable to corroborate or follow up on any of the tips, he said.
That has led Likar to the belief that Webb most likely is dead. As a career criminal, it is unlikely Webb would have changed his ways and not committed any other crimes that could have led to his capture, Likar theorized.
Moreover, he said, the amount of publicity given Webb surely should have produced some leads that could be corroborated.
"There's been more exposure on this case over a longer period than any other case," he said. "There's been nobody else with this degree of sustained interest without one bit of [corroborated] information.
"When the car was recovered, that was it. That was the last link to Donald Eugene Webb."
Nevertheless, Likar said, another theory is that crime figures have helped Webb elude authorities. As a member of a professional burglary ring operating out of Massachusetts, "he had tremendous contacts with the criminal underground, with tons of people who could have helped him.
That's one reason the bureau believes he may still be alive.
"He could have a new ID and never committed another crime. That's a valid theory."
Yet, on the other hand, an argument against that theory is that the criminal element usually doesn't protect colleagues who are hot because that only serves to put heat on them, Likar noted.
"That's the problem John Dillinger had when he was a wanted fugitive -- he couldn't find anybody to protect him. Organized crime groups don't want a lot of heat. They would have legitimate concern with someone accused of killing a police officer and [being sought] by [the] FBI."
Likar said it had been frustrating for agents to get leads about Webb time and again for nearly 19 years, only to have them fizzle.
"The amount of manpower expended on the Webb case has been rather substantial. It's been sporadic, but every time the case is publicized, there's a rash of activity across the country. . . .
"But that's the way it should be for the murder of a police chief. We should never give up."
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