A fugitive who featured on “America’s Most Wanted” has been arrested after 20 years on the run.
Dr. Ronald Fischer was caught Thursday off the coasts of New York and New Jersey, according to NBC. After receiving a tip, U.S. Marshals and the US Coast Guard apprehended him on his 56-foot sailing sailboat, “The Silver Living,”
According to CBS, he was an anesthesiologist in Rhode Island when he was accused of raping a lady in Westerly, R.I., in 2003 aboard the boat “Lion King.” He fled the state during his first criminal trial in 2005 and was found guilty in absentia of first-degree sexual assault.
Fischer was also wanted on charges of failure to appear and fleeing to evade prosecution.
Investigators located Fischer after receiving a tip regarding his whereabouts. According to the US Marshals Service, the boat “The Silver Lining” was registered under the name Richard Graydon, one of Fischer’s more than a dozen aliases.
Fischer was taken into custody without incident, according to FBI agents. He was being held in Manhattan after being transferred to the United States Marshals Service, according to NBC.
“This arrest demonstrates that time does not erase accountability,” stated Wing Chau, the United States Marshal for the District of Rhode Island. “For over 20 years, Ronald Fischer believed he had successfully evaded justice… Fischer is now in jail as a result of superb investigation work, exceptional intelligence analysis, and seamless agency collaboration.
According to CBS, Fischer made multiple appearances on the television show “America’s Most Wanted”. The doctor was characterized on the Rhode Island Most Wanted list as a “well-connected” man who was a “master yachtsman” and a “world traveler.”
According to WJAR, he emailed his attorney before leaving in 2005, claiming he expected to be acquitted but didn’t want to chance being convicted. He claimed he hoped to “enjoy life in another country where I have long been carefully planning a good, safe, secure and comfortable life.”
According to NBC, Fischer is presently awaiting a decision from officials on whether to appear in federal court as a fugitive or in New York state court to face extradition back to Rhode Island.
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