Fugitive in Oregon Kidnapping, Torture Case Arrested After Decades on the Run
Authorities tracked down Paul Erven Jackson in Mexico.
— -- A fugitive in an Oregon kidnapping and torture case is in custody after more than two decades on the run, authorities said.
Paul Erven Jackson vanished in 1991, skipping bail after being accused of kidnapping, torturing and raping women in Oregon.
“He’s the worst of the worst,” Supervisory Deputy U.S. Marshal Eric Wahlstrom said. “It was one of our top priorities, and it’s why we never gave up.”
Michaelle Dierich recalled being chained and shackled by her ankles and wrist.
“I thought I was going to die,” she said.
Another victim, Andrea Hood, then 17, dove out of a window.
“I knew that was my only escape, like there was no other way I could get out,” Hood said.
Jackson and the other suspect -- his brother, Vance Roberts -- both jumped bail in 1990, authorities said. Roberts turned himself in 16 years later and is serving a 108-year prison sentence.
Jackson, 45, remained on the run until John Walsh resurrected the cold case on his CNN show, “The Hunt.” After the segment aired in July, a phone tip came in pointing to Jackson being in Mexico.
U.S. Marshals said they tracked him down in Guadalajara, where he had apparently been living in Mexico for years using the alias of Paul Hamilton and recently worked at an electronics store.
Walsh said he is glad that Jackson is finally behind bars.
“I often feel I can't do enough to take these low-lifes off the street, and this is one guy that I've been looking for 25 years,” Walsh said.
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