Wanted in Indiana by Andrew E. Stoner

Author:Andrew E. Stoner
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing Inc.
Published: 2021-09-15T00:00:00+00:00

A TWO-FOR-ONE CAPTURE FOR THE FBI

Fugitive(s): Ernest Tait and Raymond “Red” Duvall

Wanted For: Tait, December 1958, burglary, bail skipping, Crawfordsville, Indiana

Duvall, July 29, 1959, escape, State Prison, Michigan City, Indiana

Captured: September 10, 1960, Denver, Colorado

The old adage that “there’s strength in numbers” didn’t hold true for Hoosier fugitives Ernest Tait and Raymond “Red” Duvall, as both were snatched up by FBI agents on a downtown street in Denver, Colorado, on September 10, 1960.

While FBI agents were officially looking for “trigger happy” Tait, they lucked out to find him in the company of Duvall, also wanted in Indiana. Tait was the big prize, officially on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted list, but the FBI was happy to arrest both men and return them to Indiana.228

News reports indicated that Tait, forty-nine, was apprehended before he could get to his car nearby, where a .38-caliber revolver was found lying on the front seat, wrapped in a newspaper. Tait, placed on the top ten list in June 1960, was wanted for skipping his bail just before his April 1959 trial in Montgomery County for the December 1958 burglary of a Crawfordsville bottling plant.

Duvall, fifty-two, was a notorious convicted murderer from Indianapolis who had walked away from the Indiana State Prison on July 29, 1959. At the time of his escape, Duvall was assigned to a prison garage as a mechanic based on his trustee status.229

“It happened so fast, we didn’t have a chance to speak,” Tait told a reporter about the swiftness with which the FBI nabbed the two men.230

As the Indianapolis Star reported, Tait was a prized catch for the FBI. He was on the agency’s famed top ten list for the second time (a rare achievement for any criminal) and had been traced to the Denver area. “It was believed he was armed with a submachine gun, but none was in his possession when he was caught,” the Star reported. “The Hoosier outlaw had vowed he would never be taken alive.”231

The FBI bulletin issued for Tait in June 1960 described him as “a trigger-happy, veteran outlaw” and “a chronic criminal.” The feds also said Tait had been “convicted previously of unlawfully obtaining explosives and burglary” and was “an avid gambler who is fond of horse racing, auto racing and prize fights. Tait is reportedly armed with a submachine gun, has been known to be armed with a .45 caliber automatic pistol and has engaged police officers in gun battles. He should be considered extremely dangerous.”232

Once in custody, Tait didn’t fight extradition and was returned to Crawfordsville to face trial on his original charges related to the burglary. An April 1961 trial was conducted, and Tait was convicted in less than two hours on charges of breaking and entering to commit a felony.233

Interestingly, despite Tait’s previous history of bail jumping, Special Judge Paul D. Ewan gave him a $10,000 cash bond while he appealed his conviction.234 True to his past, Tait again skipped bond and failed to appear for scheduled court hearings on his appeal in July 1963.

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