George Wright, the fugitive recently captured after 41 years on the lam, apparently lived for years under his own name in West Africa. Among his acquaintances in Guinea-Bissau? John Blacken, the country’s American ambassador at the time. This was back in the eighties when, as the FBI’s Michael Ward put it, “our communication abilities were much less,” which is the official explanation for why Blacken was never made aware of Wright’s background. As Blacken told the AP, “All this was a big surprise, my goodness, murder and everything else … He seemed like an ordinary person and not radical at all.” Maybe Wright should consider adding “impressive actor” to his extremely colorful résumé. [Guardian UK]
