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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Fbi Nabs Fugitive From ‘85 Slaying

From Staff

A man sought for the 1985 slaying of his sister-in-law and the wounding of her 9-year-old niece has been arrested in California, the FBI says.

Michael Dean Clarke, 43, was arrested Thursday night at a rest stop near Susanville, Calif., the FBI said in a news release.

Clarke has been a fugitive for more than eight years, the FBI said. He was in the Seattle area as recently as Tuesday, and was then tracked south through Oregon and into California, said Thomas Kuker, special agent in charge of the Seattle FBI office.

Kuker said Clarke is accused of murder in the 1985 slaying of his sister-in-law, Gail Clarke, and the attempted murder of her then-9year-old niece near Issaquah, a suburb east of Seattle. He has been featured many times on the television show America’s Most Wanted.

Clarke will be held in Lassen County Jail in Susanville pending extradition to Washington, Kuker said.

The FBI said Clarke apparently had recently lived in Parker, Ariz. He had taken a new identity - Aaron Michael Heinrich - and had married and divorced in California while a fugitive, authorities said.