George Wright (fugitive)
George Wright (born November 6, 1943) was an American convicted murderer and escapee who gained international notoriety for his 1972 hijacking of Delta Air Lines Flight 841.
In 1962, Wright was convicted of armed robbery and murder stemming from a 1962 gas station robbery in Wall Township, New Jersey, during which the station owner was killed. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison.
On August 19, 1970, Wright, along with three other inmates (Ronaldo Carter, James Costen, and Nathaniel Burns), escaped from the Bayside State Prison in Leesburg, New Jersey. They joined the Black Liberation Army (BLA), a radical militant group active in the United States.
On July 31, 1972, Wright and several other BLA members hijacked Delta Air Lines Flight 841 en route from Detroit to Miami. The plane was carrying 88 passengers and seven crew members. The hijackers demanded a $1 million ransom (which was paid by Delta) and safe passage to Algeria. After receiving the ransom, the plane was flown to Boston, where the passengers were released. The hijackers then forced the crew to fly the plane to Algeria.
Upon arrival in Algeria, the hijackers were initially granted asylum by the government. However, after pressure from the United States, the Algerian government eventually allowed the FBI to interview the hijackers. Wright and the others were later allowed to leave Algeria.
Wright reportedly fled to France, where he lived under the name "José Luis Cavallo" in a small town outside of Lisbon, Portugal. He married a Portuguese woman and had two children.
In September 2011, after over 40 years on the run, Wright was apprehended by Portuguese authorities at the request of the United States. The US sought his extradition to serve the remainder of his original sentence. However, in 2012, the Portuguese courts ruled against extradition, citing the amount of time that had passed since the crime and the integration of Wright into Portuguese society. He was released from custody and allowed to remain in Portugal.
As of 2023, George Wright remains a free man, living in Portugal. His case continues to raise complex legal and ethical questions surrounding extradition, the passage of time, and the consequences of actions committed during periods of heightened social and political unrest.