GARDNERVILLE, Nev.—A man who escaped from the Colorado State Penitentiary 32 years ago has been arrested in Nevada.
Robert Charles Johnson, also known as Robert Fargo, was arrested around 8 p.m. Monday at his home in Gardnerville, about 60 miles south of Reno, U.S. marshals said Tuesday.
Johnson, 56, had eluded prison but not arrest during his time on the run. While living under an assumed name and working as a whitewater guide, Johnson was arrested once in 1990 around Angels Camp, Calif., and fingerprinted. He was released before authorities connected the prints to his true identity.
“The two (identities) were not put together and by that time, he was already gone,” said George Schroeder, a spokesman for the marshals office in Reno.
Authorities said Johnson then moved to the Coloma, Calif., area where he continued to guide whitewater rafting trips during the summer months.
He has lived in Gardnerville doing odd jobs and working as a whitewater guide since at least 2003, when he was involved in a domestic dispute with his girlfriend. Douglas County deputies in Nevada were called to his house at that time, but no arrest was made and Johnson was not identified, Schroeder said.
Johnson was convicted of second-degree murder in El Paso County in Colorado in 1973 and was sentenced to 10 to 15 years behind bars. He escaped from medium security at the Colorado State Penitentiary in Canon City on April 22, 1975.
He was being held in the Douglas County jail in Nevada pending extradition.
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Information from: Reno Gazette-Journal,
