NEW YORK CITY — A $25,000 reward aims to turn up the heat on a long-simmering search for a fugitive accused of fatally stabbing a wheelchair-bound New York City man three decades ago, authorities said.
The fugitive — Danny Liggett — has eluded capture since the 1987 murder and is now one of the FBI’s “most wanted,” according to the bureau’s website.
FBI officials, along with their NYPD counterparts, late last week rekindled the search by calling for the public’s help.
“The FBI is offering a reward of up to $25,000 for information leading to the arrest of Danny Liggett,” the FBI’s website states.
He was 37 on May 7, 1987, when authorities said he went to an East Village apartment on 10th Street with the intention of selling a piece of jewelry to buy drugs.
Inside, Liggett attacked a wheelchair-bound man named Kissoon Adams and Helen Torres, a woman who took Liggett to the meeting, authorities said. He stabbed Adams to death and threatened to kill Torres if she called the cops, according to the FBI.
“Investigators say he traveled to Gainsville, Georgia, immediately after the murder, and was involved in a shooting there but was never arrested,” an FBI release states.
Liggett then fled the U.S. after he obtained a fake passport, authorities said. With financial help from family and friends, Liggett traveled to Southeast Asia, officials said.
FBI officials said Liggett has traveled to the Philippines and Red Lakes in Northern Canada.
Originally raised in Des Moines, Iowa, Liggett holds a Doctor of Education and had worked conducting management training seminars for large companies. He can be identified by a Snoopy tattoo on his left arm, although authorities said they’re unsure if it is the comic character drawn or the word “Snoopy” spelled out.
People with information about Liggett are asked to call the FBI New York at 1-800-CALL-FBI, or the NYPD at 800-577-TIPS. Again, they can receive a reward of up to $25,000 for information leading to his arrest.
