Arizona Fugitive, Fiancee Linked to Oklahoma Couple's Death Captured

Arizona fugitive John McCluskey and Casslyn Welch, his cousin and fiancee, were arrested Thursday at an Arizona campsite, according to U.S. Marshal David Gonzales during a press conference early Friday morning.

Thursday, August 19th 2010, 11:53 pm

By: News 9


News9.com

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Arizona fugitive John McCluskey and Casslyn Welch, his cousin and fiancee, were arrested Thursday at an Arizona campsite, according to U.S. Marshal David Gonzales during a press conference early Friday morning.

"The nightmare is over, but it is still continuing. There is a lot more for law enforcement to do," Gonzales said during a press conference about 12:15 a.m. central time.

Gonzales said the pair was caught in Springerville, Arizona Thursday night after an Apache County Park Service ranger spotted a car that had been backed up into some trees. The ranger said the car looked unusual like it was trying to be hidden. When rangers discovered the plates on the car had been stolen from New Mexico, they called the sheriff's department.

Thursday evening authorities went to the campsite and arrested McCluskey, 45, and Welch, 44.

At the time of her arrest, authorities said Welch had reached for a gun but dropped it after she realized she was outnumbered.

Authorities found McCluskey nearby at the campsite. While being taken into custody, he told authorities that there was a gun in his tent and had he been able to get to it, he would have killed all the officers there, and that he should have killed the forest ranger when he had the chance.

"We were convinced that this was going down into in a bloody shoot out," Gonzales said.

Investigators said they had been following over 700 leads of sightings in numerous states, but until their arrest Thursday, the trail had gone cold.

Authorities said Welch McCluskey and two other inmates escaped from the Arizona State Prison on July 31. Investigators said they have linked the fugitives to the deaths Gary and Linda Haas of Tecumseh who were found dead in their charred camper near Santa Rosa, New Mexico on August 4.

"We want to tie them to as many crimes as we can. We want to ensure that the New Mexico murders are looked at carefully, working with those agencies. And if there were any more crimes that were committed while they were out, we want to make sure that we tie those to them,"Gonzales said.

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