He Evaded Capture For 49 YEARS - Until ONE CRITICAL MISTAKE...

They say you can’t outrun your past, but a man named Leonard Rayne Moses managed to do it for nearly 50 years. In today’s video, we’ll look at the story of Moses, including why he was convicted, how he escaped, how he evaded capture for so long and the incredible way that he was finally apprehended.

On April 4th, 1968, Civil Rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. What followed was a wave of civil unrest across the nation. On April 5th, disturbances erupted in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and lasted until April 11th. Over 100 businesses were looted or burned and many buildings were set ablaze. During the first day of riots, a 15-year old named Leonard Rayne Moses got involved and was seen outside of a home with a group of youths drawing a white chalk mark on the ground. The following evening, the group returned to the home and threw Molotov Cocktails towards the home, created by filling pop bottles with gasoline taken from an abandoned cars and placing wicks in the bottles which were lit before throwing the bottles. Moses was helping throw the cocktails when one went through the window. The woman inside the home, 72-year old Mary Amplo, was watching television when the cocktail entered the living room, landing on her lap, setting her on fire. Amplo was seriously injured and over 55% of her body was severely burned. She died 3 months later of her injuries.

After an investigation, the police went to interview Moses, who lived at the Auberle Home for Boys in McKeesport, Pennsylvania. They decided to arrest him and during the police ride to the station, the police read him his rights and after offering to further discuss these rights, he replied “I know my rights. I know my rights.” He was booked and fingerprinted. During the trial, a major point of contention was whether Moses, being only 16 years old, was old enough to knowingly waive his right to counsel and understand the implications of such a decision. Ultimately, the judge allowed the charges to go forward and a jury convicted the young Moses of murder. In 1969, he was sentenced to life in prison before his 18th birthday.

Moses did not have a spectacular or incredibly impressive escape plan. Shortly after he began his sentence, his grandmother passed away and Moses was allowed a short furlough to attend her funeral. He was handcuffed and escorted by two armed-guards. When the time was right, he punched a guard in the abdomen and bolted for the side door, quickly disappearing among the heavy sidewalk traffic. Three shots were fired at Moses but the guards did not believe they hit him. Moses was quickly placed on the FBI’s Most Wanted List. Billboards shot up throughout the country with his face, but no leads materialized. A $10,000 reward was being offered for information that led to his re-capture, but Moses seemed to have vanished off the face of the Earth.

Eventually, the case went so cold that authorities gave up. However, it was reopened in 2016 as the FBI began to follow clues that Moses was alive, well and working somewhere in the United States. They followed over 2,000 leads but were unable to find Moses, an obviously smart and resourceful individual. Where was he? Moses had moved to Michigan, where was living as “Paul Dickson.” He was working as a traveling pharmacist and was licensed since at least 1999. He had evaded authorities for nearly 50 years, an extremely impressive feat. This was obviously not a person who was a natural criminal – he kept his head low, paid his bills and was likely to never be found. That is, until he made a critical mistake.

In late 2020, the manager of a CVS Store in St. Clair Shores, Michigan caught who he knew as Paul Dickson pocketing 80 Hydrocodone Pills while working in the pharmacy. Hydrocodone is an opioid used to treat pain as a cough suppressant. The cost of the pills he attempted to steal added up to around $43. Dickson offered to return the pills, but the manager reported him to the authorities. The decision to attempt to steal opioids is what brought everything crashing down for Leonard Rayne Moses. He was taken to the police station for a mugshot and his fingerprints were taken. Even at this point, Moses probably thought there was a good chance he would not be identified. Unfortunately for Moses, the FBI had developed a system called NGI – the Next Generation Identification, which helps combine all fingerprints and criminal history reports throughout the country into one massive database.

When law enforcement entered Paul Dickson’s fingerprints into the system, they were shocked to see the match that came up on the screen. Paul Dickson was actually Leonard Rayne Moses, the young 16 year old who was convicted of killing Mary Amplo in 1968.

"It's these new advances in technology that the FBI must continue to identify and use to make sure those who commit crimes are brought to justice," said Michael Christman, FBI Pittsburgh’s Special Agent in Charge.

Once his Moses was identified, the FBI Detroit Fugitive Task Force went to his home and arrested him. Moses did not resist, likely realizing his mistake and realizing he had a great run – nearly 50 years on the lam. He was extradited back to Pennyslvania where he will continue his life sentence.

"We’ve never forgotten about this case,” said Allegheny County Sheriff William Mullen.

In the end, Moses enjoyed 50 years of freedom and there is no reports of him harming any one during this time, meaning that young 16-year old very likely would have gone on to live a long and successful life had James Earl Ray not gunned down Martin Luther King Jr. that horrible day in April of 1968. Of course, that is no excuse for making the decision to throw Molotov Cocktails towards a home with innocent people inside, but I can’t help but wonder what Moses life would have been like had he never participated in the riots during that terrible time. Ultimately, his life didn’t really turn out that bad – nearly 50 years of freedom and now Moses has to continue to answer for the death of an innocent woman way back in 1968.