Dary Matera - FBIs Ten Most Wanted: From James Earl Ray to Osama Bin Laden—The Chilling Stories Behind the FBIs Historic List of Notorious Criminals

Never before in the half-century history of the FBIs famous Top Ten fugitive list have the bounties been anything close to this high$30,065,000. In fact, the price tags on these particular criminals are so lofty that its possible theyre worth more than all the Old West Wanted: Dead or Alive outlaws combined.

You dont have to be a professional bounty hunter to collect. Everyone, young or old, is welcome to try. Find one or more of the ten men on the list, notify the FBI, and the money can be yours. Its that simple.

Better act quickly, however, because in all probability youll never see anything close to this kind of situation again. Its truly a $$$ blip in time.

If searching for ten seems a bit fatiguing, tracking down the top four will still put a healthy $29,750,000 in your pocket. If four is still too much effort, finding a single one, a certain Saudi Arabian bad guy, will reap $27 million. Of course, there would probably be some travel involved with that one.

Throwing the turbaned terrorist outand for all we know, hes driving a cab in Boisestill leaves a very realistic $3,065,000 on the table. Thats available to those insightful enough to spot any of the remaining nine pictured and detailed on the following pages. Theyre out there somewhere, crossing paths with people every day. One or more could very well be orbiting your world.

For those interested in getting your feet wet by learning some enthralling history of the FBIs Most Wanted list, start by reading the Introduction and , where the cash bonanza begins.

There are many ways to become a multimillionaire in America, some traditional, some decidedly not. Being a part-time bounty hunteror merely an alert citizenhas now become one of them.

For fifty (plus) years the FBI has sought the publics assistance in a very special way. Through the publication of fugitives in various media, beginning with the newspapers and magazines and now utilizing new technology, such as the Internet, the FBI continues to seek public assistance in locating wanted fugitives. The FBIs Ten Most Wanted Fugitives celebrates not only a FBI success story, but emphasizes the need for cooperation in the fight against violent crime.

Former FBI director Louis J. Freeh

People cant get enough of top ten lists.

We chart the best-selling pop songs of the week, the highest grossing movies, the most popular fiction or nonfiction books, our favorite cars to buy, our favorite cars to steal, the NBA and college basketball players who are scoring the most points or grabbing the most rebounds, the baseball players with the highest batting averages or home run counts, and the football running backs with the most yards. We break it down further to chart the top ten songs of the year in a dozen different categories, and repeat the year-end process with a zillion other lists. When thats done, the bean counters tally up the decade, quarter-century, half-century, and century figures to produce more lists!

Everything gets top-tenned. Turn the pages of specialty magazines appealing to a tiny niche of aficionados and youll learn the ten most popular cigars, wines (red, white, bubbly, etc.), chewing gum, breakfast cereals, computer programs, Internet search sites, Internet girly sites, Internet shoelace history sites, Internet (fill in the blank) sitesyou name it. A staple of late night comedian David Lettermans quarter-century act has been a satirical top ten list that offers a humorous spin on pop culture and/or famous people in the news, like the Top Ten Snack Foods President Bush Should Avoid. The fashion designer known as Mr. Blackwell has made a name for himself chronicling the bestand more eagerly awaitedworst-dressed celebrities.

Sometimes, one list even makes another. Letter-mans bits have been compiled into a series of books thatyou guessed itmade the best-seller list. The Book of Lists, which top-tenned virtually everything under our single and seemingly list-proof sun, spent a long time on the ultimate book chart as well. (Somewhere in the vast universe there probably is a top ten list of hottest sun stars.)

In this ocean of lists, it takes something really special to stand out. As Mr. Blackwell has proven, it doesnt necessarily have to be a positive achievement to catch the publics imagination.

For the past half century one of the most intriguingly popular lists has combined the love of charts with the publics endless fascination with the lives and actions of outlaws. This horror-movie-like interest increases dramatically when applied to a particular type of criminala Most Wanted felon on the run. By far the most popular list of this kind is the FBIs Ten Most Wanted Fugitives.

Ironically, the FBIs constantly replenished dubbing of the baddest of the bad guys has a structural quirk that makes it unique among all the other lists. Contrary to popular perception, the FBI doesnt produce a true top ten that, say, Americas Most Wanted television show host John Walsh could count down Casey Kasem style until he reaches Bad Guy Number 1. Over the years, the FBI has resisted the temptation to scale their list in order of importance. There has never been a Number 1 Most Wanted, or a Number 10. They are all equally most wanted. The same was true of the precursor of the FBIs Top Ten Most Wanted, the less formal Public Enemy brand the federal government police force placed on such pre-1950s scoundrels as Al Capone and John Dillinger. The media liked to expand the designation to Public Enemy Number 1, but that was their concept, not the FBIs.

The reason for such restraint is that these arent boy bands competing with each other and their solo singing girlfriends for a place on the pop music charts. These are dangerous desperadoes on the loose, who pose a grave risk to society. The FBI doesnt want to deemphasize the importance of catching, say, the spouse murderer at the bottom of the list as opposed to the international terrorist at the top.

At no time in history has this policy been put to the test more than at the present. One name on the current list leaps out among all the othersOsama bin Laden. The America-hating terrorist leader responsible for the shocking 9/11 World Trade Center/Pentagon atrocity was actually already on the list prior to masterminding the stunning assault on the American people, our buildings, and our senses. Bin Laden made the list years before for a series of bombings at American embassies around the world. Interestingly, as of 2003, the official Most Wanted list on the FBIs own Web page doesnt even mention the 9/11 horror, and still refers to him by his pre-9/11 name of Usama.