Sikeston fugitive caught in Mexico

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Almost seven years after he murdered his wife, Louise, Richard Yang was captured in an international effort by China, Mexico and the United States.

Yang was apprehended by the FBI's Legal Attache Friday evening in Ciudad Guzman, about 75 miles south of Guadalajara, Mexico, after someone who knew Yang told authorities of his identity.

"Every one of these murders is tough," said Lt. Mike Williams of the Sikeston Department of Public Safety. "We're just glad to have some closure in this case."

Yang had become one of Southeast Missouri's most notorious fugitives, even appearing on TV's "America's Most Wanted" as authorities searched for him in the United States and overseas.

Along with Louise he was the co-owner of Yang's Chinese Restaurant in Sikeston. On July 4, 1998, Yang stabbed his estranged wife to death in her Sikeston home as they were in the final stages of divorce proceedings. About 45 minutes after the murder, Yang called police and told them he did it.

He pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in January 2000. However, Yang, who had previously posted a $150,000 bail, fled before sentencing. That was in late February 2000.

After his capture, the convicted murderer told authorities why he ran.

"He said he didn't feel like he could do the time for second-degree murder," said Bryan Underwood, an agent with the FBI in St. Louis. "He was hoping to get his offense pleaded down to a manslaughter charge."

The FBI joined the hunt for Yang in March 2000, after Sikeston authorities determined he had fled Missouri. The leads on Yang poured in as soon as he was featured in an episode of "America's Most Wanted," Underwood said.

"It generated a lot of look-alike leads all over the country, and you have to follow up on each one," Underwood said.

The lead that finally led to the capture wasn't from someone viewing the program, but Underwood said he thinks the publicity may have kept Yang on the run.

The FBI worked with officials in the Chinese Ministry of Public Security who interviewed Yang's relatives in that country. Those interviews led the FBI to seek more information in Mexico.

"Through some really basic but hard gumshoe work down there by our folks as well as Mexican immigration authorities, we came up with an individual knowing where Richard Yang was," said Underwood.

Up to that point, he said, the FBI didn't actually know Yang was in Mexico.

Underwood said Yang told authorities he had been in Ciudad Guzman and Guadalajara for years practicing his trade as a restaurant manager. When captured, Yang was cooperative and admitted his identity.

Yang is now being held by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department awaiting extradition to Scott County to face sentencing. Scott County Prosecutor Paul Boyd said Yang would have originally gotten 15 years for second-degree murder. Because he fled, the sentence will probably be steeper, Boyd said, but he is not yet sure by how much.

msanders@semissourian.com

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