OFFICIALS FIND CONVICT WHO FLED IN 1970

Dallas man left court but didn't return, officials say

On Feb. 12, 1970, Charles Edward Garrett was convicted of heroin
possession. After the jury retired to decide on a sentence, Mr.
Garrett - whose release on bond was still in effect - told his lawyer
and family he was going to the bathroom and he left the courtroom.

When the jury returned about an hour later with a life sentence, Mr.
Garrett was nowhere to be found. He didn't return to court for 28 years.

Dallas County Sheriff's Department officials on Monday found a man
they say is Mr. Garrett, 56, living in Dallas under a new name. They
were led to him by an undercover officer who had heard Mr. Garrett was
living in Dallas with a new identity.

Investigators think Kowl Emil Williams, a maintenance technician at
the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, is Mr.
Garrett, said Detective George Arrieta of the Sheriff's Department.

"We found him at work, and we asked him, 'Does the name Charles Edward
Garrett mean anything to you?' " Detective Arrieta said. "He turned to
us and said, 'Yeah, that's me.' "

Mr. Garrett this week probably will begin serving the life term jurors
handed down in 1970 - a sentence that was not unusual for the time,
said Dallas County District Attorney John Vance. A judge probably will
send him to a state penitentiary this week, Mr. Vance said.

"I thought he'd be caught pretty quickly," said Mr. Vance, who
presided over Mr. Garrett's trial as a second-year judge. "He
surprised me."

Mr. Garrett's arrest brought to an end a 28-year odyssey that took him
to Los Angeles, Detroit, Chicago and New York before he returned to
North Texas in 1984, Detective Arrieta said.

Mr. Garrett, who was being held in Lew Sterrett Justice Center without
bail pending a hearing, could not be reached for comment.

Mr. Garrett apparently went to California first after his conviction.
Records indicate that a Kowl E. Williams received a Social Security
number in that state in 1970.

Detective Arrieta said Mr. Garrett probably used forged documents to
establish his new identity. A Social Security card could lead to a
job, and a driver's license and credit cards would not be far behind,
he said.

Mr. Garrett steered clear of the law for nearly 30 years. A warrant
for his arrest was issued shortly after his disappearance, and he knew
that any slip-ups would bring him back to jail, said Detective Pete
Castillo, who assisted on the investigation.

"When we arrested him, he said it was a relief," Detective Castillo
said.

Mr. Garrett married in 1986 and has several children, officials said.
His closest associates knew him only as Mr. Williams, Detective
Arrieta said.

Mr. Garrett even kept his secret from his wife. Asked if she was
surprised to learn of her husband's double identity, Earline Roberts
Williams said: "That's not even the word for it, but I don't want to
talk about it."

Mr. Garrett technically is not an escapee, but the DA's office could
try to build a case against Mr. Garrett for counterfeiting
identification, officials said. In an odd twist of fate, the man whose
courtroom Mr. Garrett walked out of nearly three decades ago can
pursue further charges against him.

Mr. Vance said he doubts that will happen.

"I'm not interested in filing anything on him," Mr. Vance said. "He's
got about all he can handle [with a life sentence]."

Checked-by: Rich O'Grady