Fugitive killer was running wedding chapel

WASHINGTON - A convicted murderer, who has been on the run for 38 years, is back behind bars in the US after being discovered running a wedding chapel, a media report said Friday.

Frank Dryman, 78, was arrested thanks to painstaking detective work by the grandson of the man he killed in 1951, Sky News reported on its website.

Authorities say Dryman had been running the Cactus Rose Wedding Chapel in Arizona City for a number of years under the name Victor Houston.

And experts have reassured couples he has married that their weddings will still be legal even if Dryman was ordained under a false name.

He embedded himself within the community and integrated with people, even previous sheriffs.

Dryman was a 19-year-old drifter when he shot dead Clarence Pellett in Montana before stealing his car and driving to Canada.

He was arrested and sentenced to death but that was later commuted to life in prison.

In the early 1970s, authorities in Montana listed him as “absconded” and there has been no trace of him until now.

Using an old address and details of Dryman’s tattoos, Pellett’s grandson Clem was able to give the crucial lead to private investigators.

He had spent a year piecing together Dryman’s possible whereabouts.

But even then, according to another of Pellett’s grandchildren, the family was surprised by the capture.

James Pellett said: Everybody figured he was dead. I did. It was all forgotten about until all of a sudden it is brought up again.

“But I’m glad that they have caught him.”

Police officer Tamatha Villar said: “He embedded himself within the community and integrated with people, even previous sheriffs. He has had quite a relationship here.”

Authorities are now trying to find out how he avoided capture for so long.

Villar said: It is not that easy, there are some complexities, like social security numbers, dates of birth, that are all associated when you take on someone else’s identity.”

The arrest came as a shock to Dryman’s neighbours.

One told reporters: We befriended him about five years ago and have personally been taking care of him and feeding him.”

Dryman is now awaiting extradition proceedings to Montana. He is likely to be returned to prison to complete his life sentence.