U.S. Marshals nab Canadian murderer in California, months after escape from B.C. prison
San Diego CA March 29 2021
After being on the lam for months, Roderick Muchikekwanape is behind bars again after U.S. Marshals nabbed him from a California hospital.
U.S. Marshals said in a March 26 news release they’d recently received multiple tips about 42-year-old Muchikekwanape being in the San Diego area. He was arrested on Friday in the UCSD Hillcrest Hospital without incident and will be held while extradition hearings proceed.
“The U.S. Marshals Service recognizes the importance of cooperation between federal, state and local police agencies as well as the community it serves – especially when searching for dangerous fugitives,” said U.S. Marshals Chief Richard Craig in the news release. “It is my sincere hope that the task force apprehending Muchikekwanape brings some sense of relief to the community.”
Muchikekwanape was reported missing from Mission Institution’s minimum security facility on Oct. 29, after prison staff conducted a 10 p.m. headcount. The following day, there were reports of him having crossed the border in the U.S., with footage of him at a Bellingham gas station released by U.S. authorities.
In 1998, he was convicted of murdering Kimberly Clarke in Winnipeg as she was walking home from a party. Clarke was 36-years old, a mother of three. Her body was found floating in the Red River, she had been sexually assaulted and battered, according to the autopsy report.
Her family members gave testimony during Canada’s 2017 National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.
Mission Institution’s minimum security facility is unfenced, and houses prisoners who are considered the lowest security risk. Muchikekwanape was considered eligible for full parole in 2023.
U.S. Marshals had made an appeal to the public for help on March 18, stating they believed Muchikekwanape was using aliases, and may be claiming to belong to U.S. Indigenous bands.
