Could Fugitive NJ Murderer Be Tried as Terrorist?

A former FBI agent says a fugitive murderer from New Jersey could be tried as a terrorist today because he helped hijack an airliner in 1972.

R.J. Gallagher told Congress that George Wright, convicted in the murder of a gas station owner a half-century ago, should not be allowed to continue living a normal life in Portugal. He was tracked down after 40 years and allowed to remain after a Portuguese judge rejected extradition.

An ex-State Department official, Jonathan Winer, even suggested that Wright could be nabbed by the U.S. government through a so-called extraordinary rendition, which the Bush administration used to capture terrorists. He said that such a method would chill relations with Portugal for years.

He said another possibility would be use of bounty hunters.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)