Murder suspect extradited

No charges filed against Wilson by local authorities

SIKESTON - Carl Wayne Wilson, 45, of East St. Louis, Ill., was turned over to the St. Clair County, Ill., Sheriff's Department shortly after 9 a.m. today to face first-degree murder charges.

Wilson was being held in the Scott County Jail after being apprehended at approximately 5:30 a.m. Saturday at 415 Dorothy St. by the Sikeston Department of Public Safety and other law enforcement agencies following an intensive search and hours of surveillance.

No charges were filed in Sikeston related to the incident.

Missouri State Highway Patrol officials said they believe Wilson was first in the area around June 16 before going to Ft. Worth, Texas. Patrol officials said Wilson has family in the Southeast Missouri area.

Wilson was charged Tuesday with the first-degree murder of Marilyn Patterson, 17, of East St. Louis. According to reports, Patterson was found in a car near Centreville, Ill., with a gunshot wound to the left side of her head. She was pronounced dead July 16 by the St. Clair County coroner's office.

According to Sikeston DPS Director Drew Juden, at 11:30 a.m. Friday the Missouri State Highway Patrol advised DPS they had reason to believe Wilson would arrive at Sikeston's bus station.

Juden said as units were setting up surveillance, Wilson and his traveling companion arrived in a Yellow Cab from Fort Worth and fled the area. The pair fled because they did not intend to pay the $750 cab fare, according to Juden.

At this time, a 911 call was received from the cab driver, who had given chase to Wilson and his traveling companion north from the bus station into a neighborhood area.

Law enforcement officers from the Highway Patrol, Scott County Sheriff's office, New Madrid County Sheriff's office and DPS then began searching for the pair.

At approximately 3:30 a.m. Saturday, DPS received a tip that the suspect and his companion were hiding in a residence in Sikeston. Officers surrounded the residence.

Once the area was secure, the occupants of the home - two adults and six children - were ordered out to safety. Juden said the female who was traveling with Wilson attempted to hide among the victims who first exited the residence.

Using the activity at the front door as a distraction, Wilson attempted to elude officers by cutting a window screen and climbing onto the roof at the rear of the residence, according to DPS officials. The suspect was observed by the officers during his exit and was taken into custody without incident as he jumped from the roof of the house.

The residence's occupants, who reportedly let Wilson and his companion in to use the phone, were unharmed.

"All officers involved in this incident from all agencies did an excellent job of apprehending this very dangerous fugitive from justice," said Juden. "My thanks goes out to all of these professionals who make our community and our state a safer place to live."

According to a report published Thursday in the Belleville (Ill.) News Democrat, St. Clair County Sheriff's Department Sgt. Dave Thornton said police had not recovered the weapon used in the shooting and did not say why they believe Wilson is the man who pulled the trigger.

The Belleville News Democrat reports said that Wilson's criminal history includes a murder conviction in 1972 and is currently on parole for armed robbery. In 1975, he was charged and later convicted in the beating and torture death 62-year-old George Horvat of East St. Louis.

Belleville Police Chief Terry Delaney, who was an Illinois State Police officer at the time, investigated the case. Delaney said Horvat's wife, Laura, then 60, and their 35-year-old mentally retarded son were severely beaten with bars and gun butts, doused with cooking oil and painted with gold spray paint.

"Carl Wilson was sentenced under the old law," Delaney said. "There was no death penalty at that time. He received 150 years." Several years after Wilson was sentenced, many of the old cases were brought out to be sentenced under the newer laws, but Wilson's was not.

"Wilson was released in August 2001 and placed under mandatory supervised release until 2065. He had 63 years on parole," Delaney said, adding that it angered him when he was notified of Wilson's release.

"He was one of the 10 most dangerous inmates in the Department of Corrections," said Delaney. "He is very aggressive. Wilson is a former Metro gang member."

While Wilson was incarcerated at the Pontiac Penitentiary in Livingston County, Ill., he reportedly stabbed another inmate and was charged with aggravated battery.