O'Neill Vassell
FBI photo of Vassell
FBI photo of Vassell
FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitive
Chargesdrug-related triple homicide in Bridgeport, Connecticut
Description
BornO'Neill Vassell
NationalityAmerican
GenderMale
Status
AddedJuly 1995
CaughtOctober 16 1996
Number443
Captured

O'Neill Vassell is an American criminal of Jamaican descent and a former member of the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list who was added as number 443.[1] Vassell was sought for the murder of three Connecticut men in connection with the drug trade in 1993, as well as assaults on others in Bridgeport, and Durham, North Carolina.

Charges and capture

In July 1995, he was placed on the Most Wanted list for suspicion of the murders. In one murder, a man was shot 13 times at a basketball court. In the other two, occupants of two vehicles fired at each other while speeding through a residential neighborhood. Vassell's gang, the "Rats", were feuding with the "Cats" over control of Bridgeport's cocaine trade. At the time of his matriculation, he has last been spotted in New York City, and was believed to be armed with a 9mm semiautomatic handgun. He was considered extremely dangerous. He was known to be associated with a Jamaican drug ring, the "Rats". He was officially federally warranted with the charge of "unlawful flight to avoid prosecution for murder."[2]

On October 16, 1996, a nighttime raid conducted by the FBI and the NYPD was executed on a Brooklyn apartment, and Vassell was captured. He was unarmed and did not resist when cornered in the Canarsie residence. He has been sought by CT law enforcement since 1993.[3] In 1997, while awaiting trial for the Bridgeport murders, he was charged and convicted of distributing a letter from prison, upon which allegedly an incitement to murder a gang member was encoded. The Connecticut Supreme Court went on to reverse this decision.[4]

Vassell was convicted of two murders and sentenced to 120 years in prison. He was denied early release in 2021.[5]

References

  1. ↑ "443. O'Neil Vassell". Federal Bureau of Investigation. Retrieved 2023-01-20.
  2. ↑ "Alleged Gang Member Added to FBI's '10 Most Wanted' List". AP NEWS. Retrieved 2023-01-20.
  3. ↑ Sullivan, John (1996-10-18). "Police Arrest Brooklyn Man On F.B.I.'s Most Wanted List". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-01-20.
  4. ↑ https://www.jud.ct.gov/external/supapp/Cases/AROcr/CR262/262cr17.pdf CTSC
  5. ↑ Tepfer, Daniel (2021-10-27). "Convicted hit man serving 120-year sentence denied early release". Connecticut Post. Retrieved 2023-03-01.
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