Authorities apprehended convicted double murderer John V. Carothers in Florida late Wednesday night, one week after he walked out on his parole from a Seattle group home.
U.S. marshals found Carothers, convicted of killing a Sequim-area couple 33 years ago, hiding inside the closet of a child’s bedroom in his ex-wife’s DeLand, Fla., home about midnight, said Deputy U.S. Marshal Jack Williams, Seattle-based supervisor of the Pacific Northwest Fugitive Apprehension Task Force.
“Once he was found in the closet, he came without a struggle,” Williams said Thursday.
Carothers, 68, was booked into the Volusia County, Fla., jail pending extradition to Seattle.
The news of his arrest came as a relief to Port Angeles resident Lynette Dryke, whose grandparents, Ronald and Wanda Buck, were shot to death by Carothers during a random robbery at their home on Sept. 3, 1971.
“It’s very good to know that he’s off the streets and we’re not concerned about our fellow citizens,” Dryke, 52, said Thursday.
“I’m sure that wherever he goes, he’s a danger to other people.”
