Incident 40157
Incident 40157
Theft of pills by a traveling pharmacist led to murderer’s arrest 49 years later.
An investigation into pills stolen from a CVS pharmacy in Macomb County led to a Grand Blanc man’s arrest after 48 years on the run from a murder sentence.
The St. Clair Shores Police Department launched an investigation on Jan. 30 after a CVS pharmacy employee reported 80 hydrocodone pills missing. An internal investigation at the store pointed to Paul Dickson, a traveling pharmacist who works at various CVS pharmacies.
Police say surveillance images showed Dickson stuffing the 80 pills into his pocket shortly before the store closed. He allegedly admitted to police that he stole the pills and claimed that he threw them out of his car while driving home that night.
Dickson was arraigned in June on charges of embezzlement and unlawfully dispensing prescription medication. He was released from custody after arraignment on a $10,000 personal recognizance bond, but never booked into the Macomb County Jail.
Dickson came to the St. Clair Shores Police Department on Oct. 28 to have his fingerprints and mugshot taken. Police ran the fingerprints though a national database per standard protocol, which authorities say began to unravel the truth about Dickson’s life.
His fingerprints were a match to 68-year-old Leonard Rayne Moses, who was convicted of murder and sent to prison for life as a teen. Moses was listed on the FBI’s Most Wanted List because he escaped from custody in 1971 during his grandmother’s funeral in Pittsburgh, Pa.
A Pennsylvania jury convicted Moses of murder when he was a teenager after he threw a Molotov cocktail at a Pittsburgh house during riots after Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination in 1968. The resulting fire caused burns on a woman, who later died from complications of her injuries.
After determining Dickson’s alleged true identity as Moses, the FBI Detroit Fugitive Task Force arrested him without incident at his home in the 8300 block of Embury Road in Grand Blanc Township on Thursday. He remained in the Genesee County Jail on Friday while awaiting extradition back to Pennsylvania.
Where the Diversion Occurred:
CVS Pharmacy
51000 Romeo Plank Rd, Macomb, MI 48042
Type of Healthcare Facility:
Retail Pharmacy
Person Diverting:
Paul Dickson aka Leonard Rayne Moses
Profession of the person diverting:
Pharmacist
Has the incident been reported?
e.g. to local law enforcement, county board of health, state licensure board, and/or federal DEA or FDA authorities?
Yes
To whom has the incident been reported?
Other Reporting Organization(s)
