Florida State prosecutors have asked the FBI to return a man from the Bahamas to Florida to face an attempted murder charge connected to a string of shootings and firebombings.
Bounty hunters say Marcus D. Johnson, who is charged with attempted first-degree murder, fled to the Bahamas before his trial was set to begin in 2004, Manatee County court records show.
Johnson was also named a suspect in an April 2004 murder in Bradenton, but he has not been charged in that case.
Prosecutor Julie Binkley said Tuesday that the state has asked the FBI to compel Johnson’s return to Manatee to face the attempted murder charge. The so-called Unlawful Flight to Avoid Prosecution warrant is a rarely used tool.
“We are talking about an attempted murder. That’s worth pursuing,” Binkley said after a court hearing Tuesday about Johnson’s bond.
Johnson was arrested in February 2003 in connection with a shooting that was part of an ongoing feud among former friends. Johnson managed to post a $100,000 bond.
Authorities believe Johnson, a native of the Bahamas, left Manatee County in the weeks after detectives identified him as a suspect in an April 2004 homicide.
Sheriff’s detectives say Oneco resident Guillermo Coira, 33, was shot and killed after an argument or a robbery.
Witnesses picked Johnson out of a photo lineup as one of two men seen running from the scene of the shooting in the 200 block of 61st Avenue East.
When a criminal defendant goes missing, bail bondsmen worry.
They must find the person or face losing the bail money they put up to get the defendant out of jail.
Agents with Bonds and Cases, the company Johnson used to post bond on the attempted murder case, developed information that Johnson was living in the Bahamas.
Authorities in the Bahamas said in January 2005 that they wouldn’t assist in tracking down and arresting Johnson without a federal warrant, according to court records.
By MICHAEL A. SCARCELLA, www.heraldtribune.com
