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violent life had ironic endingBy CAROLYN MAGNUSON Telegraph StaffDetective Lt. Donald LeBlanc didn’t want Francis Vercauteren to die thinking he had outsmarted the police.Vercauteren had done just that for nearly 10 years. The convicted rapist and killer had escaped from the New Hampshire mental hospital and had criss-crossed North America,adopting new identities as he lived a life onthe lam in places like Alaska, Florida, Texas and California.His eventual capture came not at the hands of police, but because of the fists of a stranger.In a barroom two months ago on the island of St. Thomas, Vercauteren was knocked into a coma.LeBlanc, of the Salem police force, had dogged Vercauteren ever since 1976, when Vercauteren raped and killed Arlene Boland, the 19-year old daughter of a fellow policeman, Donald Boland.When LeBlanc heard of Vercauteren’swhereabouts, he thought about meeting his nemesis again.He wanted Vercauteren to wake from his coma, if only long enough for him to look the killer in the eye and say “Hi, Frank!”The last thing I want is for him to die thinking he got away with it,” the detective said two weeks ago. I want him back here to finish serving his time.”LeBlanc never got his wish.On July 2, the 42-year journey of pain andviolence that was Francis Vercauteren’s life came to an end. It was a saga that began in Massachusetts on Oct. 31,1946, and ended in a Virgin Islands hospital, where he died from complications resulting from his injuries.Vercauteren died much the same way he spent most of his life - violently, in a strange place, and in trouble with the law. When he died after spending nearly two months in a coma, he was handcuffed to his hospital bed and an FBI guard was stationed outside the door. He had finally been caught, although he probablynever knew it.Garren Wiltshire, a native of St. Thomas, is the man who put an end to Vercauteren's decade on the run, although he'll probably never receive any official commendation.According to Virgin Islands Police Chief Alberto Donastorg, Wiltshire punched Vercauteren in the face after Vercauteren refused to give him a sip of beer shortly after midnight on May 6. Vercauteren reeled back until his head hit the pavement.Police found Vercauteren, who was then going by the name of Bert Mackley, unconscious on the street, and used fingerprints to identify him.When they told me that they got him, I was ready to fly down there right away,” LeBlanc said. However, the FBI told him the mission would be of no use because Vercauteren was too badly injured.It was an ironic ending to a life full of irony. The same man who had killed a 19-year-old girl by bludgeoning her skull with a baseball bat died from a beating.VIOLENT Page A4MurdererFrancis Vercauteren died from injuries he received during a barroom argument.
Newspaper Details
Nashua Telegraph
Nashua, New Hampshire, US
Sun, Jul 16, 1989
Page 1
Full Page
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Nashua P.
NH, USA 30 Nov 2022
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