Fugitive found in Mexico

By GRANT BOXLEITNER
GBOXLEITNER@NEWS-PRESS.COM
Published by news-press.com on June 1, 2005

http://www.news-press.com/apps/pbcs.dll ... 10458/1075
A Lee County woman accused of running over and killing a man a decade ago in Fort Myers Beach has been captured in Mexico.

Suzanne Bainbridge-Beith, 55, is charged with DUI manslaughter in the death of Mitchell Sams.

She disappeared more than eight years ago after she failed to show up for a court hearing.

FBI and Mexican authorities took Bainbridge-Beith into custody late Monday in Baja California, less than 100 miles south of the United States border.

Mexican authorities deported her to the United States, and she is being held in San Diego, FBI officials said.

Sams, 28, died when he was hit by a car driven by Brainbridge-Beith in April 1995 in front of his parents' condominium on Estero Boulevard at Fort Myers Beach.

Her blood alcohol level was 0.15, nearly twice the legal limit in Florida, FBI records indicate.

"We're relieved to learn that this woman is in custody and thank God for that," said Sams' father, Hershel Sams, 70, of Lehigh Acres, who read a statement from him and his wife Roberta, 65.

"It's been a long time coming, and we want to thank all who were involved in bringing this about. They didn't give up on the case."

A U.S. magistrate judge issued a federal warrant for Bainbridge-Beith's arrest for unlawful flight to avoid prosecution in June 2003. FBI agents working in Mexico got a tip from a U.S. consulate that the former Bonita Springs resident was there, FBI officials said.

"(The federal warrant) really gives them the international help they need," said Douglas Molloy, chief assistant U.S. attorney in Fort Myers. "This is the way that law enforcement is supposed to cooperate."

A Lee circuit judge first issued a warrant for Bainbridge-Beith's arrest in April 1997.

She fled the state after a judge ruled jurors could hear her admission that she drank two glasses of wine and a brandy the night of the fatal crash.

Bainbridge-Beith traveled to Nicaragua and Costa Rica before settling in Mexico, where she at one time sold time-share condominiums.

Lee County Chief Deputy Sheriff Charles Ferrante first led efforts to track Bainbridge-Beith down in the late 1990s.

She has been on the county's Top 10 Most Wanted Fugitives list on and off since then, said sheriff's Lt. Marty Baer of the fugitive warrants unit.

"We knew she'd been living in Mexico," Baer said.

Previous attempts to take the woman into custody failed after Mexican officials didn't allow her to be returned to the United States for what they called an accident, Ferrante said.

Mexican laws have since changed, paving the way for Bainbridge-Beith's deportation, FBI officials said.

"I had her on a plane once, and Mexican officials pulled her off," Ferrante said.

"It was a severe letdown for the family. The family has been very patient and understanding."

Prosecutor Scott Cupp, chief of felonies for the state attorney's office in Lee County, said he assigned Bainbridge-Beith's case file to a pair of his attorneys Tuesday.

"Our plans are to go forward with the underlying case, which is a very serious charge," Cupp said.

"I want to commend the FBI for their dogged pursuit of this individual."