Press-Republican

Local News

Related Photos

  • Photo Provided

    images_sizedimage_309230600

Discussion

PLEASE NOTE: There is a 150 word maximum for comments. All comments greater than 150 words in length will be deleted in their entirety.

ALSO NOTE: Derisive name-calling of an individual or group will result in the entire comment being deleted. This includes the terms "stupid" and "idiot" and similar references.

Welcome to our new online comments feature. Before you can join the discussion, you must first register with Disqus and verify your email address.

Once you do, your comments will post after they have been reviewed by a moderator.

We welcome your thoughts and your opinions, including unpopular ones. We ask only that you keep the conversation civil and clean.

Not all comments are deemed printable. Some are disqualified, at the newspaper’s discretion, for a number of reasons. Here are some typical practices to avoid in trying to get your comment printed:

There is a 150 word maximum for comments. All comments greater than 150 words in length will be deleted in their entirety.

Don’t state as a fact something that is unsubstantiated or that our editors wouldn't know to be true.

Don’t presume someone’s guilt in a case when it hasn't been established by a court.

Don’t assail or impugn an identifiable individual or group. If you have that kind of criticism, sign your name and submit it as a Letter to the Editor. (There is some leeway on this in connection with public officials, but it is not unconditional.)

Don’t use profanity. This includes the term “tea bagger.”

Don’t be incendiary or tasteless. Those qualities are subjective, of course, and our editors will be the arbiters.

Do not identify yourself in the main content area of the article content form. Only by enforcing this rule can the moderators prevent unscrupulous commenters from falsely identifying themselves as someone they are not.

Don't type in all caps. It is considered the Internet equivalent of shouting.

In sports articles, do not criticize officiating.

Remember, moderators are not allowed to edit any article comments. If an article comment fails any of the above criteria, the entire comment will be deleted.

We monitor comments Monday - Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. Approval of comments outside these times may be delayed.
comments powered by Disqus
November 5, 2009

Escapee caught in store after tip

Icelandic woman sought transport out of region

By MICHELLE BESAW

PLATTSBURGH — The Icelandic woman who escaped the federal magistrate's office while awaiting arraignment has been captured.

At about 3:30 a.m. Thursday, State Police in Plattsburgh arrested 42-year-old Linda Bjork Magnusdottir when a woman matching her description was spotted at Maplefield's on Route 3 in the Town of Plattsburgh.

ASKED FOR RIDE
Timothy and Pamela Whalen of Plattsburgh said they went into the store to get a coffee after they finished their overnight cleaning shift when a woman approached them and asked for a ride.

"She came up to us and asked where we were headed," Mrs. Whalen said. "We said home, and she asked if that was going toward Albany. We told her no."

The woman went on to say that her car had broken down and she was in a fight with her husband and had to get out of town.

"I looked at her, and I knew who she was, and my husband knew who she was," Mrs. Whalen said, adding that they had heard about the search over the scanner and later saw her picture on the news.

She said Magnusdottir had paper towels in her shoes because she didn't have any socks on. She was wearing all black, with a tear in her shirt.

"She was nervous — very, very, very, very nervous," Mrs. Whalen said. "She was looking out the (store) windows when we got in the truck .... She wanted out really bad. She wanted a ride really bad."

Mrs. Whalen said she, her husband, the store employee and Magnusdottir were the only people in the store.

When they got to their truck, the Whalens called State Police and left.

Troopers Marc Felio and Joseph Molloy patrolled to the store and found the woman there. State Police Capt. Brent Gillam said that, after questioning, Magnusdottir admitted who she was.

She was arrested and turned over to U.S. marshals.

ESCAPED FROM FEDS
Magnusdottir, who was originally taken into custody by federal agents as an illegal alien, was being arraigned on that charge at the federal magistrate's office on Court Street at about 6:30 p.m. when she asked to use the bathroom and then took off.

City Police, State Police, Homeland Security and Plattsburgh State University Police were involved in a major search in the City of Plattsburgh Wednesday night after Magnusdottir escaped.

Clinton County Sheriff David Favro said federal agents were responsible for her during Wednesday's arraignment, although he was unsure whether it was immigration officials or U.S. marshals.

Favro said she was "definitely not" in the custody of the Sheriff's Department at the time of her escape.

He said Magnusdottir was "resting comfortably" at Clinton County Jail on Thursday.

RELIGIOUS CULT
Gunnar Jonsson from the National Icelandic Broadcasting Service said Magnusdottir was once a leader of a religious cult in Iceland, which later went "belly up" after she allegedly had an affair with a younger member of the congregation. Her former husband was the preacher of that group.

Apparently Magnusdottir had been dating an American and living in America until recently, Jonsson said. She reportedly had temporary work in Canada.

She had been coming into the United States at the Champlain border crossing when she was detained.

E-mail Michelle Besaw at: mbesaw@pressrepublican.com

Text Only | Photo Reprints
Local News

Recent Article Comments
Albany Round-up

Photo of the Day
Strange News
Videos: Editor Picks
Recording Superstar Whitney Houston Dead at 48 Maine GOP Chairman Says Romney Wins Caucuses Palin Brings Anti-Washington Message to CPAC Obama Scraps Birth Control Mandate US Airmen's Killer Sentenced to Life in Germany Navy Names Ship for Gabrielle Giffords Raw Video: Deadly Blasts in Syria Romney Slams President Obama at CPAC Gingrich: Pres. Obama 'waging War on Religion' 5 Killed in Wrong-way Crash on I-10 in La. Uzbek Man Pleads Guilty in Plot to Kill Obama Denver's Largest-Ever Drug Bust Nets Dozens Marines: No Punishment for Nazi-like Flag Vets Look to Translate Military Skills Into Jobs Raw Video: School Bus Burst Into Flames LA School Reopens Amid Sex Abuse Scandal $25B Settlement Reached Over Foreclosure Abuses Pentagon: Allow Women Closer to Front Lines LA School in Sex Abuse Scandal Reopens Raw Video: Italy's Mount Etna Bursts Into Life