WNY connections to Most Wanted lists

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) - They are known as the some of the most dangerous criminals in the world, the FBI's most wanted fugitives.

In order to get on the top ten list a couple of things need to happen.

First, the fugitive must be considered a dangerous menace to society. Second, nationwide publicity must be able to assist in the arrest of the person.

What do James Kopp, Ralph Phillips and two bank robbers from the 1960's have in common?

"They were extremely violent," said Buffalo FBI agent Earl Gould.

And among ten fugitives who committed crimes in the Buffalo area, propelling them to the FBI's top ten most wanted list.

Making the top ten, which turns 60 years old next month, requires a couple of things.

"How bad the crimes were," said Gould.

Gould addeed, "Just how badly we need to get this individual off the streets and into custody."

The top ten list was first published in 1950, after a wire service reporter made a simple request to the FBI.

Gould said, "We'd like to know what your toughest guys are. The people that you want to go after the most."

The story generated so much publicity that the late FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover launched the top ten as a regular program.

In the early 1960's Albert Nussbaum and Bobby Wilcoxson made the list after committing takeover style robberies in Buffalo, Brooklyn and Washington, D.C.

In the Brooklyn heist a bank guard was shot to death with a thompson machine gun.

Gould said, "Actually for their time, they were the most violent bank robbers for their time."

In 1999, James Kopp made the list for killing Amherst obstetrician Dr. Barnett Slepian.

After firing a high-powered rifle from a wooded area behind the Slepian home, Kopp fled the country.

He remained a top ten fugitive until his capture in 2001.

Former FBI Agent John Culhane Jr. says the top ten designation gave the case a higher profile around the globe.

At one point, he says, Kopp tried traveling to Australia using an altered passport.

Culhane said, "And because he was on the list, the top ten list, Australia reached out for us, which helps us even though it was after the fact. It tells us we're looking in the right direction."

In 2006, Ralph Phillips was placed on the FBI's top ten list after shooting three state troopers, one of whom died from his wounds.

Interestingly, Phillips was on the list one day. He was captured before the FBI made his top ten status public.

Gould said, "Ironically, that's happened nine times in the course of the top ten list in the last 60 years."

Since it began, 463 individuals out of 494 on the list have been located.

While the FBI doesn't necessarily rank fugitives, the one big fish who's still commanding a $25 million reward is suspected terrorist Osama Bin Laden.

"If I had to rank the one individual, obviously it's Osama Bin Laden," said Gould.

Unless a "top tenner" is captured, found dead or surrenders, they are only removed from the list when they meet one of two conditions.

One, the federal process against them is dismissed. And two, they no longer fit the top ten criteria.

In the case of Ralph Phillips, the FBI paid out $25,000 divided between three tipsters.

For James Kopp, the FBI and Department of Justice paid out $675,000.

>>See the Top Ten Fugitives arrested within the Buffalo Division, and the Top Ten Fugitives who committed crimes within the Buffalo Division, by clicking here.