Fugitive killer, First female Most Wanted By FBI

A woman convicted of killing a New Jersey state trooper 40 years ago has become the first female to be placed on the FBI's list of most wanted terrorists.

Joanne Chesimard, a fugitive member of a militant group called the Black Liberation Army (BLA), escaped from prison in 1979 with the help of accomplices.

In adding her name to the Most Wanted Terrorists list, the FBI also announced the reward for her capture and return had been raised to $2m (£1.3m).

Chesimard, who was convicted of the 1973 murder of state trooper Werner Foerster, is living in Cuba under the name Assata Shakur, according to the FBI.

New Jersey State Police Superintendent Colonel Rick Fuentes said: "She continues to flaunt her freedom in the face of this horrific crime."

Col Fuentes called the case "an open wound" for troopers in New Jersey and around the country.

The BLA was responsible for killing more than a dozen police officers in the 1970s and 1980s, according to agent Aaron Ford of the FBI's Newark division.

Chesimard was convicted in 1977 of shooting Trooper Foerster twice in the head as he lay on the ground after a routine traffic stop turned into a gunfight on the New Jersey Turnpike.

She escaped from prison in November 1979. She spent the next few years living in safe houses in New Jersey and Pennsylvania before surfacing in Cuba in 1984, Col Fuentes said.

In Cuba, Chesimard has continued to espouse her anti-US views in speeches advocating "revolution and terrorism" and may have connections to other international terrorist organisations, Mr Ford said.

He said: "She is a domestic terrorist who murdered a law enforcement officer execution-style.
"And while we can't right the wrongs of the past, we can and will continue to pursue justice no matter how long it takes."
Chesimard is believed to be one of dozens of American fugitives living in Cuba, which does not have an extradition agreement with the US.
This week, the US State Department said it has no plans to remove Cuba from a list of state sponsors of terrorism that also includes Iran, Syria and Sudan.
Cuba has denied links to terrorism.