February 17, 2011
By Staff Reporter
Frederick David Russell is wanted by authorities in Washington State to face charges stemming from a car crash four years ago in which three college students were killed.
Russell told the High Court in Dublin that he fled the U.S. because he had received death threats.
Russell, who is being held without bail, was arrested by Irish police last month. He had been working as a security guard in a Dublin clothing store.
According to the U.S. Marshals service website, the fatal crash took place on June 4, 2001, near Pullman, Washington.
“Several students from nearby Washington State University were returning to campus by car after seeing a movie. Suddenly, a vehicle allegedly driven by Russell, 26, illegally pulled into their lane causing the crash that killed three students and permanently injured two others,” the website posting stated.
“Russell suffered only minor injuries and was charged with drunk driving, three counts of vehicular homicide, and four counts of vehicular assault. He was released on bail to the custody of his father, an attorney and then-head of the Washington State University’s Criminal Justice Program. However, Russell fled the state.”
Because of the number of deaths and injuries Russell became the first ever person facing drunk driving related charges to appear on the Marshals Service’s most wanted fugitive list.
The move paid off. Russell was identified by a tipster in Dublin who saw his photo on the service’s website.
ELVIS FAN TRAGEDY
A holiday in Tennessee turned to tragedy for a County Wicklow family after a fatal crash in Nashville last week.
Nancy Earls from Arklow died when her tour bus collided with a tractor-trailer on the evening of Wednesday, Nov. 9.
The bus was carrying Elvis Presley fans back to their hotel after a tour of the city. A second passenger was also killed while the dead woman’s sister and brother-in-law suffered minor injuries.
Earls, a widow in her late 50s with five adult children, was celebrating a birthday by visiting Elvis sites in the state.
The grief stricken Earls family was helped in making necessary arrangements by the Irish Consulate in Chicago which has responsibility for consular work in Tennessee.
CROWLEY SECURES FUNDS
As $13.5 million was heading for the International Fund for Ireland’s coffers this week, Rep. Joe Crowley managed to secure an additional half million dollars for two additional Irish organizations, Project Children and Co-operation Ireland.
“With all of the progress that has been made in recent months with the peace process in the north of Ireland, it is essential that we continue to invest in programs like Project Children and Cooperation Ireland,” Crowley said.
“These programs offer hope for future generations and I feel strongly that we must continue to encourage young people to work through conflict as we continue to work through the peace process,” he added.
Project Children, founded by former NYPD detective Denis Mulcahy, brings Catholic and Protestant children to the U.S. for summer vacations while Co-operation Ireland, which includes former congressman Ben Gilman and former senator George Mitchell on its board, fosters cross-community youth projects in Northern Ireland.
FR. KEVENY’S THANKSGIVING
Friends of Fr. Martin Keveny will host a benefit fundraiser and raffle in aid of the Irish priest’s mission in Colinas, Brazil, on Sunday Nov. 27, at Rory Dolan’s restaurant in Yonkers.
The fundraiser will include music, an auction and a door prize raffle of a canvas print by painter Edmund O’Sullivan.
Details are available from Geraldine O’Brien at 718-733-9911 or Denis McCarthy at 914-769-2263.
Fr. Keveny has spent the last 21 years doing missionary work. In 1988 he became the first Irish immigrant chaplain in U.S. and was based at St. Philip Neri parish in the Bronx.
For the past ten years Keveny has lived in the town of Colinas in Brazil’s Greater Amazon Basin where he serves a population of approximately 35,000.
Donations by check made payable to the Colinas Fund can be mailed to 976 McLean Avenue, Suite 348, Yonkers, NY 10704.