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 WASHINGTON – The U.S. Marshals
Service announced today the addition of a Memphis man, who is wanted
in Tennessee for first-degree murder and criminal attempt
first-degree murder, to its list of 15 Most Wanted fugitives.
Robert Lee King, 45, allegedly murdered
his girlfriend Dorothy Smith and attempted to murder her 20-year-old
daughter Diana Dec. 1, 2005.
Diana Smith says she was awakened by an
argument between her mother and King at 4 a.m., went to her mother's
bedroom and witnessed King standing over and striking her mother.
The 20-year-old ran from the room to call for help, but says King
chased after her. She tried to lock herself in her bedroom, but King
broke through the door, attacked her with a sharp object and cut her
neck. King then fled from the home.
After King left the house, Diana Smith
went to check on her mother and found her lying on the bedroom floor
bleeding profusely from a cut on her neck. When rescue personnel
arrived, Dorothy Smith was pronounced dead on the scene and her
daughter was transported to the hospital in critical condition. She
was later able to identify King in a photo line up as the man who
attacked her and her mother.
“Robert Lee King's vicious attack on the
Smith family reveals his total lack of human decency. Capturing him
is one of our highest priorities,” said U.S. Marshals Service
Director John F. Clark. “We will use all available resources to
bring this violent criminal to justice.”
Diana Smith has made a full recovery and
continues to assist law enforcement in capturing the man she claims
so callously took her mother from her.
“I am glad the U.S. Marshals Service is
now involved with this investigation. Once King is brought to
justice my sister and I can stop looking over our shoulders and have
some peace of mind knowing he will be off the streets,” Smith said.
King is a black male, 6 feet, 2 inches
tall and weighs 185 pounds. He has black hair, brown eyes and medium
skin tone. He has no known scars or tattoos.
A $25,000 reward is offered for
information leading directly to King's arrest. Anyone with
information regarding King's location is asked to contact the
nearest U.S. Marshals office, call the U.S. Marshals 24-hour hotline
at 1-800-366-0102 or provide information at
www.usmarshals.gov.
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In fiscal year 2008, the U.S.
Marshals arrested more than 36,600 federal fugitive felons, clearing
39,700 federal felony warrants – more than all other law enforcement
agencies combined. Working with authorities at the federal, state,
and local levels, U.S. Marshals-led fugitive task forces arrested
more than 73,000 state and local fugitives, clearing 90,600 state
and local felony warrants.
See Wanted Poster for Robert Lee King |
