After her father's killer was captured this week following 41 years on the run, a New Jersey woman said Tuesday that justice will at last be served.
"There will finally be justice for daddy," Ann Patterson, of Howell Township, said after NBC New York reported the exclusive story of the investigation that spanned four states, three continents and four decades.
Patterson's father, Army Bronze Star recipient William Patterson, was gunned down by George Wright in 1962 at the Farmingdale gas station he owned. Wright later escaped from prison, and fled the country two years after that in a hijacked plane.
He disappeared for decades, only to be tracked down in Portugal this week.
Ann Patterson, who was 14 when her father was killed, said she believes Wright should serve out the rest of his original 15-30 year prison sentence back in New Jersey.
“ I think he should come back here and serve it,” she said. “Even if he is remorseful, he needs to come back and serve the punishment for what he did.”
The Monmouth County Prosecutor said he wants Wright sent back to serve the rest of his sentence.
Patterson described her dad as a strong and quiet man.
“We relive the shock every time we have to address this," she said.
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Patterson said her life changed forever when she lost him. To this day she misses the time she never had with him.
“I hold onto the memories, because I only have 14 years of memories of my father.”
