Neighbors Say Fugitive Is ‘Quiet, Considerate’ Man

William Lee Caniford, 67, is a “quiet, considerate” man who has lived in San Diego for 10 years, collecting Social Security and delivering an occasional car for an auto transport company.

On Monday afternoon, after picking up his Social Security check, he stepped out of the downtown federal building and was confronted by police, who handcuffed him and took him to the County Jail as a fugitive from justice for the past 19 years.

There he was informed that Virginia authorities, who have been searching for him since 1966, want him back to finish serving a sentence of 4 1/2 years for felonious use of credit cards. He interrupted his sentence by sawing through the bars of his cell and slipping into the shadows, where he stayed until Monday.

Now, there is a new charge against Caniford: escape from a penal institution.

It was originally thought that Caniford would waive extradition, but at his Superior Court appearance Tuesday afternoon, an attorney for the small, gray, shuffling Caniford, told Judge Jack Murphy that Caniford would not sign.

“He decided not to waive the extradition. He wants to have it checked out to see if there are any grounds,” Public Defender Sharon Hummell said.

Caniford, who friends say has diabetes and severe problems with his legs, now faces arraignment and must wait for the governor to issue a warrant for extradition.

Caniford was sentenced to the Baskerville Prison Farm in Mecklenburg County, Va., in February, 1966, and escaped four months later, said Duncan Brogan, spokesman for the Virginia Department of Corrections.

For the past 10 years, Caniford, who friends and neighbors called “quiet, considerate and kind,” has been living in the North Park area of San Diego, according to police. He never bothered to change his name, police said.

But sometime last week, Virginia correctional authorities notified the San Diego Police Special Investigations Unit of Caniford’s presence here, providing them with a phone number, Detective Jack Tussey said.

Tussey used the phone number to track down Caniford’s address and police followed him to the downtown federal building, where they made the arrest.

Virginia authorities responsible for locating Caniford were not available to comment on how they acquired a San Diego phone number for Caniford.

Caniford was receiving Social Security disability benefits, said police.

Hummell said Caniford told her he has been picked up by police a few times over the past 19 years, but nothing had ever come of it.

During the last seven years, Caniford, who was born in Maryland, has regularly delivered cars across the country, particularly when he wanted to see family in Virginia and Florida, said a friend, who would not give her name.

A court official, who would not give his name, said that during an interview, Caniford kept repeating “I don’t know why they’re doing this to me.”

“I can’t believe Bill would do something like that. It’s not the same man . . . it can’t be,” said his friend from the auto transport company.

Hugh C. Wilson, a neighbor in the apartment house on the 4000 block of Georgia Street where Caniford lived, expressed disbelief that the “quiet, small man who walks with a shuffle,” could be a fugitive from justice.

Peter Woods, the apartment manager, said Caniford “would be the last one I’d ever think would do that. He was always quiet and considerate, kind and generous,” Woods said.