Man who sold his house to fugitive on FBI's most wanted list reveals how the encounter went
Joe Yates
Featured Image Credit: FBI/BBC
An American who shared the FBI's most wanted list with the notorious Osama Bin Laden has been captured more than two decades after vanishing from the States.
You'll have probably never heard of Daniel Andreas San Diego despite sitting on the infamous list for 21 years and becoming the first US citizen to make it on the list since it was created by then-President George W Bush in October 2001 - following the 9/11 attacks.
The 56-year-old is accused of being 'an animal rights extremist' who plotted a series of bombings in San Francisco, California, back in 2003.
The first took place in August that year outside the Chiron Life Science Center, in the city of Emeryville, while a second bomb was found on the site by officials, but before it could be defused, it detonated.
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The FBI suggested that the device was designed to target first responders.
The following month, in September, a nutritional products corporation based in Pleasanton was targeted with a nail bomb.
He became the first 'domestic terrorist' to be placed on the FBI's most wanted list with a bounty of $250,000 on his head.
San Diego was just 25 years old the year he is alleged to have carried out the bombings, and was actually last sighted in downtown San Francisco the same year.
He had been on the run from the FBI since 2003 and up until this year when he was captured on Monday (November 25, 2024) - meaning for 21 years he managed to evade the authorities.
Speaking per the BBC, FBI agent David Johnson reflected on the last time they saw him during an interview in 2013. He said: "He parked his car, got out of his vehicle and started walking down the street and, if I'm not mistaken, he went into a Bart [train] station and that was the last time we've seen him."
In August 2023, San Diego splashed out $538,000 on a picturesque cottage in north Wales, UK, under the alias 'Danny Webb' and for the next 15 months he settled into life in the countryside.
His cottage boasted of a balcony with sweeping views of the rolling Welsh hills as well as his own looked-after garden, while the BBC explained how when they went to investigate the home, their reporter claimed the home looked like it had been 'left in a hurry'.
Aled Evans is the man who sold the property to the fugitive, and he has now revealed to the British publication exactly how the encounter went, describing 'Danny' as he knew him as a likeable man.
Evans told BBC Radio Wales Breakfast: "He was quite excited because there was a big woodland at the back he was into his mountain biking and that's what sold it to him, apparently.
"It sounded like the ideal place he wanted - but he wanted it for other reasons."
He went on to explain how San Diego offered around $19,000 over the asking price, before adding: "The day of the viewing he spent considerable time on the balcony looking at the view.
"It was a perfect place to hide and he was besotted with the view from the house. His view for the foreseeable future won’t be half as good."
San Diego had told Evans he was working in IT, and that was the reason he had moved to Wales.