"Joanne Deborah Byron, aka Assata Shakur, died on Thursday in Cuba, the country that welcomed her as a refugee for decades after she staged a spectacular escape from the Hunterdon County maximum security prison after being accused 52 years ago of the murder of a New Jersey State Police officer. The island's Ministry of Foreign Affairs published a brief press release this Friday reporting that the U.S. citizen had died at the age of 78 as a result of health conditions and her advanced age."
"She was charged with first-degree murder and armed robbery for the death of Werner Foerster, a 34-year-old police officer killed on May 2, 1973, after an altercation on the New Jersey Turnpike. Although several investigations suggested she wasn't the culprit, and Shakur herself always denied it, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) still had her on its most wanted list, offering a reward of one million dollars for her head."
Joanne Deborah Byron, known as Assata Shakur, died in Cuba at age 78 after decades living there following a prison escape. She had been accused in 1973 of killing New Jersey State Police officer Werner Foerster and was convicted in a 1977 trial she described as a legal lynching. She escaped from Hunterdon County maximum security prison and received refuge in Havana, welcomed by Fidel Castro. Multiple investigations raised questions about her culpability and she consistently denied the charges. The FBI retained her on its most wanted list with a one-million-dollar reward. Her daughter confirmed the time of death and expressed deep loss.
Read at english.elpais.com
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