Richard Lee McNair (born December 19, 1958) is an American convicted murderer known for his ability to escape and elude capture.

[2] On November 17, 1987, while attempting a burglary in Minot, North Dakota, McNair was surprised by two men and murdered one of them.

McNair remained free for ten months, until he was eventually arrested in Grand Island, Nebraska, on July 5, 1993.

After a number of years at this facility, and realizing he would not be able to escape, McNair participated in a sit-down strike that caused his return to North Dakota, and his later transfer to the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

Again realizing that escape would be unlikely, he arranged a transfer to United States Penitentiary, Pollock on the grounds that this was marginally closer to his parents' home in Oklahoma.

[7] Hours after his escape from Pollock, McNair was stopped while running away on a railroad track near Ball, Louisiana, by police officer Carl Bordelon.

[8] One factor that made it easier for McNair to escape arrest was that the photo provided to police was very low-quality and six months old.

[4] McNair later wrote that he did not see the cruiser because it was blocked from view by trees, and that he planned to run if he was not able to convince Bordelon of his "innocence".

McNair later denied the suggestion that he would have assaulted the police officer if confronted, claiming that he had renounced violence after his initial arrest.

[7] On April 28, 2006, RCMP in Penticton, British Columbia, confronted McNair while investigating a stolen car that he was driving, which was parked at a local beach.

The police impounded the car, but did not realize the identity of McNair until two days later, when one of the officers recognized him from an episode of America's Most Wanted.

Subsequent investigation found a digital camera full of self-portraits, which police determined were probably for the purpose of producing a fake ID.

In May 2006, McNair traveled back to the United States, when he drove a Subaru Outback from Vernon, British Columbia, to Blaine, Washington.

Early on, McNair developed a plan to buy land in central British Columbia, around Williston Lake, after seeing ads for the property.

McNair confirmed after his capture that whenever a new episode of America's Most Wanted aired, he would buy food and fuel his vehicle, "then if featured would keep it low for a couple of days.

McNair was surprised by how much the media coverage focused on him, especially the eleven-page article that appeared in The New Yorker, written by Mark Singer, on October 9, 2006.

With the help of a scanner, digital camera, Photoshop, and a pet ID website, McNair was able to produce a passable fake Alaska driver's license.

Because he had once worked as a car salesman himself, McNair knew where to find cash and keys at such dealerships, and how to avoid security.

He once considered stealing a 3/4 ton truck/camper, "but one of the supposed sightings of [McNair] was in North Dakota (of all places) in a truck with camper", so he eventually settled on a van instead.

McNair began to flee in his car, but later found on a local AM radio station that the police were responding to a hostage situation at the motel.

McNair then returned to the scene and filmed the standoff with a Sony HD video camera which he had recently purchased.

[7] On October 24, 2007, near Nash Creek, New Brunswick, off-duty RCMP constable Dan Melanson spotted an expensive-looking white cube van with "crappy looking" tinted rear windows and an Ontario license plate.

)[7] The next day, Constable Stephane Gagnon, a six-week rookie, spotted McNair's van by chance in downtown Campbellton, and pursued it.

In October 2008, the US-based International Association of Chiefs of Police awarded Melanson the Looking Beyond the Licence Plate Grand Prize for his role in apprehending McNair.

"[2] McNair was transferred to the Atlantic Institution, a Canadian federal maximum security penitentiary in Renous, New Brunswick, while awaiting extradition to the United States.

"[7] McNair (Federal Bureau of Prisons ID # 13829-045) is incarcerated at United States Penitentiary, McCreary in Kentucky.

McNair had an interest in discussing his story with a British TV reporter, but suspects that the correspondence may have been terminated by prison censors.

[2] Christopher later compiled his correspondence, conducted additional research on the story, and eventually produced a book on McNair, The Man Who Mailed Himself Out of Jail.