William Morales (born February 7, 1950) is a Puerto Rican member of the Fuerzas Armadas de Liberación Nacional Puertorriqueña (FALN).
[6] Morales was a board member of the National Commission on Hispanic Affairs (NCHA),[7] a charity funded by the Protestant Episcopalian Church.
However, it is believed that Morales filed down the minute hand by mistake, so instead of having several hours before the bomb went off he had only a much shorter period of time.
[10] Along with these, a Gestetner duplicating machine was found in Morales's apartment, which had been used to produce the FALN communique following the Fraunces Tavern bombing.
His attorneys vigorously complained about the quality of care he was receiving, and filed a lawsuit that the police had "illegally confiscated" his fingers, which they claimed were taken as evidence.
[10] Morales was moved from the Federal Metropolitan Correctional Center in lower Manhattan to the less secure Bellevue General Hospital on medical grounds.
With the help of physician and M19CO member Dr. Alan Berkman, Morales was able to cut through the wire mesh in his room over a couple of days.
He was met by as many as 30 members of the M19CO, FALN, and the Black Liberation Army, who had stolen a cherry picker to help him escape.
Prosecutors filed affidavits that implied she had given Morales wire cutters which he used in the escape, smuggled in by being taped to her thigh under her skirt.
[20] Despite Morales' capture and his sentence for 12 years in prison[13] for the killing of the policeman, US extradition requests were refused and in 1988 he was eventually released and allowed to emigrate to Cuba, much to US anger.
In 1997 Morales requested amnesty from the United States,[13] however he was not included in President Bill Clinton's 1999 clemency offer to other FALN members.