Alan Pilon and Jason McVean, fugitives wanted for killing a police officer and wounding three sheriff's deputies, remained on the run after three weeks Friday, as investigators released a report saying Pilon was having tax problems.
Acquaintances of Pilon, 30, said that on May 27 - two days before the fatal shooting of policeman Dale Claxton in Cortez, Colo., - he "appeared to be depressed about $1,400 which the Internal Revenue Service had recently advised him he owes," the report said.The report was prepared by the police in Cortez, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation and the FBI.
The saga began three weeks ago when Claxton was shot and killed when he stopped what he suspected was a stolen water truck. Two sheriff's deputies in Montezuma County, Colo., were wounded in the ensuing chase.
The hunt moved west when a sheriff's deputy in Utah was shot and wounded. The body of a third fugitive was later found in the area. He died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, an autopsy report said.
At one point, 500 law enforcement personnel were searching for Pilon and McVean, 26, in rural areas of Utah and Colorado. They are described as survivalists.