Alaskan fugitive arrested in Converse

Yurel Allen Nichols, 18, wanted in home invasion death

SAN ANTONIO – A fugitive wanted for murder in Alaska flew 4,000 miles to get away, only to be arrested Thursday in Converse.

After the Pacific Northwest Fugitive Task Force contacted the U.S. Marshals Service in San Antonio, its Lone Star Fugitive Task Force caught Yurel Allen Nichols, 18, the last of five suspects allegedly involved in a deadly home invasion on Sept. 22 in Anchorage, Alaska.

Chris Bozeman, spokesman for the Lone Star Fugitive Task Force, said the suspects had returned to a house where one of them had previously bought marijuana. He said inside was a 40-year-old woman.

“They went to the front door. As soon as she opened the front door, moments later, she was shot,” Bozeman said.

Bozeman said they also allegedly robbed the victim, who died days later.

“Then, of course, they went on the run,” Bozeman said.

He said four of the young men, ages 18 to 19, were arrested several days later, but Nichols remained at large.

Bozeman said it was learned Nichols that had flown to Texas.

“We do know that he does have family ties in San Antonio, and so that, of course, made him comfortable to come back to this area,” Bozeman said.

Bozeman said the Marshals soon put an apartment complex in Converse under surveillance where they saw Nichols come out of an apartment. Bozeman said he was arrested without incident in the parking lot Thursday afternoon.

Bozeman said that Nichols was turned over to the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office, where he awaits extradition to Alaska where he faces charges of first-degree murder, second-degree murder and robbery. A news release from the Alaskan Attorney General’s Office said if convicted of murder, all five suspects could face up to 99 years in prison.


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Jessie Degollado has been with KSAT since 1984. She is a general assignments reporter who covers a wide variety of stories. Raised in Laredo and as an anchor/reporter at KRGV in the Rio Grande Valley, Jessie is especially familiar with border and immigration issues. In 2007, Jessie also was inducted into the San Antonio Women's Hall of Fame.

David Ibañez has been managing editor of KSAT.com since the website's launch in October 2000.