City bank heist suspect still in Canada

By Candace Sipos -- csipos@nvdaily.com

WINCHESTER -- James Louis Whittlesey, who is suspected of the Oct. 14 United Bank robbery in the city, and was arrested Sunday in Montreal, will appear today before the Immigration and Refugee Board in Canada.

According to an email from Stephane Malepart of the Canada Border Services Agency, Whittlesey will be detained by the CBSA in the Montreal area until the investigation is over. The agency's enforcement officers worked on the field on this case "for many days," she noted, but she would not divulge any further details regarding the arrest process.

She added that "any foreigners who commit serious crimes may be declared inadmissible to Canada and be removed."

The CBSA has not announced when the former fugitive will be extradited to the United States, and FBI spokeswoman Dee Rybiski said she does not know that information.
Whittlesey, 51, last known to live in Maryland, was apprehended by Montreal Police Department officers at 8 a.m. Sunday, the CBSA reported.

Winchester police have charged him with attempted capital murder of a police officer, aggravated bank robbery and use of a firearm in connection with a felony. Whittlesey also faces federal charges related to armed robberies in Pennsylvania and Delaware.
He was scheduled to appear in an "America's Most Wanted" segment this Friday. A five-member crew filmed footage of downtown Winchester and the United Bank on 1041 Berryville Ave., where the armed robbery took place, and interviewed city police Sgt. Frank Myrtle for more than two hours.

Show producer Chris Hamilton said he had been working on the segment all weekend, and was putting the video together with his editor on Sunday when he received a call from the FBI about the arrest.

"It would have been better if it happened Saturday night," Hamilton said jokingly, referring to the Saturday following the airing of the show. "... Ultimately, we're just as happy as everybody else to make sure this guy is off the street."

In the slot set aside for the segment on Whittlesey, Hamilton will air a segment about a fugitive the show has covered in the past, he said. In the last act of the following show on Dec. 23, he will mention Whittlesey, including some of the footage the team took, and explain that sometimes the fugitives are captured before the segment can air.