‘Oprah’ segment leads to arrest

By Dave Forster and Steven P. Wagner, The Forum
Published Friday, October 07, 2005

A Fargo woman led the FBI to one of its most wanted fugitives Thursday after realizing the man living above her family was on the run from child molestation charges in Indiana.

Karie Miller, a 29-year-old deli worker and mother of three, said she discovered her neighbor’s true identity Thursday morning on a Web site.

“His picture came up and I started shaking so bad I couldn’t hold my coffee,” said Miller, at home Thursday night with her husband and children.

Miller’s friend, Jean Rosenthal of Moorhead, first recognized William C. Davis’ photo Tuesday on “The Oprah Winfrey Show.” The episode focused on sex offenders and offered a $100,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of several fugitives, including Davis.

Rosenthal called Miller on Wednesday to say the Oprah show had shown “Mark,” the name Davis was giving people, Miller said.

Rosenthal told Miller she needed to confirm the match, which she did Thursday morning on her sister’s computer. Miller then called the FBI about 11:30 a.m.

“All day long – ‘unbelievable, unbelievable’ – I couldn’t stop saying it,” she said.

Davis, 33, moved into the upstairs, one-bedroom unit at 1517 4th Ave. N. a couple of months ago, Miller said. He worked as a self-employed contractor in Fargo and Moorhead, often paying teenagers to help, she said.

Davis, who faces felony charges of molesting three boys and failing to register as a sex offender, was missing for more than a year.

Miller said she helped the man find his most recent apartment after meeting him at the Moorhead apartment building where Miller’s brother lived. Davis worked as a maintenance man there, she said.

FBI Special Agent Paul McCabe of Minneapolis said agents investigated Miller’s tip and arrived at his apartment about 4:45 p.m. Thursday. He credited Miller’s call for leading to the arrest and getting Davis off the street.

When the FBI arrived, Miller was at work at Sunmart Foods, but her husband, Larry Miller, was just getting home from his shift at Mid-America Steel. The couple’s 11-year-old daughter, Kassie Schumacher, was also home.

The three agents outside the house asked Larry Miller to help. He called Davis and told him some men were at his door and interested in buying the home.

“Through a ruse, they were able to get him to come to the door,” McCabe said. “He actually denied who he was at first but finally admitted he was William C. Davis.”

The FBI agents were in the apartment about 30 minutes before taking him out, Larry Miller said.

Davis used crutches because his right leg was broken when a vehicle hit him a few weeks ago on University Drive, Larry Miller said.

“I don’t see how he didn’t get caught (earlier),” Larry Miller said. “He was in the hospital for like two weeks.”

For Karie Miller, the shock of learning Davis’ criminal background Thursday morning hadn’t worn off when she returned from work about 8 p.m.

“I’ve been cooking for him; I’ve been doing his laundry,” she said, talking of the help she’s given him during his recovery from the broken leg.

In the middle of her living room, surrounded by her husband and kids, ages 11, 4 and 2, Karie Miller read aloud the FBI’s profile on Davis. She was seeing much of the information for the first time.

“I can’t believe I let this man alone with my kids,” she said, rubbing her forehead and beginning to cry. “My gut told me, but I couldn’t have known.”

Kassie, her 11-year-old daughter, said she helped him with a few chores after his accident, but she always felt uneasy around him.

“I’ve never been nice to him,” she said. “He’s always been kind of freaky.”

Karie Miller thought back about a conversation she had with Davis in which he hinted at a troubled background. The two were at a bar and Davis started crying when the topic turned to regrets, Miller said.

She asked what was the matter, but Davis wouldn’t say, Miller said.

“I can’t tell you; I wish I could, but I can’t,” he said.

Davis cried again Thursday, when he called Miller from jail after his arrest.

“I thought we were friends; I can’t believe you turned me in,” he told her, Miller recounted.

Authorities booked Davis in the Cass County Jail, where he’ll wait for an extradition hearing to return to Indiana. McCabe said authorities plan to investigate how long Davis lived in Fargo and what he was doing here.

On Cass County Jail records, Davis listed his mother, Pat Davis, as a contact person. He told Cass County Sgt. Steve Zetocha he would decline all requests for interviews.

The latest Indiana charges stem from accusations Davis molested boys from January 2004 to July 2004, according to the FBI’s Web site.

The site, along with the Indiana sex offender registry, says Davis was convicted for two counts of child molestation in January 1992.

Prison officials released him about 28 months later, and Davis failed to follow Indiana’s sex offender registration laws.

“It’s a significant arrest,” McCabe said. “It shows you how powerful the media can be in helping law enforcement.”

McCabe said he was checking to see if any other arrests stemming from the profiles on Winfrey’s show had been made, but was not aware of any Thursday night.

The Evansville, Ind., Courier & Press reported FBI agents investigated tips of Davis sightings but never located him.

Indiana county authorities asked the FBI to issue a warrant on a federal charge of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution for the latest molestation accusations.

If convicted, Davis faces between 20 to 50 years on each of five Class A felony counts, two to eight years on each of five Class B felony counts and an enhanced sentence up to 38 additional years as a repeat sexual offender.

The Courier & Press also reported Vanderburgh County Deputy Prosecutor Donita Farr said Davis was known as the “rubber band man” when he volunteered with a local social agency that offers mentoring programs to children.

He acquired the title because he made toys out of twisted rubber bands.

What agency officials didn’t know until later was that Davis allegedly used those rubber-band toys to lure children into vacant homes where he tried to molest them, Farr told the newspaper.

No one from “Oprah” had called the Millers or Rosenthal by Thursday night. Karie Miller said she and her husband would like to buy a house with any reward money they receive.

Readers can reach Forum reporters Dave Forster at (701) 241-5538 and Steven P. Wagner at (701) 241-5542