Ronald Fischer spent days planning escape before 20-year disappearance, affidavit shows

PROVIDENCE, July 30. A federal affidavit details how Ronald L. Fischer, 69, methodically prepared to flee in the days before he vanished from a Rhode Island sexual assault trial in April 2005, more than 20 years before his capture Thursday aboard a sailboat off the New Jersey coast. The documents, filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island, trace a canceled London flight, a predawn car return in Boston and literature on changing identities found inside his home.

Steps investigators traced before the disappearance

On April 23, 2005, Fischer emailed his attorney saying he was leaving the country. That evening he called each of his daughters and told them the same. He had contacted a New York travel agency and purchased an American Airlines ticket from Boston to London, then canceled the reservation before boarding. Surveillance cameras later recorded him returning a rental car to an Enterprise location in Boston shortly after midnight, carrying two travel bags.

Fischer transferred vehicles to each of his daughters, instructed them to remove their belongings from his home and disposed of a Jaguar before disappearing. A search of his home turned up literature describing how people could change their identities. In an email to attorney Robert Mann, Fischer wrote that he had decided against risking conviction in state court and planned to leave the U.S. to live what he called "a good, safe, secure and comfortable life."

Conviction and two decades of pursuit

Fischer never returned to Rhode Island Superior Court after vanishing during his trial. A jury convicted him of first-degree sexual assault after he fled. Federal authorities obtained an unlawful flight warrant, alleging he had traveled in interstate or foreign commerce to avoid prosecution.

His ex-wife, Dr. Nancy Stein, told investigators Fischer was well-traveled, had friends in parts of the world including Brazil, and might try to charter a boat. The U.S. Marshals Service believes he left the United States by boat after his disappearance. Authorities believe he paid more than $1 million for the 56-foot sailboat "Silver Lining," where he was ultimately found, though when or how he acquired it has not been confirmed.

Capture off New Jersey

Investigators believe Fischer had been using the alias Richard Graydon since at least 2017 and may have alternated between living aboard the sailboat and staying on shore during his years as a fugitive.

The FBI told Fox News Digital that an online sleuth tipped off investigators, leading the agency and the U.S. Marshals Service to the "Silver Lining." The FBI, U.S. Marshals Service, U.S. Coast Guard and other agencies coordinated the interception off the New Jersey coast. Fischer was taken into custody without incident. The U.S. Marshals Service had not responded to requests for information about where Fischer spent the past two decades or when he first adopted the Graydon alias.