LOCKPORT, N.Y. — William Shrubsall, aka Ethan MacLeod, is behind bars in an American jail after a judge ordered him to begin serving a sentence for sexual assault, which was handed down in absentia in 1996, when he fled the country to avoid justice.
Shrubsall's name has been notorious in Niagara County for 30 years, ever since police first encountered a teenager who since then has been described by authorities as a cunning and violent predator.
In the beginning
June 25, 1988, was supposed to be a celebratory day for the Niagara Falls. After several fits and starts of uncertainty, the first and only Niagara Falls Grand Prix finally got underway on a street course laid out in the city's downtown tourist district.
However, word soon began spreading through the sparse crowd of attendees that a heinous crime had occurred on the other side of the city, where a woman name Marge Shrubsall had been brutally murdered in her 70th street home.
More shocking, was that her 17-year-old son Billy, who was to deliver the valedictory address to his LaSalle High School classmates that day, was charged with beating her to death with a baseball bat.
Shrubsall, described by those who knew him as popular and highly intelligent, later claimed he was an abused child who was beaten at the hands of his mother and that he snapped during an argument between the two when she became physical once again.
He eventually plead guilty to manslaughter in exchange for a sentence of five years in prison. Later, upon appeal, he was granted youthful offender status and was out after serving 16 months.
Attempting to rebuild his life, Shrubsall eventually enrolled in an Ivy League College.
More trouble
But by the mid 1990s, Shrubsall was on the wrong side of the law again.
A subsequent sex attack on a young women landed him on trial in Niagara County Court in 1996 during which he disappeared, leaving a five-page suicide note entailing his intent to end his life by plunging over the world famous Niagara Falls.
Matt Murphy, who served as the Niagara County District Attorney at the time, never bought the story.
"When officers searched his house they found that everything was laid out almost as if it was staged. That's the impression the officers got," Murphy told WGRZ's Rich Kellman days after Shrubsall vanished in May 1996.
Shrubsal was convicted in absentia, and later sentenced to 2-1/3rd to 7 years in state prison.
A new name, new crimes
Within two years Shrubsall, living under an assumed name in Nova Scotia, was charged with violently attacking three women. Classified as a dangerous offender, he was given an indefinite prison term by a Canadian Judge.
After serving 20 years in Canadian prison, Shrubsall was recently paroled and deported back to the U.S.
Back in the USA
Local authorities took custody of him at the border on Monday, and on Tuesday he appeared before State Supreme Court Justice Richard Kloch.
Now 47, going by the name of Ethan MacLeod, and considerably heavier than when he was seen in these parts more than 22 years ago, Shrubsall was ordered by Kloch to immediately begin serving the sentence handed him for the sex abuse conviction in 1996.
He faces up to seven additional years for bail jumping and criminal contempt.
"We are going to push for consecutive sentences," said Niagara County District Attorney Caroline Wojtaszek. "It should be consecutive sentencing. His sexual assault of a woman is wholly different than jumping bail during the pendency of that case."
Wojtaszek also says she agree with Canadian authorities who found Shrubsall AKA MacLeod to be a highly dangerous individual.
"From everything I've read about his cases he absolutely is," Wojtaszek told 2 on Your Side.
"The judge in that decision said he was at high risk to re-offend and he certainly had public safety concerns for future victims. He declared him a predator who was not only out to attack people but sexually attack people," Wojtaszek said.
Please ... call me Ethan
During his court appearance on Tuesday, the heavy-set, middle-aged man now going by the name of Ethan Simon Templar MacLeod asked the judge if, going forward, his case and all legal paperwork associated with it could reflect the fact that he legally changed his name.
He also wanted the judge to notify the New York State Department of Corrections of his wish to be incarcerated under his new name.
"This is how I wish to be known," he said.
Justice Kloch would make no promise, telling the defendant, "you don't know how many times I have been told by the Department of Corrections that once someone is in their custody, that they will decide how to deal with them and that I should stay in my lane."
"Fair enough, your honor," Shrubsall/MacLeod replied.