Fugitive Doctor Captured at Sea After 21 Years on the Run From Assault Conviction
Ronald L. Fischer will now face justice.
Sept. 7 2026, Published 12:00 p.m. ET
Fugitive Ronald L. Fischer, the master yachtsman who’d been on the run since 2005 after skipping town during his Rhode Island s-- assault trial, was finally nabbed off the coast of New Jersey, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
Fischer, a former anesthesiologist, was accused of sexually assaulting a woman on his boat in 2003, but authorities say he vanished before a jury presented a verdict on his case.
A Man on the Run
Officers arrested fugitive Ronald L. Fischer off the New Jersey coast.
Now 70, he was convicted in absentia for sexual assault and remained wanted for failure to appear and flight to avoid prosecution.
The ex-doc, who’s been described as a well-connected world traveler, landed on Rhode Island's Most Wanted List, and his case was featured several times on TV's America's Most Wanted.
The Rhode Island Violent Fugitive Task Force reportedly received a credible tip about Fischer’s whereabouts and pursued newly developed investigative leads with the FBI, Rhode Island State Police, and U.S. Marshals, which sent them to New York.
Ronald L. Fischer's Capture
Fischer used the alias Richard Graydon while on the run.
According to U.S. Marshals, who worked with local law enforcement, Fischer was ultimately located aboard a 56-foot vessel named Silver Lining, which was registered under the alias Richard Graydon.
Sources said that's the same name as a doctor and seasoned drug development executive hired last March by a Los Angeles–based biotech company, which later announced that Graydon, whose since-scrubbed internet bio featured a photo resembling Fischer, was terminated by the business for "reasons unrelated to his activities at the company."
Officials said Fischer was collared on a U.S. Marshals Service Unlawful Flight to Avoid Prosecution warrant and captured without incident about an hour off the coast of the Garden State and transported to New York.
'You Can Not Hide From Justice'
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U.S. Marshal Wing Chau noted time does not erase accountability.
Wing Chau, U.S. Marshal for the District of Rhode Island, said the arrest "demonstrates that time does not erase accountability."
Chau added, "Thanks to outstanding investigative work, exceptional intelligence analysis, and seamless coordination between agencies, Fischer is finally in custody.
"We hope today’s arrest brings a measure of justice and long-awaited closure to the victim and everyone impacted by these crimes."
First Assistant United States Attorney Charles C. Calenda said, "You can run, but you cannot hide from justice … Ronald Fischer will now return to Rhode Island to face the consequences he sought to evade for more than 20 years."
