Update: Officials say Randall was arrested by New Mexico Corrections officers at the Courtyard Marriott on October 21 around 9:00 p.m. The original story is below.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – A Washington man, who made headlines in New Mexico for murder more than a decade ago, has disappeared. Police believe he could be somewhere in the metro. Sidney Randall, 60, strangled his girlfriend and dumped her body in Taos Canyon in 2005. He was released from prison in early February 2020.
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Randall was sentenced to more than 16 years in prison for the murder of his girlfriend, Susanne Backus. Investigators say he strangled her, then used a hand-cart to dump her down a mountain in Taos. He then fled to Washington state, where police found and arrested him.
Now, investigators in New Mexico are looking for him once again after he was released from prison last year. “We received the case from probation on or about the 25th of March of this year. Looks like he absconded about that time,” said Wes Hatley, the Fugitive Apprehension Unit supervisor.
According to officials, Randall was only on parole supervision for a little over a year before he lost contact with his parole officer and disappeared. “The probation officer issued a warrant for his arrest, at that point, then they referred the case to our fugitive unit, and then we’re responsible for going out and making attempts to apprehend,” said Hatley.
Randall was not living where he was supposed to in southeast Albuquerque or working at an Albuquerque business as he indicated. Investigators say they’ve run out of all possible leads, which is why Randall has been added to the Metro 15 list.
“We’ve exhausted all the leads that we had so we’re hoping that it will generate some leads and information on his whereabouts so that we can get him into custody as quickly as possible,” Hatley said.
This is an active investigation and officials are asking for help due to his violent tendencies. His criminal history also includes domestic violence. The Fugitive Apprehension Unit is also working with the U.S. Marshals Service Task Force.
