James Sims, Wanted for Florida Murder, Arrested In California 30 Years Later

LAKEWOOD, Calif. (CBS/AP) A man featured on "America's Most Wanted" in connection with a Florida slaying nearly three decades ago was arrested in Lakewood, Calif. Friday, after authorities say he gave his thumb print to the California Department of Motor Vehicles.

James Edward Sims was wanted in Fort Meyers, Fla. for allegedly shooting and killing 29-year-old Roy Radabaugh in the face Jan. 18, 1981. Apparently the two men had a dispute in the parking lot of a bar because Sims believed Radabaugh was stalking his then girlfriend Lafonda Dalton, said the Los Angeles Times. A Florida court issued a murder arrest for Sims two days after the fatal shooting.

Investigators say Sims escaped to Los Angeles County and took on the identity of a man named Will Bronas, who died in 1973. They say he hid in Lakewood where he lived for 19 years, before homicide detectives of from Florida's Lee County arrested him after a stakeout Friday morning.

Radabaugh's death was featured in an episode of the TV show "America's Most Wanted" in 2005, but Sims was still on the loose until a single fingerprint stopped him in his tracks.

The L.A. County sheriff's cold case unit says they positively identified Sims using the thumb print on a California driver's license registered under his pseudonym. 

According to the Times, Sims appeared in county court Wednesday and surrendered his right to contest extradition. Sims will head to Florida to face trial for first-degree murder.

He is being held without bail at the Men's Central Jail in downtown Los Angeles.