TEMPE, AZ — A man convicted of murder more than 40 years ago has been captured after "absconding" from community supervision.
The Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation, & Reentry said that Daniel Cahill was taken into custody at about 4:30 p.m. Saturday.
ADOC officials say that Cahill was in a community placement under community supervision when he was last seen on Wednesday.
Cahill was convicted of first-degree murder in Maricopa County in 1980.
According to the Maricopa County Attorney's Office, Cahill was burglarizing the home of Mary Yates on December 3, 1979, when she returned home. Cahill then stabbed Yates multiple times before leaving the house. The mother of four died as a result of a stab wound to her neck. MCAO says the murder happened after Cahill had escaped from a prison in California.
MCAO sent ABC15 a letter the office sent to the clemency board in December 2023, asking the board to not allow leniency in his confinement.
The letter includes statements from a judge and probation officer about Cahill.
"I regret that the law does not permit me to impose the death penalty as I certainly believe you deserve it," said Judge Howard Peterson during Cahill's sentencing.
"The defendant appears to be very unconcerned and states he would probably do it again if it means his freedom from arrest. He (defendant) states he does not care if he is given a life or death sentence as he would be too old when he gets out anyway to live any kind of life on the outside, and would only turn to more burglaries or similar crimes," wrote a probation officer in a presentencing report.
MCAO's letter states that Cahill had 116 disciplinary infractions during his incarceration, 39 being major violations.
While serving his sentence for Yates' murder, Cahill escaped from prison in September 1991, adding two years to his life sentence.
According to MCAO, Cahill was on home arrest in January 2013, but he was returned to custody just over a month later. He was once again given the opportunity to complete house arrest in April 2023, but MCAO states that he committed "itinerary infractions."
In the letter to the clemency board, MCAO asked that Cahill not be released, including home arrest.
