Jonathon Stenberg
The award for gutsiest fugitive goes to Australia’s Jonathon Stenberg. After allegedly decapitating his neighbor and fleeing from the police, Sternberg successfully auditioned for the role of a policeman in a big-budget murder thriller.
Stenberg, a 46-year-old bodybuilder and former Australian army corporal, is accused of killing Edward Kelly at his Broadwater, New South Wales home on June 21, and then leading police on a six-day manhunt. Two days after the murder, he reportedly passed through the remote Queensland township of Winton, and there met Mark Ingram, the assistant director for the upcoming Mystery Road.
(More: ‘Zombie’ Cannibal Attacks Come to China)
The fugitive approached Ingram as he was posting audition flyers. “This gentleman came up and said hi, said he was passing through town and wanted to earn a few extra dollars,” he told Australia’s Daily Telegraph. Later that day, Stenberg auditioned for a role as an extra, and the producers of the film liked what they saw.
“He was great. Very polite and well-spoken and he seemed really keen to help out on the film wherever he could,” Ingram said, adding that the fugitive even offered to help build props for the set. Impressed, Ingram emailed Stenberg and offered him a role of a policeman “because of his military background.”
A day before he was captured the accused killer wrote to say that he had been forced to go up north for work, and would therefore have to refuse the role. He is now standing trial in New South Wales, Australia.