FBI in NJ to Announce Cuba Fugitive Case Details The decades-old international case of a convicted cop killer is getting new attention in New Jersey. The FBI is scheduled to make an announcement Thursday regarding Joanne Chesimard, who killed a New Jersey state trooper on this date 40 years ago. She's has been on the run since 1979 when she escaped from a prison, where she was serving a life term. Chesimard fled to Cuba, living there under the name Assata Shakur. The U.S. Justice Department has offered a $1 million reward for her capture. Chilly relations between the countries have made Cuba a haven for fugitives, but the climate is changing. Just last month, a Florida couple who sailed to Cuba was returned to the U.S. and accused of kidnapping their two young children from the boys' grandparents.