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Officials: Suspect in deacon's slaying fled state, used alias

<p>The fugitive accused of killing a Long Island deacon last year has been arrested and ordered held without bail.</p>

News 12 Staff

May 5, 2018, 12:09 PM

Updated 2,412 days ago

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The fugitive accused of killing a Long Island deacon last year has been arrested and ordered held without bail.
Nassau police say the suspect, 47-year-old Andre Patton, was hiding out in Tennessee and used an alias. He is accused of stabbing 70-year-old Catholic Deacon Patrick Logdson with a kitchen knife multiple times back in November.
Logsdon was the program manager of Anthony House, a group home in Roosevelt where Patton had been living at the time of the slaying. The home is operated by St. Vincent dePaul of the Diocese of Rockville Centre.
Police tell News 12 that Patton was in the program because he had just been released from prison on an assault charge, and had only been living in the house with the victim for about a week before the killing.
Detectives say the stabbing happened after a heated argument over Patton's lack of progress in the rehabilitation program.
After the fatal stabbing, investigators say Patton took off running, and later he allegedly stole a van that was operated by the NICE bus system. Police say that vehicle was ditched in Queens -- and Patton disappeared.
Detectives say they got a break in the case when a man named "Justin Clayton" was arrested for assault in Memphis, Tennessee. "Clayton" turned out to be Patton using an alias, and police tell News 12 that his fingerprints are what ended the ruse.
Patton was extradited to Nassau and was arraigned in Hempstead court on Saturday. He was charged with second-degree murder and was ordered held without bail.
If convicted, Patton could spend the rest of his life behind bars.