French Police Arrest American Fugitive

PHILADELPHIA – A man accused of killing his married lover and then fleeing to Europe, setting off a chain of events that included the suicide of his parents, was captured in France on Tuesday, prosecutors said.

Paul Goldman (search), a native of Uzbekistan who is now a naturalized U.S. citizen, was caught by French police in Grenoble (search), ending an international manhunt, Bucks County District Attorney Diane Gibbons said. Police moved in when the woman he was staying with left the apartment to pick up her child at school, authorities said.

Goldman, 39, was wanted on charges he fatally stabbed Russian immigrant Faina "Fay" Zonis (search), 42, on Dec. 29 in the Upper Southampton mortgage office where she worked. The two, both married, had been having an affair, authorities said.

Goldman's parents, who allegedly admitted to authorities that they helped their son flee, apparently committed suicide last week in their Bensalem home. Edward Goldman, 66, and Inessa Lemashova, 63, said in a note that they were disgraced by their son's conduct and didn't want to live. They slashed their wrists.

Edward Goldman had told investigators he flew with his son to Paris on Jan. 7 and then on to Dusseldorf, Germany, Gibbons said. He gave his son a paper bag filled with $100 bills and flew home.

The information allowed investigators to track Goldman and ultimately led to his arrest, Gibbons said.

Paul Goldman's wife, Irina Sapiro, has been charged with hindering her husband's apprehension by allegedly telling investigators he was in Washington on business when he was already out of the country.

Gibbons said Zonis' relatives had been notified about Goldman's capture and were "extremely happy."

"They're very decent people who have suffered a horrible trauma," Gibbons said.

Investigators initially thought robbery was the motive for the slaying, but focused on Goldman after seeing the victim's cell phone records. The pair had exchanged about 15 calls that day before she was killed.

Bucks County prosecutors charged Goldman, of Mount Laurel, N.J., with first-degree murder. The Department of Justice has also charged him with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution, Gibbons said.

Authorities had said that before killing themselves, the suspect's parents gave Sapiro, their daughter-in-law, $20,000 in cash and their wedding rings, and asked her to translate their suicide notes from Russian to English. They said she did so and told no one, then feigned ignorance when quizzed after their bodies were found.