Man wanted for attempted 1994 Alton murder arrested in Michigan

A man accused of attempted murder 30 years ago was arrested and brought back to Madison County. Robert D. Mason III, 53, who lives in Kalamazoo, Michigan, was recently arrested in Kalamazoo by Alton police with the assistance of the U.S. Marshals Service.

Mason was charged in 1994 with one count of attempted first-degree murder and one count of home invasion, both class X felonies punishable by up to 30 years in prison. The 1994 charges, filed by then-State’s Attorney William R. Haine, allege that Mason shot a man four times with the intent to kill the victim and used force to enter an Alton woman’s home while he was armed with a gun, both on May 15. , 1994. He disappeared after these charges were filed, but was found after allegedly using another man’s stolen identity. He is now also charged with one count of identity theft, a Class 1 felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison. The prosecution alleges that Mason knowingly used another person’s personally identifiable information to obtain credit and property in the victim’s name, with the value of the credit and property being between $10,000 and $100,000 . Mason remained in the Madison County Jail Friday afternoon, awaiting a hearing on a detention motion filed by State’s Attorney Tom Haine.