Photo credit: Al Johnson

CANDOR, N.Y. (WENY) -- A Lansing man named as a Person of Interest in the murder of an Ithaca man in March was caught in Candor Friday afternoon after an overnight dragnet. Larry Walrad Jr, 52, was arrested after being found near a creek off Water Street without incident by Tioga County Sheriff's Deputies on an arrest warrant for second degree murder issued by the Tompkins County Sheriff's Office. 

"So starting at about 10:30 p.m. last night (the Tioga County Sheriff's Department) started responding along with State Police, Owego Police, and Schuyler brought a k-9 to assist with the search. We were unable to immediately find him but the search went on through the day. At 1p.m. we got a call from a person on Water Street in the Village of Candor reporting the description of a person matching Walrad," said Captain Shawn Nalepa of the Tioga County Sheriff's Office. 

According to the Tompkins County District Attorney Walrad has already been arraigned with a sealed, one-count indictment charging him with Murder in the Second Degree of 71-year-old Joseph F. West, Jr.

Walrad has been remanded to Tompkins County Jail. At the time of Walrad's arrest Captain Nalepa said that two sheriff's deputies approached Walrad from different locations so as not to alert him. 

"A Sergeant and a deputy were able to get up close, and once they got close were able to take him into custody without incident. He surrendered immediately," said Nalepa. 

Walrad is believed to have been on foot during the search, but police also believe he may have used a bicycle. When he was arrested just after 1 p.m., police discovered Walrad had a knife, described as a pocket knife, on his person. 

Walrad was previously listed as a person of interest by the Tompkins County Sheriff's Office for the death of West. of Ithaca. On the morning of March 5th, deputies responded to an address on Mill Street in Lansing for a reported unattended death when they found West. 

According to the Tompkins County Sheriff's Office Walrad was indicted on May 4th in a sealed document, meaning the court could not release Walrad's name until he was arraigned. Still, police say it is believed that Walrad learned of the indictment and left his home and went into hiding. 

It was then on May 10th that the Tompkins County Sheriff's Office asked for the public's help when police got a tip that Walrad was seen on Main Street in Candor on the evening of May 11th. 

WENY News will continue to follow this story and update it as more information becomes available. 

For previous coverage of this story by WENY News visit here.