"Mr. Vue had been very good at not being caught. He was on the lam for almost 17 months," Albert Najera with the U.S. Marshal's Office said.
Court documents reveal where Vue's trail led both the task force, and bounty hunters working for Aladdin Bail Bonds. Facebook pictures and comments pointed to a possible hideout in Iowa, 1,800 miles from the place where he was shot. Family members there denied knowing where Vue was. But in February, one of them told a bounty hunter he'd in Iowa and left about a month earlier. The family member said Vue had returned to California.
Months earlier Vue appeared to be dealing with whatever demons had grabbed him. His attorney in a 2011 domestic violence case says Vue attended a batterer's treatment program and was reconciling with his wife. Then in July there was news that he was involved in a kidnapping and rape.
"I was shocked by what I heard. He seemed like a nice man who was having some problems with his wife," Vue's former defense attorney Brian Andritch said.
Brian Andritch wasn't alone in shock after Tuesday's shooting. Vue's former co-workers at the SPCA remember him as a happy guy with a soft heart, especially when it came to animals. They issued a statement saying: "We were shocked to hear the news of our former employee Jerry Vue he was always polite, helpful and courteous with his peers. We are saddened by his tragic loss," a view in stark contrast from that of law enforcement.
"This guy was a bad guy. Everyone was afraid of Jerry Vue," Najera said.
All three officers are out of the hospital and recovering. One of them was also involved in the deadly shootout in Minkler back in 2010
