Daniel Cahill: Missing Arizona murderer captured

PHOENIX - A man convicted of killing a Tempe woman who allegedly cut off his ankle monitor on Valentine's Day and disappeared from a Phoenix area halfway house has been captured.

Cahill was taken into custody at around 4:30 p.m. on Feb. 17, the Arizona Department of Corrections Rehabilitation and Reentry said.

Officials did not say exactly where Cahill was found.

"The apprehension was without incident and Mr. Cahill will be booked today at ASPC-Phoenix on a violation of community supervision," ADCRR said.

Cahill was serving a sentence of 25 years to life for the murder of Mary-Rita Yates, who was 39 years old when she was stabbed to death on Dec. 3, 1979.

"It haunted me on a daily basis," said Yates' daughter, Margaret.

Daniel Cahill

Margaret spoke with FOX 10 over the phone, hiding her identity in fear of Cahill.

"The relief of now knowing that he can't come after me or that he can't hurt anyone else is so great," Margaret said. "Can't even describe to you how horrible it was to lose a mother in such a violent fashion."

This wasn't the first time Cahill had been on the run. According to local newspaper clippings from April 1980, Cahill had escaped from a California prison before killing Yates.

Mary-Rita Yates

"I have no idea how it was offered at all," Margaret said.

For the last decade, Cahill has been up for parole every six months. The Yates family says they will continue to make a stand against Cahill and hope to keep him in prison and off the streets.

"We will be there, and we will speak against it because we know how terrible he is and what a monster he is, but I am absolutely relieved that he has been caught," Margaret said.