White millionaire suspected in Black wife's 1987 murder, returned to U.S. after capture in Thailand

Jet, June 21, 2004

Wealthy murder suspect James Vincent Sullivan stands to face the death penalty if convicted of arranging the murder of his estranged socialite wife 14 years ago, according to prosecutors.

Sullivan, who is White, was a fugitive suspected of murder when he fled the United States to avoid prosecution in the death of his Black wife, Lita McClinton Sullivan, and to avoid a wrongful-death civil judgment, according to Atlanta police and the FBI.

In 1994 a civil jury in West Palm Beach, FL, found him guilty of arranging the 1987 contract killing of his estranged wife, Lita Sullivan, 35, who was shot in the head on Jan. 16, 1987, at the door of her townhouse by a man concealing a pistol behind a box of pink roses. As a result, Sullivan had been ordered to pay $4 million in damages to Lita Sullivan's parents, Emory and JoAnn McClinton (JET, Mar. 21, 1994).

Sullivan was captured in Thailand at a beach resort south of a Bangkok in July 2002 after someone recognized him on the television show "America's Most Wanted," the millionaire was recently extradited to the U.S. from Thailand.

Sullivan recently arrived at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and was immediately taken to the local jail, said Fulton County District Attorney Patti Howard.

His return to Atlanta ended a long wait by Lita Sullivan's parents. "I am just pleased and happy," said Lita's mother, State Rep. Jo Ann McClinton. "I did feel that as long as we pursued him there was always hope. We never gave up hope on finding him."

In court Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard read the 1998 indictment, charging the 62-year-old Sullivan with murder, felony murder, burglary and two counts of aggravated assault. Prosecutors say James wanted Lita dead to avoid a messy and costly divorce (JET, May 25, 1987).

The trial should begin next year.

Back in August 1985, Lita filed for divorce, accusing her husband of stinginess and infidelity. She drove to Atlanta and moved into a Buckhead townhouse in Atlanta that her husband bought as a second home. She demanded the $450,000 townhouse, its antique French furnishings, jewelry worth $100,000 and alimony, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

She was murdered five months later.

Eight months after his wife's slaying, Sullivan married Korean-born Hyo-Sook Choi Rogers, the ex-wife of a Palm Beach investor. But in June 1990, she sued for divorce, claiming an "extreme fear" of her husband. At the divorce trial she testified her husband allegedly confessed that he had arranged Lita's death. Rogers said she feared "I'd be next," the paper reported.