Randy Quaid, Wife Evi, ‘Vindicated’ After Vermont Judge Released Couple From Jail

Actor Randy Quaid and his wife, Evi, told ABC News that they feel “vindicated” after Vermont Judge Alison Arms released the couple from jail, citing a lack of probable cause as reason for ending the Quaid’s incarceration and denying extradition to California, where the Quaids are still wanted on felony vandalism charges from 2010.

For the last five years, Randy and Evi Quaid have been hiding out as fugitives in Canada, where Evi holds citizenship due to the fact that her father is a native Canadian. Randy, however, was denied residency, and was scheduled for deportation in the coming weeks.

Randy Quaid spoke to the relief of Judge Arms’ decision.

“It’s a very big relief to have been vindicated to a great extent. It was like someone understands our situation.”

Evi Quaid similarly gushed about the “fairness” of Judge Arms.

“What a great judge. Totally fair. This is Vermont. This is why we crossed the border into Vermont. I knew that the people of Vermont, the judge, would understand us.”

According to Hilary Lewis of the Hollywood Reporter, the Quaids are still wanted in Santa Barbara for those same felony vandalism charges. It is alleged that the Quaids were found living in the guest house of a home the couple had previously owned, with court papers stating that they damaged or destroyed parts of the guest house, causing upwards of $5,000 in damages. The Quaids, however, deny the allegations, and maintain that they still own the house in question. Randy Quaid has called the matter “a simple property dispute.”

Ray Sanchez of CNN reports that Lee Carter, senior deputy district attorney in Santa Barbara, released a statement assuring that Judge Arms’ decision does not change the Quaid’s outstanding warrants in California, and that his office will continue to pursue the fugitive couple.

“Our hope is to get them back in California. If the Quaids decides to leave Vermont, we expect that they will be arrested.”

The fugitive tale of the Quaid’s past five years has been bizarre, to say the least. As Amy Zimmerman of the Daily Beast reports, the Quaids established a reputation for themselves in Hollywood circles as an eclectic pair, to say the least, largely due to the influence of Evi Quaid. The couple met on the set of the 1988 film, Bloodhounds of Broadway, whereby Randy proposed to Evi on the first day they met.

Evi, then known by her birth name, Evzenya Motolanez, had established herself as a bit of a wild child, earning the nickname “All About Evi” thanks to her loud, brash demeanor. She became known through infamous acts of expression, including mounting a self-curated art show featuring blown up pictures of her pierced vagina. It would be this same exhibitionist nature we would see in homemade YouTube videos released by the Quaids while on the run, whereby Randy performed sex acts on Evi while having her wear a cardboard mask of Fox media mogul Rupert Murdoch.

It would also be Evi who would begin landing the Quaids in hot legal water, first being charged with defrauding an innkeeper, conspiracy, and burglary after running out on a $10,000 bill. The case was later resolved. However, over the years, the Quaids would continue to find themselves in and out of jail due to the unstable nature of their own behavior.

Randy Quaid, once as hot a Hollywood commodity as they come, would see his star fall sharply after experiencing great successes with memorable turns in such films as National Lampoon’s Vacation and Independence Day. Sharply influenced by his wife’s known conspiracy theorist ways, the couple’s YouTube videos would feature Randy rambling about a “Hollywood Whacker” theory, on which he claimed that several of the most powerful players in the game, including Murdoch, were responsible for the deaths of Quaid’s friends Heath Ledger and David Carradine.

The couple’s lawyer has stated that the Quaids will remain in Vermont for now in order to care for Evi’s ailing father. However, Randy indicated a desire both to give back to the Vermont community by way of becoming a volunteer firefighter, as well as returning to acting.

“I’d just like to thank everyone for all of their nice thoughts, and I hope you’ll see me out there real soon on the big screen or the small screen or Netflix or wherever it may be.”

[Image: YouTube]