AN American man who escaped prison and spent nearly four decades hiding in plain sight was captured and will now be made to serve out the rest of his sentence, authorities said.

    Billy Burchfield, 67, from Georgia, was arrested in 1973 and charged with voluntary manslaughter in the death of his 22-year-old wife Vera Sue Burchfield, who he shot in the neck during an argument.

    Burchfield was serving a 16-year sentence at Jackson County Correctional Institution when he escaped in 1979, police said.

    Authorities searched for Burchfield to no avail and remained unaware he had assumed the identity of his late cousin Harold Arnold and make a life for himself in London, Kentucky, officials said.

    “Billy Burchfield had been living under the assumed name for the past 37 years,” Sheriff John Root with the Laurel County Sheriff Department said.

    Burchfield reportedly went on to marry twice, run multiple businesses — including a diner that was frequented by law enforcement officials — and become a deacon at the local church.

    But that life came to a screeching halt when authorities acting on a tip came knocking on Burchfield’s door June 15.

    Burchfield’s sisters told the Dalton Daily Citizen that another relative who was arrested on drug charges offered up the wanted man’s whereabouts in exchange for having his own charges dropped, but they declined to name the tipster.

    Burchfield submitted to fingerprinting, which revealed his true identity, police said.

    News of Burchfield’s arrest stunned those who knew him in his post-escape life.

    “He is one of the most great and generous men you can meet or know,” Kathy Burchfield, who identified herself as the wife of Burchfield’s grandson, told InsideEdition.com, calling him the “most loving person you can ever meet in your lifetime.”

    She said she had no idea her in-law was running from the law, hearing of his 1973 arrest for the first time when he was captured last month. She stressed that his past does not line up with the man she knows, saying she wants people to know “that he was a good man.”

    Others who knew Burchfield spoke of a well-liked and well-mannered man.(SD-Agencies)