A fugitive has been arrested and charged with the murder of a live-in maid whose bloodied body was found in an Orange home April 17, authorities announced yesterday.

Orange Police Director Charles Cobbertt identified the suspect as Mickzhiavago (Mick) MacKoon, 20, the estranged son of the couple for whom the murder victim, Ann Wason, 47, was employed for four years.

MacKoon who has had various addresses, including the Park Avenue home of some friends in Orange, "was tracked through the Northeast and the Southeast" before being picked up in Jacksonville, Fla., last Friday, Cobbertt said.

"We've been one step behind this suspect from day one," said the police diector, who credited Capt. John Rappaport, head of the detective bureau, and Essex County Investigator Patrick DeFrancisi with breaking the case. was released to attend to her other children at home and the two juveniles were sent to the Essex County Youth House in Newark, Cobbertt said. The other suspects were held without bail, he added.

The suspect "was apprehended by members of the Jacksonville (police) strike force, acting upon a homicide warrant" issued by Orange police investigators and Essex County detectives, Cobbertt continued. MacKoon was wanted as a federal fugitive who fled to avoid prosecution stemming from a series of New Jersey armed robberies last year, he noted. MacKoon's name was publicized in August when he was arrested on charges of driving a $68,000 Mercedes-Benz stolen in a Livingston armed robbery and with using license plates stolen in another Livingston armed robbery.

MacKoon waived extradition after he was caught in Florida a week ago, Cobbertt said. Rappaport brought the suspect back to New Jersey on Monday.

MacKoon is being held in the Essex County jail in Newark without bail pending arraignment.

Although Wason worked at the Reynolds Terrace home of the murder suspect's parents, Mickford and Claudette MacKoon, the two were estranged from their son, according to authorities.

Wason's body was found in a first-floor bathroom 2.5 weeks ago.

Besides the murder charge, Cobbertt said, MacKoon is accused of murder during the commission of a robbery, possession of a dangerous weapon, a baseball bat, and possession of a dangerous weapon with the intent to commit an unlawful act.