Manhunt for Accused Killer (as of midnight, 20 June 2009)

Parish the Thought: Accused Killers Escape Louisiana Jail

From Louisiana media:

Four men escaped from the St. Tammany Parish Jail Thursday night. Three of the escapees have been recaptured and one is still at large.

Sheriff Jack Strain said Friday afternoon that the search continues for Timothy Murray and warned that residents, particularly those who live north of Covington, should remain vigilant and consider him dangerous.

St. Tammany Parish deputies, police dogs and two helicopters are still searching for Murray near the Covington facility. Law enforcement officers will search for Murray in a ten-mile radius around the St. Tammany jail where he was housed while awaiting trial for murder. Efforts will focus on the less-densely populated areas outside the city, where officials believe Murray is most likely to hide.

Strain asked that residents lock their homes and cars, be aware of their surroundings and call 911 if they see a suspicious person or have questions about police activity in their area.

Murray's three confederates, each charged with offenses related to murder, who escaped from the St. Tammany Parish jail in Covington Thursday night were caught early Friday morning, authorities said.

A helicopter from Livingston Parish, equipped with a thermal-imaging camera, spotted the three men behind the Walgreens on Collins Boulevard about 1:50 a.m. as law enforcement combed the area. They were quickly surrounded, arrested and returned to jail.

The Parish’s initial probe revealed the inmates somehow got their hands on a tool to help them break out, Parish President Kevin Davis said.

The parish president praised the sheriff's office for the way it reacted to the escape and is grateful for help from other agencies.

Man Escapes Ozzie Prison Farm

From Australian media:

Police are searching for an as-yet-unnamed 24-year-old man who escaped from Lotus Glen Correctional Centre in far north Queensland in the early hours of this morning (18 June).

"The man was present at a 12.20 a.m. head count and was not present at a 3.30 a.m. count," a Department of Correctional Services spokesman said.

Officers at Lotus Glen, 20 kilometers north of Atherton, dsay the man had been in jail serving seven months for break and enter offences, and was due to be released in July.

Lotus Glen Correctional Centre houses 115 "open security" classification inmates in a prison farm environment.

18 Bust Out of Honduran Prison

Adapted from Central American Media:

Eighteen reputed “Mara 18” gang members tunneled their way out of a prison in the northern city of San Pedro Sula, Honduran police said. The escape occurred around 6:30 p.m. Wednesday. Two of the escapees are charged in the 2007 kidnapping of the brother of Tottenham midfielder Wilson Palacios.

Police identified two of the escaped inmates as Elmer Orellana and Alexander Reyes, who are charged in the kidnap-killing of Palacios' brother Edwin.

The Mara 18 street gang has been implicated in kidnapping, extortion, killings and robbery.

Police say the tunnel extended 50 meters (164 feet) from the prisoners’ cell into the bathroom of a nearby house and that the escapees’ associates were waiting for them in getaway vehicles.

The prison is located near downtown San Pedro Sula, Honduras’ second-largest city and the country’s business hub.

Police sealed off the prison as prosecutors launched an investigation of the mass jailbreak, the spokesman said.

Escapee From Frontenac Recaptured

From Canadian media:

Andrew John Wood, who escaped from the minimum-security Frontenac Institution in Kingston, Ontario last Saturday, has been recaptured. Wood was convicted of murder in the shooting death of a Toronto man in 1989.

Wood, 42, escaped from the minimum-security Frontenac Institution in Kingston last Saturday by just walking away. Police said Wood was arrested Thursday night while in a car with a female driver in South Frontenac Township. Wood was charged with escaping lawful custody.

The unidentified 35-year-old Kingston woman faces charges of breach of trust, obstructing police, accessory after the fact of escape lawful custody and party to the offence of escape lawful custody. Both are to appear in court Friday.

Wood was arrested in February 1989, three days after the body of Robert Ryan Glenn was found face down on an embankment in Milton, Ontario.

Killers Escape! (Stories as of 3:20 a.m. 31 May 2009)

Killers Escape Dressed as Guards

From wire services:

GRADY, ARKANSAS — Two men convicted of capital murder escaped from Cummins Prison on Friday night after putting on corrections officers uniforms and walking out during a shift change.

Spokeswoman for the Arkansas Department of Corrections Dina Tyler said video surveillance showed inmates Jeffrey Grinder, 32, and Calvin Adams, 39, putting on the uniforms, which are made at Cummins, in the prison library after the 6 p.m. head count, then walking out of the prison about 20 minutes later. The pair drove off in a car --a maroon or burgundy colored, 4-door sedan-- that had been left for them in the prison parking lot.

They were not missed by corrections officials until the 10 p.m. inmate headcount, Tyler said. Prison officials are trying to determine if all policies and procedures were followed.
Both men were serving life sentences without the possibility of parole. Local officials say they pose a threat to anyone they encounter.

Grinder is a white male, 5-feet, 9-inches tall, weighing 150 pounds, with brown hair and blue eyes. Adams is a white male, 5-feet, 7-inches tall, weighing 154 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes. Grinder was convicted of capital murder in 2004. Adams was convicted of the same offense in 1995. Both men have family in Arkansas and out of state.

I guess Cummins is not to be confused with a federal “Super Max” prison.

Mass Jailbreak at Peru Prison

From wire services:

LIMA (Peru) - AT LEAST 44 inmates broke out of a remote prison in Peru's northern jungle on Saturday, prison authorities reported.

The escape took place at the San Humberto de Bagua Grande prison in Utcubamba, in the Amazonas region. According to local daily El Comercio, the incident occurred at 6:10 a.m. local time (1110 GMT). When two guards opened the prisoners' inside doors, they were suddenly ambushed by about 100 inmates who threatened the officers with knives, the National Penal Institute (INPE) said in a statement.

The inmates fled through the front door, taking with them an AK-47 automatic rifle, the INPE said. Some witnesses said that some prisoners jumped into a river near the prison, while others escaped into forest to hide.

Early reports said that 25 inmates had fled and were holding prison guards hostage.
The majority of those who fled were convicted or facing trial for violent robbery, the EFE news agency said.

A senior penal system authority flew to the site while the National Police began an operation to re-capture the convicts.

A special committee meanwhile was in talks with jungle natives to stop vehicles on an area highway to help authorities apprehend the inmates, according to the president of the Amazonas region, Oscar Altamirano Quispe.

The prison is located some 900 kilometres north of Lima. The prison designed to hold 60 prisoners, has more than 200 inmates and 11 guards.

That was short and sweet. See you Monday ...if anyone escapes, that is.