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.