STORM2K

Escaped killer captured in Louisiana

Sunday, November 6, 2005; Posted: 10:28 p.m. EST (03:28 GMT)

HOUSTON, Texas (AP) -- A death row inmate who slipped out of a Texas jail wearing street clothes was captured Sunday in Shreveport, Louisiana, the U.S. Marshals Service said.

Marianne Matus, a Marshals spokeswoman in Houston, confirmed convicted killer Charles Victor Thompson was in custody. No other details were immediately available.

Earlier Sunday, investigators said they had received several valuable tips on the whereabouts Charles Victor Thompson.

Thompson was at large for three days after escaping from the Harris County Jail using civilian clothes and a fake identification badge.(Watch how killer slipped out of jail -- 1:34)

Thompson, 35, was condemned in 1999 for the shooting deaths of ex-girlfriend Dennise Hayslip, 39, and her boyfriend, Darren Keith Cain, 30.

Authorities offered a $10,000 reward for Thompson's capture and have expanded the search nationwide.

Thompson was in the jail awaiting transfer to a state prison. A jury sentenced him to death October 28 after an appeals court threw out an earlier sentence.

On Thursday, he was taken to a room in the jail for a meeting with an attorney, though not his attorney of record.

After the attorney left, Thompson was alone and somehow removed his handcuffs and changed out of his bright orange prison jumpsuit into the clothes he wore during his sentencing, authorities said.

Thompson then left the prisoner's booth in the visiting room and used a fake ID badge to get past at least four jail employees. He was eventually let into the jail visitor's lobby and from there walked out of the building and into the street.

Prosecutors had accused Thompson of trying to hire hit men to kill witnesses against him as well as members of Hayslip's family. Members of Hayslip's family were given police protection after his escape.

Thank goodness he's been captured!

Eric

Amen to that!!!! This guy is a cold blooded killer!!

Great news.David and all who live in Texas now you can live your life in Houston without fearing a killer in the streets.

Skywatch_NC wrote:Thank goodness he's been captured!

Eric

I second that.

More importantly, thank goodness he was captured without any injuries on the part of police or bystanders. A man with literally nothing to lose is extremely dangerous.

Very true, gtalum. I say they speed up the death penalty for this scumbag.

southerngale wrote:Very true, gtalum. I say they speed up the death penalty for this scumbag.

It's not like there's a logn delay in Texas anyway.

gtalum wrote:

southerngale wrote:Very true, gtalum. I say they speed up the death penalty for this scumbag.

It's not like there's a logn delay in Texas anyway.

gtalum wrote:

southerngale wrote:Very true, gtalum. I say they speed up the death penalty for this scumbag.

It's not like there's a logn delay in Texas anyway.

hehe - maybe I wasn't clear enough. It's 3:30pm. Is he still alive?

Judge: No visitors for death row escapee

HOUSTON, Texas (WFAA ABC 8/AP) — A death row inmate captured after a four-day escape will have no contact with the outside world except from his attorneys, a state district judge ruled Tuesday.

Charles Victor Thompson, who was captured late Sunday in Shreveport, La., after a brazen escape from the Harris County Jail, will have no visitors other than his lawyers, and no telephone calls or mail, state District Judge Mike Anderson said as Thompson was arraigned on an escape charge.

Thompson, already condemned for the killings of his ex-girlfriend and her new boyfriend, appeared briefly in court wearing handcuffs and leg irons. He will stay at the Harris County Jail under tight security until he can be returned to death row in Livingston, about 75 miles northeast of Houston.

Kurt Gumberger said he was appointed to represent Thompson Tuesday morning and said "it does seem a little pointless" to proceed with the escape charge for a man who's set to be executed.

Assistant District Attorney Catherine Evans said prosecutors plan to proceed with the charges.

Thompson was returned to Harris County late Monday. He had been on the run since walking out of the jail Thursday.

Officials with the Harris County Sheriff's Department said they're making sure Thompson won't have another chance to escape.

"We will have very strenuous security around him," said Lt. John Martin, sheriff's department spokesman. "Anytime he's out of his cell block, we will have a deputy with him at all times."

Thompson will be housed under tight security when he goes back to death row within a few weeks, said Michelle Lyons, a spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Those security measures include a reduction of recreation time from one hour a day to one hour a week. Thompson also will be banned from access to such personal items as a radio or typewriter.

"Most inmates with an escape under their belt are housed under our highest level of security," Lyons said.

Thompson, 35, was convicted in 1999 for the shooting deaths a year earlier of his ex-girlfriend, Dennise Hayslip, 39, of Tomball, and her new boyfriend, Darren Keith Cain, 30, of nearby Spring.

He had been brought to the county jail in Houston from death row to be resentenced on the orders of an appeals court. He was resentenced to death Oct. 28 and was awaiting transfer back to Livingston when he escaped.

After meeting with an attorney in a jail visiting room Thursday, Thompson slipped into civilian clothes that authorities believe he wore during his sentencing and somehow smuggled back to his cell.

Thompson left the locked prisoner's booth in the visiting room and waved a fake ID badge as he passed at least four jail employees. Thompson, described by his victims' families and his lawyer as a charmer, was let into the jail's visitor's lobby. From there, he walked out the door and into the street.

An internal investigation into how Thompson escaped continues. While investigators have not ruled out the possibility Thompson got help from a jail employee, there is no direct evidence to support that, Martin said.

Investigators also are trying to determine how Thompson got to Shreveport, about 200 miles northeast of Houston, Martin said. Authorities arrested Thompson about 8 p.m. Sunday while he talked on a pay phone outside a liquor store.

Two members of a German anti-death penalty group were initially questioned because they had visited Thompson the day before his escape. Martin said investigators are questioning anyone who had contact with Thompson.

Petra E. Herrmann, of the group Alive e.V., told The Associated Press that she was "shocked" by Thompson's escape.

"It was a very normal visit, like we had also had the day before," Herrmann said. "And it was also planned that I would visit him in jail again on Thursday, but he was no longer there at that time."

Captured in Shreveport, on 70th Street....go figure...he goes to one of the blackest towns and stands out like a sore thumb...then goes on and gets drunk...what a moron...and after such a cleverly designed escape!