Washington: A convicted murderer has been captured in the US state of North Carolina days after escaping from jail, allegedly with the help of a female prison worker, an official said on Monday.
The case mirrors another US prison breakout making international headlines, in which police conducted a weeks-long manhunt for two escaped killers in the state of New York, shooting one dead on Friday and catching the other alive Sunday.
Kristopher McNeil, the 29-year-old North Carolina escapee, was arrested just before 11pm on Sunday (0300 GMT Monday) walking along a highway near the southern state’s Forsyth-Davidson county line, Department of Public Safety communications director Pamela Walker said.
Concerned citizens recognised him and reported his whereabouts to authorities, she said, adding that “there was no struggle. He went into custody without incident.”
McNeil, who was serving a 14-year sentence for second-degree murder — and who was scheduled for release in 2018 — was discovered missing Saturday morning.
He is believed to have scaled a prison fence, according to a statement posted on the department’s website.
A 33-year-old correctional officer, Kendra Lynette Miller, who had worked since December in the prison’s food service, was charged Sunday for “sex with an inmate, providing an electronic device to an inmate, harbouring a fugitive and aiding and abetting a fugitive,” the department said.
Her bond was set at $500,000 (Dh1.83 million). “We’re extremely appreciative of the collaboration by law enforcement officers working with us,” Walker said. McNeil will face escape charges and will be held in a more secure environment, she added. He is being held for the moment at the Davidson County jail.
