Prison escape
In my previous entry, I said that I'd been able to quote a prosecutor who was in Thailand. I didn't put more of the story in my blog, on the off-chance that some local media agency stumbled across it and managed to get the story. I know that's highly unlikely, but there's no way I'd run the risk of giving away a story.Anyway, a man who killed his wife in Lodi 13 years ago escaped from a Montana prison this weekend and was captured the following day.
The case was pretty big when it happened, and it dragged through the court system for two years until the guy was convicted and sent to prison for life without parole. I've heard about that case from police, attorneys and a judge, so when I happened to be browsing the Associated Press wire last night and came across the guy's name, I was stunned.
I know the lead detective and the prosecutor on that case pretty well, so I called them both -- at home. I had no idea the prosecutor (who's tried a few cases I've covered, including the Dutra one) would happen to check his answering machine less than an hour after I called. Combine that with some of the AP story, a tid-bit of new info from the Montana prison and a letter the convict wrote to the paper last year and happened to be properly filed in my drawer, and ta-da! And that, folks, is why I love the crime/courts beat.
Posted by Layla at 9:11 AM, December 17, 2003
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