Violent escapee from Washington state hospital recaptured, police say

[April 09, 2016]  SEATTLE (Reuters) - A man accused of murder who escaped from a Seattle-area psychiatric hospital this week was recaptured in eastern Washington late on Friday following an extensive manhunt, state police said.

Anthony Garver, 28, was one of two accused criminals who broke out of Western State Hospital, in the city of Lakewood, about 40 miles south of Seattle, on Wednesday.

The other patient, Mark Adams, 58, was recaptured soon after but Garver managed to elude authorities for 48 hours until his capture in Spokane, some 300 miles (482 km) away, Washington State Patrol said.

A police dog tracked Garver's scent and found him hiding in woods, according to the Spokane County Sheriff's Office.

State and local authorities had dispatched a helicopter and search teams to hunt for Garver, who was being held at the state psychiatric facility after he was found not competent to stand trial for first-degree murder in 2013, police said.

Local broadcaster KIRO 7, citing police, reported that Garver used electric cords to tie a woman to a bed before stabbing her more than two dozen times.

Garver and Adams, both considered dangerous, had been held in a secure area of the psychiatric hospital since February 2015. The facility is one of the largest west of the Mississippi River with more than 800 beds and 1,800 employees, its website says.

The pair may have escaped through a loose window in their room, authorities said.

(Reporting by Victoria Cavaliere; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

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