Posted on 09/09/2005 4:14:47 PM PDT by SmithL
A Kentucky cab driver who told authorities he drove fugitives George and Jennifer Hyatte to an Ohio motel will be given a $10,000 reward next week.
John P. Clark, newly appointed acting director of the U.S. Marshals Service, will be in Covington, Ky., to present the money to cabbie Mike Wagers.
Wagers, 33, picked up the Hyattes on Aug. 10 at a Kentucky low-budget motel and took them to Columbus, Ohio.
The Hyattes were arrested about 10 p.m. without incident.
They are charged with first-degree murder of Tennessee correctional officer Wayne "Cotton" Morgan, 56, during a daylight escape at the Roane County Courthouse. Morgan and another officer had taken George Hyatte to the courthouse for a hearing.
Jennifer Hyatte is charged with shooting Morgan to free her husband before they fled to Kentucky and then to Ohio. Hyatte was wounded in the leg.
They are awaiting a court hearing later this month on first-degree murder charges. Both are in Tennessee prisons.
Hyatte referred to herself and her husband as a modern-day Bonnie and Clyde in a diary of their 36-hour flight from Tennessee she left in an Ohio jail cell.
In the 34-page account, an Ohio prosecutor said, Hyatte calls her husband the love of her life and addresses Morgan's shooting.
Prosecutor Ron O'Brien told Columbus television station WCMH that the diary reveals the Hyattes' ultimate destination was Pennsylvania.
"Not only is the escape (discussed), but the crime is discussed. As a prosecutor, this would be useful at time of trial," O'Brien said.
A Franklin County deputy overseeing the cleanup of Hyatte's jail cell after her extradition to Tennessee discovered the papers.
Chief Deputy Mark Barrett, who runs the jails in Franklin County, said the deputy and a crew of prisoners entered the cell after Hyatte was turned over to the U.S. Marshals Service for transfer to Tennessee.
"They went in to get her cell cleaned out and the deputy noticed all these papers on the floor," Barrett said. "He took them to his supervisor. The supervisor looked at them and said, 'Whoa, this could have evidentiary value.' "Barrett wouldn't comment further on the contents of the papers, which consist of notes handwritten on a tablet and letters.
"I don't want to do anything that would jeopardize the prosecution of these individuals," Barrett said.
Hyatte entitled her account "A Modern Day Bonnie and Clyde."
She wasn't the first to compare the couple's activities to Depression-era gangsters Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow, whose violent crime spree captivated the nation and was the subject of a 1967 movie starring Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty.
TBI Director Mark Gwyn had referred to the Kingston gun battle as "a Bonnie and Clyde-style shootout" in an interview on ABC's "Good Morning America" while the couple was still on the run.
Barrett said Hyatte signed and dated the papers. She was allowed to have writing materials in the cell in the downtown jail in Columbus, where she had been kept in solitary confinement after her Aug. 10 arrest.
"I don't know what's going on in her brain," Barrett said. "It's just odd someone would leave something like that behind."
Barrett said he faxed a copy to O'Brien and later sent another copy to Roane County District Attorney General Scott McCluen. The originals, he said, are locked away in an evidence room in Columbus.
An aide said McCluen would not comment on the diary or any other aspect of the case but could release a statement next week.
Hyatte, 31, and her 34-year-old husband drove to Erlanger, Ky. Married since a prison ceremony in May, the former prison nurse and her husband spent the night in a motel near Interstate 75.
They took Wagers' cab to Columbus the next day. After the trip, Wagers realized the identities of the couple and called authorities. A task force composed of U.S. marshals and local police arrested the Hyattes without incident the night of Aug. 10.
The Hyattes fought extradition, but on Aug. 19 a judge ordered them turned over to Tennessee authorities. They arrived in Kingston on Monday under heavy guard for arraignment on first-degree murder charges.
The Hyattes are being held without bond in Nashville prisons. Jennifer Hyatte is in the Tennessee Prison for Women, while George Hyatte, already sentenced to 41 years for burglary and assault, is in the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution.
Excellent! Good for him.
That equals 5 $2000 debit cards!
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