Posted on 08/10/2005 6:38:54 PM PDT by Indy Pendance
There may have been a small break in the search for a man who, with help from his wife, escaped from a Tennessee prison in a bloody shootout on Tuesday.
Hamilton County, Tenn. Sheriff John Cupp said Wednesday prisoner George Hyatte was less than 160 kilometres away, but wouldn't elaborate.
Cupp made the remarks while calling off a local search for Hyatte and his wife, Jennifer. Authorities there had responded to sightings of a couple matching their description.
On Tuesday, Hyatte was being taken from a courthouse in Roane County, Tenn., where he had pleaded guilty on an aggravated robbery charge, when his wife drove up and opened fire on the prison guards escorting him.
She reportedly opened fire when George shouted, "Shoot them!" and killed one of the guards, Wayne "Cotton" Morgan.
"It was just a Bonnie and Clyde-style shootout," said Mark Gwynn , director of the Tennesse Bureau of Investigation. "These people are very desperate, they have nothing to lose at this point."
Authorities believe Jennifer was injured in the shootout; there was a significant amount of blood in a sports utility vehicle abandoned by the couple in a sandwich shop's parking lot.
"She is a nurse so she might be trying to treat herself," said Danny Wright, head of the Tennessee Highway Patrol's criminal investigation division.
The couple fled the parking lot in a van. According to NBC affiliate News 5, that vehicle was found Wednesday at a hotel in Erlanger, Ky. The couple had reportedly been staying there.
Also Wednesday, George's brother, Michael, urged him to surrender. "Enough is enough," Michael said in a television broadcast, before offering his condolences to the family of the dead guard.
He's not a cold-blooded murderer, you know. He's just a normal person that, that probably has a few mental issues he needs to deal with."
George is serving a 35-year sentence on robbery and assault convictions and has been deemed "extremely violent" by law enforcement officials.
Jennifer is a nurse who had been fired from her job at a prison because of her relationship with George.
I just hope that the cops that find these turds shoot first and ask questions later.
ERLANGER, Ky. -- News 5 has learned that a van used by an escaped Tennessee prison inmate and his wife has been found at a local hotel.
A SWAT team surrounded the Econo Lodge in Erlanger after investigators spotted a gold van used by the couple, News 5's Sheree Paolello reported. The van was spotted Wednesday at about 4:30 p.m. at the hotel at 633 Donaldson Road.
According to a U.S. marshal, the couple had been staying in room 111 at the hotel. Blood was found in the room, but the fugitives have not been found, Paolello reported.
"When we made entry into the room, we had negative contact. We didn't find anyone there, but we have reason to believe that they were there," said John Schickel, U.S. marshal. "We did not find any weapons, but the room looked like it had been recently occupied. We also recovered a vehicle in the area. We have no reason to believe they are in the immediate vicinity."
Authorities said Wednesday Jennifer Hyatte shot and killed a correctional officer who was escorting her shackled and handcuffed husband, George.
Sheriff David Haggard said the two then made a getaway in a Ford Explorer that was later found abandoned. He said one of the fugitives might have been shot, because blood was found in the vehicle.
An attorney who was at the courthouse when the shooting took place says George Hyatte was there to plead guilty in a plea deal involving an armed robbery.
A hospital spokeswoman told the Knoxville News Sentinel that the officer -- Wayne Morgan -- was shot in the stomach, and died after he was airlifted to the hospital in Knoxville.
It's not usual to fire employees because you don't like their boyfriend, so what's up with that?
Thanks for the additional info.
I'm not sure about the boyfriend thing, but, they have to have help from someone. Now there is no vehicle that we know of.
There's really nowhere to go where they won't stick out, especially with the news coverage.
They most likely are at a friend's place, which means the cops need to figure out who the friends are.
Wrong Slick. He's a damned thug.
I haven't seen any pics of these two. Normally they plaster them all over the place.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.