KPLU Local News
(2009-09-21)
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SPOKANE, WA
(N3) -
Authorities have arrested an escaped mentally ill patient in the south central Washington town of Goldendale. Phillip Paul was on the run for three days. He killed an elderly woman in 1987. On Thursday he walked away from a supervised visit to a Spokane fair. KPLU's Doug Nadvornick reports.
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Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich says his office learned on Saturday that someone gave Phillip Paul a ride from Spokane to Goldendale 70 miles south of Yakima.
Early Sunday morning, the sheriff sent three deputies and his department's helicopter to the place they believe Paul was dropped off.
Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich: "Mr. Paul had hid in the trees approximately a hundred yards from that dropoff point. And it was because of the presence of our helicopter down there that kept pressure on him and ultimately forced him out onto the roads where he attempted to hitchhike out."
Instead, Spokane County deputies were there to arrest him.
Knezovich says Paul had apparently been planning his escape for several months after learning he wouldn't be released from Eastern State Hospital.
That's where he has spent much of his time since he was acquitted of murder, but found to be insane.
I'm Doug Nadvornick in Spokane.
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