Published: Friday, September 25, 2009
Spokane County sheriff to bill state $37,000 for insane inmate hunt
SPOKANE — Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich says he’ll bill Washington state $37,000 for the cost of hunting down insane killer Phillip Arnold Paul, an Eastern State Hospital patient who escaped during an outing to the Spokane County Interstate Fair.
Knezovich told the Spokesman-Review that the manhunt involved a team of deputies and the sheriff’s office helicopter. It began Sept. 17 when Paul walked away from a hospital field trip. He was arrested Sunday near Goldendale and returned to the mental hospital.
Paul told KXLY-TV that his escape was on impulse and not planned — that he saw an opportunity at the fairgrounds and took it. However, when captured, he was carrying a backpack with food, clothing and personal items. He also had a guitar and sleeping bag.
Paul was committed to the mental hospital in 1987 after he was acquitted by reason of insanity for killing a Sunnyside woman, 78.
Eastern State Hospital CEO Harold Wilson has resigned. The escape remains under investigation by the state Department of Social and Health Services.
Knezovich told the Spokesman-Review that the manhunt involved a team of deputies and the sheriff’s office helicopter. It began Sept. 17 when Paul walked away from a hospital field trip. He was arrested Sunday near Goldendale and returned to the mental hospital.
Paul told KXLY-TV that his escape was on impulse and not planned — that he saw an opportunity at the fairgrounds and took it. However, when captured, he was carrying a backpack with food, clothing and personal items. He also had a guitar and sleeping bag.
Paul was committed to the mental hospital in 1987 after he was acquitted by reason of insanity for killing a Sunnyside woman, 78.
Eastern State Hospital CEO Harold Wilson has resigned. The escape remains under investigation by the state Department of Social and Health Services.
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