One of two men who escaped from a prison and was suspected of going on a crime spree before being recaptured hanged himself in jail Thursday and apparently had a suicide pact with the other escaped inmate, sheriff's officials said.
Tony Ellison, 23, was found hanging from a bed sheet tied to a light fixture at 8:35 a.m., 20 minutes after a routine check of his cell, the Tulsa County sheriff's office said.
Ellison and the other escaped inmate, Charles McDaniels, discussed their plans to kill themselves in letters found in their cells, Undersheriff Brian Edwards said. McDaniels, 35, was immediately placed on a suicide watch.
"We were very surprised when we uncovered this plot between the two of them," Edwards said, adding that Ellison had not seemed despondent and had not been on a suicide watch.
"If a person is very determined, it is very difficult to keep them from hurting themselves," Edwards said.
Sheriff's Capt. John Bowman said Ellison managed to put a thin section of sheet behind a light fixture that had appeared to be flush to the wall.
Authorities said Ellison and McDaniels cut through a fence Monday to escape from Great Plains Correctional Center, a medium-security private prison in Hinton.
Authorities said the pair broke into a Hinton home, abducted a woman and drove her in her vehicle into Oklahoma City, about 50 miles east. There, police say, the men broke into a home, beat the woman who lived there and stole her car, leaving both women tied up.
McDaniels, a murderer, and Ellison, convicted of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and escape, were captured Wednesday in a central Tulsa neighborhood.
Three Tulsa County inmates have committed suicide, all by hanging, in the 18 months since the county took over operations of the jail from a private company.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070125/ap_on_re_us/prisoners_escape_suicide
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