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| Miss. escapee caught in Calif. |
| By The Clarion-Ledger |
| Published: 12/12/2003 |
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A tip from a motel desk clerk led to the arrest of escaped Mississippi convict Larry Hentz and his wife, Elizabeth, in San Diego on Thursday. Members of the San Diego Violent Crimes Task Force apprehended the pair without incident as they got out of a cab about 3 p.m. at a Motel 6 in Mission Hills, authorities said. Hentz, serving a life sentence for murder, escaped from the State Penitentiary at Parchman on Nov. 17, after his wife allegedly smuggled him a saw blade, wire cutters and $500 during a visit. Chris Epps, commissioner of the Mississippi Department of Corrections, said officials are making plans for the couple's return. Epps said Larry Hentz can look forward to being put into "deep security" when he returns to Parchman. Elizabeth Hentz faces charges, too. She is accused of helping her husband break out of Parchman and of a previous attempt to break Hentz out of the East Mississippi Correctional Facility in Meridian, authorities said. The couple's capture came after a nationwide manhunt. They were featured in a segment on the television show American's Most Wanted. When they were captured, both Hentz and his wife had dyed their hair. Hentz had shaved his moustache and his wife had $8,000 in her bra, Owen said. News of the capture brought relief to law enforcement officials in northwest Mississippi who prosecuted Hentz for the murder-for-hire death of James Williamson of Oakland in 1982. Panola County Sheriff David Bryan and former DeSoto County District Attorney Bobby Williams said they had been the target of death threats from Hentz. Epps said Larry Hentz's brother, Roger, who is serving time at Parchman for drug offenses, and another inmate, James Hopkins, will face charges for helping in the escape. Hentz sawed a bar off his cell window and cut holes in two perimeter fences to escape. It was seven hours before officers noticed that he was missing. An internal investigation found that failures to conduct hourly inmate counts and weekly security inspections and a sleeping tower officer contributed to Hentz's escape. Epps said 11 correctional officers face disciplinary action for failure to follow policies and procedures. Two officers resigned. |
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