Police hunt for Anthony Garver after torturer escapes from Washington mental hospital
Police in Washington state are hunting for a mentally ill killer after two men escaped from a psychiatric hospital. The two men, who were said to be dangerous by the officers tracking them, escaped from the Western State Hospital facility in Pierce County, south of Tacoma on 6 April.
The two men were named as Mark Adams, 58, and Anthony Garver, 28. Adams was arrested for domestic assault in 2014 but was found not competent to stand trial and was subsequently sectioned.
Adams was picked up without incident 25 miles from the hospital after being spotted on a transit bus after inquiring about travelling to the Seattle-area airport. His accomplice, who also uses the alias Deryk Garver, is still missing and authorities have alerted local residents.
Garver was arrested for murder in 2013 but a court found that he was not competent to stand trial. His real last name is Burke, but Lakewood Police Lieutenant Chris Lawler said he goes by the name Garver.
Garver was charged with torturing Phillipa Evans-Lopez to death, Snohomish County Assistant Prosecutor Craig Matheson said. The 20-year-old woman was found tied to her bed with electrical cords and had been stabbed multiple times in the chest and slashed in the throat.
Despite their alleged crimes, it is understood that the two men were not on a high security ward with checks every hour. Although it has not been stated how they escaped, Garver was relocated to a lower-security unit of the hospital after a judge ruled his treatment was not working.
Lakewood police posted to Facebook: "One down ... one to go!!" after Adams' apprehension.
The department had earlier released images of Adams captured by CCTV cameras on the bus before he was arrested in Des Moines. The only lead that police currently have on the other escapee is a bus driver who may have picked Garver up during the evening of 7 April.
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