Escaped double-murderer captured

The double murderer who was one of four inmates to escape from a central Kansas county jail earlier this week was captured late last night.

Santos M. Carrera-Morales, 22, was apprehended about 11:40 p.m. Thursday in Russell, Kan.

He is the third inmate to be captured since escaping early Wednesday from the Ottawa County jail in Minneapolis, Kan., which is about 1 ½ hours away from where he was taken into custody.

The fourth inmate, Eric Jerome James, 22, remains on the run. Authorities are also looking for a gold 2002 Nissan Altima, with a license plate of 649-CIC, that they believe James took during the escape.

Authorities don’t know if he is still with the vehicle, but finding it would help track him down.

Anyone with information about his whereabouts is asked to call 911, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation at 1-800-572-7463 or the Ellsworth Correctional Facility at 1-785-472-5501.

James is serving time for kidnapping, three counts of aggravated burglary and two counts of criminal damage to property.

The details involving Carrera-Morales’ capture were not available, said Jeremy Barclay, spokesman for the Kansas Department of Corrections.

“We do want to say thank you to the citizens who have been watchful and to the local law enforcement agencies,” Barclay said. Carrera-Morales was in the state’s custody and has been brought back to the Ellsworth Correctional Facility.

He was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder for gang-related slayings in Wichita in July 2007.

The four inmates bolted from the county jail about 5 a.m. Wednesday by using homemade knives and a ruse of a broken water pipe to overpower guards.

One of the four inmates was captured quickly. The second inmate was taken into custody Wednesday evening in Nebraska.

Drew Edward Wade, 21, surrendered to North Platte, Neb., police. He had phone his father, who persuaded him to turn himself in. He had traveled in a stolen minivan to the town.

Wade is serving time for attempted robbery and intentional aggravated battery-great bodily harm in Shawnee County, which includes Topeka.

The four escapees were among 22 inmates that the state has transferred to Ottawa County in January because of prison overcrowding. The Department of Corrections said Thursday that it made a temporary decision to move the remaining Kansas prisoners out of the county jail.