Prison Escapes Arizona

Escaped convict Danny Ray Horning kidnaped two women Saturday morning and drove out of Grand Canyon National Park in their rental car, managing to foil roadblocks and the surveillance of more than 300 law enforcement officers, park police reported. By late afternoon, Horning had left the women tied to a tree, crashed their car and taken off on foot--with officers in pursuit--wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with "Fun Run."

A death-row inmate who slashed his leather shackles and tried to escape with the help of his gun-toting wife became unglued when their plan went awry and begged her, "Shoot me. Shoot me," authorities said. Floyd Bennett Thornton Jr. died Wednesday in a hail of gunfire from his wife, Rebecca, who was outside the gate, and guards in watch towers at the state prison in Florence. But it was unclear whose bullet killed him. Rebecca Thornton was shot and killed by guards.

A brazen escaped convict who authorities said stole cars, took hostages at gunpoint and tormented tourists as he led police on a seven-week chase across the wilderness near the Grand Canyon National Park was captured early Sunday.

In what may have been a botched escape attempt, a woman married to a death-row inmate opened fire through a prison fence Wednesday as her husband worked in a vegetable garden. In the hail of gunfire, the inmate was killed and guards fatally shot the woman. It was not immediately known whether Floyd Bennett Thornton Jr., 36, was killed by shots fired by his wife or guards. Officials had initially said Thornton was killed by his wife, Rebecca Lynn Thornton, 38.

Police roadblocks backed up traffic here on Wednesday as authorities pressed their manhunt for an escaped convict who has stolen cars, taken hostages and used backwoods survival tactics to elude his pursuers for seven weeks. Danny Ray Horning, convicted of aggravated assault, kidnaping and armed robbery during a 1991 bank holdup and accused in a California warrant of a 1990 dismemberment slaying, fled from the state prison in Florence on May 12, disguised in a laboratory coat, officials said.

A death-row inmate who slashed his leather shackles and tried to escape with the help of his gun-toting wife became unglued when their plan went awry and begged her, "Shoot me. Shoot me," authorities said. Floyd Bennett Thornton Jr. died Wednesday in a hail of gunfire from his wife, Rebecca, who was outside the gate, and guards in watch towers at the state prison in Florence. But it was unclear whose bullet killed him. Rebecca Thornton was shot and killed by guards.

Law enforcement officials were searching Sunday for five convicts who escaped over the weekend from two correctional facilities near Phoenix. The five--two from a high-security federal prison near Florence, Ariz., and three from a jail at the Akchin Indian Community near Phoenix--escaped Saturday or early Sunday. The two convicts still at large from the federal facility--Edward Martin, 56, and Leslie Simpson, 28--were considered dangerous.

In what may have been a botched escape attempt, a woman married to a death-row inmate opened fire through a prison fence Wednesday as her husband worked in a vegetable garden. In the hail of gunfire, the inmate was killed and guards fatally shot the woman. It was not immediately known whether Floyd Bennett Thornton Jr., 36, was killed by shots fired by his wife or guards. Officials had initially said Thornton was killed by his wife, Rebecca Lynn Thornton, 38.

Law enforcement officials were searching Sunday for five convicts who escaped over the weekend from two correctional facilities near Phoenix. The five--two from a high-security federal prison near Florence, Ariz., and three from a jail at the Akchin Indian Community near Phoenix--escaped Saturday or early Sunday. The two convicts still at large from the federal facility--Edward Martin, 56, and Leslie Simpson, 28--were considered dangerous.

A brazen escaped convict who authorities said stole cars, took hostages at gunpoint and tormented tourists as he led police on a seven-week chase across the wilderness near the Grand Canyon National Park was captured early Sunday.

Escaped convict Danny Ray Horning kidnaped two women Saturday morning and drove out of Grand Canyon National Park in their rental car, managing to foil roadblocks and the surveillance of more than 300 law enforcement officers, park police reported. By late afternoon, Horning had left the women tied to a tree, crashed their car and taken off on foot--with officers in pursuit--wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with "Fun Run."

Police roadblocks backed up traffic here on Wednesday as authorities pressed their manhunt for an escaped convict who has stolen cars, taken hostages and used backwoods survival tactics to elude his pursuers for seven weeks. Danny Ray Horning, convicted of aggravated assault, kidnaping and armed robbery during a 1991 bank holdup and accused in a California warrant of a 1990 dismemberment slaying, fled from the state prison in Florence on May 12, disguised in a laboratory coat, officials said.