Arizona releases report on prison escapes

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PHOENIX, Sept. 21 (UPI) -- A woman charged with helping three inmates escape from an Arizona prison tossed handguns and wire-cutting tools into the prison, a report says.

A state Department of Corrections report released Monday says Casslyn Welch provided the tools the three needed to cut through a perimeter fence for their July 30 escape, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.

Daniel Renwick, 36, Tracy Province, 43, and John McCluskey, 45, broke out of the prison July 30 after Welch, McCluskey's fiancee, allegedly threw the tools and weapons into the prison yard.

The escape went undetected for an unknown period of time because the perimeter security alarm system was not correctly installed and had not functioned properly for 2 1/2 years, the report said.

David Lee, associate deputy warden at the facility when the escape took place, told the state's internal investigators he was unaware of the persistent issues with false alarms that plagued the complex, The Arizona Republic reported.

Renwick was captured in Colorado on Aug. 1 and Province was captured in Wyoming on Aug. 9.

McCluskey and Welch were caught in Arizona on Aug. 19.

Province, McCluskey and Welch remain in a Mohave County jail on charges in connection with the escape but also face extradition to New Mexico in connection with the slaying of a tourist couple, the Republic said.