Anthony Garver bought a bus ticket to Spokane under an assumed name after escaping from a mental hospital and visited his parents, who contacted police. A massive manhunt for Garver is now under way in and around Spokane, Wash. Photo courtesy Lakewood, Wash., Police Department
SPOKANE, Wash., April 8 (UPI) -- A massive manhunt is underway in the Spokane, Wash., area after a brutal murderer who escaped from a psychiatric hospital showed up at his parents' house.
The Spokane County Sheriff's Office confirmed it is looking for Anthony Garver, 28, who escaped from Western State Hospital in Lakewood, Wash., with another patient, Mark Alexander Adams, 59. Adams, who was judged not competent to stand trial after a 2014 domestic assault arrest, was captured late Thursday.
Garver, arrested in 2013 on a first-degree murder charge in which he was accused of gagging a woman, then stabbing her 24 times, was found not competent to stand trial three times. He and Adams escaped from the hospital through an open window in their shared room, the Lakewood Police Department said.
Garver bought a bus ticket under an assumed name and rode about 300 miles to the Spokane area.
He was spotted in northeastern Spokane County after visiting his parents there on Thursday. His mother phoned police when he arrived.
Police used helicopters and K-9 and SWAT teams to search the heavily wooded areas near his parents' home and advised local residents to stay indoors, but called off the search at nightfall. It resumed early Friday morning.
"We are looking for him with everything we've got," commented Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich. Authorities warn that Garver is dangerous, and has a history of evading custody. In 2009 he was sought for a month after escaping from a halfway house, and in 2013 failed to report to a probation officer after his release from prison. Later in 2013, while undergoing schizophrenia treatment, he was accused of the murder of the woman in Snohomish County, Wash.
His record includes claims he was an al-Qaida member and numerous threats, while in jail, to blow up public buildings; two arrests for assault and malicious mischief against his parents, later dismissed, while a teenager; a guilty plea in 2006 after threats against his mother led to a domestic violence harassment charge, and another guilty plea in 2009 to stealing his mother's car.
Western State Hospital nearly lost its federal funding in 2015 over safety issues, and has been under scrutiny for employee shortages and assaults on staff members. After the escapes Wednesday, the state's Department of Social and Health Services said in a statement that outside experts would be consulted to perform a complete safety review.
