by BRIANNA SICILIANO Photo/Video Editor
A quadruple-murderer who escaped from a prison on Sunday, February 2 in Michigan was later captured in LaPorte County, Indiana.
Michael David Elliot is believed to have taken a white kitchen uniform in order to escape from the Ionia Correctional Facility in Michigan, where he was serving four life sentences for four murders committed in 1993.
Elliot walked three miles from the prison to Ionia where he kidnapped a woman and forced her to drive to the neighboring state. The woman was able to escape from her car when Elliot stopped for gas at a station in Middlebury, Indiana. The station is roughly 100 miles southwest of the Indiana-Michigan state line where Elliot’s image was captured on surveillance camera.
“I’m hostage to an escaped convict from Ionia Correctional Facility in Ionia, Michigan,” the woman said, according to a recording of the 911 call.
Police say Elliot was discovered missing from the central Michigan prison at around 9:30 p.m. Sunday, according to the state Department of Corrections. WWMT, a CBS-affiliated television station that serves Michigan, reports that Elliot escaped several hours earlier, between 6 and 7 p.m.
From the prison yard, “it appears that [Elliot] created a hole at the bottom of the two perimeter fences of the correctional facility and then crawled through those holes,” Department of Corrections spokesman Russ Marlan said in an email.
The LaGrange County Sheriff’s Department said the woman Elliot abducted was able to call 911 from a concealed cellphone while he was pumping gas. The woman ran to a restroom, where she locked herself inside for protection.
Elliot knocked on the door, but the woman managed to stay inside until police officers arrived. At a news conference, officials revealed that the woman was not harmed.
“At least the police captured Elliot in time before he managed to kill another four people. Hopefully from now on, prisons will have stricter policies and security, preventing this from ever happening again,” said sophomore Justin Salvesen.
Elliot was serving life behind bars for fatally shooting four people and burning down their home in 1993 when he was only 20 years old, according to court records. Police said that at the time, Elliot and his accomplices were trying to steal money from a drug dealer.
He was arrested a few days later in possession of a gun, which was tied to the murders. One of Elliot’s co-defendants testified against him, saying that Elliot laughed about shooting the victims in the head.
Elliot was convicted of first-degree murder in 1994 and was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
“On top of escaping jail and hijacking a car, Elliot tried to steal money from a drug dealer, so he must have been doing drugs at 20, and instead of getting the money, he ended up murdering four people. Just let that sink in, because that is absolutely insane,” said junior Kira Rea.
What do you think about this entire situation? Do you think that police should tighten their security around this murderer, and others, to prevent this situation from ever happening again?