Police recapture escaped rapist-murderer
Swiss police said Friday they had captured a convicted murderer and rapist who eluded his guards while out for a walk, after the man asked a restaurant to inform the police of his whereabouts.
"Friday July 1, 2011, at around 10h30, a man asked personnel of a restaurant in Rasses ... to contact Vaud police, explaining that he is the person being hunted since June 27, 2011 by the cantonal police of Neuchatel and Vaud," said police in a statement.
"He was taken under custody by police and taken to the offices of Vaud police," they added.
The man identified as Jean-Louis B. had grabbed a female guard by the neck, announced he was not going back to prison and took off through a nearby field on June 27.
Police organised a massive manhunt following the incident in a bid to recapture the man who had previously escaped on another prison outing. His latest escape sparked outrage in the Swiss media and public, with the biggest Swiss political party, the right-wing Swiss People's Party, calling for such "humanitarian" outings for dangerous criminals to be scrapped.
The man was first convicted of rape in 1970, but was let out on probation and re-offended, Le Temps newspaper said. He later killed a 17-year-old girl and was sentenced to 12 years in prison, but eluded surveillance in 1986 while on a monitored prison outing.
He boarded a train to Geneva and raped the psychiatrist who had treated him while he was in prison.
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