Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, June 3, 1994                   TAG: 9406030127
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-3   EDITION: STATE 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE                                LENGTH: Medium

ESCAPED KILLER RECAPTURED; HE JUST WANTED A VACATION

"I said, 'I need a vacation. I've been locked up for four years,'" John T.O Midgette said of his decision to walk away April 23 from Central State Hospital near Petersburg.

Midgette, 52, was recaptured Wednesday night in Beaufort County, N.C., ending a nationwide manhunt that sparked the interest of such television programs as "Inside Edition," "48 Hours" and "America's Most Wanted."

Beaufort County Sheriff's Deputy Walter Johnson was on patrol when he saw Midgette walking along a rural road. He said he recognized Midgette from police photographs, and Midgette acknowledged who he was and did not resist arrest.

Midgette waived extradition proceedings to Virginia at a brief court hearing Thursday and was taken to the Virginia State Police office in Chesapeake, the city where he used to live.

Midgette said he hitched rides with truck drivers during his freedom and ended up at one point in Washington, D.C. "I just acted like a tourist," he said.

He said he worked at a couple of landscaping jobs, cutting grass to earn some money, and went to churches to get food.

Midgette also denied having a "hit list" of people he intended to murder.

Police said Midgette killed his construction company boss, Mike Jacobs, in February 1990 and had a list of five other intended victims, including Jacobs' wife, Barbara. He believed that Jacobs and the others were conspiring to keep him from getting an inheritance that did not exist, authorities said.

Midgette, who admitted to killing Jacobs, was found innocent by reason of insanity and was sent to Central State. He was kept in a maximum security area of the hospital until counselors determined that his condition had improved enough to allow him to work in a patient canteen. He failed to return from work on April 23.

After he escaped, Barbara Jacobs left her home in Isle of Wight County and went into hiding.

"I'm just excited they found him before he killed someone else," said Lisa Noel, Jacobs' daughter. "I was scared to death that he'd show up on my momma's doorstep."

State Secretary of Public Safety Jerry W. Kilgore said authorities don't believe Midgette committed any acts of violence during his freedom. Just the same, he was relieved that Midgette was back in custody. "We had assigned 50 agents to this case, and they followed up on 400 leads," Kilgore said. "We spent $75,000 on overtime alone. We directed the agents to work around the clock because we just didn't know what he would do."

Kilgore said authorities believe Midgette spent a couple of days traveling back roads after leaving Central State before reaching a truck stop in North Carolina, where he caught a ride to Washington. He apparently stayed there until Tuesday, when he got another ride back to North Carolina.

"We're investigating what he did while he was in Washington," the secretary said.

Robert Jasinowski, special agent in charge of State Police investigations in Chesapeake, said Midgette faces an escape charge in Dinwiddie County. A Circuit Court clerk said the court had not received any paperwork on Midgette and a court date had not been set.

Kilgore said it would be up to a judge to decide whether Midgette could return to Central State.