ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, December 30, 1996 TAG: 9612300055
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: LORTON
SOURCE: Associated Press
A convicted murderer who escaped from the maximum-security Lorton prison surrendered Sunday to police in St. Louis, Mo., authorities said.
Thomas Wilkes, 37, ended a four-day manhunt when he walked into a police station, District of Columbia police said. Federal marshals reportedly negotiated with him throughout the day.
Wilkes reportedly told authorities he was tired of the marshals harassing his family about his whereabouts.
Wilkes, who was serving a 30-year-to-life sentence for murdering his estranged girlfriend in 1989, is expected to be extradited this week.
Corrections officials suspect he gained access to prison keys through his work as a janitor in the prison's Occoquan facility and may have stolen a large sum of money from a locked safe before his escape Dec. 25.
The prison operated in Fairfax County by the District of Columbia houses about 6,000 inmates. John Thomas, deputy corrections director for Washington, said there have been seven escapes from Lorton this year.
LENGTH: Short : 30 linesby CNB