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The Independent
6 days ago
- General
- The Independent
Caves, other hideouts in mountains are part of hunt for fugitive known as 'Devil in the Ozarks'
There are plenty of hideouts in the rugged terrain of the Ozark Mountains, from abandoned cabins and campsites in vast forests where searchers are hunting for an ex-lawman known as the 'Devil in the Ozarks.' Others are not only off the grid but beneath it, in the hundreds of caves that lead to vast subterranean spaces. Fugitive Grant Hardin 'knows where the caves are,' said Darla Nix, a cafe owner in Pea Ridge, Arkansas, whose sons grew up around him. Nix, who describes Hardin as a survivor, remembers him as a 'very, very smart' and mostly quiet person. For the searchers, "caves have definitely been a source of concern and a point of emphasis," said Rand Champion, a spokesman for the Arkansas Department of Corrections. 'That's one of the challenges of this area — there are a lot of places to hide and take shelter, a lot of abandoned sheds, and there are a lot of caves in this area, so that's been a priority for the search team,' Champion said. "It adds to the challenge of a search in this area, for sure.' Hardin, the former police chief in the small town of Gateway near the Arkansas-Missouri border, was serving lengthy sentences for murder and rape. He was the subject of the TV documentary 'Devil in the Ozarks.' He escaped Sunday from the North Central Unit — a medium-security prison also known as the Calico Rock prison — by impersonating a corrections officer 'in dress and manner,' according to a court document. A prison officer opened a secure gate, allowing him to leave the facility. Authorities have been using canines, drones and helicopters to search for Hardin in the rugged northern Arkansas terrain, Champion said. The sheriffs of several counties across the Arkansas Ozarks had urged residents to lock their homes and vehicles and call 911 if they notice anything suspicious. In some ways, the terrain is similar to the site of one of the most notorious manhunts in U.S. history. Bomber Eric Rudolph, described by authorities as a skilled outdoorsman, evaded law officers for years in the Appalachian Mountains of western North Carolina. It was a five-year manhunt that finally ended in 2003 with his capture for with his capture in 2003. Rudolph knew of many cabins in the area owned by out-of-town people, and he also knew of caves in the area, former FBI executive Chris Swecker, who led the agency's Charlotte, North Carolina, office at the time, said in the FBI's historical account of the case. "I think it is very likely that he not only had campsites and caves, but he was also spending some time in those cabins," Swecker said. 'He was anticipating a great conflict and he had clearly lined up caves and campsites where he could go,' he added. Rudolph pleaded guilty to federal charges associated with four bombings in Georgia and Alabama, including one in Centennial Olympic Park in downtown Atlanta during the 1996 Olympic Games. There are more than 2,000 documented caves in northern Arkansas, state officials say. Many of them have entrances only a few feet wide that are not obvious to passersby, said Michael Ray Taylor, who has written multiple books on caves, including 'Hidden Nature: Wild Southern Caves.' The key is finding the entrance, Taylor said. 'The entrance may look like a rabbit hole, but if you wriggle through it, suddenly you find enormous passageways,' he said. Local residents might discover some caves as teenagers, so a fugitive would want to choose one that deputies in the search didn't also discover as teens, Taylor said. It would be quite possible to hide out underground for an extended period, but 'you have to go out for food, and you're more likely to be discovered,' he said. Hardin pleaded guilty in 2017 to first-degree murder for the killing of James Appleton, 59. Appleton worked for the Gateway water department when he was shot in the head Feb. 23, 2017, near Garfield. Police found Appleton's body inside a car. Hardin was sentenced to 30 years in prison. He was also serving 50 years for the 1997 rape of an elementary school teacher in Rogers, north of Fayetteville. He had been held in the Calico Rock prison since 2017.
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Santa Fe County commissioners adopt $305 million interim budget
Santa Fe County commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday to approve a roughly $305 million interim budget for the upcoming fiscal year. The budget invests in county employees, said County Manager Greg Shaffer, and includes $665,644 to hire six new sheriff's deputies. After the state approves the interim budget, which is due June 1, it will come back to county commissioners, who can tweak it before voting to pass a final budget in July. The final budget will also include capital and maintenance budgets, which weren't addressed on Tuesday. Commissioners have been holding budget hearings with county departments this month, and the $305 million budget total is likely to grow. This month, Shaffer said potential rollovers from the current budget not included in the sum could total as much as $68.1 million. Commissioners are expected to take up a rollover budget adjustment resolution in September. Commissioners unanimously approved a $347 million interim budget in May 2024 for the current fiscal year. Ultimately, the budget for the 2025 fiscal year was adjusted to $355 million, county spokesperson Olivia Romo wrote in an email. In a recent interview, Shaffer said the rollover amounts make it difficult to evaluate whether the county's overall budget for the next fiscal year will be higher or lower than this year. "Due to the uncertainty of the rollover amount (described previously), we cannot provide you with a definitive percentage," Romo wrote in an email Tuesday. "After the rollover is budgeted in September, we anticipate the FY2026 operating budget (excluding transfers and capital and maintenance projects) to be 0% to 5% above the FY2025 operating budget (excluding transfers and capital and maintenance projects)." According to a county document, departments with significant budgets include the sheriff's office at $22.7 million, the County Manager's Office $34.9 million, and the Corrections Department at $28.7 million. The County Manager's Office — which includes the Finance, Human Resources, and Information Technology divisions — is responsible for preparing the budget and providing the commission with the information needed to make decisions. Commissioners approved the interim budget after about five minutes of discussion, thanking county administration for the new deputy positions. "This is a concern for all of our constituents. I think we all hear it," said Commissioner Justin Greene. The budget is also expected to include previously allocated funds for the development of a youth behavioral health services facility that will bring scattered providers under one roof. Currently, the county is identifying locations for at least a 20,000-square-foot facility with $7.3 million in dedicated funding. The interim budget includes $120,000 for trauma-informed training and planning services for county employees. "[I want] to also thank the county manager and the Community Services Department for considering the suggestion for trauma-informed training and consultation, and I think it's really going to help us," said Commissioner Lisa Cacari Stone. The proposed budget also includes funds for pay raises for both union and nonunion employees, as well as funds for collective bargaining negotiations with the Santa Fe Regional Emergency Communications Center and AFSCME 1413-M bargaining units, which represents medical employees at the jail.
South China Morning Post
09-05-2025
- South China Morning Post
Lawyers for US man executed by firing squad say bullets mostly missed heart
A man who was put to death last month in South Carolina's second firing squad execution was conscious and likely suffered in extreme pain for as long as a minute after the bullets, meant to quickly stop his heart, struck him lower than expected, according to a pathologist hired by his lawyers. Advertisement The lawyers called it a botched execution because they think either the volunteer prison employees who all had live ammunition missed or the target was not placed properly. An autopsy photo of Mikal Mahdi's torso showed only two distinct wounds at the April 11 execution, according to the pathologist's report, which was filed Thursday with a letter to the state Supreme Court. Mahdi chose to be executed by firing squad over lethal injection or electrocution in the killing of an off-duty police officer in 2004. Mikal Mahdi. File photo: South Carolina Department of Corrections via AP All three guns fired simultaneously and prison officials believe all three bullets hit Mahdi with two of them entering his body at the same spot and following the same path, Corrections Department spokeswoman Chrysti Shane said Thursday. That has happened before when the firing squad team practices its job to fire at the inmate from 4.6 metres (15 feet) away. Advertisement A pathologist hired by lawyers for condemned inmates said there was not enough independent evidence from the autopsy – where only one photo of the body was taken and Mahdi's clothes were not examined – to make that conclusion.
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Yahoo
Incarcerated New Mexicans challenge solitary confinement
O'Shay Toney and GuJuan Fusilier, two of the three men held in the Penitentiary of New Mexico who are challenging the prison's use of solitary confinement. (Photos courtesy of the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico) Three New Mexicans held at the maximum-security state prison in Santa Fe are challenging the New Mexico prison system's use of solitary confinement, not just for them but for anyone else and those who might be subjected to it in the future. Through their attorneys, three men on Thursday filed a complaint for class relief against the prison itself, the New Mexico Corrections Department and so far unidentified defendants who will be named later. O'Shay Toney, GuJuan Fusilier and Mah-konce Hudson allege the prison system has an unlawful and constitutional policy and practice 'of subjecting hundreds of New Mexicans annually to prolonged periods of solitary confinement as a form of punishment for violating prison rules.' On Thursday, the First Judicial District Court in Santa Fe assigned the case to Judge Matthew Wilson. 'We don't comment on pending litigation,' Corrections Department Spokesperson Brittany Roembach told Source NM in a statement. The Corrections Department denies it uses solitary, with Roembach instead referring to it as 'restrictive housing.' 'To be clear, solitary confinement does not exist in the NMCD system,' she said. 'We utilize restrictive housing, like the Predatory Behavior Management Program (PBMP), to fix behaviors.' In response to Source's questions, Roembach shared a copy of the prison system's policy governing the program, which states that its purpose is to 'reduce predatory behavior' among incarcerated people. ACLU-NM Managing Attorney Lalita Moskowitz told Source NM in an interview it's a very common practice for prison officials to use euphemisms for solitary confinement. Prison reform advocates in New Mexico have said previously that the program is one example of the department putting a different label on solitary confinement. In the complaint, the incarcerated people allege that the program uses solitary as punishment and guards use arbitrary and inconsistent criteria to put people in it. Under the program, the men have 'spent months, and in many cases, years of their lives locked in tiny, barren cells for 23 hours per day or more as supposed punishment for violating prison rules,' the complaint states. If Judge Wilson finds that allegation to be true, that would be a violation of the state's 2019 Restricted Housing Act, which defines 'restrictive housing' as confinement of a person in a locked cell or similar living quarters for 22 or more hours each day without daily, meaningful and sustained human interaction. Lawmakers to consider more limits on solitary confinement in prisons and jails There are 147 people in the program at PNM, according to Roembach. ACLU-NM estimates that 400 people have been held in solitary over the last three years. The policy also requires that prison officials provide mental health and psychiatric treatment to people in the program, however, the complaint alleges, 'In reality, PBMP is a long-term solitary confinement unit that offers little in the way of programming or preparation.' Both Fusilier and Toney suffer from 'severe mental illness,' the complaint states, and Hudson was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder because of trauma from being in long-term solitary. Fusiler said in a statement that he's begged for help with his anger, anxiety and PTSD and prison officials have allegedly responded with isolation and rejection. 'This so-called program offered NOTHING it promised,' he said. 'This place doesn't provide growth or positive change for our lives, no matter how loud our cries for help are. It feels like the people running it don't care about the success of my life. Instead, they keep us pinned down and oppressed.' While in solitary, Toney alleges he is unable to privately or consistently speak with a mental health professional. Hudson 'fears being overmedicated' in solitary and can't access the care he needs because he has no privacy or ability to communicate with providers, the complaint states. Prison officials have also allegedly prohibited Toney from using technology, making phone calls or accessing the commissary, his property or recreation time, the complaint states. Hudson said in a statement long-term solitary 'turns anger into hate, eliminates coping mechanisms, leaving only survival tactics, and exacerbates existing mental health issues into debilitating anxiety and paranoia.' 'It teaches isolation rather than connection, leaving people ill-equipped for social environments whether in general population or upon release to society,' he said. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Taser contract for state prisons runs out of power
A 10-year, $2.1 million leasing contract to supply guards, probation and parole officers with state-of-the-art Tasers with body cameras went down in flames before the state Executive Council Wednesday. Correction officers are not allowed to carry firearms behind prison walls and officials say they deploy Tasers to quell any unrest and keep the peace. Tasers fire barbed darts attached to wires that conduct electricity. The darts are propelled by compressed nitrogen. The shock delivered by a Taser is designed to temporarily incapacitate a target by inducing neuromuscular incapacitation. Executive Councilor David Wheeler, R-Milford, led the opposition to selecting Axon Enterprise of Scottsdale, Arizona, to supply 195 Taser 10 technology, an upgrade from the Taser 7 that the Corrections Department has been using. The Executive Council turned down the contract on a 4-1 vote. Wheeler said by his estimate the lone acceptable bid equals $10,000 per unit. 'This is just too expensive,' Wheeler said. 'Our State Police buy their Tasers, they don't lease them, they use them a whole lot longer than five years. We shouldn't be in two-, five-year phases to get new Tasers. We should buy these Tasers and make sure they last for seven to 10 years.' Corrections Commissioner Helen Hanks said by agreeing to a 10-year lease the state is getting a discount worth $1 million and it allows the state to upgrade to a newer model in five years at no additional cost if one becomes available. 'The goal was to do the competitive plan and end up with not antiquated equipment,' Hanks said. Wheeler said Axon programs its Tasers to be matched up with body cameras to become a 'too expensive package deal.' Councilor: Told current Tasers work fine Executive Councilor John Stephen, R-Manchester, said probation and parole officers have told him the Tasers they have now work fine and aren't in need of replacement. 'I'm told this Taser 10 is absolutely not necessary,' Stephen said. Hanks said Concord Police Chief Bradley Osgood worked with the department and agreed that the upgrade made sense. "There is conflicting information," Hanks said. Prior to the vote, Hanks said if the Executive Council rejects the lease she would go back to pursuing a Taser purchasing contract like the one that came before the council and also failed to win enough support. About 115 of the new Tasers would have gone to probation and parole officers, investigators, and officers who transport prisoners. The remainder would have allowed the department to put two Tasers in every housing unit in both Concord prisons and in the Berlin prison. They'd replace the approximately 120 existing Tasers that Hanks had argued were out of date and in short enough supply they were not always readily available. Executive Councilor Karen Liot Hill, D-Lebanon, the only supporter of the lease deal, said the camera footage hookup provides important backup information. 'Would rejecting this contract and going out to bid result in a lower price?' Liot Hill asked Hanks. The commissioner said the result of another bid 'would be an unknown.' klandrigan@
