MOUNT LAUREL, N.J. (AP) -- His escape triggered a 48-hour dragnet, with authorities even wondering if he was heading to Canada.
But in the end, admitted killer William Enman ended up right back where he started -- bruised, tired and soaked by rain as he trudged his way back toward the Ancora Psychiatric Hospital over the facility's 657-acre grounds in southern New Jersey.
Unarmed, clad in camouflage clothing and toting a backpack, Enman had apparently made his way back inside a perimeter fence and was walking through a wooded area when he was arrested without a fight at about 3 p.m. Tuesday by a state police detective and two Human Services police officers.
"He was walking toward the facility to turn himself in,'' said Ellen Lovejoy, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Human Services, which runs the facility.
Two hospital employees spotted the 64-year-old Enman and called police, Lovejoy said.
The arrest ended a frantic search that started after Enman walked away from the hospital on Sunday.
"He banged his head after scaling a fence the first night and remained in the area ever since,'' said state police spokesman Steve Jones.
His backpack contained clothing, a toothbrush, toothpaste, soap and bandages -- none of the camping or survivalist gear that some authorities believed he was carrying, officials said.
Lovejoy said the articles Enman was carrying were things he could have collected at the hospital, including the camouflage clothing, since the hospital has no dress code.
Enman was taken to get a medical exam. He had yet to provide authorities with a reason for his escape or his decision to return, Lovejoy said.
Lovejoy said as long as he remained at the hospital, he would not be allowed out of his room and a staff member would always watch him. He will be transferred to the more secure Anne Klein Forensic Center in Trenton.
In the 1970s, Enman was found not guilty by reason of insanity in the deaths of his roommate and the man's 4-year-old son in northern New Jersey's Morris County. He admitted beating them with a baseball bat.
He has been involuntarily committed to state hospitals ever since, including Ancora since 1992. He has frequently asked judges to release him and was scheduled for another such hearing Thursday.
On Sunday, he escaped while on a routine, unsupervised walk that was supposed to last less than an hour. The facility is not secured like a prison; its perimeter is enclosed by an 8-foot-high fence, with several open, unguarded gates.
His latest escape struck fear in the neighborhoods near the hospital and set off a frantic 48-hour dragnet. Authorities even looked into whether Enman had made his way to Nova Scotia, Canada, where he is believed to own property. It also raised questions about security at psychiatric hospitals in New Jersey.
Enman has been something of a poster child for permissive rules regarding the criminally insane in state mental institutions. State Sen. Richard J. Codey spoke about Enman and his escapes at a 1995 hearing.
Enman has walked away from hospitals in the past, and has been caught with a crossbow smuggled back into his room.
A judge once reprimanded him for getting married and fathering a child when he was allowed to visit people outside the hospital, a privilege that was later revoked. It was unclear why he lost the privilege however.
Enman now faces criminal charges of escape, Lovejoy said. If he's found mentally competent and is convicted, it is possible he could end up in a state prison.
More New Jersey news...
E-Mail Story
Print Story
