The prison where former Kansas State Police Chief was imprisoned for murder escaped prison
Grant Hardin, a former Arkansas gateway, fled from the North Central troops in Calico Rock on May 25th.
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The former Arkansas Police Chief, who escaped a prison disguised as a security guard, made it about a mile from the facility in the 12 days before he was captured, officials said.
Convicted murderer and rapist Grant Hardin was found at around 3pm on June 6 at the North Central Unit State Jail near Moccasin Creek in Izzard County, Arkansas Department of Corrections spokesman Champion. In the photo of his arrest, Hardin is seen sitting on the ground in a vegetation area with his hands behind his back in a baseball cap, dirty T-shirt and pants.
Hardin, 56, was in a prison where he was sentenced to decades for the murder of James Appleton, a Water Department employee in Gateway, Arkansas, and James Appleton, a 2017 school teacher rape, and a school teacher in nearby Rogers. He is known as “The Devil of the Ozark,” the name of a 2023 television documentary about his crimes.
For his escape on May 25, he could wear makeshift outfits and disguise himself as a corrections officer, stomping to open the gates, and leave the moderate security facility, court records said. He will now be housed in a high-security Varner unit in Gould, Arkansas, Champion said.
Here’s what we know about the capture and escape of Hardin:
How did Hardin get caught and end the 12-day Manhunt?
Authorities said the chase dog could pick up Hardin’s scent and lead him to Hardin. Hundreds of law enforcement officials at local, state and federal levels can be hampered by bad weather using dogs, drones and aircraft.
Moccasin Creek, where he was discovered, has seen high waters in the past two weeks due to heavy rain. It also prevented authorities from finding him faster. The champion said the search team had looked into the area before but was unable to fully investigate due to the high waters.
Hardin was previously thought to have left the state, but the champion said investigators now believe he was never too far from prison. He was fingerprinted and rated on the North Central Unit before moving to the Verner Unit, Champion said. He will be interviewed in the next few days.
How did he run away?
Hardin fled the prison on the afternoon of May 25th wearing “make-up outfits designed to mimic law enforcement.”
“Prisoner Hardin impersonated an attire officer as a corrections officer in his attire and method. Correctional officers operate a safe gate to open the gate, allowing prisoner Hardin to leave the North Central Unit,” wrote Dennis Simons, a special agent with the Izzard County Sheriff’s Office, in an arrest affidavit.
Photos in the surveillance footage showed Hardin dressing and pushing a loaded cart when he escaped. The champion said Hardin was gone for about 20 minutes when he realized he was missing.
His escape came amid weeks of search for prisoners who fled in Louisiana. On May 16th, 10 inmates broke out from a New Orleans prison. As of June 7th, the two are still running.
Who is Grant Hardin?
Hardin pleaded guilty to Appleton’s murder on February 23, 2017. Andrew Tillman, Appleton’s brother-in-law and then-Gateway mayor, told police he was on the phone with Appleton while Appleton was driving the truck.
Tillman told investigators. Tillman heard what sounded like the car door was closing, but nothing was there. Witnesses also told police that they saw someone pulled behind a truck in the car and heard a gunshot and identified the driver as Hardin. Appleton was found dead in his truck with gunshots on the sides of his head and face.
After his conviction, his DNA coincided with it in 1997 from an unsolved rape case. Court records show that she was attacked at school by a man who was holding the muzzle. Hardin pleaded guilty to accusations related to rape.
Hardin’s integrated conviction was added to the prison sentence up to 80 years.
Hardin was Gateway’s police chief for about four months in 2016, according to the Associated Press. He was also fired from his role at other police stations, local outlets report.