Photo: Arkansas Department of Correction
A convicted child rapist who escaped from an Arkansas prison last year was captured in West Virginia. Samuel Paul Hartman, 39, was sentenced to life in prison in 2013 and was serving his time at the East Arkansas Regional Unit in Brickeys.
Last August, Hartman was on work detail at a field near the prison when a pickup truck approached the group of prisoners.
Several gunshots were fired from the vehicle as Hartman rushed toward the truck. He got in and was driven to a pair of jet skis that were staged in the Mississippi River. By the time the police found the abandoned jet skis, Hartman and his two accomplices were gone.
A year-long investigation led the U.S. Marshalls Service to a hotel in West Virginia, where they located Hartman, his wife, 39-year-old Misty Hartman, his mother, Linda Annette White, 61, and her boyfriend Rodney Trent, 52. They were all taken into custody.
Officials said that Hartman's wife and mother helped him escape from prison.
"Today's capture was the result of deliberate and determined law enforcement work," Joe Profiri, Secretary of the Arkansas Department of Corrections, said. "The United States Marshals Service, Arkansas State Police, and the Arkansas Department of Corrections have kept this case on the forefront and followed hundreds of leads over the course of the last year. We appreciate the support and assistance from all agencies involved, the Arkansas Governor's office, and the State of West Virginia in bringing this case to a successful conclusion."