Murderer Recaptured Hours After Escape

A double-murderer who may have faked a heart attack escaped from a hospital Tuesday morning but was recaptured within hours, police and prison officials said.

Kenneth R. Petersen, 54, apparently took advantage of a lapse in attention by a guard from the Washington State Reformatory to make his short-lived getaway, prison guard Capt. Jimmie Evans said.

Prison officials were reviewing the case before deciding whether to take disciplinary action against the guard, Evans said.

Petersen, who wore only pajamas and shoes when he fled on foot from Valley Hospital, later wrapped himself in trash bags to try to keep warm and was walking a bicycle at the time of his arrest, police Cmdr. William Abell said.

He was taken to the top-security segregation unit at the prison, said prison guard Capt. Jimmie Evans.

Petersen was convicted of killing Stewart Shearer, 30, and his wife Shelly Shearer, 23, of Lakewood, a Tacoma suburb, on Oct. 10, 1985. The couple’s 2-1/2-year-old son was found crying on his mother’s body at a cemetery.

Doctors believe Petersen, who has a heart condition and takes medicine for high blood pressure, may have faked a health problem to get himself taken to the hospital Sunday, Evans said. Petersen could have produced the signs of a stroke or heart attack by holding his breath repeatedly for 10 minutes or by failing to take his medication, Evans explained.

Additional medical tests to determine whether the inmate had a stroke or heart attack were pending at the time of his escape.

When Petersen asked to take a shower about 3 a.m. Tuesday, a guard removed his leg irons, then turned to make a log entry, Evans said.

When the guard turned around, Petersen was gone.

“We believe he walked out of the hospital,” Evans said. “Clearly the restraints should never have been removed.”

There were no indications Petersen had any assistance, the guard captain added. Abell said a number of people in town saw Petersen.