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U.S.|Ex-Police Chief and Convicted Killer Who Escaped Is Caught Near Arkansas Prison
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/06/us/devil-in-the-ozarks-captured-arkansas.html
Grant Hardin, who came to be known as the “Devil in the Ozarks,” was captured on Friday, nearly two weeks after his May 25 escape from a maximum-security prison.
June 6, 2025, 7:02 p.m. ET
A former Arkansas police chief and convicted murderer known as the “Devil in the Ozarks” was captured on Friday, less than two miles from a maximum-security prison from which he escaped on May 25, the authorities said.
The fugitive, Grant Hardin, was caught at about 3:45 p.m. not far from the Calico Rock North Central Unit, ending an intense manhunt that began nearly two weeks ago when he slipped out of the prison dressed in a fake law enforcement uniform.
Mr. Hardin, 56, who had previously served as the police chief in Gateway, Ark., disappeared about 15 to 20 minutes before an inmate count.
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Officials had described Mr. Hardin, who was serving a decades-long sentence for first-degree murder and rape, as extremely dangerous.
In 2017, he was arrested in connection with the shooting death of James Appleton just outside Gateway, where Mr. Appleton had worked in the water department.
Mr. Hardin was sentenced to 30 years in the murder of Mr. Appleton, who was shot in the head at point-blank range with a shotgun while pulled over in a pickup truck and talking on the phone.
Neil Vigdor covers breaking news for The Times, with a focus on politics.
