 Mounties are crediting an elderly woman who escaped after she was held hostage in her home for more than nine hours for helping them capture William Wade Bicknell - a 500-pound escaped killer. (HANDOUT)
|
EDMONTON - Mounties are crediting an elderly woman who escaped after she was held hostage in her home for more than nine hours for helping them capture a 500-pound escaped killer.
Police accuse William Wade Bicknell, 42, of holding the woman hostage in her home north of Sexsmith, Alta., several hours before he was eventually nabbed after an alleged gunfight with police.
Cpl. Carol McKinley, a spokeswoman with the Grande Prairie, Alta., RCMP, says Bicknell -- described by police as being armed and dangerous -- allegedly entered the home sometime around 7:30 a.m. Saturday.
The woman was able to escape from the home around 4 p.m. and quickly called police and her family for help, said McKinley.
"It's fortunate that she wasn't injured, but her information certainly benefited, not only us as police, but the public as a whole in returning this person back to custody," said McKinley
"Her actions led to the resolution we are at now."
Bicknell was captured by Grande Prairie RCMP Saturday night and airlifted early Sunday morning to an Edmonton hospital for injuries that police are being tight-lipped about.
"How and what injuries he sustained is currently under investigation," said McKinley.
It's believed Bicknel -- who overpowered a corrections officer in a government vehicle near Edmonton March 10 when he escaped -- was injured during a gunfight with Mounties when a police pursuit ended east of Sexsmith, Alta., a small town 20 km north of Grande Prairie.
And police say a five-year RCMP member of the Grande Prairie detachment was released from hospital after being treat for a "minor" gunshot wound.
The drama began to unfold when responding police officers spotted Bicknell leaving the elderly woman's home in a 2009 grey Chevrolet Impala he allegedly stole from the Chipman, Alta., area, about 76 km east of Edmonton, on March 10.
The chase ended when the Impala hit a ditch, say Mounties.
That's when, police say, Bicknell allegedly exited his vehicle and fired at police, disabling a patrol car.
Police fired back at Bicknell and that's when it's believed the 6-foot-6 fugitive was injured and he surrendered.
McKinley says more charges are pending against Bicknell, who is also accused of holding another senior hostage in a Strathcona County farm for 10 hours March 14, four days after his escape.
The Alberta Serious Incident Response team is investigating if there was any legal mistakes made by police when they fired at Bicknell.
Bicknell escaped from the corrections worker while he was on a day pass from the Drumheller Correctional Institution.
In October 2003, Bicknell was sentenced to life in prison after beating a woman to death with a baseball bat and dumping her body in B.C.
Bicknell's sister, Sandra Myshak, 47, was arrested in Edmonton on March 11 and faces seven criminal charges in relation to assisting her brother's escape from custody and aiding him with a firearm.
Police initially reported Bicknell weighed 402 pounds. They have since upgraded his weight to 500 pounds.
jeff.cummings@sunmedia.ca
