http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/08/09/inm...cnn_topstories
Police: Inmate's wife kills guard, frees husband
Tuesday, August 9, 2005; Posted: 2:37 p.m. EDT (18:37 GMT)
(CNN) -- Tennessee authorities searched Tuesday for an escaped prisoner and his wife, who they say sprang him by opening fire on the guards who were escorting him from a courthouse in Kingston.
One guard was shot and died from his wounds.
"There is a manhunt on for two individuals," and one or both of them may be wounded, said Kingston Police Chief Jim Washam.
The incident began about 10 a.m. as guards escorted George C. Hyatte, 34, from the courthouse, where he had just been at a court proceeding, Washam said. His wife, Jennifer Hyatte, also attended the hearing.
The Morgan County Regional Corrections officers were preparing to put Hyatte into a waiting van when "a dark-colored SUV appeared behind the van," Washam said. "Mr. Hyatte hollered, 'Shoot 'em!'
"She opened fire on the officers, hitting one in the abdomen."
The other officer fired one shot but the SUV sped off, stopping to pick up Hyatte, who had run to another part of the parking lot, a witness said.
Guard Wayne Morgan was taken by helicopter to the University of Tennessee Medical Center, where he died at 11:10 a.m., said a hospital spokeswoman.
About a quarter mile from the courthouse, police found the abandoned blue Explorer, with blood on the driver's side, Washam said.
The two "apparently then got in another vehicle," he said. Police were searching for a Chevrolet van that witnesses said had been parked overnight near where the SUV was found.
"At this time, we're looking for them statewide," he said.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation described the vehicle as a gold, late-model Chevrolet Venture van with black trim and said the couple may be en route to Hendersonville, Tennessee, where George Hyatte used to live. Hendersonville is 120 miles from Kingston.
Kingston police were being helped by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, the FBI, a Knox County SWAT team and the Oak Ridge Police Department.
"We'll bring these people to justice just as soon as we can," Washam said.
He described the escapee as a 5-foot, 5-inch, 140-pound African-American with black hair, brown eyes and tattoos on his upper body.
Hyatte's wife, Jennifer Lyn Hyatte, 31, was described as white, 5 feet 4 and 142 pounds, with red hair and hazel eyes.
Hyatte escaped once before from Kingston police, after a robbery "a few years ago," Washam said.
He was taken into custody the next day, said the chief, who added that he did not know whether Hyatte had been shackled Tuesday.
George Hyatte has been convicted of aggravated assault, aggravated burglary and burglary in the third degree, felonies dating back to 1989. He was sentenced in 1998 to 36 months for the prior escape.
He began serving his latest sentence at the end of 2002 and was to have been released in July 2036.
Craig Gray told CNN affiliate WBIR-TV that he was leaving the courthouse with his 5-year-old daughter when he saw a prisoner being loaded into a van in the courthouse parking lot.
At that point, a Ford Explorer drove up, with a woman at the wheel, he said.
"The Explorer pulled up, slung the door open and started firing," Gray said. "The other officer jumped in the van and come out the passenger side door and returned fire. She took off."
The SUV drove to a distant end of the lot, where the prisoner ran to meet her. "She picked him up over there and they took off," Gray said.
"This hasn't happened before," said Scott Stout, public information officer for Roane County Emergency Management Agency, about Kingston, a town of about 6,000 residents 32 miles west of Knoxville.
The courthouse was locked down briefly, then reopened. Area schools remained locked down.