Authorities say a man convicted of murder who escaped a New Brunswick prison is back in custody.
RCMP in New Brunswick released a statement late Thursday saying Steven Bugden, 45, was arrested on Feb. 8 in between Dorchester and Sackville. He had escaped Dorchester Penitentiary sometime on Wednesday evening.
Bugden was not present when inmates were counted at the multi-level facility at about 10 p.m. Wednesday night, according to Sackville RCMP.
Before his arrest, Bugden was last seen at 4 p.m. Wednesday in the minimum security condo where he lived with four other inmates. Bugden’s Wednesday escape was described as a “walk out,” according to penitentiary management, who said there aren’t any walls between the condos for low-risk offenders and the outside world.
Officials at the facility say Bugden had been deemed a low risk to public safety, as he hadn’t had a single incident until the escape.
Police spent much of Thursday combing the area around the facility with dogs. They also reached out to his family and to anyone who he might have hitched a ride with out of the area.
“Because there's been some time elapsed, we're more focused (on) talking to people, trying to locate people who might know him and might have been in contact with him,” Sgt. Paul Gagne of Southeast District RCMP, told reporters before the arrest.
Bugden was sentenced to life in prison for the second-degree murder of 22-year-old Angela Tong in Ottawa in 1997. Bugden pleaded guilty to stabbing Tong 19 times at an Ottawa hotel and hiding her body in a duffle bag.
Those close to Tong wonder how a man convicted of murder could ever be allowed to live in minimum security.
“This is somebody who found it in his heart to stab a really beautiful, gentle person 19 times, and I find it hard to believe he could ever be considered not a threat to the public,” Kristine Kruszelnicki, a friend of Tong’s, told CTV Ottawa.
In a Facebook group dedicated to memories of Tong, friends warned each other to keep an eye out if Bugden tried to make his way back to the Ottawa-area.
Residents of the Dorchester community were also shocked to hear of Bugden’s escape, and said they only found out through the news on Thursday.
“He's been gone all night and then half of the day today. I mean, people could be out walking, kids are out playing, and we know nothing, absolutely nothing about this,” Teena Adams, a Dorchester resident, told CTV Atlantic.
Fellow Dorchester resident Deborah Jollimore wants local town council to set up a system for correctional officers to alert the public of prison escapees.
“They should have told us so that we could be prepared or made better choices as to whether or not we let our kids out to play today,” Jollimore said.
Documents from Bugden’s latest parole hearing in April 2009 show his request for day parole and temporary unescorted absences was ultimately denied after the board questioned his credibility and risk of re-offending. The same report also notes, however, that Bugden would be a good candidate for a minimum security facility.
With a report from CTV Atlantic’s Cami Kepke and with files from The Canadian Press
