Family members of an Oklahoma couple allegedly slain by a trio of escaped Arizona inmates have filed a multi-million dollar lawsuit against the state, as well as the operator of the private prison near Kingman and a company that helped build the 7-year-old facility.
Cathy Byus, the daughter of Gary and Linda Haas, filed the lawsuit Thursday morning in Maricopa County Superior Court. The legal move came less than six months after the Haas' surviving family members filed a $40 million notice of claim against the state and Management & Training Corp., the Utah-based company that operated the private prison from which the inmates escaped.
Thursday's lawsuit expands the liability to Dominion Asset Services, because the family's attorneys claim the company improperly installed a faulty alarm system at the prison from which the inmates escaped.
"The purpose of this lawsuit is to get justice," said Jacob Diesselhorst, attorney for the family. "Not just for this family - the whole public is at risk."
The Haas' murders came in the midst of a nationwide manhunt for the escaped inmates and their accomplice that unfolded over three weeks in late summer 2010.
An Arizona Department of Corrections review of the facility following the escape found numerous deficiencies with training and equipment, including an alarm system that issued false alarms so frequently that staff members began to ignore them.
Authorities believe inmates Daniel Renwick, John McCluskey and Tracy Province escaped from the prison on July 30 after McCluskey's fiancée, Casslyn Welch, threw cutting tools over the prison's fence, allowing the inmates to snip through the chain link fence surrounding the facility. It was more than two hours before prison staff notified state corrections officials of the escape.
By then, Renwick was making his way north to Colorado, while McCluskey, Province and Welch were on their way to hijacking a truck near Kingman and forcing the drivers to take them to Flagstaff.
Renwick was captured two days after the escape following an exchange of gunfire with police in Colorado.
After receiving help from relatives in Arizona, McCluskey, Province and Welch made their way east, ending up at a rest stop in New Mexico where, according to statements Province gave investigators, they came across Gary and Linda Haas, an Oklahoma couple taking their annual camping trip.
After days on the road in a cramped sedan, the fugitives decided to target travelers with a camping trailer, and the Haases fit the bill.
Province told investigators that he and McCluskey forced the couple into their truck at gunpoint while Welch followed. They all ended up in a remote area near Santa Rosa, where McCluskey shot the Haases in their trailer, according to court documents.
The fugitives set fire to the trailer in an effort to hide the evidence. A rancher discovered the burned trailer Aug. 4, 2010.
The trio continued to evade authorities for days after the bodies were discovered.
Province was arrested in Wyoming on Aug. 9, 2010. He was carrying a backpack and a 9mm gun, both of which he said were taken from the Haases.
McCluskey and Welch were arrested in Apache County on Aug. 19, 2010.
The three face federal murder and carjacking charges in New Mexico in connection with the shooting deaths the Haases. McCluskey and Welch also face trial in Mohave County.
Province was serving a life sentence at the time of the escape and had an additional 38 years tacked on to his stay for a string of Arizona charges related to his escape. Renwick remains in jail in Colorado
Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2011/03/17/20110317arizona-escaped-inmates-lawsuit0317-ON.html#ixzz1GxrtXNsh