Police and hospital staff in Australia are coming off a bit like the Keystone Kops after botching the capture of escaped mental patient Trent Jennings, who murdered a man during a sexual encounter eight years ago.
Jennings, 26, had been remanded to Morisset Hospital after stabbing Giuseppe Vitale in the neck after binding him at the hands and feet in 2003. (Jennings was found not guilty because the court determined he was in a drug-induced psychosis at the time.)
But, the Sydney Morning Herald reports, Jenning had recently been granted day-leave rights from the hospital. On Thursday, he met a man online and went to his house, where Jennings proceeded to tie him up and stole his black Mercedes.
When Jennings returned to the hospital after curfew, he claimed the trains were running late—a story the staff believed.
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
Jennings went out again in the stolen car on Friday and, this time, he was pulled over by police. But though his license and registration were checked, he was just issued a fine and sent on his way.
He never returned to the hospital.
After a nationwide manhunt, the former waiter was found early this morning by police in New South Wales. He was asleep in the car.
