Pubdate: Thu, 17 Nov 2005 Source: Des Moines Register (IA) http://www.dmregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051117/NEWS01/51117003/1001/NEWS Copyright: 2005 The Des Moines Register. Contact: http://desmoinesregister.com/index.html Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/123 Author: Kevin Dobbs, Register Staff Writer Bookmark: Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/prison.htm (Incarceration) ONE IOWA PRISON ESCAPEE IS CAPTURED IN SOUTHERN ILLINOIS Police in southern Illinois today captured convicted murderer Martin Shane Moon, who escaped along with another inmate from the Iowa State Penitentiary at Fort Madison on Monday. A Chester, Ill., city police officer found Moon, 34, sleeping alone in a car at 3 a.m. in rural Randolph County. When the officer knocked on the car window, Moon started the car and tried to back up. He drove straight into a ditch and then fled on foot into a wooded area, police said. The officer called for back-up, and about 20 minutes later, a police dog found Moon hiding in a tree. Moon was unarmed and "easily apprehended," Chester Police Chief Don McKinney said. "The dog hit the scent and tracked him right down." Moon was being held in the Randolph County jail until Iowa authorities pick him up later today. He waived extradition. Randolph County is about 60 miles south of St. Louis, Mo., along the Mississippi River. It was not clear why Moon was in that area, but he was found parked near a maximum security prison. "I don't think he knew where he was. It was probably a coincidence - probably," said sheriff's Det. Shannon Wolff, who interviewed Moon. "We don't know for sure how he got that far." Eugene Meyer, director of the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, called it "an interesting place to stop and take a nap." McKinney said that in interviews Moon indicated he was heading to New Orleans 'to blend into all the turmoil down there." It's "so messed up down there, he just figured he mix right in," McKinney added. Moon, who was serving a life sentence, escaped the prison with 27-year-old Robert Joseph Legendre, who was serving life for attempted murder and kidnapping in the state of Nevada. Wolff said he had no new information on Legendre, and the search for him continues. Law enforcement officials in Iowa, Missouri and Illinois have all joined the manhunt. The last major escape at Fort Madison occurred in March 1979, when five inmates hid in a large garbage-filled container behind the prison dining hall. They were subsequently dumped into a garbage truck an transported to a landfill, where four of them were quickly captured. The fifth inmate was apprehended in Oelwein after 32 hours on the loose. Moon was found in a dark blue 1989 Ford Crown Victoria that police believe was stolen, McKinney said. Officials are still searching for a 1995 gold Pontiac Bonneville with Iowa plates 776 NOW. Shortly after the escape Monday night, that car was stolen in Fort Madison, and authorities said that one or both fugitives might have taken the vehicle. Iowa authorities said the two men used an improvised rope and a grappling hook to scale a limestone prison wall. They apparently were not spotted because a nearby guard tower was unmanned due to state budget cuts, according to the Iowa Department of Corrections. They escaped over the west wall of the prison, which is about one block from U.S. Highway 61 and about two blocks from a bridge over the Mississippi River crossing into Illinois. A guard tower in the middle of the west wall is staffed 24 hours a day, but the two inmates climbed the wall in the southwest corner, where a guard tower is staffed only until 3 p.m. daily. Gov. Tom Vilsack said today that other factors contributed. He said an investigation was launched to determined who is responsible for the security lapse. "There were a series of mistakes that were made inside that prison relative to keeping appropriate headcounts, monitoring circumstances and situations involving prison industries," Vilsack said. "There was no single reason why this escape was successful." Vilsack said an internal review would lead to improvements and prevent future escapes. "I would anticipate that you will see additional training, a series of additional steps that should have been taken that were not taken," he said. But asked whether the prison was adequately staffed or had been appropriated enough money, as some critics in the Iowa Legislature have asserted, Vilsack said it's too early to blame anyone. "Fingerpointing doesn't advance this process," he said. However, he promised "to hold the individual or individuals responsible for this breach accountable". Moon was imprisoned in July 2000 and was convicted of first-degree murder for the death of Kevin Dickson in Clarke County. Legendre was convicted in Nevada and was transferred to Iowa in December 2004. Register staff writers Tom Beaumont and William Petroski contributed to this report.