Villagers recall capture of escapees

The capture of the last escaped convict on Thursday has brought tranquility to residents of a county in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province.

Gao Yulun, Wang Damin and Li Haiwei were not thinking about recapture when they killed a guard, stole police uniforms and escaped from a detention center last week.

Li Haiwei, 29, was the first out of the detention center gate and also the first to be seized. Li was awaiting sentencing for homicide when the jailbreak stunned the country.

Zhang from Yushan Village remembers a person in red raincoat and with only one shoe who caught the attention of villagers, one day after the escape.

"We recognize him as Li Haiwei. He looked very pale and tired," Zhang said. The villagers called the police, and helped them capture Li.

On the same night, police were informed about a man knocking on a villager's window, claiming to be an escaped inmate and asking for food.

More than 600 policemen were mustered immediately and early in the morning of Sept. 4, Wang Damin was found in an empty house. Wang, 35, was awaiting sentencing for assault when he escaped.

Wang sprained his ankle when hiding from a search helicopter. A villager recounted, "he kept repeating 'I'm hungry. Give me food and water'."

Compared with his "friends", Gao Yulun was lucky. He was the last to be caught, but, unluckily, by his relative.

Gao fled to the home of a relative in Hefu Village, Yanshou County on Thursday afternoon. The relative gave him food to settle him down and immediately called the village chief. They tied the fugitive up before the police came and took him back to jail.

"Emaciated and tanned Gao was wearing a pair of jeans without belt," villager Zhang Zhiguo told Xinhua. Gao told police that he had eaten nothing but corn and couldn't take it anymore. 50-year-old Gao was already sentenced to death for homicide and was awaiting a sentence review when he fled.

The police had promised a cash reward of up to 150,000 yuan (about 24,000 U.S. dollars) for information leading to the capture of the three fugitives.

"We were worried every day before Gao was captured. We even blocked our door with bricks. Now nothing is to be feared," said Jin Renquan, a villager in Yanshou County.