Convicted killer back in custody

(Aug 10 2004) - Susan Reid says she might rest a little easier now that her mother's murderer is back in custody.

On the loose since Saturday morning after escaping the Hardeman County Correctional Facility, Tracy Lynn Harris was caught without incident late Sunday night at the Bolivar landfill. Harris was convicted four years ago in the 1998 murder and rape of Madelyn Ruth Bomar of McKenzie.

''We're relieved, but it's so unnerving and upsetting to know this could have happened,'' Reid said Monday evening. ''It feels like the family has been dragged through another ordeal.''

Harris, 26, will now serve his life sentence without the possibility of parole at the Riverbend Maximum Security Complex in Nashville. His capture came about 39 hours after he escaped from the prison in Whiteville when guards found a hole cut through a chain-link fence, assistant warden Joe Patterson said.

An investigation into the escape is ongoing, the assistant warden said, but authorities believe Harris acted alone. The landfill is about eight miles west of the prison.

Patterson said Harris managed to escape with a pair of wire cutters he obtained in the prison's vocational building, where Harris had been a teacher's aide. Harris made a wood replica of wire cutters and smuggled the real pair into a recreational area from which he made his escape, the assistant warden said.

''The whole facility, everybody put in 16 to 18 hours a day,'' Patterson said. ''They're pretty exhausted. We're just grateful that they did everything they possibly could for a good ending.''

Harris was treated for cuts and bruises, then transported to Riverbend on Monday, Patterson said. Harris was serving his life sentence at the Hardeman County facility, a medium-security prison. But he must show good behavior for two years before he can return to a medium-security prison.

''He won't be back here,'' Patterson said.

Harris' getaway marked the second escape since 1997 at the Whiteville prison, which is operated by Corrections Corporation of America.

Nearly 70 law enforcement officials from nine agencies combed through heavily wooded areas about 15 miles around the prison through the weekend. A TBI airplane equipped with a spotlight noticed movement in the landfill and led to the capture of Harris at about 10:30 p.m. Sunday, Patterson said.

Reid was notified late Sunday night of the capture.

''It was nerve-wracking, and it brought back a lot of memories of her death, opened the wounds so to speak,'' Reid said. ''I hope they put him where he really needs to be.''

- Kary Booher, (731) 425-9680

''We're relieved, but it's so unnerving and upsetting to know this could have happened.'' It feels like the family has been dragged through another ordeal.''

Susan Reid,daughter of murder victim

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