EDMONTON — A convicted murderer was on the loose in Alberta after he made his escape by taking a guard hostage during an escorted temporary absence.
RCMP consider William Wade Bicknell, 42, armed and dangerous. Originally from Peace River, Alta., he has been serving a life sentence since 2003 for second-degree murder at Drumheller Institution, a medium- and minimum-security prison northeast of Calgary.
Corrections Canada would not say why the 6-foot-6, 402-pound Bicknell was in Edmonton, but did say that temporary absences are typically granted for medical appointments, family visits or community service.
RCMP Sgt. Tim Taniguchi said Friday the escape happened while Bicknell was being taken back to prison.
“The prisoner overtook the lone Correction Services employee that was with him, gained control of the vehicle and made his way back to Edmonton with the Correctional Services employee as a hostage,” Taniguchi said.
He managed to pick up several guns and some ammunition along the way, although Taniguchi would not say how.
The two then drove to a rural home in the Chipman area northeast of the city. Police believe Bicknell knew the owner of the home and forced his way in. He took the keys to a car, a 2009 grey Chevy Impala, and fled. He left the guard and the homeowner behind.
Before he left, he disabled the phones and warned the two not to call police.
As of Friday afternoon, RCMP said they didn’t know where Bicknell was and were asking anyone with information to call them. They said he has brown hair, hazel eyes and a fair complexion. Both Bicknell’s arms are heavily tattooed. He has a unicorn on his shoulder and a heart on his chest.
Bicknell was convicted in 2003 in the beating death of Angela Steer, who was from Maple Ridge, B.C.
The 37-year-old woman’s body was found dumped over an embankment in Mission, B.C., in April 2001.
News reports from his trial say Bicknell and Steer got into an argument over a bank machine scam in which Bicknell deposited empty envelopes and then tried to withdraw cash.
The argument happened in Steer’s Maple Ridge apartment. Steer reportedly hit Bicknell with a bat and Bicknell struck back with a bat of his own, killing Steer.
Part of the evidence presented at Bicknell’s trial was gleaned from a so-called Mr. Big operation, a controversial practice where police pose as members of a criminal gang, worm their way into the lives of suspects and attempt to get them to confess to their crimes.
At trial, Bicknell argued he had acted in self-defence because Steer, who was 5-foot-4 and 130 pounds, struck him first. The judge, however, didn’t buy it, convicting the much larger Bicknell of second-degree murder and handing him the mandatory life sentence with no chance of parole for 10 years.
The parole board says Bicknell was eligible to apply for both unescorted temporary absences and day parole as of last July, but there are no decisions in his file. He’s eligible for full parole in 2013.