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Escaped fugitive convicted of NM murder dies in Colorado prison

Posted at 12:09 PM, Mar 10, 2017
and last updated 2017-03-10 14:10:37-05

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — An inmate convicted of killing two people in New Mexico while on the run after escaping from an Arizona prison has died at a maximum-security federal prison outside Florence, Colorado.

The Albuquerque Journal reports that 52-year-old John McCluskey died Tuesday. The Federal Bureau of Prisons website confirmed the death.

In July 2010 McCluskey escaped from a state prison in Kingman, Arizona, along with two other inmates. Days later he carjacked Gary and Linda Haas, of Oklahoma, from a rest stop along Interstate 40 just inside the New Mexico line. McCluskey shot and killed the couple near Tucumcari, New Mexico.

McCluskey was arrested in Arizona on Aug. 19, 2010, after a highly publicized nationwide manhunt.

In 2013, a federal jury in Albuquerque convicted McCluskey of murder. He was sentenced to life in prison.

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This story has been clarified to reflect that the killings occurred in New Mexico.

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Information from: Albuquerque Journal, http://www.abqjournal.com

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