Gocul
Glenroy Sinclair, Staff Reporter
THREE CORRECTIONAL officers are being questioned in connection with the disappearance of a convicted murderer who escaped from the Spanish Town Hospital, early yesterday morning.
"Based on information that is available to us, we are in the process of sending off the correctional officers on leave, with immediate effect," Commissioner of Corrections, Major Richard Reese, told The Gleaner yesterday.
The escapee has been identified as Mark Gocul, a resident of Walkers Avenue in Gregory Park, St. Catherine.
He was convicted on January 1, 2003 for non-capital murder, and was sentenced to life imprisonment. He was not eligible for parole before serving 25 years of his sentence.
Gocul, also called 'Indian Ras', was admitted to the St. Catherine penal facility on January 17, 2003. He appealed the sentence on January 21, 2003, but lost the appeal on June 28, 2004.
According to the police, the inmate took ill on Thursday evening and was taken to the nearby Spanish Town Hospital, accompanied by three warders; two males and a female.
He was last seen about midnight Thursday, but a statement given by one of the three correctional officers suggests that at the time when the inmate escaped, he was not handcuffed.
There are also allegations that at least one of the correctional officers was asleep at the time of the incident.
Gocul apparently asked to use the bathroom and was escorted by one warder whom he kicked to the floor before escaping through a nearby window.
Police records reveal that since January, at least eight persons have escaped - six from police custody and two from the penal facilities.
