Welch escapes on way to Waukesha
By Mike Johnson of the Journal Sentinel
Posted: Jan. 13, 2010
A man being transported to Waukesha to face a murder-for-hire charge in the slaying of an Oconomowoc woman made a brazen escape in Arkansas early Wednesday, and a manhunt is under way for him.
Justin P. Welch, 26, stabbed a guard, took his weapon and fired at a second guard at a rest area on I-40 in Van Buren, Ark., about 2:30 a.m. Wednesday, Van Buren police said.
Welch then commandeered the prisoner transport van and fled east on the interstate, Oconomowoc Police Chief Dave Beguhn said Wednesday.
The North Atlantic Extradition Service transport van had stopped at the rest area, near Fort Smith, Ark., just east of the Oklahoma border, to allow prisoners to use restroom facilities, Beguhn said. North Atlantic is a private company based in Mississippi that transports prisoners.
Welch was one of five prisoners who had been taken into the restroom facilities by a transport guard, the Van Buren Police Department said in a news release.
Inside the rest stop building, Welch used a screwdriver-like tool to stab the guard in the right hand and got his gun, Van Buren police said. Police do not know where Welch got the tool and haven't recovered it.
According to the Van Buren Police Department:
Welch also accosted a truck driver who was in the restroom. Welch robbed the truck driver of his jacket and cell phone and handcuffed the driver to the other prisoners.
Welch handcuffed and shackled the injured guard in the restroom as well and ordered everyone to stay in the restroom.
At that point, Welch left the restroom and got in the driver's side of the transport van. When the second guard realized Welch was one of the prisoners, he struggled with Welch but ran from the van when he realized Welch had his partner's Glock .40-caliber pistol. The second guard was not armed.
As the second guard was fleeing, Welch fired a number of shots at him.
The injured guard was taken to a hospital, Van Buren police said.
Authorities are warning people that Welch is armed and extremely dangerous.
At one point, authorities thought Welch was near Little Rock, about 130 miles southeast of Van Buren. That was based on a cell phone tower picking up a signal from a cell phone Welch is believed to have with him, Little Rock police said.
But Little Rock Police Lt. Terry Hastings said authorities do not believe Welch remained in the Little Rock area. He has no ties to the area, Hastings said.
I-40 goes through North Little Rock. It's possible that Welch is trying to flee to Mexico, authorities speculated. The white Dodge van has Mississippi license plates and "North Atlantic Extradition" on its side.
Welch was being transported from the San Diego, Calif., County Jail, where he was held after his Nov. 18 arrest in connection with the stabbing death of Kimberly Smith on Oct. 1 in her Oconomowoc home.
Welch, who was arrested in Mexico as he attempted to cross the border into the United States, had been in the San Diego Jail awaiting extradition and was released on Sunday to be taken to Wisconsin.
'Very dangerous individual'
"Welch is a very dangerous individual. We knew that. We warned the extradition authorities of that. Unfortunately, our concerns were borne out," Waukesha County District Attorney Brad Schimel said.
Beguhn said he was disappointed over the escape. "We wanted Justin Welch to face charges," he said.
"Obviously, Justin has shown to be a very dangerous subject. He must have been planning the escape along the route," Beguhn said.
Welch apparently believed he has nothing to lose, Beguhn said.
If convicted of killing Smith, Welch faces life in prison.
Welch is charged with first-degree intentional homicide.
According to the criminal complaint, Welch, Darren M. Wold, 41, of Lubbock, Texas, and Jack E. Johnson, 65, of Mexico and formerly of Waukesha, conspired to kill Smith, who was in a bitter custody dispute with Wold over their 4-year-old son.
2 others charged in plot
Wold and Johnson are charged with first-degree intentional homicide, party to a crime.
Smith's body was found Oct. 1 in the living room of her home, according to criminal complaints filed against the three men. Her hands were bound with ribbon, and she had been stabbed eight times, court records state.
Her son was in the house at the time of the slaying but did not witness it, police have said.
The complaint against Wold alleges that he funneled at least $900 through Johnson, a longtime friend, to pay for Welch to fly to Milwaukee in late September under an alias to kill Smith.
The plot followed increasingly vocal complaints by Wold to co-workers about his ongoing contested child custody issues with Smith, at one point telling a co-worker "I wish I could find someone to hire to kill my ex," the complaint says.
Police found a knife and a pair of medical-style gloves in a storm drain near Smith's home. The knife, missing from a set of cutlery in Smith's home, and gloves were used in the slaying, authorities say. DNA evidence found inside the gloves and a fingerprint connected the gloves to Welch, of California.
Welch has a criminal history that includes robbery, auto theft and battery, and he was being sought by California authorities on a probation violation at the time he was identified as a suspect in the Smith homicide.
North Atlantic Extradition declined to comment about the escape.
The company also was used to transport Johnson, who also was arrested at the U.S.-Mexico border, from the San Diego County jail to Waukesha.
Wold was brought to Wisconsin from Texas by Waukesha County sheriff's deputies, who were in Texas conducting their investigation into Smith's death, Schimel said.
Schimel said ground transportation was used because it is cost-effective. He said he also was not comfortable about having Welch on an airplane.
Ground transportation is used in an effort to minimize the opportunity for a prisoner to endanger the public, Schimel said.
Van Buren police said the four prisoners being transported with Welch were taken from the rest area to the Crawford County Detention Center.
Bill Sadler, Arkansas State Police public information officer, said a statewide search was being conducted for Welch and that every county would be checked.
Van Buren police said a warrant for Welch's arrest has been issued in Arkansas on charges of attempted capital murder; first-degree escape; aggravated robbery, theft; second-degree battery; and kidnapping.
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