THREE HILLS, Alta. – A convicted murderer doing time in a medium-security prison faces numerous charges that include kidnapping and assault after a guard escorting him on a day pass was choked and tied up.
Donald Fowler, 32, was sitting quietly at the wheel of a stolen van when he was arrested Tuesday near Olds in central Alberta.
The corrections officer was treated in hospital for minor injuries and bruises, but was badly shaken.
“She was very solemn,” said Three Hills RCMP Sgt. Joe Sangster, who spoke to the guard shortly after she was rescued. “I think she realizes what happened, but I think the adrenaline was still pumping and I don’t think it had set in, what happened to her.”
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Sangster said the guard was accompanying Fowler from Drumheller Institution in southern Alberta to visit his family in Buck Lake, Alta. She had accompanied him on similar visits in the past without incident.
On the way back, shortly before 6 p.m., Fowler allegedly pretended to be sick. Police say that when the guard pulled over to the side of the road, he overpowered her.
“He jumped across and choked her and wrapped the seatbelt around her neck,” said Sangster. “She was able to convince him to stop.
“He took off her shirt and tied her up and threw her in the back and then he continued on.”
Fowler, who hadn’t been wearing handcuffs or shackles, eventually dropped her off by the side of a rural highway, Sangster said.
“We arrived and found her on the road by herself.”
RCMP arrested Fowler without incident just a short distance away. He was parked along the same rural highway.
“In the vehicle. In the driver’s seat,” Sangster said. “Just sitting there. Vehicle parked.”
Fowler is to appear in Drumheller provincial court on Friday.
Sangster said he was scheduled to be transferred to the maximum-security Edmonton Institution.
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