A convicted murderer who escaped from a Quebec prison nearly three weeks earlier was recaptured early Friday in Montreal, Correctional Service Canada said.
They said Lory Bill Germa was apprehended by the Montreal police at around 7:45 a.m.
The 69-year-old escaped from the Archambault Institution north of Montreal on July 5.
Staff at the prison’s minimum-security unit reported him missing after noticing he was absent during an inmate count.
Germa was serving a sentence after a 1992 conviction for first-degree murder.
Ontario Provincial Police issued a news release after the escape saying Germa might be in southwestern Ontario.
Montreal police said Friday in a news release that they had arrested a suspect who matched Germa’s description “in connection with two robberies that occurred on July 19 and 22 in the Ville-Marie borough.”
While they did not name him, they said the suspect was 69 years old and had escaped from prison on July 5.
Police said the suspect appeared at a downtown bank on July 19 and allegedly robbed the branch of $400 after handing an employee a threatening note. He later returned to the branch three days later and allegedly made off with $500, some of it in marked bills, police said.
Police added that the suspect was charged with theft on Friday afternoon and would be returned to Archambault Institution.
