Authorities were searching for 69-year-old Ernest Egon Jensen and conducting patrols near the prison in Metchosin on Sunday.<\/p>\n
An inmate at William Head Institution serving a life sentence for second-degree murder escaped from the minimum-security facility over the weekend.<\/p>\n
Correctional Service Canada said that 69-year-old Ernest Egon Jensen was unaccounted for at the noon count on Sunday.<\/p>\n
Jensen is described as having a fair complexion, brown eyes, no hair on his head, and a scar on his forehead.<\/p>\n
He is missing three fingers on his left hand and is five-foot-eight and about 230 pounds.<\/p>\n
Jensen has been serving his sentence since March 20, 1991. He has also served time for breaking-and-entering and trespassing.<\/p>\n
West Shore RCMP said in a statement Sunday afternoon that they have initiated patrols near the Metchosin institution.<\/p>\n
They said the public should expect to see a heavy police presence in the area while teams search for the man.<\/p>\n
The detachment\u2019s dog team is helping with the search, and police air patrols are underway.<\/p>\n
Police said Jensen is considered dangerous and people should not approach him.<\/p>\n
Anyone who knows where he is or sees him should call 911 immediately.<\/p>\n
This is not the first time an inmate has escaped from the minimum-security prison, which is about 30 kilometres from Victoria.<\/p>\n
James Lee Busch and Zachary Armitage left the facility on the evening of July 7, 2019, by walking around a fence at low tide.<\/p>\n
They found their way to the home of Martin Payne, who lived about about eight kilometres away. They holed up in his house after the 60-year-old left for work on the morning of July 8, 2019, and killed him when he returned home that day.<\/p>\n
Busch and Armitage were arrested in Esquimalt<\/a> the following day, two days after they escaped the prison.<\/p>\n Busch had been serving time for second-degree murder, while Armitage robbed and beat a man, leaving him a quadriplegic and unable to speak. Both had previously escaped from other prisons.<\/p>\n Their escape raised questions<\/a> about why high-risk inmates were being sent to the minimum-security Willaim Head prison.<\/p>\n In December 2022, they were convicted of first-degree murder<\/a> in Payne’s killing.<\/p>\n