Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick issued a statement Tuesday in which he requested a Texas Ranger investigation into a murder case in which an escaped inmate killed a family of five.
The June 2 murder followed the escape of a convicted capital murderer from a prison bus. The inmate eluded capture for 21 days and brutally murdered a grandfather, Mark Collins, and his four grandsons in their Leon County cabin.
The inmate stole Collins’ vehicle and was later killed in a shootout with police in Atascosa County about 200 miles away from the site of the murder.
In his letter to the Texas Rangers, Patrick provided a list of questions he wants to have answered regarding the murder case:
How did the prisoner who was locked in a secure cage escape and attacked the driver?How did the guard at the back of the bus fail to see the escape?Was the prisoner fully searched as protocol requires before getting on the bus?How did the escapee elude law enforcement for multiple weeks?Was the community near the Collins family cabin put on high alert following a cabin break-in a few days prior?
Patrick said that this was a preventable crime and “should never have happened.”
He concluded his statement by saying: “We must answer these questions. We have a duty to all Texans to ensure this never happens to any family again.”
