Escaped Inmate Charged in New Mexico for Killing Oklahoma couple

An escaped prisoner was charged in New Mexico for murdering an Oklahoma couple.

According to the Albuquerque Journal, the federal jury in New Mexico found John Charles McCluskey guilty of 20 counts of murder in shooting Gary and Linda Haas and is now facing the death penalty.

McCluskey was one of three inmates who escaped the prison in Kingman, Arizona in July 2010 with the aid of his girlfriend, Casslyn Welch. The two were tagged as "Bonnie and Clyde" of this generation.

On Aug. 2, 2010, McCluskey, a fellow escaped prisoner and his girlfriend carjacked a truck and trailer of a couple, Gary and Linda, at a rest stop on Interstate 40 in New Mexico and subsequently murdered them in Guadalupe County.

Gary Haas was forced to drive into a rural area north of I-40 in Guadalupe County and then to pull over on the side of the road. Then the couple was pushed on the trailer where they were both shot to death by McCluskey. The group then lit the trailer and burned it, with the bodies inside, using the liquor the couple had brought for their annual camping in Colorado.

Welch and one of the escaped prisoners, Tracy Province, pleaded guilty and avoided death penalty. They testified against McCluskey and claimed that it was McCluskey who shot the couple. Now, they face life in prison but, as of now, neither is sentenced.

McCluskey's penalty phase will begin next week, which will decide the penalty for the accused. This phase is divided into two parts. First, the prosecutors will present aggravating factors under the federal death penalty statute, and the defense will present mitigating factors against it.

The family of the Oklahoma couple felt relief after a month-long trial. "I hope that we can get closure," Vivian Haas, Gary's mother, said after the trial.