Fugitive Murderer Caught, Drunk

Charles Thompson Was Chatting On A Pay Phone Outside A Liquor Store

(CBS/AP) 
Even though Thompson's arrest was very important, it was only a small part of the ongoing investigation into how he managed to escape the county jail, said Steve Tiller with the U.S. Marshals Service.

On Thursday afternoon, Thompson was taken to a room in the jail for a meeting with his attorney. The visitor, however, was not Thompson's attorney of record, Terrence Gaiser, although investigators have determined the other person was an attorney, Martin said. His name has not been released because he is considered a witness.

After the attorney left, Thompson was alone in the room and he managed to remove his handcuffs and his bright orange prison jumpsuit and put on a dark blue shirt, khaki pants and white tennis shoes. Authorities believe those were the clothes Thompson wore during his sentencing and say he somehow smuggled them back to his cell.

Wearing his new outfit, Thompson left the prisoner's booth in the visiting room and waved a fake ID badge that wasn't scrutinized as he passed at least four jail employees at work stations. Thompson was eventually let into the jail's visitor's lobby and from there he walked out of the building and into the street.

"There's no way Chuck had the brain power for this," said John Donaghy, whose sister Thompson was convicted of killing. "He's not the sharpest pencil in the box."

Donaghy said he and his family felt a sense of relief when they learned of the capture. The family has spent the past few days hiding in hotels and staying with friends in other parts of the state.

"My family can now go back to a normal living. They have been totally disrupted," he said.

Authorities think somebody helped him escape, Martin said. "We do think that people helped him if for no other reason than we found his clothes back behind another jail facility," he said.

Donaghy said he expected Thompson would have been caught in Mexico, not Louisiana.

"I figured he had enough common sense to stay hidden for a while," he said. "It's just ridiculous that he got out."