Arizona inmate gets 43 years in prison after escape

KINGMAN, Ariz. -- Vivian Haas traveled from Missouri to get a glimpse of the inmate who is alleged to have shot and killed her son and daughter-in-law after escaping from the Arizona State Prison in Golden Valley last summer.

And the disabled 81-year-old was not at all impressed that John McCluskey commanded the attention of a dozen or more security officers and plenty of spectators during a four-day trial that ended with his conviction and sentencing Friday afternoon.

"He felt so important, maybe proud,'' Haas said. "I don't know how a person like that can sleep at night."

Prosecutor Victoria Stazio argued that McCluskey was the ringleader of the July 30 prison break and that McCluskey's cousin and fiancee, Casslyn Welch, 44, delivered weapons, cash, clothes and other necessities to the prison perimeter and wire cutters that were used to snip fencing to facilitate the escape.

McCluskey, Welch and escapee Tracy Province, 43, all have been convicted of abducting two truck drivers outside the prison and commandeering their commercial tractor trailer to flee to Flagstaff, where they abandoned the truck and left their victims unharmed.

The ordeal netted McCluskey convictions Friday for escape, kidnapping, armed robbery, aggravated assault and weapons offenses.

Defense attorneys didn't call a single witness during the four-day trial and failed to convince the Mohave County Superior Court jury that the state did not meet its burden of proof. The panel deliberated 90 minutes before finding McCluskey guilty of each of the eight counts in the indictment.

Judge Steve Conn ordered a 43-year prison term for McCluskey. He soon will be transported to New Mexico, where he, Welch and Province will be tried in the slayings of Gary and Linda Haas.

The Oklahoma couple were on their annual vacation when they were abducted by the trio. It was McCluskey who shot and killed them both, according to law enforcement authorities and statements obtained from Welch and Province.

An investigation of the escape revealed management, personnel, equipment and security failures at the prison in northwest Arizona.

The private company that operates the prison under contract with Arizona, Utah-based Management & Training Corp., conceded its staff routinely ignored perimeter fencing alerts because nonfunctioning equipment caused dozens of false alarms.

"The state of Arizona said they took full responsibility, but we're not seeing that," Vivian Haas said after McCluskey was sentenced Friday. "We have never heard an apology."

Haas and other family members of the murder victims have filed lawsuits over the escape and the deaths of their loved ones. Haas said she looks forward to the prosecution in New Mexico and the end of what has been a nightmare.

"It's been bad, but we're determined to see this through," she said. "I'm 81 years old, and we're going to keep going."