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:
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- 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."
