By Riley Yates
The Morning Call
NORTHAMPTON COUNTY, Pa. — A Northampton County Prison inmate facing capital murder charges tried to escape on Tuesday afternoon but was thwarted by quick-acting guards, authorities said.
The attempt was made by John McGlinchey III as he and a group of inmates were in the prison’s recreation yard, which is blocked by a series of fences, said Corrections Director Robert Meyers.
“Luckily the security system in place did what it was supposed to do,” Meyers said. “The system worked as it was designed to work.”
McGlinchey, 46, of Nockamixon Township is charged with fatally shooting an Easton woman and wounding her teenage nephew on Christmas Eve. Prosecutors are seeking a death sentence and McGlinchey is being held without bail.
Kimiko Moon died at St. Luke’s Hospital-Fountain Hill 11 days after she was shot late Dec. 24 in the bedroom of her family’s South Side townhouse. Marqis Moon, who was shot twice, survived and testified against McGlinchey in February.
Meyers would not discuss some details of the escape attempt, including whether McGlinchey was able to scale any of the fences, saying it was a security matter.
But he and Tom Cora, the head of the corrections officers union, credited guards Anthony Eggleston and Donald Snyder for their quick actions.
Eggleston apprehended McGlinchey and got him under control, while Snyder called for backup, Meyers and Cora said.
“The officers did a wonderful job. They were very responsive and alert,” Meyers said.
McGlinchey, Meyers said, didn’t get far “at all.”
The prison intends to charge McGlinchey with escape, Meyers said. He also has been moved to a higher security level at the jail, Meyers said.
Republished with permission from The Morning Call