By Kirk Mitchell
Denver Post
DENVER — The Colorado state mental hospital has changed its policy and will now release complete criminal histories of escaped patients.
Mark Hartman, 49, who was convicted of second-degree murder in 1983 and later committed to the Pueblo hospital, was arrested Monday in Concord, N.C., after walking away from hospital custody in February.
Initially, authorities didn’t mention his murder conviction in news releases circulated throughout the state and in Pueblo media. After a public outcry and questions from legislators, the state hospital decided to release criminal conviction information about escapees, said Eunice Wolther, spokeswoman for the Colorado Mental Health Institute of Pueblo.
Hartman is being held in the Cabarras County Jail awaiting extradition to Colorado.
He was arrested on a fugitive warrant and was not charged with any new crimes in North Carolina, according to Cabarras County authorities and Wolther.
Hartman was placed on escape status Feb. 17 when he failed to attend a therapy session at the hospital.
At the time, the hospital, which has a history of inmate escapes, failed to tell its neighbors that Hartman is a convicted killer, kidnapper and robber who had a penchant for attacking good Samaritans offering him help.
The only reference on the notice about Hartman’s criminal background recounted his most recent offenses: escape, contraband possession in prison and an unspecified parole violation.
During a cross-country crime spree in 1983, Hartman stole a car, burglarized a Golden church, fatally shot security guard Lawrence Gale and torched his body in Douglas County, and was in the process of kidnapping an Arvada woman when he was arrested.
Following a Denver Post article about the hospital’s failure to release Hartman’s complete background, state Rep. Buffie McFadyen, D-Pueblo West, criticized the practice and called for a state audit of the hospital’s notification policy.
McFadyen could not be reached for comment Tuesday on the hospital’s policy change.
If Hartman is returned to the state hospital, he will be placed in the facility’s highest-security ward for treatment. He will be given the opportunity to earn his way to lower security wards and release into the community through good behavior.
Copyright 2009 Denver Post