Maine murder suspect seized after fleeing hospital

BANGOR, Maine – A murder suspect who escaped from a psychiatric hospital by climbing over a fence apparently swam across a river before being arrested hours later in a neighboring city, police said Wednesday.

William Hall, 29, of Bangor, offered no resistance when officers found him walking down a street at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday in Brewer, Bangor Deputy Police Chief Peter Arno said.

Earlier, a witness reported seeing someone fitting Hall's description swim across the Penobscot River.

Hall had been in the Dorothea Dix Psychiatric Center in Bangor since his June 15 arrest. He is charged with strangling Melvin Abreu on June 9 and throwing his body out a window.

Hall was wearing no shoes when he escaped Tuesday night by jumping over a fence, then taking off on foot, authorities said. A state police K-9 unit tracked him to railroad tracks before losing his scent, Arno said.

He was roughly 2 miles from the hospital when he was arrested. Witnesses had called police about a suspicious man walking around Brewer without shoes.

Hall was questioned at the Bangor Police Department before being transferred to the Penobscot County Jail to face a charge of felony escape, police said.