The second of two inmates who escaped from Iowa’s only maximum-security prison on Monday was caught this morning in southern Missouri. Sergeant Ryan Holder, with the Pemiscott County Sheriff’s Department, says inmate Robert Legendre was apprehended at a truck stop in Steele, Missouri, about 8 A.M. Sergeant Holder says they’d gotten a call about a stolen vehicle that got off at the Steele exit.
An officer investigated, found the car and Legendre, and arrested him. Holder says Legendre didn’t put up a fight when he was taken into custody — he has been cooperative since being arrested and didn’t struggle.
Authorities say Legendre and inmate Martin Moon climbed over a wall at the Iowa prison at Fort Madison on Monday afternoon. Moon, who was serving life for a 2000 murder in Clarke County, was captured Thursday morning in southern Illinois. Legendre was convicted of kidnapping and attempted murder charges in the state of Nevada. Legendre will be taken to St. Louis later today to face additional charges before he is returned to Iowa.
Charges against Legendre now include two counts each of: robbery, armed criminal action and assault first-degree. Holder says Legendre admitted to being the escaped fugitive. Holder says he told Legendre he’d seen him before — on the T-V news. After that, Legendre “pretty well told me everything after that.” Authorities in Iowa are expected to hold a midday news conference to add details about the capture.