Escaped Slayer Discovered in Massachusetts Jail

Police in Springfield, Mass., didn’t know that the man they arrested Saturday, who didn’t have $10 to post bail, was convicted killer Ivan Von Staich, an escapee from the Orange County Jail.

But because Staich didn’t have bail money, he remained in custody for four days on suspicion of misdemeanor assault on a police officer.

On Tuesday afternoon, $140 arrived for Staich via “a Western Union telegram sent from Denver, Colo.,” said a Hampton (County, Mass.) House of Correction spokesman, who declined to identify who sent the money. But by then, authorities had discovered Staich’s identity and revoked bail, said Orange County Sheriff’s Capt. Doug Storm.

Four weeks after he rappelled from the jail roof, Staich, 29, was noticed just after midnight Saturday by two Springfield patrol officers as he stood in the doorway of a senior citizens’ apartment complex, Storm said. They thought he looked suspicious, so they decided to question him, Storm said.

The officers were walking him to their squad car when “he pushed one and fled on foot,” Storm said. The officers called for backup and Staich was taken into custody about two blocks away.

Gary King, assistant superintendent of the Hampton House of Correction, said, “We’re learning today that he’s not a real good American.

‘It Was a Lucky Break’

“We do know he made some calls to have someone bring him some money so he could post bail, and he was unsuccessful in doing that,” King said. “It’s a fortunate situation because if he had access to a relatively small amount of money like $10 he would have been released. . . . It was a lucky break.”

Storm said there was “no doubt in my mind that he’d be someplace other than Springfield” if Staich had had the necessary $10 to pay a bondsman to post his $100 bail.

Staich escaped Jan. 26 from the Orange County Jail’s rooftop recreation area with inmate Robert Joseph Clark, 23, of Palm Springs by overpowering a lone, unarmed guard and using electrical cords to climb down the side of the four-story building. Clark, accused of murder and robbery, was captured five days later, lounging at pool side at the Sixpence Inn in Tustin, about three miles from the jail.

Although a witness at the motel told police he had seen Staich there, too, Storm said Tuesday that there is no other evidence that Staich was at the motel.

When he was arrested, Staich, who is 6 feet, 2 inches and 200 pounds, gave the name “Mark Statch,” an alias he had used in the past, Storm said.

A routine check by Springfield police of name and fingerprint records in the National Crime Information Center computer ultimately identified him Tuesday as the fugitive sought by Orange County authorities, Storm said.

Massachusetts authorities made a positive identification after contacting Orange County sheriff’s investigators, who supplied Staich’s fingerprints and a description of his tattoos, Storm said.

Held on Escape, Murder Warrants

Orange County sheriff’s deputies went immediately to Massachusetts. Authorities there revoked Staich’s bail and held him on escape and murder warrants.

If Staich fights extradition, proceedings may take 30 to 60 days before he can be returned, Storm said.

After confirming that Staich was in custody, authorities in Riverside County ended their protective surveillance of the home of his former girlfriend’s parents, Storm said.

Staich was convicted of the 1983 attempted murder of the former girlfriend, Cynthia Topper, and the second-degree murder of her husband, Robert Topper. At the time of his escape, Staich was awaiting sentencing.

According to trial testimony, Staich shot Robert Topper three times after beating him with a claw hammer and then beat Cynthia Topper on the head so severely that two cranial surgeries were necessary to save her life.

Former Girlfriend

Sheriff’s Department officials had been worried that Staich would attempt to find his former girlfriend. But Storm said Tuesday that officers watching the parents’ home had not seen him.

“The family’s relieved and everybody’s happier now,” Cynthia Topper’s father, Loren Bess, said Tuesday. “My daughter has not been with me since he escaped. She’ll be coming back home pretty soon. She was quite happy, very happy, extremely happy.”

Meanwhile, Staich’s parents in Lake Elsinore, who said they had no word from their son since his escape, expressed relief that he had been taken into custody without injury.

Charlotte Staich said she had been upset.

“I am relieved,” she said. “I didn’t know if he was dead or alive. I think anybody who has children would have that worry.”

Duke Staich said his son “did pretty good against Big Brother” by eluding arrest for a month. But, he added, “he might as well be dead as stuck in there the rest of his life anyway.”

Feared for Life

The Staiches said shortly after their son’s escape that he had feared for his life in the Orange County Jail.

Staich’s attorney, Jack M. Earley, said Tuesday that his client feared for his safety in the jail after getting into a scuffle with a sheriff’s deputy.

“He was concerned about that,” Earley said. But he added that Staich “probably was not in any worse (danger) than any other people there. . . . “