The head of a Washington state mental hospital was fired Tuesday after two inmates escaped last week — including one who was accused of torturing a 20-year-old woman to death.
Gov. Jay Inslee removed Ron Adler from his post as head of Western State Hospital and replaced him with Cheryl Strange, who had previously managed the state public mental health system.
The escapes of Anthony Garver and Mark Alexander Adams were final straw for Inslee, whose administration has had to contend with growing criticism of how the 800-bed facility in Lakewood, Washington was being run, the Associated Press reported.
Adams was arrested a day after he and Garver busted out on April 6 through a window in Des Moines, Washington, about 33 miles from the hospital.
Related: Escapee From Washington Mental Hospital Described as 'Scary and Dangerous'
Garver managed to make it all the way to Spokane — a distance of 300 miles — before he was arrested on Friday.
Of the two, Garver was the scarier. He was was involuntarily committed two years ago after he was deemed incompetent to stand trial for fatally stabbing a woman 24 times.
