Murder suspect escape private prisoner transport van in Texas
Montgomery Texas February 4 2019 A man wanted on three pending murder charges who has ties to a pair from Temple found dead last month escaped custody on Sunday morning in Montgomery County near Houston and is considered extremely dangerous, authorities said.
Cedric Joseph Marks escaped a private prison transport at around 8 a.m. Sunday, and police were searching for him in the 800 block of North Loop 336 West in Conroe, the Montgomery County sheriff’s office said.
The sheriff’s office said that Marks has three pending murder charges against him. He is a professional mixed martial arts fighter and is considered “extremely dangerous,“officials said.
Marks had recently been extradited to Texas from Michigan on a burglary charge out of Bell County, where he was headed Sunday to be booked into jail, after he allegedly broke into the home of his ex-girlfriend, Jenna Scott, last year.
Scott was found murdered along with her best friend of 10 years, Michael Swearingin, on Jan. 15. The pair were buried in a shallow grave in Clearview, Oklahoma, and their deaths have been ruled homicides.
Marks has not been named a person of interest or suspect in the case, according to Temple police, who have been investigating since Scott and Swearingin first went missing from the town on Jan. 4.
On Sunday, Temple police still had not named any suspects in the homicides. It is not clear what the murder charges pending against Marks that were mentioned by the Montgomery County sheriff’s office are for.
Marks has been named a person of interest in the disappearance of his former girlfriend April Pease, who was last seen leaving a treatment center in Minnesota in 2009 and was never heard from again, Bloomington police said.
Both Pease’s and Scott’s mothers said Marks had a history of violence and that their daughters had both tried several times to leave the relationship when it became abusive.
Marks was last seen on Sunday wearing an orange jumpsuit and was in restraints. However, authorities now say he may not be wearing a shirt since the one he had was found by law enforcement after he fled. Anyone who sees him is asked to call 911 immediately.
Statesman
