PB prison escapee gets 18 more years

The convicted murderer who escaped from the Arkansas Department of Correction's Pine Bluff Unit in June but was recaptured in September has been sentenced to an additional 18 years in prison.

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Timothy Buffington, 48, pleaded guilty Wednesday in Jefferson County Circuit Court to one count each of kidnapping, first-degree escape, theft of property, aggravated assault and possession of firearms by certain persons, according to court documents.

Buffington will serve 100 percent of the sentence, court records show.

Buffington, who had gained trusty status within the prison system, escaped from the Pine Bluff complex on June 21 while working on a maintenance assignment at a house on prison grounds. Officials said he stole a shotgun from the property and fled. He tried to force a prison employee who lived at the house to drive him away, but she escaped and called 911, officials said.

Buffington surrendered to an Arkansas State Police trooper Sept. 18 after being spotted by several residents in Booneville, his hometown in Logan County. A jury there convicted him in 1998 of first-degree murder in the shooting death with a high-powered rifle of his ex-wife, and he was serving a 20-year sentence at the time of his escape.

Prison officials said Buffington had a clean record at the lockup and was originally on track to be released in 2018.

Prison officials haven't released details about how Buffington was able to elude capture for so long or if he had help.

Metro on 05/22/2015

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