Union says it warned about outings

SEATTLE (AP) — Two days after an insane killer escaped from a field trip organized by his mental hospital, the union that represents mental-hospital workers said it had become concerned about the type of patients allowed to participate in such outings.

Police continued to search Saturday for 47-year-old Phillip Arnold Paul, who walked away from the Spokane County Fair during an outing Thursday with 30 other Eastern State Hospital patients.

A police helicopter will canvass from the air, and officers will check transient camps and monitor railroad lines in the search for Paul, authorities said.

“The manhunt continues,” said Spokane County sheriff’s spokesman Dave Reagan. “We truly suspect he is headed for Sunnyside. His parents live there.”

Paul had been committed after he was acquitted by reason of insanity in the 1987 slaying of an elderly woman, whose body he soaked in gasoline to throw off search dogs. Paul buried the woman’s remains in her flower garden.

Patients must be cleared by a treatment team before they can go on trips to stores, parks and other sites, said Dr. Rob Henry, director of forensic services at Eastern State.

But Paul’s inclusion in Thursday’s field trip to the fair drew sharp criticism from Gov. Chris Gregoire and the union that represents Eastern State Hospital workers.

Greg Davis, president of Washington Federation of State Employees Local 782, said the union has expressed concerns about public outings to hospital management during official and unofficial meetings.

A Yakima County judge had ruled two weeks ago that Paul remained a threat to the public because of his aggressive behavior and his decreased awareness of his psychosis, The Spokesman-Review reported Saturday.