Nothing builds confidence in government’s ability to make choices than to find out that the state of Washington took an insane murderer on a field trip to a county fair — and lost him. Not only did Washington take him from the hospital for the criminally insane to the state fair, they put $50 in his pocket, enough to buy a bus ticket to get out of the area (via Power Line):
A criminally insane killer from eastern Washington is on the run after escaping during a field trip to the county fair that his mental hospital organized.
Why such a dangerous person was out in public was a question many, including Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire, were asking as authorities searched for Phillip Arnold Paul.
Authorities at Eastern State Hospital, where Paul is a patient, are being criticized for allowing him to visit the fair despite his violent criminal past and a history of trying to escape.
Paul murdered an elderly woman in 1987, soaked her body in gasoline to throw off the dogs, and buried her