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Russian Police Nab Killer Who Fled Mental Hospital

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Police in far eastern Russia have caught a convicted killer who escaped from a mental hospital in the city of Vladivostok, local news site VL.ru said Monday.

Nikolai Razygrayev, 30, had reportedly been undergoing compulsory treatment at Regional Psychiatric Hospital No. 1 until two weeks ago, when he managed to escape and travel some 450 kilometers to a friend's residence in the rural Timofeyevka settlement, where he was caught.

Regional police said in a statement Monday that the escapee was caught amid an intense manhunt that involved apartment raids and the questioning of the heads of rural settlements in the area.

VL.ru cited local prosecutors as saying that an inquiry would be opened into the actions of members of the hospital's staff who had been responsible for the escapee.

How Razygrayev managed to escape is unclear from the news reports. The regional police said only that he left "upon his own volition," and then described him as an "escapee."

Though the details of his crime are unclear, state news agency RIA Novosti reported that he was convicted of murder, citing local law enforcement sources. VL.ru reported that he was declared insane in 2009, and thus relieved of criminal responsibility for his crime.

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