Man Who Makes Escape from San Antonio Mental Hospital Found

By THC Staff | October 6, 2016

 

On Sunday, 62-year-old Gary C. Ligon made a successful escape from the San Antonio State Hospital where he has lived for the last decade after being committed. In 1990, Ligon was tried for the murder of his wife but was ultimately found not guilty by reason of insanity. According to MySA.com, Ligon was said to have “killed her, dismembered her body with a circular saw, left her torso in fields near their home and then burned her head in a washtub on the back porch of their home outside Kerrville.” In 2007, he was ordered to live in the mental hospital.

Ligon had spent time in a mental facility before the murder. During the trial, psychiatrist Dr. John Sparks said, “It appears he believed he was doing the right thing at the time. He was suffering from a severe mental disease and, as a result, did not know his conduct was wrong.”

But on Sunday after his escape, Ligon managed to walk two miles away from the hospital before being found at  8200 block of City Base Landing on Tuesday morning. The public was not notified of his departure from the facility, only law enforcement was alerted.

SAPD spokesperson Hierholzer says that Ligon has “done it at least once before” and was “found wandering the streets of San Antonio.” He continued on to state, “I would say security is definitely lacking at our state hospital. People who are found incompetent to stand trial or not guilty by reason of insanity should not be able to just walk away. Some of these people are extremely dangerous and there should be better security than that.”