Prison escape investigated

Photo: Correctional Service of Canada

James Lee Busch, 42, and Zachary Armitage 30, escaped from the minimum-security William Head Institution in Metchosin on July 7

Two men who escaped from a Vancouver Island prison last month have been moved to a more secure facility while their flight is investigated. 

CTV News reports James Lee Busch, 42, and Zachary Armitage 30, escaped from William Head Institution, a minimum-security facility, in Metchosin on July 7. The pair avoided police for two days before they were arrested. 

Both have violent pasts. Armitage is serving 14 years for robbery and aggravated assault while Busch is serving a life sentence for killing a woman over a $20 piece of crack cocaine stuffing her body in a dumpster. 

"The circumstances involving the escape are still under investigation and the team conducting it is on site," Correctional Services Canada spokesperson Lucinda Fraser told CTV News, adding they have both been moved to a more secure facility. 

"We recognize that improvements can be made and the investigation will guide those."

Fraser says they are reviewing how quickly communities nearby prisons are alerted of escapes. In this case, the escape wasn’t disclosed until the following day via Twitter. 

There has been local speculation that the escapees were involved in the murder of 60-year-old Martin Payne. The Metchosin man was killed in his home on July 8 and his missing vehicle was found days later in Oak Bay. 

Police say they’ve identified “persons of interest” in Payne’s murder, although no arrests have been made. They have repeatedly declined to comment on any possible connection between the murder and the escaped convicts.

with files from CTV Vancouver Island