Billy Wayne Hayes, 57, was arrested by marshals and police Friday night at a gas station in Dothan, Ala., nearly 350 miles from Nashville, where he had been imprisoned.
Hayes was sentenced in 1968 to serve 10 years at the Tennessee State Prison for second-degree murder in the shooting death of William Howard Ferguson, a Nashville paint contractor. He was assigned to a work release program and never returned after signing out for work on Dec. 21, 1972.
Tennessee Department of Corrections spokeswoman Dorinda Carter said Hayes' case was so old that information on it was not in the department's current computer system and would not be available until Monday.
A call to Dothan police Saturday was not answered.
U.S. Marshals in Nashville received information earlier in the week that Hayes might be in Mobile, Ala., or Dothan. Hayes had been working construction jobs in Alabama using his true name.
Officers said Hayes was surprised when arrested, acknowledged that he escaped and told them he had no idea why he fled.
"He knew his run had come to an end," U.S. Marshals Service spokesman Danny Shelton told The Tennessean.
Authorities in Alabama say they found crack cocaine inside Hayes' clothing when they arrested him and charged him with possession.
Hayes was taken to the Dothan city jail with plans to transfer him to the Houston County jail, where he will face extradition. A warrant has been issued for his return to custody of Tennessee authorities.
FoxNews.com
Sunday, December 03, 2006
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A convicted murderer who escaped from a work release program 33 years ago was captured in Alabama, where he had been working construction jobs using his real name, U.S. Marshals announced Saturday.
Billy Wayne Hayes, 57, was arrested by marshals and police Friday night at a gas station in Dothan, Ala., nearly 350 miles from Nashville, where he had been imprisoned.
Hayes was sentenced in 1968 to serve 10 years at the Tennessee State Prison for second-degree murder in the shooting death of William Howard Ferguson, a Nashville paint contractor. He was assigned to a work release program and never returned after signing out for work on Dec. 21, 1972.
Tennessee Department of Corrections spokeswoman Dorinda Carter said Hayes' case was so old that information on it was not in the department's current computer system and would not be available until Monday.
A call to Dothan police Saturday was not answered.
U.S. Marshals in Nashville received information earlier in the week that Hayes might be in Mobile, Ala., or Dothan. Hayes had been working construction jobs in Alabama using his true name.
Officers said Hayes was surprised when arrested, acknowledged that he escaped and told them he had no idea why he fled.
"He knew his run had come to an end," U.S. Marshals Service spokesman Danny Shelton told The Tennessean.
Authorities in Alabama say they found crack cocaine inside Hayes' clothing when they arrested him and charged him with possession.
Hayes was taken to the Dothan city jail with plans to transfer him to the Houston County jail, where he will face extradition. A warrant has been issued for his return to custody of Tennessee authorities.
Man Walked Away From Prison Detail In 1972
October 8, 2007
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- A man convicted of second-degree murder is talking about how he walked away from a prison detail and disappeared for 30 years.
The Channel 4 News I-Team documented how errors by the Department of Corrections allowed Billy Wayne Hayes to remain free, now Hayes is telling the story of his life on the run and how easily he eluded authorities.
“What's it like to be back in prison?” the I-Team’s Jeremy Finley asked Hayes.
“It's not that bad,” he said.
Hayes was first sent to prison as an 18-year-old, and now he's back as a 58-year-old grandfather. For most of the time between, he was on the run.
After being sentenced for second-degree murder in the late 60s in the death of William Ferguson, Hayes walked away from a prison detail and vanished for 30 years.
“I made a terrible mistake, and I pray to God to forgive me for it,” he said.
The I-Team documented how Hayes' warrant was mistakenly canceled.
“For a long time, I thought they would basically come and get me,” he said.
While on the run, Hayes said he started a whole new life. He said he got married, had a daughter and started a business.
“I don't know. I just didn't want to leave my family. I thought they'd lost my records,” Hayes said when asked why he hadn’t turned himself in.
Ferguson’s grown children said they feel their father was denied justice.
"I will never forgive Billy Wayne Hayes,” said Debra Ferguson.
"They describe you as a coward. They say you got to live a whole life while their father's life was cut short. What would you say to them?" Finley asked Hayes.
"Only thing I could say is I'm sorry. I apologize. There's nothing I can do to change it,” he said.
“By all the choices he made, you'll never convince me the true sorrow is there. I'm not sure if he could grasp what he did to us,” Ferguson said.
Adding to the circumstances of his 30-year-run, Hayes said he used his real name, real Social Security number and even lived in Tennessee two years after he escaped.
Hayes said his ex-mother-in-law eventually turned him in.
Hayes was sentenced to an extra year in prison after pleading guilty to felony escape.
But because he had almost finished his original sentence when he escaped, he'll be out of prison in a bit more than a year.
Billy Wayne Harris, 1968
Billy Wayne Hayes, 2006
William Ferguson, the victim
Debra Ferguson Shales, left, and her brother Dan
Ferguson discuss the 1967 murder of their father,
William Ferguson. He was shot by Billy Wayne Hayes, who
escaped from prison in 1972 and was on the lam until
being arrested in 2006. 
(BILLY KINGSLEY / THE TENNESSEAN)