A convicted killer committed to the state mental hospital escaped while under supervision on Wednesday, but police were able to capture him Thursday morning.

Police photo

Escaped killer Christopher Mark Walker

Christopher Mark Walker, 47, was visiting his mother at a care facility in the 6600 block of Northeast Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard at 3:30 Wednesday afternoon when he managed to lock out the state employee in charge of watching him and then escaped through a back door.

“Apparently Walker was not handcuffed and walking ahead of the state employee as they walked up to the front door of the facility. Walker, who knew the security code, opened the door and allowed it to shut and lock before the state employee reached the door,” said Portland Police Sgt. Brian Schmautz.

Officers learned that Walker talked to his family for about 20 minutes and then fled the facility so the manhunt began.

Walker has a long criminal history including arrests for murder, arson and assault, including assaulting a police officer. He was currently committed to the State Hospital in Salem but was apparently allowed to travel to Portland for the visit.

He was considered extremely dangerous.

Police finally spotted the six-foot tall, 250 pound man in Northeast Portland and, after a short chase, captured him just after 5 a.m. near the intersection of NE Mallory Avenue and NE Beech Street.

Walker was convicted of murdering his girlfriend back in 1988 and sentenced to the Oregon State Hospital. Hospital employees said Walker was not in handcuffs when he entered his mom's home because he is treated as a patient and not as an inmate.