Convicted Killer Caught 35 Years After Escape

INDIANAPOLIS -- An Indiana woman sentenced to life in prison for murder who escaped from prison 35 years ago had been living a law-abiding life in Tennessee, where she was living under a different name.

The Indiana Department of Correction said Linda Darby, 64, of Hammond, escaped by climbing over a barbed-wire fence at the Indiana Women's Prison in Indianapolis in March 1972.

She was arrested by police on Friday in Pulaski, Tenn., where she was going by the name of Linda Joe McElroy.

"That blew my mind. I couldn't believe she was capable of doing anything like that," neighbor Martha Slater told Nashville TV station WTVF.

Darby was sentenced to life in prison in 1970 for the murder of her husband. The revelation surprised neighbors, who described her as quiet and sweet.

"I still don't believe she done that. It doesn't seem like that kind of person. To me, she doesn't," Slater told WTVF.

Pulaski police Capt. John Dickey said that Darby had been in the town about 70 miles south of Nashville, Tenn. for about 30 years.

"This woman has led an exemplary life in Pulaski," Dickey said. "There is no record of any criminal activity here whatsoever."

An Indiana Department of Correction spokeswoman said Darby has waived extradition from Tennessee. She was being held in the Giles County, Tenn., Jail.

A man who identified himself as Darby's common-law husband declined comment to WTVF.

The arrest happened two weeks after the Indiana Department of Correction began a new Fugitive Apprehension Unit to help in the recapture of escaped offenders and those who vanished while on parole.

"This was a tremendous team effort, and I would like to thank all of those who assisted in her capture," said Department of Correction Commissioner J. David Donahue.

About 300 Indiana fugitives remain at large.