Published Wednesday, December 09, 2009 4:47 PM

Escapee convicted of killing guard from BV gets death penalty

A Texas prison inmate convicted of killing a corrections officer during a September 2007 escape is headed to death row.

A jury in Leon County decided Tuesday that 39-year-old Jerry Duane Martin should die for the death of 59-year-old guard Susan Canfield of New Waverly.

Canfield was killed when Martin and John Ray Falk, both inmates at the Wynne Unit in Huntsville, broke away from a work detail, stole a truck and rammed into Canfield while she was on horseback.

The fugitives were caught within hours.

Martin already had been serving 50 years for attempted capital murder in a 1997 incident in which he fired "several" gunshots at officers before he was captured and confined in Collin County.

Prison officials in the 2007 incident located Martin from the top of a tree less than four hours after his escape.

Falk, who was located within an hour, is awaiting trial on similar charges related to the officer’s death. He’d been serving life for murder in 1986.

Canfield’s horse had to be euthanized.

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