Skeptical Cabbie Tips Off Cops

Cabbie Mike Wagers says the fugitive couple wanted in a Tennessee courthouse shooting told him they were attending a business conference, but he didn't buy it.

"They didn't strike me as the Amway type, because, to be honest, they weren't very pushy about their product," co-anchor Harry Smith.

Wagers said he didn't realize who his fares had been until he got all the way home to the Cincinnati area. A friend called and asked him if he had taken a couple from Erlanger to Columbus, and, when he said he had, the friend said he needed to call the police.

"I didn't figure they were up to no good. I had no clue. I was really caught off guard by that," Wagers confessed. "I didn't get much sleep last night just thinking about how this could have turned out."

Authorities George and Jennifer Hyatte are the suspects in Tuesday's brazen courthouse escape and shooting, and were captured Wednesday night at an America's Best Value Inn motel in Columbus, Ohio, as a result of the tip. There was no struggle.

An extradition hearing is set for the couple Friday.

The sheriff in the county where the shooting took place says he wants to see the Hyattes put to death. David Haggard says he'll ask that both of them be put in maximum-security custody upon their return.

Hyatte's return to authorities in Tennessee could be delayed because of an injury.

"She does have a gunshot wound to one of her legs in the upper thigh area," John Bolen of the U.S. Marshal's Service told CBS News' The Early Show.

On Tuesday, authorities say Jennifer Hyatte, 31, ambushed two guards as they were leading her 34-year-old husband from a courthouse hearing in Kingston, Tennessee. Guard Wayne "Cotton" Morgan was fatally shot in the escape.

Morgan, 56, died at the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville, about 30 miles east, hospital spokeswoman Lisa McNeal said.

CBS affiliate WVLT-TV reports that 57-year-old Wayne Morgan is described by those he worked with as a good man who was often seen carrying his bible around the prison, and had been with the Brushy Mountain Correctional Complex for 28 years.

Jennifer Forsythe Hyatte apparently was wounded by the other guard.

"When I was dropping them off at the hotel room, she was favoring one side," said Wagers. "She said it happened in an automobile accident that happened around here the day before. And there actually was a huge accident here, so ... it didn't raise any further suspicion."
Gwyn said the Hyattes will be brought back to Tennessee to face first degree murder charges. They were arrested nearly 300 miles north of Kingston.

According to U.S. Marshal John Schickel, detectives tracking the couple got a tip around 9 p.m. that the couple was at the Columbus motel after cab driver Wagers, who had driven the couple there from Erlanger, Kentucky, called police.

The fare for the 115-mile trip was $185 and the couple handed him two $100 bills at the beginning of the trip, Wagers said at a news conference Thursday.

"In the cab business, technically that might've been a little bit light on the tip but when you're getting a $185 cash trip, when they only throw in another $15, you're not going to think anything bad. You're going to say you appreciate it and you're going to go on your way," Wagers said.

After Wagers' call, authorities surrounded the Columbus motel, said Bolen.

Authorities called the couple's room, told them they were surrounded and the couple came out of their room and surrendered, Bolen said. They didn't say anything during the arrest, he said.

Earlier in the day, federal authorities said the van used as a getaway car by the couple at the courthouse turned up outside an Econo Lodge motel in Erlanger, Ky.

The Hyattes were nowhere in sight, but authorities knew then that they were getting close to finding them.

Blood was found in the motel room in Erlanger, and an employee at a nearby restaurant told federal agents she had given directions that day to a couple she later recognized as the fugitives.

Another car was reported stolen in the area of the hotel in Erlanger; officials haven't said if they believe that vehicle might be linked to the couple.

Jennifer Hyatte was a prison nurse when she met her husband, and was fired last year for sneaking food to him. A few months later, she got permission from the warden to marry George Hyatte, a man with a long and violent criminal record.

Before the escape, George Hyatte had been in court on a robbery charge.

His escape was at least the fifth time has gotten way from law enforcement officials. The other escapes were from local authorities in east Tennessee in 1990, 1991, 1998 and 2002.

CBS News correspondent Randall Pinkston reports this isn't the first time George Hyatte is accused of using a woman to help him escape. Authorities say a few years ago, he escaped from a patrol car, with the help of a woman (not Jennifer), after a convenience store robbery.

Jennifer and George Hyatte got married in May.

Before meeting George, Jennifer had no criminal record.

"You are left grappling for answers and trying to figure it out. What was she thinking?" Tennessee Bureau of Investigation spokeswoman Jennifer Johnson said Wednesday.

"I guess it is anyone's guess," Johnson said. "She married the guy, so you have to assume there is some sort of love connection."