N.J. Confessed Killer Escapes Mental Facility

MOUNT LAUREL, N.J. – Several New Jersey police agencies searched Monday for a killer who apparently walked away from Ancora Psychiatric Hospital on Sunday with a backpack full of survivalist equipment.

Authorities searched for William Enman on Monday in Atlantic and Camden counties near the Ancora campus in Winslow Township and also in other places where he was thought to have contacts.

"As far as we're concerned he's still a danger to others," said Robyn D'Onofrio, a spokeswoman for the Morris County Prosecutor's Office.

Enman escaped after being allowed to take a walk on the grounds a little after 2 p.m. Sunday. He was expected back by 3 p.m. but didn't show up.

Morris County Prosecutor Robert A. Bianchi said Enman is believed to own property in Nova Scotia, Canada. The prosecutor's office did not have any information about the specific type of gear he was carrying in his backpack.

Enman, 64, has been in state psychiatric hospitals since he was found not guilty by reason of insanity in the 1975 killing of his roommate and the man's 4-year-old son in Morris County. He confessed to the killings.

At the time, he was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia; he maintained that he killed because of a psychosis induced by drugs he was given during a stint at the Morris County Jail just before the killings.

Enman has disappeared from hospitals before. Over the years, he has also been caught with a crossbow and with marijuana.

A judge once reprimanded him for getting married and fathering a child when he was allowed to make visits to people outside the hospital. Those privileges have since been revoked.

However, Enman was allowed to walk the grounds of Ancora without an escort. A judge reaffirmed those rights at a hearing in August 2006.

Ellen Lovejoy, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Human Services, which runs the hospital, said one factor judges weigh when considering extending such privileges is whether patients might be considered dangerous to themselves or others.

Enman, 5-foot-9 and a slight 145 pounds, has graying hair, brown eyes and scars on his right eyebrow, chin, left elbow and right thigh.

He was wearing a green shirt and black pants when he was last seen.

Over the years, Enman has frequently told judges that he should no longer be kept at the psychiatric hospital. His next court hearing on his rehabilitation was scheduled for Thursday.

Enman now faces criminal charges of escape.