Associated Press
Sunday, November 6, 2005

HOUSTON, Nov. 5 -- A juror and victims' relatives fear they might be targets of a death row inmate who freed himself from handcuffs and walked out of a county jail in civilian clothes.

Convicted killer Charles Victor Thompson remained at large Saturday, authorities said. Thompson, 35, fooled at least four jail employees when he walked out of the Harris County Jail on Thursday.

"This was 100 percent human error; that's the most frustrating thing about it," sheriff's spokesman John Martin said Friday. "There were several points where it could have been prevented."

Several relatives of Thompson's victims went into hiding or agreed to police protection, the Houston Chronicle reported, and a juror expressed fright before considering that Thompson may be more worried about escaping than hunting down jurors.