Alberta RCMP released information on charges against William Wade Bicknell on Wednesday, after the Drumheller Institution inmate escaped his escort guard and went on the lamb for nine days, during which he held two people captive at gunpoint and was finally arrested after a police shootout near Sexsmith.
In Vergreville, he has been charged with kidnaping with a firearm, unlawful confinement with a firearm, pointing a firearm, and break and enter a dwelling house with intent.
Bicknell’s charges relating to Sexsmith are still under investigation. He led police on a 24 kilomtre chase, disabled a RCMP car with gunfire, and held a shootout with police before surrounding on a township road near Sexsmith.
Bicknell is scheduled to appear at Fort Saskatchean court on March 24, and in Vegreville Courthouse on March 28. He will not be making a physical appearance in either court.
Charges are pending for the Sexsmith case, with police saying they will notify media once charges have been decided.
Bicknell escaped his Drumheller Institution escort on March 10, when police say he overpowered the unarmed guard, stole his van, and drove to his sister’s house. His sister, Sandra Myshak, is alleged to have provided Bicknell with weapons. He then fled in the van to another residence, where he disabled the van and the telephone lines before stealing a Chevy Impala.
On March 14, while still at large, police say Bicknell held a 72 year old man at gunpoint for 10 hours in the man’s home near Vegreville, west of Edmonton. The elderly man was released unharmed.
Bicknell, 42, held an elderly woman hostage just north of Sexsmith on Saturday morning, before leaving her house in his stolen Chevy Impala around 4:00 p.m., media releases said.
Bicknell was convicted in 2003 in the beating death of Angela Steer, who was from Maple Ridge, B.C.
During the trial, Bicknell said he acted in self defence because Steer, who was 5 foot 4 and 130 pounds, struck him with a baseball bat first. He then beat her to death with a bat of his own, and later dumped the body over an embankment in Mission, B.C. in April 2001.
He was convicted of second-degree murder and was handed a mandatory life sentence with no chance of parole for 10 years.
Bicknell was downgraded to minimum-security at the Drumheller Institution, allowing him to take an escorted leave of absence, the Calgary Herald reported.