William Scott Day

William Scott Day (October 21, 1951 – February 4, 2006) was an American prison escapee and later spree killer who killed at least six people in five states during his 39 days on the run between December 1986 and January 1987. He was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment on one count in Tennessee, and the other charges were dropped altogether.

Early life and crimes William Scott Day was born on an American military installation in Japan on October 21, 1951, while his family was residing there. From an early age, he showed signs of remarkable intelligence and an affinity for reading authors such as Oscar Wilde, Walt Whitman and Barbara W. Tuchman. After the death of his father during his teens, Day moved to Michigan, where he enlisted in the Marine Corps and was stationed at a boot camp near Flat Rock. While there, he deserted his position and went to the city, where he was later arrested for attempting to rape and kidnap a woman. Day was convicted of this crime and given a 7-year term, served initially at the Richard A. Handlon Correctional Facility and later transferred to the Ionia Correctional Facility, successfully escaping once before being paroled in 1974. During his stay, he was described as a model patient who frequently played chess with employees and even helped break up assaults by other patients. Through these activities, he became friendly with 36-year-old security worker Thomas Frederick Fortunato, a veteran employee of 14 years who was assigned to the center's C-43 ward, which was notorious for housing violent inmates.

Escape from prison Approximately two weeks before Day was scheduled to be returned to Jackson, he started to question Fortunato on whether he could help him escape from prison.

On December 4, 1986, a day before Day was scheduled to be returned to Jackson, Fortunato was assigned to the prison laundry. In the early morning, he let Day hide in a laundry cart and then escorted him out of the facility, before he left it as well under the guise of supposedly showing a new employee a tour of the facility.

Murders After abandoning the rental car in Louisville, Day bought a bus ticket for Nashville, Tennessee. On December 9, he came across 74-year-old Mary Catherine Strobel, a prominent local volunteer worker who was on her way to deliver a sack of potatoes to a rescue mission. After offering to drive her home in her car, a 1981 AMC Concord, which she gladly accepted. After driving her around for some time and narrowly avoiding arrest by a traffic police officer, Day stopped the car and informed Strobel that he intended to tie her up. Frightened she began to scream, causing a panicked Day to draw a knife and stab her, before strangling her to make sure she was dead. He then put the woman's body in the trunk of the car, parked it in front of the rescue mission and then bought a ticket at the nearby Greyhound bus station. While their bus was en route to Tucson, Arizona, Day noticed that his companion had a sewn pouch on his jacket, which Arzapalo-Alcoser claimed contained $2,000.

On the following day, Day arrived in New Orleans and went to relax at a lounge in the French Quarter, where he met 27-year-old Andrew McClelland. Originally from Morgan City, McClelland was in New Orleans for a job interview when he came across Day, who offered to share his room at the Sheranton Inn in Gretna. However, before Bare could begin to ask questions, Day waived his rights to an attorney and confessed not only to the hold-up, but claimed that he had escaped a mental health facility in Michigan and had killed 8 people during his 39 days on the run. After getting into contact with authorities from various neighboring states, Day was conclusively linked to six of the claimed homicides, which in themselves were matched by his travel route and weapons used. In an exclusive interview with The Nashville Banner, Day admitted to all of the murders, but claimed that he was high on drugs and drunk at the time, rendering him unable to control his actions. Fearing that his client would face the death penalty if he remained in Texas, Day's attorney, John Smith, announced that he would not appeal Tennessee's extradition request, as they had indicated they would pursue a life term instead. Upon his arrival there, Day's attorneys requested a change of venue to a neighboring county, claiming that the extensive coverage of the Strobel murder in Nashville would prejudice the jurors. In response to this, Justice Walter Kurtz expressed skepticism, saying that the attorney's claims of it reaching publicity heights like those of Sam Sheppard or Billie Sol Estes were simply ridiculous. During questionings conducted by the court, several jurors did indeed admit to knowing about Day's other murders, for which they had to be excused from jury duty.

After a two-week long trial, Day was convicted on all counts. However, he was given three life sentences after the jury deadlocked 7-5 against a death sentence. The sentence came as a relief to Strobel's family members, who opposed capital punishment due to their religious beliefs. The Strobel family have since dedicated themselves for advocating against the death penalty being used against mentally-ill inmates.