KINGSTON — Authorities in Columbus, Ohio, tonight arrested a fugitive couple wanted in the killing of a prison guard during Tuesday's daring and deadly escape from the Roane County Courthouse.

U.S. Marshal John Schickel said the George and Jennifer Hyatte took a taxicab from Erlanger, Ky., to Columbus.

The taxi driver recognized the couple and alerted authorities.

U.S. marshals took them into custody about 10:30 p.m.

Earlier,Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Director Mark Gwyn said officers, acting on a tip, found the minivan at an Econo Lodge in Erlanger, Ky., one day after the killing and about 275 miles to the north along Interstate 75.

Authorities say career criminal George Hyatte fled in the minivan with his newlywed bride, Jennifer Hyatte, after she shot prison guard Wayne "Cotton" Morgan in a shootout on Tuesday. Morgan later died of his wounds.

Officers from the FBI, the U.S. Marshals Service and local agencies evacuated the Econo Lodge and raided the Hyattes' room about 6 p.m., Gwyn said.

"We believe the couple had been there, they had left minutes earlier, prior to the entry into the room," Gwyn said. "We believe George and Jennifer Hyatte are in the area."

Police raided room 111 at the Econo Lodge. Salesman Art Newman, 50, of Louisville, Ky., was in room 119 when authorities surrounded the motel.

"I looked out my window and saw nothing but officers," Newman told the Associated Press. "They surrounded the whole area in a matter of minutes."

Drew Abbott, the owner of a nearby restaurant, told the AP one of his employees ran into the couple in a convenience store earlier in the day. They were asking for directions to restaurants in nearby Florence, Abbott said the employee told him. Abbott said the employee told federal investigators the woman had a bandage on one arm and the couple appeared to be nervous.

Gwyn did not say what led authorities to raid the motel, which is near the Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky International Airport, nor would he divulge any evidence gathered in the room or the van.

"We feel like we're getting close, but we can't do anything that could jeopardize the capture of these two individuals," Gwyn said.

Authorities have been searching for Jennifer Hyatte, 31, accused of shooting Morgan as he and a partner escorted her husband, 34-year-old inmate George Hyatte, out of the courthouse following a hearing on a robbery charge about 10 a.m. Tuesday.

Until the discovery of the minivan, authorities had said they had received no credible evidence that would have narrowed the scope of the nationwide search.

Authorities believe at least one of the fugitives — likely Jennifer Hyatte — was wounded in the shootout

George Hyatte is from the Dayton area, about 40 miles south of Kingston, while Jennifer Hyatte's family is in Utah. Jennifer Hyatte lives in Hendersonville, Tenn., where she worked for a home health-care service as a licensed practical nurse. TBI spokeswoman Jennifer Johnson said the minivan had been stolen from one of her patients.

Authorities said the escape was well-planned. Officials noted the couple's use of multiple vehicles, the fact that Jennifer Hyatte brought a weapon and other unspecified information.

"They worked diligently on this escape," said Kingston Police Chief Jim Washam.

Authorities haven't formally charged anyone in Morgan's killing. George Hyatte has been charged with escape, while Jennifer Hyatte has been charged with helping him flee, Johnson said.

Federal warrants for unlawful flight to avoid prosecution also have been issued against the pair.

Officials urged caution if anyone sees the Hyattes. Johnson noted George Hyatte's extensive record of violent crime and that his wife "already has displayed what she's capable of" by shooting Morgan.

Morgan, 56, and Larry Harris, 53, were the veteran correction officers from the Brushy Mountain Correctional Complex in Morgan County who brought a shackled George Hyatte to this lakefront town of about 5,500 people about 35 miles west of Knoxville for a court appearance.

Hyatte was on hand Tuesday morning when her husband pleaded guilty to the July 5, 2002, robbery of Big E's Tobacco Shop in Rockwood, about 10 miles west of Kingston.

A little while later at about 10:15 a.m., Morgan and Harris brought Hyatte out of the north entrance of the courthouse. The prison van was halfway across the parking lot.

George Hyatte was chained at wrists, waist and feet. The officers carried side arms but, contrary to policy, weren't wearing bulletproof vests.

Jennifer Hyatte drove a navy Ford Explorer into the parking lot, authorities said, and, without leaving the seat, fired her pistol at the officers. Morgan went down before he could draw his revolver. Harris returned fire, but couldn't prevent the sport utility vehicle from leaving.

Lifestar medical helicopter took Morgan to University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville, where he died at 11:10 a.m.

Officers found the Explorer abandoned at a Subway sandwich shop, which is just north of the courthouse, and determined the Hyattes left town in the Chevy. Kingston resident Jody Tipton, who lives across from the rear entrance to the Subway parking lot, said he noticed the minivan parked there Monday evening.

Investigators believe an accomplice helped Jennifer Hyatte free her husband, one official said, because two vehicles were used in the escape. Gwyn said there was no indication anyone was with them at the Econo Lodge.

Police found a "substantial amount" of blood and other items in the Explorer, and evidence in a room at the nearby Comfort Inn where Jennifer Hyatte apparently spent two nights before the brazen escape.

"It's just a Bonnie-and-Clyde-style shootout," Gwyn said. "These people are very desperate. They have nothing to lose at this point. They've already committed a murder, so we're treating them as some of the most dangerous fugitives we've ever tried to capture."

Records show George Hyatte has a criminal record dating back to the mid-1980s. That record includes at least five other escapes. In 2002, he and another prisoner overpowered two Rhea County jailers using a makeshift knife fashioned from two toothbrushes and a razor blade. Florida authorities captured them two days later at a DUI checkpoint.

He was serving a 35-year sentence at the Riverbend maximum-security prison in Nashville for aggravated robbery and aggravated assault. In prison for the latest time since March 24, 2003, he was transferred to the Brushy Mountain Correctional Complex in Morgan County in July in preparation for the Roane County court appearance, Tennessee Department of Correction spokeswoman Amanda Sluss said.

Jennifer Hyatte is a former prison nurse who was fired from her contract job at Northwest Correctional Complex in Tiptonville on Aug. 27, 2004, Sluss said, because of her relationship with George Hyatte.

Law enforcement agencies across the country, including the FBI, U.S. Secret Service and the U.S. Marshals Service, were searching for the Hyattes.

Scott Barker may be reached at 865-342-6309.

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