Employee On Paid Leave After Murder Suspect's Mistaken Release

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- A Maryland Department of Corrections employee is now suspended with pay after a murder suspect was mistakenly released from prison this weekend.

Derek Valcourt has more on the search for the suspect and the investigation into how he was released.

Officials aren't saying who that employee is or what he or she did wrong.

That wanted murder suspect is still on the loose.

Rodriguez Purnell was serving a prison sentence for assaulting a corrections trial and waiting to go on trial for the March 2013 murder of Terrence Rheubottom---until Friday, when Maryland's Department of Corrections says Purnell was mistakenly released.

"Was it a mistake or was it on purpose?" said Delegate John Cluster. "That's what we need to get to the bottom of."

Cluster is now demanding answers, calling for state police to conduct their own independent investigation into what went wrong---even as corrections officials place one employee on paid leave as a result of what they call "a lapse in release procedures."

They promise a full investigation to examine "...whether this was simply the result of one employee's failure to adhere to established policies."

Purnell was released Friday. No one at the prison realized the problem until Sunday, when his alleged victim's family called to report he'd been spotted on the streets.

"Aren't we doing bed checks? Aren't we checking to see if these people are they, if they are supposed to be in our custody?" Cluster said.

Purnell's first trial on the murder charge ended in a hung jury. He was set for a retrial. Many are worried with his release, there's a possibility of witness intimidation and even retaliation.

"There ain't no way in the world you can just let somebody slip out of your hands like that," said Terrell Rheubottom, the murder victim's brother.

Rheubottom is furious that authorities somehow let his brother's accused killer out of jail.

"But I pray to God they catch him before the streets do," he said.

Top leaders in the Department of Public Safety, including the secretary, are leading the investigation into what went wrong. They say they'll be looking at whether policies need to be changed, in addition to whether employees made mistakes.

Anyone with information on Purnell's whereabouts is urged to call police or 911 immediately.

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