McCracken jail escapee found after seven weeks under sink

March 2, 2005

Staff report

SMITHLAND, Ky.--You've heard of police finding fugitives hiding under beds or in closets. How about in the cabinet under the bathroom sink?

That's where Livingston County Deputy Sheriff Robert Johnson and Kentucky State Police Trooper Harvey Baxter found Joe Rupcke, 23, of Smithland, who had escaped Jan. 12 from the McCracken County Regional Jail.

"He's a little guy, maybe 5-feet-8, 5-10, and about 130 pounds," Johnson said Tuesday evening after he and Baxter visited Rupcke's father's house on Jim Wilson Loop around 5:30 p.m. "He stuffed himself in there pretty well, but a little pepper spray and there was no problem getting him out."

Johnson and Baxter acted on a tip from McCracken deputies about Rupcke's whereabouts around 4:30 p.m. Rupcke was taken to the Livingston County Jail in Smithland and then transferred back to Paducah.

Rupcke had served 113 days of a 365-day sentence for second-degree assault and contempt of court when he ran out the back door of the jail while taking out the garbage.

McCracken Jailer Cliff Gill said a charge of second-degree escape was added to Rupcke's list.