The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said Thursday that $32,250 in reward money has been handed out to citizens who helped in the capture of escaped inmate Curtis Watson last month.
Watson escaped from the West Tennessee State Penitentiary and is accused of killing corrections worker Debra Johnson at her home on prison grounds on Aug. 7. Watson remained on the run until his arrest on Aug. 11.
Earlier that morning, a couple spotted Watson on a surveillance camera taking items from a refrigerator on their back porch and alerted authorities.
A woman later spotted Watson as she drove home on Sunday morning and called 911.
Watson was taken into custody around 11 a.m. when Tennessee Department of Correction and Tennessee Highway Patrol officers spotted him coming out of a soybean field about 750 feet from the Taylors’ home, which is located about 10 miles from the prison.
At the time of his capture, a reward of up to $57,000 was being offered for information about Watson’s whereabouts. More reward money will be available pending a conviction in the case.