Pennsylvania jail escapee suspected of killing woman: police

(Reuters) - Pennsylvania police searched on Friday for an escaped jail inmate suspected of killing a woman just hours after going on the run, authorities said.

Robert Crissman, 38, escaped from Armstrong County jail, about 40 miles (60 km) northeast of Pittsburgh, early Thursday morning while helping serve meals to other inmates, law enforcement officials said.

He told jail officials he was getting more meals from a truck outside when he disappeared, the Armstrong County Sheriff's Office said.

Crissman was dressed in his green jail jumpsuit when he fled, and is now a suspect in a nearby homicide, Pennsylvania State Police said.

According to the Pittsburgh-Post Gazette, after Crissman escaped, he went to the home of a couple he knew, but who did not know that he had been in jail.

After the male occupant left for work, Crissman is suspected of killing a 55-year-old woman inside the home, the newspaper said, citing a state trooper and the sheriff. It said the woman's body was found in the bathroom.

Pittsburgh broadcaster WPXI reported that the victim let Crissman into the house to use the phone and was also going to allow him to borrow her truck.

Crissman had been jailed on a non-violent drug offense, the station said.

(Reporting by Victoria Cavaliere in Los Angeles)