Convicted killer Phillip Westwater was recaptured after escaping form a secure hospital in Gosforth, Newcastle, police said.
Westwater, nicknamed the “Black Dog Strangler”, escaped from St Nicholas Hospital at around 10.00am after asking to use the toilet.
Northumbria Police later said a member of the public had located the missing man after seeing his photograph.
A spokeswoman said: “The missing man has been located safe and well in the Newcastle area.
“Officers will be taking him back to the secure unit at St Nicholas’s Hospital.
“A call was made by a member of the public who contacted police after recognising a photo of Phillip.”
The 44-year-old was detained indefinitely following a pub fight in 1989, and was later found guilty of strangling fellow patient Derek Williams, whom he believed had turned into a black dog.
Escaped strangler captured: police
