McCluskey, Welch bond set at $1 million

ST. JOHNS, Ariz. (KRQE) - John McCluskey and Casslyn Welch, on the lam for three weeks and suspected of murder in New Mexico, made their first court appearance in Arizona Friday afternoon.

The escaped con and his fiancée went before a judge in St. Johns, Ariz., not too far from where they were captured at a remote mountain campground Thursday night.

McCluskey is charged with kidnapping, escape, armed robbery, aggravated assault and misconduct with weapons.

Welch faces almost the same laundry list of charges.

Specifics about all the crimes have not yet been released.

The judge set their bonds at a million dollars and sent them back to Mohave County on the other side of the state where the prison break occurred.

McCluskey, Welch and Tracy Province, another of the escapees, have been linked forensically to the murders of an Oklahoma couple whose bodies were found in New Mexico.

They have not yet been charged with those murders.

Santa Rosa District Attorney Richard Flores said today that investigation is complicated and is moving forward at what he called deliberate speed.