A CONVICTED killer who escaped from an Arizona prison said after his capture that he had planned to overdose on heroin at Yellowstone National Park and let bears eat him to end the fear and panic he was experiencing on his escape.

A fugitive couple who sparked a nationwide US manhunt were captured at an Arizona campground after a forest ranger spotted them and their stolen vehicle hidden in the trees.

Police were using helicopters and dogs to search for three convicted murderers who escaped from a northwest Arizona prison, kidnapped two semi-truck drivers at gunpoint and used the big rig to flee.