ELLENVILLE � Richard Giga, the murder suspect who was at large in the Wawarsing area last Wednesday, confessed during questioning, according to Senior Investigator Joseph Auriemma of the state police. Auriemma testified in the Town of Wawarsing Court this past Wednesday that Giga had made the statement during a videotaped interview at Kingston Hospital where he was undergoing treatment.

New details have also emerged as to exactly how Giga was caught by police, after a more than fifteen hour manhunt.

And it was a phone call made from an unoccupied house that led police to Giga's location, according to police. Giga had been hiding out in the home after having broken into several others. He was apparently looking for a working phone, according to reports.

Giga was a patient at the Renaissance Project, LLC, a drug rehab center in Ulster Heights, when last Wednesday morning he stabbed and killed a security guard by the name of Leland C. Wood, 60, of Napanoch. Giga later carjacked a vehicle owned by a nurse at the facility, identified as Keri Reynolds, 35, of Ellenville, forcing her to drive him toward Ellenville before he stabbed her several times causing her to lose control and crash the vehicle.

An alert passerby, identified as Guy Churchill, 40, of Ellenville, stopped to help Reynolds, taking her to Ellenville Regional Hospital, after which she was transported to St. Francis Hospital in Poughkeepsie where she was treated for her injuries. She is now recovering.

Giga, it turns out, was injured in the crash, which possibly limited his mobility. Police, however, did not release details of Giga's injuries. He was eventually captured just 500-or-so feet from his last known location, despite the fact that helicopters, ATVs and search dogs had been brought in to scour the area.

Giga was arraigned in the Town of Wawarsing Court on Wednesday, October 13. He has been charged with second degree murder and will likely face other charges.