A Cowlitz County man who fled to Colorado from Western State Hospital is expected to be returned to the county next week.

Steven Tafoya, who was found not guilty of second-degree theft by reason of insanity in December 2005, was on a furlough from the state mental hospital in Tacoma Aug. 18 when he disappeared, according to a letter from Western State officials to the Cowlitz County Superior Court.

Tafoya, 49, was later arrested on a warrant in Colorado Springs and is awaiting extradition back to Cowlitz County, according to the letter.

Tafoya, according to the Washington State Department of Corrections, was convicted of second-degree murder in 1989 and second-degree burglary and second-degree assault in 1998.

Cowlitz County Deputy Prosecutor Amie Hunt said Tafoya’s murder conviction does not stem from Cowlitz County, but she did not know where the crime took place. Western State officials declined to comment.

Hunt said furloughs are common for Western State inmates to reintroduce them to society before they are released “rather than just dumping them on the sidewalk.” Tafoya had day passes throughout August to visit shopping centers and downtown areas throughout the Puget Sound region. Hunt said the prosecutor’s office did not object to the furloughs.

She said she did not know why Tafoya took off for Colorado Springs, but she said he was traveling with his girlfriend. Western State’s letter to the court said Tafoya had left the hospital with a female patient.

Hunt said Tafoya is expected to be back in Cowlitz County Oct. 5.

Prosecutors, she said, will file a motion to bar him from taking future furloughs and revoke other privileges at the hospital. Tafoya is scheduled for release from the hospital in February.