Edward Benge, 43, escaped from the Colorado Mental Health Institute in Pueblo on Saturday night. He had been allowed to walk unguarded around the grounds, which aren't fenced, said hospital spokeswoman Eunice Wolther.
``He was felt to be a low risk,'' she said.
According to hospital records, Benge set fire to a Colorado Springs bar in March 1990 after he had been beaten and thrown out for his behavior. A man who was sleeping in a boarding house above the bar died in the blaze.
He later admitted faking symptoms of mental illness, such as seeing monsters and hearing voices ordering him to burn the building.
In May 1997, he escaped from the hospital and fled to Des Moines, Iowa where he found work. He was arrested six months later.
He told The Denver Post that he escaped then because he was sane.
``If you are sent to the state hospital - they are supposed to release you to the community'' if you are not legally insane, Benge said. ``I don't have a mental illness and I don't belong in this facility.''
His medical records, which were provided to the newspaper at his request, show that his symptoms disappeared after he was committed to the hospital.
