April 28, 1999
Web posted at: 2:54 a.m. EDT (0654 GMT)

LUBBOCK, Texas (CNN) -- Two inmates at a state prison mental hospital, one a convicted murderer, held a nurse hostage for more than seven hours Tuesday before releasing her and giving up.

Julius Grulkey, 27, and Curtis Joseph Robertson, 23, barricaded themselves in a file room with nurse Sydney Job after fighting off and injuring two correctional officers.

Glen Castlebury, a spokesman for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, told CNN that one of the guards was attempting to move the inmates in a housing area Tuesday morning when the prisoners cut him with homemade knives, known as "shanks" in prison. The other guard was overpowered when he came to his aid.

Job was released about 7:35 p.m. CDT, and the inmates gave up without a fight less than an hour later, said TCDJ spokesman Larry Todd. Neither the nurse nor the inmates were injured, he said. The two corrections officers were treated and released.

Robertson began serving a life term six years ago for raping and killing an 86-year-old woman when he was 17 years old.

Grulkey has been behind bars since 1992, serving a 20-year sentence for robbery.