"We'd like to maintain custody of them," Utah Department of Corrections director Tom Patterson told the Deseret Morning News in an interview outside the jail here.

Gallegos was taken by medical helicopter to University Hospital in Salt Lake City where he was reported today to be in critical but stable condition, Blust said.

"We're glad both of them are in custody," said Jim Thompson, chief deputy of the Marshal's Office's Utah District. "These are two people who needed to be back behind bars."

Gallegos and Diaz-Arevalo, both murderers sentenced to the Utah State Prison, escaped last Sunday from the Daggett County Jail, where they were incarcerated as part of a contract with the prison.

The fugitives' capture late Saturday came shortly after the TV show "America's Most Wanted" aired a clip about their escape.

The manhunt involved the Utah Department of Corrections, Daggett County Sheriff's Office, U.S. Marshal's Office, U.S. Forest Service, Wyoming law enforcement and other agencies, and included ground searches, interviews and surveillance in Utah, Wyoming, Colorado and New Mexico, Thompson said. Other steps included requesting border watches in the event the pair tried to slip into Mexico.

The Department of Corrections and the Marshal's Office had offered a $10,000 reward per fugitive, or $20,000 combined, for information leading to an arrest.

Interviews with jail inmates indicated the two men had been planning an escape for several weeks and seized the opportunity when it presented itself. It would appear there were no advance plans for anyone to pick them up, Supervisory U.S. Marshal Jim Phelps said.

Before the capture, Phelps said Danny Gallegos is familiar with the outdoors and could handle being at large in the wilderness.

"He was raised in a ranching environment, spent a lot of time in the mountains and would be capable of sustaining himself in the wilderness for some time," Phelps said.

Diaz-Arevalo, on the other hand, was a city kid.

Phelps said his agency and Department of Corrections investigators have "a great relationship" and have worked together successfully in other emergencies, most notably the apprehension of Curtis Michael Allgier in Salt Lake City on June 25.

Prosecutors say Allgier, who had been transported from the prison to a hospital for tests, grabbed the gun of corrections officer Stephen Anderson, fatally shot him, stole a car and led police on a wild chase until he was taken into custody at a fast food restaurant where Allgier had threatened patrons and workers.