A 30-year-old man accused of murdering his ex-wife is also facing a charge that he tried to escape from the Ward County Jail last month.

According to a probable cause affidavit filed with the court, Richie Edwin Wilder Jr. used the metal piece from a broom head to chisel away the molding from a window in his cell on Aug. 25. A correctional officer spotted Wilder chiseling at the window in cell C-149 when he was monitoring cameras in the facility. Wilder was then seen on camera disposing of the pieces of the window molding in the toilet in his cell. Another inmate, Travis Mason, was seen watching the door for anyone approaching.

Correctional officers searched the cell and found the metal piece from the broom head wrapped in a blanket in Wilder’s cell. They also found that his mattress had been cut open. Concealed inside it were a broom handle, broken in two, sheets tied together to form a rope and a metal piece sharpened at one end.

Wilder is charged with escape, a Class C felony, and possessing a weapon in a correctional facility, a Class B felony. If convicted of both charges, he faces up to 15 years in prison.

Wilder is already facing a life sentence without parole if he is convicted of murdering his ex-wife, Angila Wilder, on Nov. 13, 2015.

Angila Wilder, 30, a nursing student at Minot State University, was found dead in her home at 519 16th Street NW. She was the mother of three children. All documents in the case have been sealed.

Wilder has pleaded not guilty to murder and is set to go on trial on Dec. 12. A preliminary hearing on the escape charge for Wilder is set for Oct. 6.

Mason, 37, Lolo, Mont., pleaded guilty Wednesday to being an accomplice to escape. He was sentenced to a year in jail, with all time suspended except for the 55 days he has already served, and placed on supervised probation for two years. If he successfully completes probation, the offense will appear on his record as a Class A misdemeanor instead of as a Class C felony.