The 61-year-old had been sentenced to three years in prison for abetting tax evasion by the court in Kleve, North Rhine-Westphalia.
He is also suspected of of murder and robbery in December 2012, police said in a statement.
But before the judge could deliver his reasons for the tax-dodging sentence, the man asked to go to the toilet and complained of diarrhea, the Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger reported.
He then climbed out of the window on the second floor, used scaffolding to get to ground level and ran off, police in Kleve said.
But he was caught on Friday after a petrol station worker recognized him and called the police.
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