SAN DIEGO -- The trial of an accused child killer who escaped from custody at the downtown courthouse before being recaptured three and a half hours later will go forward as scheduled on Friday, a judge ruled Tuesday.

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Richard Tuite, 34, is charged with murder for the Jan, 20, 1998, stabbing death of 12-year-old Stephanie Crowe in her rural Escondido home.

Tuite slipped his handcuffs and walked out of the main entrance of the County Courthouse Monday, just hours after jury selection in his case began.

The defendant was recaptured about 4:20 p.m. at a phone booth in Clairemont.

Judge Frederic Link met privately with Tuite's attorney and prosecutors from the Attorney General's Office for about 90 minutes.

"We are proceeding with jury selection this Friday," Link said. "This case will not be continued."

The judge said jurors prescreened Monday for a trial of 2 1/2 to four months will fill out an additional page of questions when they return to court Friday.

Link said he hopes to select a jury by next Monday or Tuesday. Opening statements are expected to take two days.

Tuite appeared calm but somewhat bewildered Tuesday as he talked with defense attorney Brad Patton.

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His feet and hands were shackled as he was moved to and from a holding cell to Link's court, but the chains were taken off during the court proceeding.

Tuite was dressed in a tan shirt, dark slacks, white socks and tan slippers. He did not speak during the five-minute hearing in open court.

Meantime, an investigation began into how Tuite slipped his handcuffs and escaped.

The defendant apparently rode a city bus to the Clairemont area, where a citizen spotted him near a phone booth and called authorities.

Chris Saunders said sheriff investigators want to find out how Tuite was able to get out of his handcuffs in a courtroom holding area without a deputy seeing him.

The probe is "being done in tandem with the Court Services Bureau, Jail Investigations and an administrative panel," Saunders said.

Monday, Sheriff Bill Kolender said he was "embarrassed" by the escape and said he would "fix" whatever problems existed in courtroom security.

Tuite was eating lunch about 12:50 p.m. when he asked a deputy to switch his handcuffs from one hand to another, Kolender said.

No one saw Tuite walk from the holding area out of the courthouse, the sheriff said.

A dragnet was set up from downtown, to Balboa Park and throughout San Diego, until Tuite was taken back into custody at 4:42 p.m. near an office of the Automobile Club of Southern California, near Clairemont Square.

Tuite, a transient and diagnosed schizophrenic, has a history of walking away from halfway houses and custody situations.

Link ruled last year that Tuite was mentally competent to stand trial.

Pretrial motions are scheduled Friday afternoon, said Senior Assistant Attorney General Gary Schons.