Texas 7 Escape Report Critical Of Jailers
State Pinpoints Reasons For Massive Escape
The seven convicts who escaped from a Texas prison systematically overpowered prison guards and staff over a two-and-a-half-hour period, eventually driving out the rear exit unchallenged in a prison vehicle, according to a report released Thursday.
"I have a broken nose and a separated shoulder," one of the prison guards, who was held hostage, said. "They can keep their damn job. It's not worth it."
The prison guard, who had a knife held to his neck, said that he was disgusted with the investigation.
The convicts, who escaped Dec. 13 from the Connally Unit about 60 miles southeast of San Antonio, are charged in the Christmas Eve slaying of an Irving police officer and are still on the loose.
In an hourlong report, Johnson, director of the institutional division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, outlined the events of the escape in which the inmates overpowered about a dozen employees and guards and several inmates and stole weapons and ammunition.
"In retrospect, the events fit together like a puzzle. We just didn't fit them together fast enough to keep the offenders from escaping," Johnson said.
Here's a look at the review released in Austin by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice director Gary Johnson:
- The seven convicts systematically overpowered prison guards and staff over a two-and-a-half hour period, eventually driving out the rear exit unchallenged in a prison vehicle.
- Johnson called Warden Tim Keith "a good warden," but acknowledged that he may face disciplinary action.
- Johnson also said that the prison's "snitch system," where inmates inform on each other, also failed.
- The escape was not a quick strike, but instead took place around the lunch hour as the inmates subdued their guards and maintenance employees practically one by one. The hostages were bound in duct tape, had pillowcases placed over their heads and were dragged into a storage room.
- The report notes at least two security lapses:
- A prison employee who noticed several of the unsupervised inmates in the maintenance area did not report it as suspicious.
- Several of the hostages managed to free themselves and pull a fire alarm. But the prison official who called the maintenance area and did not get an answer didn't send anyone to investigate.
- A prison employee who noticed several of the unsupervised inmates in the maintenance area did not report it as suspicious.
- Johnson also said that there's no evidence that a staffing shortage had any effect on the breakout.
The prison guards' union has reported that during the shift of the escape, the prison was 22 staffers short.
"We don't have any secrets, and we're not hiding anything. We want to be as candid as we possibly can,'' TDCJ spokesman Larry Todd said. "The report certainly points out some flaws that will be corrected, be it human error or a communications fault.''
Escapees' Trail
The gang broke out of prison by overpowering 10 civilian workers, a guard and a supervisor in the maintenance shop where they worked. They stole work clothing, a pickup truck and firearms.
"You haven't heard the last of us yet,'' warned one note left behind by one of the convicts.
Other letters left behind by three of the convicts complained of the "tyranny of the Texas prison system" and called for a revolution, law officers told The Dallas Morning News in Thursday's editions.
At least one of the notes left by Randy Halprin, Patrick Murphy and Donald Newbury reportedly said, "Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose," quoting the song "Me and Bobby McGee.''
The seven are charged in the Christmas Eve shooting death of police officer Aubrey Hawkins during a holdup at a sporting goods store in Irving at which the bandits dressed as security officers. A gun taken from the prison was found at the store, police said.
Since that robbery, alleged sightings of the escaped convicts have been reported throughout Texas. "America's Most Wanted'' has featured the search on its program.
Although a $200,000 bounty is now offered for the fugitives' capture and conviction, the Irving City Council wants to increase that reward to $500,000 soon, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
The fugitives could be getting help from organized prison gangs such as the Mexican Mafia or Texas Syndicate in avoiding capture, said Terry Pelz, a former prison warden who is now a Missouri City, Texas, criminal justice consultant.
The Texas 7
- George Rivas, 30, serving 99 years for aggravated kidnapping and burglary. He and two other men robbed an Oshman's in El Paso in April 1993. The robbers forced the employees to handcuff themselves and then escaped with money. More than a month later, they robbed a Toys "R" Us but were caught while trying to escape.
- Randy Halprin, 23, serving 30 years for injury to a child, beat up a baby. He had met the mother in an Arlington homeless shelter in July 1996 and moved in with the family. A month later, while the mother and two other children were playing in a different room, Halprin repeatedly beat the infant because, he later said, the baby would not stop crying. When the child was taken to the hospital the next day, doctors discovered broken arms, legs and a fractured skull.
- Michael Rodriguez, 38, serving a life sentence for capital murder in San Antonio, was convicted of paying another man $2,000 to kill his wife so he could collect $400,000 in life insurance. Rodriguez's wife was shot in the head in July 1992 after she and her husband came home from a movie. She died on the floor of their garage.
- Larry Harper, 37, serving 50 years for aggravated sexual assault in El Paso, raped three women over six months in 1993 and 1994. Each time, he surprised the women at their home, tied them up and repeatedly assaulted them. Harper's victims lived near the University of Texas at El Paso, where he attended marketing classes between 1986 and 1994. Officials said they doubt that Harper is a ringleader because he is easily swayed by stronger personalities.
- Patrick Murphy Jr., 39, serving 50 years for aggravated sexual assault with a deadly weapon in Dallas. The Dallas native entered the home of a 23-year-old woman whom he had known since high school and put a knife to her throat. Murphy then covered the victim's head with a pillowcase, cut off her nightgown and raped her, court records show. Three days before the crime, Murphy pleaded guilty to a burglary charge.
- Donald Newbury, 38, serving 99 years for aggravated robbery, robbed a woman at an Austin hotel in 1997. He was armed with a sawed-off shotgun. Newbury is a three-time felon whose first armed robbery conviction came in 1981. He was convicted of armed robbery again in 1987, and was suspected in about a dozen other armed robberies in the Austin area in 1986 and 1987.
- Joseph Garcia, 29, serving 50 years for murder in San Antonio. He stabbed Miguel Luna to death after the two men had a frustrating drive together and Luna gave bad directions. When Garcia stopped the car, Luna attacked him and grabbed his keys. Garcia chased Luna, jumped on him and stabbed him 19 times. Garcia said he acted in self-defense.
Prison Security
Security at state prisons has been stepped up since the breakout. Prison officials at the Huntsville Unit where executions are conducted have begun requiring prison employees to show photo identification.
But Todd, the prison system spokesman, said that events leading to the Connally Unit escape were unusual and would not be repeated at other prisons.
"We don't think this is a systemic problem," he said.
Thursday's report may not be the final examination of the escape. Acting Lt. Gov. Bill Ratliff has urged the Senate Criminal Justice Committee to investigate.
The breakout also has some lawmakers urging that prison guard pay be boosted.
Rep. Judy Hawley, D-Portland, Texas, who represents the district southeast of San Antonio where the prison is located, said that ultimately the breakout occurred because legislators have not sufficiently funded prison security and guard training. She wants to increase guard pay.
"If we were where we need to be," she said, "something like that would not have happened."
Sen. Carlos Truan, D-Corpus Christi, Texas, who represents the Kenedy area, said that he supports prison guard pay raises to help reduce turnover.
Starting pay for a prison guard is about $18,000 in Texas, the 43rd lowest level in the country, said Brian Olsen, executive director of a prison employee council within the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.
A "reclassification" last year boosted veteran officers' pay to slightly more than $28,000, compared with the national average of about $34,000, Olsen said.
The 2002-2003 proposed state budget unveiled Wednesday includes $42 million for prison guard pay raises promised last summer, but does not include any new money for additional raises or staff.
There are 23,622 guards working in the Texas prison system, the nation's largest. A total of 2,595 positions are open. Those figures are as of Dec. 31 and don't include supervisory officers.
Escape Report Recommendations
- Revise gate procedures posted at the Connally Unit to more specifically address rules requiring identification at gates and pickets.
- Ensure that vehicles are inside the prison compound only as long as necessary for a specific job.
- Make sure all prison employees are aware of their responsibility to alert security staff if they notice unsupervised inmates.
- Ensure that only prison employees or authorized inmates have access to tool rooms.
- Make sure picket officers immediately notify a security supervisor of a fire alarm.
- Review the feasibility of discontinuing outside calling capabilities to telephones in areas frequented by inmates.
- Review policies governing inmate movement in prison compound.
Slain Officer's Mother Has Harsh Words
Jayne Hawkins, the mother of slain police officer Hawkins, was in Austin Thursday demanding answers from the TDCJ board and prison officials about why her son died.
"I should hope that you would be terribly embarrassed," Jayne Hawkins said to the committee. "If I were looking at those criminals who did this to my child, I would look at you the same way because you are as much at fault as they are."
Jayne Hawkins placed responsibility for the escape and her son's death on state officials.
"Rather than use the words fault and blame, use the words accountability and responsibility so that we can move forward to a positive change," Jayne Hawkins said.
Jayne Hawkins said that she's insulted when prison officials say that a corrections officer failed to follow procedure. She said that there should have been two officers in the tower, but chronic staffing problems left it short.
"There are things in the newspapers, such as 'We're not certain we have anything to learn from this escape,'" Jayne Hawkins said. "That is so ludicrous. I should think there should be embarrassment on all your faces."
Even though Hawkins is dead, he still has a mother who said that she won't stop fighting until prisons are made more secure.
"I don't tout the psychopaths as being particularly intelligent," Jayne Hawkins told News2Houston. "They're just aware, more aware than the officials are."
Jayne Hawkins said that she plans to file a lawsuit. She said that she doesn't want money, just justice for her son who dedicated his life to justice.
