Texas Escapees Back In Custody
Patrick Murphy, Donald Newbury Conduct Live Phone Interview
Slain Officer's Mother Reacts
Hear Witness Accounts At Hotel
Colorado Springs Residents React
Patrick Murphy Jr., a 39-year-old rapist, and Donald Newbury, a 38-year-old convicted robber, walked out of the hotel room where they had been holed up after about five hours of negotiations with police and an interview with a TV station.
"They had their say by telephone and then we had them back out of the room, shirtless, hands in the air, no weapons on them," FBI agent Mark Mershon said.
The men spoke for five minutes each, via telephone, with a Colorado Springs news anchor before giving themselves up at 3:45 a.m. They were handcuffed and put into separate patrol cars that slowly rolled out of the parking lot of the Holiday Inn.
They were taken to the police department, transferred to the El Paso County jail, also in Colorado Springs, and were expected to be arraigned Thursday. Their four surviving companions were held in a detention center in Teller County about 20 miles away.
"This episode is now closed and finalized," police Lt. Skip Arms said.
Convicts Speak Out
The two convicts agreed to give themselves up after the interviews, police said.
"I think they felt that they had some message that they wanted to convey," Arms said. "Since we showed a level of trust to them, they followed through and showed a level of trust and did follow through on their commitment.''
Newbury told the news anchor, Eric Singer, (pictured, right) that the Dec. 13 breakout was a statement against the judicial system in Texas.
"We had a statement to make that the system is as corrupt as we are. You going to do something about us, well, do something about that system too," he said.
The group of seven arrived in Colorado the last week in December, spending time in Pueblo, about 100 miles south of Denver, before renting a space for their motor home in the Coachlight Motel and RV Park in Woodland Park around Jan. 1.
"We had to drive out of the Texas snow storm that hit right at Christmas Eve in the Amarillo area and we had to drive through the blizzard for hours and literally, Colorado was just a random pick," Murphy said during his interview Wednesday.
They led the park manager and neighbors to believe that they were missionaries en route from Texas to California, while keeping as many as three dozen weapons, loaded and cocked, in the cramped motor home.
"We joked about it often, but it really was just by downplaying ourselves and changing our hair color and such,'' Murphy said. "We attempted to be as friendly and neighborly as we could."
Authorities believe Murphy and Newbury split from the other five men last weekend because they wanted to obtain more money.
The arrests brought to an end a frustrating multi-state hunt for the seven convicts, including murderers, rapists and armed robbers bluffed their way out of a maximum-security prison in Kenedy, Texas, southeast of San Antonio.
Dead Officer's Mother Reacts
Authorities have said that the men robbed an Irving, Texas, sporting goods store and killed Officer Aubrey Hawkins when he arrived. He was shot 11 times and run over by a vehicle. That heightened fears that the men would not surrender peacefully.
The officer's mother, Jayne Hawkins, (pictured, right) in a live telephone interview from Dallas with television stations KPRC in Houston and KMGH in Denver, said that the captures Wednesday morning brought her a sigh of relief.
"I'm very relieved and elated that they are all off the streets, and we can feel safe again," Hawkins said.
Hawkins said that she would like to see that prison escapes never happen again and that the flawed Texas prison system needs to be corrected.
Fugitives' Future
Dallas County prosecutors are working on the capital murder case against a group of Texas prison escapees and waiting for the next step in the extradition of six of the inmates from Colorado.
No one knows for certain when the men will be returned, or where in Texas they will be taken. But authorities say that they eventually will be in Dallas to face prosecutors, who plan to seek the death penalty in the murder of Irving police Officer Aubrey Hawkins.
On Tuesday, federal firearms charges were dismissed against the six in custody to expedite their transfer to Texas, where they are wanted in the slaying of Hawkins during a holdup at a sporting goods store 11 days after they escaped.
Given their activities after the breakout, officials don't expect to offer any plea deals despite their cooperation, officials said.
The suspects could be returned to Texas later this week if they waive extradition. If not, their transfer could take four to six weeks.
"That (death penalty) is what we're anticipating now," said Mike Carnes, an assistant district attorney in Dallas County, which is handling the extradition process.
The men are suspected in at least two other robberies elsewhere in Texas and could face more charges, but they likely will be brought to Dallas County first to face the capital murder charges.
The suspects probably will be kept in separate cells away from each other and with added security, officials said.
"We have complete confidence in the sheriff's office here ... to do what needs to be done," Carnes said.
Police Arrest Fugitives
Four of them were arrested peacefully Monday at a convenience store and at a motor home in nearby Woodland Park. A fifth killed himself in the motor home as authorities closed in.
After the four were arrested Monday, police and FBI agents began to close the net around Murphy and Newbury.
They found the two missing fugitives' van abandoned Tuesday morning in a motel parking lot two blocks from the Holiday Inn where they were captured Wednesday. Since no vehicles had been reported stolen, officers went door to door in the area in search of the men.
They received a tip that the two were at the Holiday Inn and surrounded the hotel, opening negotiations via telephone at about 10 p.m.
At a convenience store, authorities arrested suspected ringleader George Rivas, 30, serving a life sentence for aggravated robbery and kidnapping; and Michael Rodriguez, 38, and Joseph Garcia, 29, both murderers.
At the same time, authorities surrounded the fugitives' motor home. Randy Halprin, 23, who had been serving time for beating an infant, surrendered a short time later at the motor home. Larry Harper, 37, convicted of aggravated sexual assault, shot himself to death inside the motor home.
Murphy had been serving 50 years for aggravated sexual assault with a deadly weapon. Newbury was sentenced to 99 years for robbing a woman at a hotel in 1997 with a sawed-off shotgun.
It was a weekend airing of the prison escapees' story on the television show "America's Most Wanted" that finally broke the case for authorities.
A $500,000 reward had been offered for information leading to the conviction of the officer's killer, but there was no immediate word on how or when that money might be distributed.
The show prompted several tips from residents that the fugitives may be in Woodland Park, a bedroom community of about 8,000 15 miles northwest of Colorado Springs.
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