No one had ever escaped from maximum-security portion of the prison since it was built in 1865. Until this weekend. History was made that I think will be remembered just like the Escape from Alcatraz.
I know these two are dangerous felons. Convicted murders. But, its hard not to admire such ingenuity and determination. The indomitable power of the human spirit should never be under estimated.
Quite similar to the famous escape from Alcatraz. Dummies in the bed to fool the head count. Tools used to cut through obstacles. The Alcatraz guys put up canvas to hide what they were doing on top of a cell block. The warden was told it was because of painting the cellblocks.
Its unlikely these two can melt away into society and are never heard from again. Much like the cons from Alcatraz. But damn, that would cement the legend. Wouldn’t it? Just vanish without a trace.
I do hope they don’t injure anybody while they are free. They are considered very dangerous.
So, who will be cast to play them in the movie? Theres no doubt in my mind one is already being pitched in Hollywood.
A newer reference is The Shawshank Redemption. I should have mentioned that movie for the youngsters at the SDMB.
Same display of ingenuity and determination to beat the system. Stick it to the Man. Hard not to root for these guys.
DB Cooper may have died jumping from a plane that night, but theres never been any proof of it. He and the money vanished. He may be reading this post right now. He’ll be remembered for a long, long time…
I prefer Richard Pryor’s take on the subject. He had an attitude similar to yours. But then he filmed a movie set in a prison and had a chance to meet some of the people who were serving prison sentences and get to know them. His response? “Thank God we got penitentiaries”
They already did “stick it to the man.” One killed a deputy sheriff, shooting him 22 times. The other killed and dismembered a man in New York State and then stabbed another man to death during a robbery when he was hiding out in Mexico.
They’ll be recaptured soon. There’s no place to hide in todays world full of surveillance cameras everywhere. Or someone will see them at Wendys and take a photo with their phone. It’ll be on Instagram and Twitter in seconds.
People have mythologized bigger than life characters that do audacious things since even before Robin Hood and Jesse James. Bonnie & Clyde, Pretty Boy Floyd, and Dillinger got famous for their over the top exploits. These people are stone cold killers but their life stories are still very compelling. Sells a lot of newspapers as they used to say. Clint Eastwood even starred in the Escape from Alcatraz movie.
I wouldn’t want to meet any of these people. I know how dangerous they are. Their bigger than life crimes and lives are still interesting.
More information. They must have been slipping out of their cells for weeks to do this work and scouting a way through those service tunnels. Living as night shift workers and prisoners by day. We never had a prison break this elaborate since Alcatraz .
Before The Shawshank Redemption and Escape From Alcatraz there was Le Trou (1960), which may have established the genre, right down to the dummies in bed to fool the headcount.
Maybe they’ll send postcards to their prison buddies like Cool Hand Luke. He got recaptured later and eventually killed. Gaining freedom from this life at the end.
Just to clarify, I appreciate the ingenuity of the planning and execution of the prison escape. The tenacity and desperation to find a way out of maximum security is incredible. My jaw dropped when I saw what they accomplished. Cutting multiple holes through steel and brick. Then navigating that maze to a manhole cover away from prison. People will be talking about this escape for decades to come just like Alcatraz. There’s still a lot of unanswered questions about where the tools came from.
I do not in any way support them as criminals. They are convicted murderers and are very dangerous. I said that in my OP and am repeating it. The sooner they are locked back up the better. Preferably without access to power tools.
Another historical reference is The Great Escape during WWII. POW’s spent months tunneling, making clothing and travel documents for a mass escape from Stalag Luft III. Most of the POW’s were recaptured and executed. It doesn’t change what they accomplished in those months of work and planning.
Bonnie & Clyde killed a cop too. They are still part of America’s mythology lore. Books and movies are made about them. Primarily because of the star crossed lovers theme.
I have no problem acknowledging something extraordinary and memorable done by criminals. What they did in this one instance and what crimes they’ve committed are two entirely separate things. I respect how they pulled off the prison break. I have no respect for the terrible murders they were convicted of committing.
No different than the Great Train Robbery in England. A remarkable and memorable crime, but terrible too. Those criminals were brought to justice and so will these escaped prisoners from NY.
Any speculation about how they acquired power tools? One article in the New York Times suggested they might have come from construction in the prison. But if one of the construction workers was missing tools, he/she should have said so. It seems a major fuck-up.
And then I understand that the Mount St. Helens’ eruption basically buried in ash the likely drop-off area, destroying whatever evidence might have been there…
History was made that I think will be remembered just like the Escape from Alcatraz.