# 56 years later they caught him! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 5, 2015, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/56-years-later-they-caught-him/719338 "2015-05-05T20:30:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2015, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/56-years-later-they-caught-him/719338/1 "2015-05-05T20:30:28Z")
> **[‘Shawshank’ inmate arrested in Melbourne after 1959 escape](https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2015/05/06/shawshank-inmate-arrested-in-melbourne-after-1959-escape/)** > > When Frank Freshwaters escaped from an Ohio prison in 1959, Dwight D. Eisenhower was president, and Fidel Castro had taken power in Cuba. By the time deputy sheriffs in West Virginia found Freshwat… A 23 year old man escaped from an Ohio prison in 1959. He was recently found living in Melbourne, FL. He had served 7 months of 20 year sentence when he escaped. He is 79 currently. He will be extradited back to Ohio. ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2015, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/56-years-later-they-caught-him/719338/2 "2015-05-05T20:57:17Z")
Did he kill anyone in the interim? Seems a shame to give him free room and board for the rest of his life at this point. A more fitting punishment would be to send him back to live out his days in a Florida trailer park. ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2015, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/56-years-later-they-caught-him/719338/3 "2015-05-05T21:11:16Z")
I have no comment on this story, but I’m impressed by the “related headlines” at the bottom of the feed: “Pictures: Crimes That Shocked Florida” “2015 Central Florida Homicides Map” “Orange County Jail Mug Shots: Updated Daily” “Pictures: Missing and Slain Florida Children” “Pictures: A Sampling of Florida’s Death Row” That _Orlando Sentinel_ is one badass newspaper. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2015, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/56-years-later-they-caught-him/719338/4 "2015-05-05T21:26:46Z")
Too much is left out of the story. I tend to take this as a great job on his part exposing the flaws in our revenge based system and it’s way of preventing reform and the moral right to escape. In a way sweet justice as he got to live his life yet the state will have to pay for his retirement, with the possibility he will be a legend in prison and highly regarded and he will love this. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2015, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/56-years-later-they-caught-him/719338/5 "2015-05-05T23:19:23Z")
He was speeding and killed a pedestrian with his car. Back to jail with him! And this time no honor farm, make sure there’s a good lock on his cell. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2015, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/56-years-later-they-caught-him/719338/6 "2015-05-05T23:49:57Z")
I think living 56 years in hiding is punishment enough for the particular crime he committed. And he doesn’t seem to be a threat to society. What would it really accomplish to lock him up at this point? ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2015, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/56-years-later-they-caught-him/719338/7 "2015-05-05T23:51:12Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > I think living 56 years in hiding is punishment enough for the particular crime he committed. And he doesn’t seem to be a threat to society. What would it really accomplish to lock him up at this point? Justice for the family of the dead man. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2015, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/56-years-later-they-caught-him/719338/8 "2015-05-05T23:57:26Z")
Given that he killed somebody through reckless negligence, I’m not inclined to cut him any slack. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2015, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/56-years-later-they-caught-him/719338/9 "2015-05-06T00:05:56Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > Justice for the family of the dead man. Not trying to be snarky, but does punishment to the killer = “justice” to the family of the dead man? I guess, despite my adult life in the justice system, I’m not sure what the connection is between justice and punishment. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Joker\_and\_the\_Thief](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e79b87/32.png) [@The\_Joker\_and\_the\_Thief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Joker_and_the_Thief)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2015, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/56-years-later-they-caught-him/719338/10 "2015-05-06T00:53:21Z")
> [@kanicbird](#): > > Too much is left out of the story. I tend to take this as a great job on his part exposing the flaws in our revenge based system and it’s way of preventing reform and the moral right to escape. In a way sweet justice as he got to live his life yet the state will have to pay for his retirement, with the possibility he will be a legend in prison and highly regarded and he will love this. You don’t have a ‘moral right to escape’ any more than you have a moral right to break laws you don’t like. From where does this right to escape stem? From the constitution, pure logic, or a religious work, perhaps? But of course, it doesn’t have any actual origins or logic behind it, since it’s a mere rhetorical tool used for arguing. Of course our justice system is based on revenge–the very origins of courts and punishments were an attempt to minimize conflict and destruction by creating a system that legitimized the innate human desire for vengeance. I don’t possibly see how anyone was served justice, defined in my dictionary as “the quality of being fair and reasonable”, when somebody who willfully broke society’s duly enacted laws lived a life of freedom and happiness. Let’s hope his remaining years are spent especially sickly and miserably. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2015, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/56-years-later-they-caught-him/719338/11 "2015-05-06T01:02:22Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > Not trying to be snarky, but does punishment to the killer = “justice” to the family of the dead man? I guess, despite my adult life in the justice system, I’m not sure what the connection is between justice and punishment. Perhaps I’m being judgemental because last September a negligent driver killed my father. He’s walking around free and clear, and has not even, to my knowledge, been charged with a crime. His insurance will be dinged, that’s all, while my mother is a widow and ny nephews will never again see their beloved grandfather. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2015, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/56-years-later-they-caught-him/719338/12 "2015-05-06T03:36:48Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > Justice for the family of the dead man. They’ve already had their justice: keeping the guy on the run and hiding for all those years . . . in a very real sense, taking away his freedom. It’s not like he committed deliberate, first-degree, cold-blooded murder. The punishment should fit the crime, and I think it has. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2015, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/56-years-later-they-caught-him/719338/13 "2015-05-06T03:59:47Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > Justice for the family of the dead man. Reading your follow-up or not I would say I 90% agree with you. But at least 10% of my brain says its been long enough. I don’t feel that being on the run is the same as being in jail but its different enough from real freedom to be worth considering. What I find curious is West Virginia having him in custody and releasing him in 1975. Had they returned him to Ohio he would probably be a free man by now even with the escape. Something tells me there is a big part of the story we don’t know yet. ---
**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2015, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/56-years-later-they-caught-him/719338/14 "2015-05-06T05:41:15Z")
Oh dear, “20 year sentence” (presumably maximum though…) for a probation violation of a five year sentence. Its cruel and unusual punishment. And anyway the main part of his criminality was “15 mph over speed limit”. Probably a bit of speeding… but balance that with the idea that the collision may have occurred at the speed limit… In my book, breach of probation by driving a car again is a breach, but like first time 6 months jail ? West Virginia refused to extradite, what on the basis that it wasn’t a crime in their books ? Or that the sentence had been served anyway ? It should be that Ohio respects W. Virginia’s protection and give him the pardon. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2015, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/56-years-later-they-caught-him/719338/15 "2015-05-06T05:44:04Z")
I think he should be given a light sentence. 56 years of running from the law is punishment in itself. ---
**Author:** ![dba\_Fred](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c37758/32.png) [@dba\_Fred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dba_Fred)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2015, 9:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/56-years-later-they-caught-him/719338/16 "2015-05-06T09:24:03Z")
He’d already been sentenced, he didn’t serve 19 years and 5 months of the sentence. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2015, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/56-years-later-they-caught-him/719338/17 "2015-05-06T13:49:02Z")
I saw the name of the prison and immediately thought “Andy Dufrense.” ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2015, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/56-years-later-they-caught-him/719338/18 "2015-05-06T16:03:54Z")
I’m reminded of the Barney Miller episode where two of the detectives find a wanted fugitive like the day before the statute of limitations ran out. He had been living in fear and poverty like a rat the whole time to avoid being caught. They had only started looking for him at all only a couple days prior. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2015, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/56-years-later-they-caught-him/719338/19 "2015-05-06T16:08:51Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > Perhaps I’m being judgemental because last September a negligent driver killed my father. He’s walking around free and clear, and has not even, to my knowledge, been charged with a crime. His insurance will be dinged, that’s all, while my mother is a widow and ny nephews will never again see their beloved grandfather. I’m sorry that happened to your father. That is a terrible thing. If the driver was negligent, he could certainly be sued, even if not prosecuted. I know the prosecutors usually look for something out of the ordinary before they file criminal charges, such as alcohol or texting. Not that they need to, but I think they expect a jury to be reluctant to convict someone based on proof beyond a reasonable doubt for what some jurors would classify as an “accident.” ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2015, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/56-years-later-they-caught-him/719338/20 "2015-05-06T16:15:12Z")
“Accident” doesn’t mean it isn’t somebody’s fault. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/56-years-later-they-caught-him/719338.md?page=2)