# Shawshank Redemption Question... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 11, 2018, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shawshank-redemption-question/815926 "2018-06-11T23:25:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2018, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shawshank-redemption-question/815926/21 "2018-06-12T16:14:24Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > You remember [John List](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_List)? The man who actually did murder his wife, three children and mother, assumed a new identify, and stayed on the run for nearly 18 years? > > I wonder if America’s Most Wanted ever did a segment on Andrew Duffesne? I was gonna make a snark about how ‘now that we’ve looked more closely at the evidence he would be a pet celebre cause.’ …but i was mixing him up in my head with Richard Kimble. “Andy Dufrense either killed his wife or is the most unlucky sunnavabitch alive” would be the narrative. ---
**Author:** ![pool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pool/32/4152_2.png) [@pool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pool)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2018, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shawshank-redemption-question/815926/22 "2018-06-12T16:41:25Z")
In the movie there is a new prisoner that talked to the guy that killed Andy’s wife and the warden has him killed, making it look like he was trying to escape. I think the novella never explicitly states whether Andy was innocent or guilty, but I might be wrong, its been a long time since I read it. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2018, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shawshank-redemption-question/815926/23 "2018-06-12T16:43:39Z")
I find it unrealistic that the ultrareligious warden never took down Andy’s cheesecake posters to punish him. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Burden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/958977/32.png) [@Jack\_Burden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Burden)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2018, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shawshank-redemption-question/815926/24 "2018-06-12T18:00:31Z")
It seems logical that the authorities investigating corruption at Shawshank prison concluded that Andy made an escape attempt but was caught by the guards and murdered in retaliation for exposing the warden. That’s the cleanest explanation and the warden can’t really make a counter-argument anymore, can he? Any missing funds would be assumed to have been hidden by the warden. Spending more energy trying to track down Andy is just drawing away from investigating the much bigger target of corrupt prison officials. Andy is a college educated, well spoken, neatly groomed man. Nobody in town or on his journey is ever going to suspect he is an escaped convict. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2018, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shawshank-redemption-question/815926/25 "2018-06-12T19:44:42Z")
I doubt that the name Randall Stevens would even appear in any investigation of the warden. That was the whole point of the identity. Andy did all the paperwork and signed the name. All the warden did was deposit the money. Andy would not have mentioned the name when he tipped off the press. And the only other people who knew were the warden who ate a bullet before he could be questioned, and Red who certainly wouldn’t let on. I’m sure Andy kept the identity. Why not? Mr. Stevens was a wealthy man retiring abroad with no blemishes in his past. The trip south was probably tense for him, what with being on the lam. But once he was set up in Mexico, I’m sure he was just fine. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2018, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shawshank-redemption-question/815926/26 "2018-06-12T19:45:02Z")
The warden was probably more concerned with covering his own ass instead of tracking down Andy. ---
**Author:** ![pool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pool/32/4152_2.png) [@pool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pool)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2018, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shawshank-redemption-question/815926/27 "2018-06-12T19:47:46Z")
Also given the time period, and the money in hand its not like it would be that difficult for Andy to make up and establish a new identity with all the correct documents after absconding to Mexico, Andy is a very clever boy after all. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2018, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shawshank-redemption-question/815926/28 "2018-06-12T20:13:01Z")
This was long before 24/7 news channels, a competent FBI, etc. Also Andy Duphrane was not a major criminal. Yeah he killed his wife (according to the law) but he had been a model prisoner. Plus law enforcement may have been busy with the warden scandal to care about an escaped inmate. By comparison, Ted Bundy broke out of prison in the 70s and spent months on the loose before breaking the law and getting arrested again. He started in Colorado (or Utah) and ended up in Florida where he spent several months. Duphrane would have an easy time. Back then you could fly without showing much ID (he did have ID). Just take a plane to Los Angeles or San Diego, and then buy a car to drive across the border. Easy peasy. He could have gotten from Maine to Mexico in a day or two. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2018, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shawshank-redemption-question/815926/29 "2018-06-12T20:22:48Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > By comparison, Ted Bundy broke out of prison in the 70s and spent months on the loose before breaking the law and getting arrested again. He started in Colorado (or Utah) and ended up in Florida where he spent several months. Two corrections: Ted Bundy was in jail in Colorado for kidnapping and assault, not murder. Bundy escaped the Colorado prison on December 30, 1977, and was captured in Florida on February 15, 1978. He was on the lam for about six weeks. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2018, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shawshank-redemption-question/815926/30 "2018-06-12T21:17:02Z")
My knowledge is rusty, I hadn’t read about him for a while. Thanks for the corrections. But still, Bundy managed to travel halfway across the country and stay free for 6 weeks. I think he got a fake birth certificate by looking at names at a graveyard. Duphrane already had a fake identity set up. Andy Duphrane could have taken a bus or rented a car to NYC, then flown to LA or San Diego, then driven to Mexico. It would’ve taken him a day or two at most if he hurried. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2018, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shawshank-redemption-question/815926/31 "2018-06-12T22:00:53Z")
> [@LVBoPeep](#): > > I I believe in both, Tommy shared a cell with the actual murderer who bragged about offing a couple and the murder being pinned on the husband with the details matching Andy’s wife & lover’s murders specifically. When Tommy offered to come forward and bear witness, that’s when the Warden realized it was too dangerous to let Andy become a free man with the knowledge he had of the Warden’s corruption and Tommy was killed to prevent it coming to light that Andy was innocent. Let us assume that Andy was innocent. It would not have mattered. Tommy’s statement would probably not have been investigated. Even in the real world of today, authorities would be unlikely to move on the information. If, and only if, Andy had resources, his lawyer(s) had investigators, they could track down the killer, the killer was still alive _AND_ willing to admit to a double murder. And even then, it probably wouldn’t make a difference. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.winston_oboogie/32/2945_2.png) [@Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Winston_OBoogie)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2018, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shawshank-redemption-question/815926/32 "2018-06-13T13:29:02Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > The warden was probably more concerned with covering his own ass instead of tracking down Andy. I don’t think the warden was concerned with anything being that he was quite dead. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2018, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shawshank-redemption-question/815926/33 "2018-06-13T18:53:25Z")
I think the bigger question is, how did Andy reattach the poster to the wall from inside the tunnel? ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2018, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shawshank-redemption-question/815926/34 "2018-06-13T19:09:58Z")
It was only attached at the top. So after he went through, it hung down normally. I wonder how long it would have gone undiscovered if the warden hadn’t hit it with the rock. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Wiggler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/red_wiggler/32/13190_2.png) [@Red\_Wiggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Wiggler)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2018, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shawshank-redemption-question/815926/35 "2018-06-13T20:10:56Z")
> [@pool](#): > > Also given the time period, and the money in hand its not like it would be that difficult for Andy to make up and establish a new identity with all the correct documents after absconding to Mexico, Andy is a very clever boy after all. I was also under the impression that there were not only multiple bank accounts but multiple identities created as well but that may never have been expressly established in the movie. Having a couple of other ghosts to transfer the money to and keep muddying the trail would have been something else a very clever boy could have done. But then he was shown closing his account and taking the proceeds in the form of a cashier’s check. Why do that? Maybe to convert to another account identity at another bank, quickly and easily? Yes to others who have opined that a middle-aged white man with a professional demeanor traveling cross country in any number of ways wouldn’t have raised an eyebrow in 1971 America. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2018, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shawshank-redemption-question/815926/36 "2018-06-13T20:13:21Z")
> [@Hypno-Toad](#): > > It was only attached at the top. So after he went through, it hung down normally. I wonder how long it would have gone undiscovered if the warden hadn’t hit it with the rock. Hmmm… I’ll have to re-watch. I seem to remember noticing that it was clearly attached at all four corners. ---
**Author:** ![Sauron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@Sauron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sauron)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2018, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shawshank-redemption-question/815926/37 "2018-06-13T20:53:36Z")
> [@Wheelz](#): > > Hmmm… I’ll have to re-watch. I seem to remember noticing that it was clearly attached at all four corners. I think it was, but when Andy was digging, he detached the bottom corners and let it hang down over him. Assuming it was taped to the wall at all four corners (either double-sided tape, or tape doubled over itself), when Andy crawled through the last time, it would have settled against the wall. Depending on how sticky the tape was, the bottom corners might’ve adhered themselves to the wall naturally – not very strongly, but enough to avoid immediate notice. Oh, and it’s clearly stated in the novella that Red eventually believes Andy is innocent. Whether you trust Red as a reliable narrator is up to you. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2018, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shawshank-redemption-question/815926/38 "2018-06-13T20:55:10Z")
> [@Wheelz](#): > > Hmmm… I’ll have to re-watch. I seem to remember noticing that it was clearly attached at all four corners. When Dufresne is shown working on the wall-to-become-tunnel-entrance, at the end of the movie when Morgan Freeman’s character is narrating how the escape was executed, we see a flashback to Dufresne’s early digging behind the first poster (Rita) — the poster is attached only at the top, and he hides behind it like it’s a window drape. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2018, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shawshank-redemption-question/815926/39 "2018-06-13T21:32:58Z")
> [@Sauron](#): > > I think it was, but when Andy was digging, he detached the bottom corners and let it hang down over him. > > Assuming it was taped to the wall at all four corners (either double-sided tape, or tape doubled over itself), when Andy crawled through the last time, it would have settled against the wall. Depending on how sticky the tape was, the bottom corners might’ve adhered themselves to the wall naturally – not very strongly, but enough to avoid immediate notice. I just watched [this clip](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQSmfzfg2MY), and the bottom corners are not in the frame, so this explanation sounds plausible. When the warden puts his hand through, though, the bottom doesn’t move as you might expect if it weren’t attached - but I’m satisfied chalking that up to dramatic licence. End of hijack; sorry. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2018, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shawshank-redemption-question/815926/40 "2018-06-13T21:45:07Z")
> [@E-DUB](#): > > Around that same time, Richard Kimble managed to stay at large for almost four years. And despite the fact he couldn’t keep his nose out of people’s problems. Of course, it’s all a fantasy - Andy couldn’t have escaped through the sewer. he died down in there. The whole escape is a dying hallucination ala Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shawshank-redemption-question/815926.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shawshank-redemption-question/815926.md?page=3)