Two Inmates Escape Okla. Prison
M c A L E S T E R, Okla., Jan. 15 -- Two maximum-security inmates with ahistory of escapes, including a man who raped and murdered his81-year-old neighbor, fled from the state prison early today.
The inmates were discovered missing from their cells at theOklahoma State Penitentiary about 5 a.m., said Jerry Massie, aspokesman for the state Department of Corrections. Massie identified the escaped convicts as James Robert Thomas,25, and Willie Lee Hoffman, 21.
Both were considered dangerous, but there was no evidence theywere armed, Massie said.
They were suspected of stealing a car in the McAlester area latein the morning, said Sterling Taylor, a dispatcher for thePittsburgh County Sheriff's Office.
"They are on the road. And we don't know which way they areheaded," Taylor said.
Sentenced to Life Plus 400 Years for Rape, Murder
Thomas was convicted of the 1993 rape and murder of Jessie M.Roberts, who had hired him to mow her lawn. Thomas, who was 17 atthe time of the slaying, was sentenced to life without chance ofparole for murder plus 400 years for rape, Massie said.
Hoffman is serving a 20-year sentence for kidnapping and othercharges.
It is the first escape from the high-security area of the prisonknown as H Unit, which was opened in September 1991, Massie said.
A preliminary investigation indicated the inmates removedtoilets from the back of their cells, which gave them access to amaintenance crawl space, prison spokeswoman Lee Mann said. Theycrawled through an air duct, made their way to the roof and finallyreached the ground and climbed over two fences, she said.
Third Inmate Caught During Escape
A third inmate attempted to escape but was caught between thetwo fences, Mann said.
Authorities said Thomas escaped from the Oklahoma County Jail in1994. Hoffman broke out of the Payne County Jail in 1998 and from aprivate prison in Cushing in 1997.
Authorities in neighboring Texas are searching for sevenconvicts who escaped Dec. 13 from the maximum-security ConnallyUnit, 60 miles southeast of San Antonio. They have since beencharged with the Christmas Eve slaying of a Dallas-area policeofficer.
