Jose Espinosa(20) and Otis Blunt(32) were discovered missing from their prison cells at 5:15 p.m. Saturday. They left behind dummies in their beds, cinder block dust and a note wishing authorities "Happy Holidays."
Espinosa had recently plead guilty to aggravated manslaughter. He was to be sentenced on January 25th. He was looking at a minimum of 17 years in prison. When he is caught, it will now be more. Blunt was apparently being held on weapon and robbery charges. He was in jail because he could not post his $75,000 bond.
Espinosa and Blunt were in adjacent cells. They used a long metal wire to scrape away mortar around the cinder block between their cells and the outer wall in Espinosa's cell. Then they smashed the block and hid the pieces in a footlocker. Blunt apparently squeezed into Espinosa's cell through an 16- to 18-inch hole. They crawled through another 18-inch hole in the outer wall and jumped from the roof 15 feet out and about 30 feet down.
Next they climbed a razor-wire fence onto a New Jersey transit railroad bed. Two sets of foot prints in the snow head in opposite directions. Despite being two clever Hollywood wanna bes both men are considered armed and dangerous!
Update 1-3-08: Rudolph Zurick, a 40 year old guard, who was named in a cheeky thank-you note left by two inmates when they escaped was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot Wednesday.The body was found at his home in Middlesex County according to attorney Michael J. Mitzner. Zurick was scheduled to be interviewed by investigators concerning the escape later that day. The death is being investigated according to Union County prosecutor Theodore J. Romankow. "This is not a time for speculation, but a time for mourning," he said. Both Otis Blunt, 32, and Jose Espinosa, 20 remain at large.
Update 1-9-08: Captured. Jose Espinosa apparently hurt his leg in the escape. He was found about 6 blocks away apparently at "a girlfriend's" home. Both the woman and Espinosa were arrested.
Update 1-10-08: All good movies have a great ending. Authorities in Mexico City captured Otis Blunt who had escaped Shawshank Redemption style. A visit to Mexico City by US civil rights activist Reverend Al Sharpton helped in the arrest. Long live justice.
I loved Timothy Hutton in Shaw Shank Redemption!
ReplyDeleteJill
. . . sounds like the beginning of a Coen brothers' movie.
ReplyDeleteMovie material... the fugitive...
ReplyDeletehey Jill,
ReplyDeletejust thinkin', wasn't it Tim Robbins in Shawshank?
I did like the "Happy Holidays" touch. They were pretty thoughtful.
Oh my, ms. calabaza you are right. It is now official, I am senile. It was Tim Robbins. Now I feel real bad. Did you kick any puppies on your way to work today?
ReplyDeleteLOL.
Jill
puppies I love, people however are another story . . .
ReplyDeleteoh, and don't worry about feeling senile, it's a blessing sometimes. . . I think, but I'm not sure . . .
Description should be 'armed, dangerous, and skinny'! - fitting through an 18-inch hole, golly gee!
ReplyDeleteHey, Ms. Calabza does NOT kick puppies - or any other furred or feathered creature. (her broom has a bumper sticker - 'Warning: I brake for birds')
She could cast a mighty mean spell on the one who does kick them, though!
More dirt on the street!
ReplyDeleteL.S.
These scumbags will be caught and brought to justice!
ReplyDeleteOtis Blunt had tried to escape before! You would think they would have been watching him more carefully!
ReplyDeleteLet's be BLUNT, Otis, you are a common escapee who will be tracked down and brought in to answer for your wrongs...
ReplyDeleteI went to college with some guys who made some realistic dummies, put them in their beds and had their whole dormatory scared to death they had died! Pretty clever stuff, repeated by prisoners.
ReplyDeleteYup I went to college and some guys tried to scare maids and a sorority with dummies...
ReplyDeleteBAnd on the run!
ReplyDeleteJustice is the one thing they will be sure to find in their 2008 quest.
ReplyDeleteTragic story about the guard who killed himself...
ReplyDeleteUpdate 1-3-08: Rudolph Zurick, a 40 year old guard, who was named in a cheeky thank-you note left by two inmates when they escaped was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot Wednesday.The body was found at his home in Middlesex County according to attorney Michael J. Mitzner. Zurick was scheduled to be interviewed by investigators concerning the escape later that day. The death is being investigated according to Union County prosecutor Theodore J. Romankow. "This is not a time for speculation, but a time for mourning," he said. Both Otis Blunt, 32, and Jose Espinosa, 20 remain at large.
ReplyDeleteThe premium channel is showing Shawshank Redemption. Like the movie, the official (Warden in the movie the guard in real life) takes his own life.
ReplyDeleteThis has been way too strange! This is following the Tim Robbins script much too closely!
I think these escapees may never be caught alive...
ReplyDeleteJust a hunch.
this is too eerie!
ReplyDeleteUpdate 1-9-08: Captured. Jose Espinosa apparently hurt his leg in the escape. He was found about 6 blocks away apparently at "a girlfriend's" home. Both the woman and Espinosa were arrested.
ReplyDeleteBusted. One down, one to go!
ReplyDeleteAt least Jose enjoyed some R & R.
ReplyDeleteBlunt wont be so easy to catch...
ReplyDeleteUpdate 1-10-08: All good movies have a great ending. Authorities in Mexico City captured Otis Blunt who had escaped Shawshank Redemption style. A visit to Mexico City by US civil rights activist Reverend Al Sharpton helped in the arrest. Long live justice.
ReplyDeleteOnce you cross the borders, Blunt was a piece of cake!
ReplyDeleteThese are bad boys that have been rounded up and now need to face the strong arm of the law!
ReplyDeleteWillie
let's be blunt. On second thought, let's not. Blunt is a crook.
ReplyDeleteRumor has it that a film deal is in the works!
ReplyDeleteAnd a guard took his own life over this?
ReplyDeleteThey try to run, but its no fun.
ReplyDeleteThey don't get to far and their families cry...
saying "All good movies have a great ending." and comparing it to shawshank redemption, then praising justice when their caught is pretty contradicting.
ReplyDeleteAndy was never vindicated in the movie even though he was innocent, and he also never got caught in the end.
First, no one knows with 100% certainty if the convicts are innocent. (Andy may have killed b/c it was a crime of passion. But we know all convicts are innocent no matter how they remember the facts...)
ReplyDeleteSecond, for conservatives, a great ending is a capture.
:)
ReplyDeleteA convict appeared before an appellate court judge. The judge asked the man what he did and he said, "I was convicted of murder." The judge asked him if he did it and the man nodded affirmatively. The appellate court judge immediately said, "Immediately, let this convict go. We do not want this guilty murderer corrupting all of the innocent people in jail."
ReplyDeleteEveryone proclaims innocence in prison. Perhaps a few truly are innocent. Shaw Shank Redemption was a great movie. But if you do the crime, better be prepared to do the time!