(relaxing ominous music) (upbeat action music)
(prisoners shouting) - [Tony] A Virginia prison is in the hands of the inmates. (emergency sirens ringing) The Terrifying escape frees
six killers from death row. (radio chatter)
(helicopter blades chuffing) As the men run free (emergency sirens ringing) police race against time to track and capture the fugitives
before they kill again. (emergency sirens ringing)
(indistinct radio chatter) (upbeat ominous action music) Mecklenburg Correctional
Center is the pride of Virginia's prison system. Completed in 1977 at
a cost of $20 million, it is state-of-the-art. The C-Pod of Building
One houses Virginia's most dangerous criminals, the death row inmates. (security gate beeping) The double-gated entrance or the sally port is the only way in and there is no other way out. (metal gate clanging) (telephone ringing) Officer Ron Sawyer is informed a bomb has been found in C-Pod. He is ordered to bring a van to the front of the prison immediately
so the bomb unit can move and dispose of the bomb. (telephone ringing) Prison policy strictly forbids
opening both gates at once. - Open both sally ports, yes sir. (gate beeping) - [Tony] But this is a
matter of life and death. (vehicle humming) (metal gate clanging) (vehicle back-up motion alarm beeping) The bomb disposal team, dressed in protective gear
rushes from the building. (bomb disposal man shouting) The bomb is smoking. One of the men sprays the
device with a fire extinguisher, apparently to keep it cool. (vehicle doors banging) (vehicle humming to a start) (vehicle humming by) (dramatic ominous music) The greatest crisis in
Mecklenburg's short history has been resolved
through the quick actions of a few brave men. (dramatic ominous music) The bomb is safely
outside the prison gates. But the crisis is only beginning. What seemed like a bomb evacuation had actually been an escape. (men groaning) The guards are now captives and six of Virginia's most
notorious killers are free. - A big manhunt underway
for six convicted murderers who broke out of a state
prison in Mecklenburg County, Virginia, during the night. The inmates were all on death row. The six overpowered guards
with homemade knives and drove out with a prison van. (helicopter blades chuffing)
(dramatic ominous music) - [Tony] As news of the escape spreads, it sends shock waves through the state's law
enforcement authorities. (helicopter blades chuffing) It is the first time death row inmates have escaped in US history. (emergency sirens ringing) In this program, some of the names have been changed. (helicopter blades chuffing) The Virginia State Police and the Bureau of Criminal
Investigation officials are awakened from their beds. (helicopter blades chuffing) The governor of Virginia
issues of state of alert to the Army and Air National Guard. (helicopter blades chuffing) The director of the investigative division of the state police, James Lettner, is brought in to supervise the investigation. (helicopter blades chuffing)
(indistinct chatter) - The governor was extremely
concerned for the safety of any citizens that
these escapees might come in contact with. He had been briefed on the
background of these individuals. He was aware that each
one was awaiting execution for murder or mass murders, and he was extremely concerned that we apprehend these
individuals as quickly as possible. - We got six guys on the street now. - [Tony] Investigator Lettner
arrives after the killers have been on the road for over 30 minutes. (indistinct chatter) He immediately establishes
a search perimeter. (indistinct chatter)
(emergency sirens ringing) Because the inmates are
driving a prison van, police will increase the
search area every hour. (helicopter blades chuffing) (emergency sirens ringing)
(helicopter blades chuffing) (indistinct radio chatter) - We've got six of them
out of the yard right now. - Okay, so I assume
you're in total lockdown? - We're in lockdown now. We're in lockdown. We're starting to do the final headcount. - Have you started the headcount yet. (dramatic ominous music) - [Tony] Lettner meets with the warden to learn about the men who escaped. - Let me tell you, it's been
about a month and a half-- - [Tony] The news isn't good. The six fugitives have been convicted of killing a total of 17 people. (dramatic ominous music) The two most dangerous escapees
are the Briley brothers, James and Linwood. The Brileys ran a vicious
Richmond area gang. Police suspected they
had slaughtered anywhere from 11 to 20 people. - Earl Clanton killed a
Virginia woman just months after being paroled for killing
an elderly New Jersey woman. (indistinct chatter) Lem Tuggle raped and
murdered two elderly women. Derick Peterson killed
a supermarket manager after robbing him of $6,000. Willie Leroy Jones murdered
and robbed an elderly couple. He asked the wife to pray for him before shooting her and
setting the house on fire. (dramatic ominous music) These are the men who escaped
from Mecklenburg's death row. Most of them killed more than once and would likely kill
again if given the chance. (dramatic ominous music) - It never occurred to me that we would not
capture the escapees. I felt confident we would. It did occur to me that it
would be an absolute miracle if we did so without any great harm coming to some innocent citizen. (dramatic ominous music)
(helicopter blades chuffing) - [Tony] A full-scale
manhunt is in effect. Officers from all over
the state are dispatched. (emergency sirens ringing) Roadblocks and barricades are set up. (helicopter blades chuffing) Helicopters with infrared
sensors try to pick up the heat of human bodies hiding in the woods. Police know the longer
the killers run free, the harder they will be to recapture. (helicopter blades chuffing) (dramatic ominous music) Lettner tours C-Pod where
the inmates were housed. (indistinct chatter) (dramatic ominous rumbling music) Officers conduct a search of each cell. They find no clues to where
the escapees might be heading, but they do find some makeshift weapons. - The inmates were very
clever in both manufacturing and concealing weapons in their cells. One search that we conducted
revealed a table leg that had been used to
conceal a hacksaw blade, one shank, and some other contraband. (dramatic ominous music)
(helicopter blades chuffing) - The inmates have been
out for over an hour and investigators know
they're armed with knives. (indistinct radio chatter) And since they had access to
guard's protective riot gear, they fear they might have guns. (helicopter blades chuffing)
(emergency sirens ringing) The state mobilizes
every possible resource to capture the fugitives. A death sentence already hangs
over each of the escapees. These men have nothing to lose. (indistinct radio chatter) Officer's comb the perimeter, searching for any sign
of the killers' trail. (indistinct radio chatter) They find nothing. - [Man] They're going north, I'm assuming they took-- - [Tony] With no clues outside the prison, Lettner hopes the guards can tell him where the inmates have gone? (indistinct chatter)
(dramatic ominous music) Perhaps during the breakout
they heard something that could help direct the search. The inmates never spoke
of where they were headed. The guards know nothing. - How would you like to do this? - [Tony] The guards' lack of information makes
Lettner suspect they may have helped the prisoners escape. (security gate beeping) From his years of experience
as an investigator for the state police at
other prison incidents, Lettner knows that prison guards can be susceptible to bribes. (metal gate clanging)
(dramatic ominous music) In 1984, Virginia prison
guards had a starting salary of under $13,000. (indistinct chatter)
(long buzz) Even college campus police were paid more. Guards complained they were
often assaulted by the inmates. The intimidation and low
pay affected their morale. (dramatic ominous music) - First of all, let me say this to everyone-- - [Tony] As Lettner begins interviewing the security staff, he learns tensions at
Mecklenburg have been rising for the past two years, since the execution of Frank Coppola. (dramatic ominous music) Convicted of beating a
woman to death in a robbery, Frank Coppola steadfastly
maintained his innocence. But after being on death
row for five years, he stopped his appeal and
asked the court to execute him. Coppola's execution signaled a controversial change in attitude. He was the first man in Virginia to face the electric chair
since the death penalty had been reinstated six years earlier. (dramatic ominous rumbling music) When Coppola was executed
something went terribly wrong. His head and one of his legs caught fire. Human rights advocates
accused prison officials of torturing him, and so among the inmates
Coppola became a martyr. - Frank J. Coppola was
executed at 11:27 p.m. in the manner prescribed by law. (indistinct news footage) - [Tony] Fears had been growing among the death row inmates, fears the state would embark
on a rash of executions. Author, Joe Jackson. - When Coppola was executed I think that the other death row
prisoners started to see that they too could be executed. Beforehand, appeals had dragged on. All of a sudden, here's this guy that all of the other death row
prisoners look up to and he's the first to go. And at that point the other
death row prisoners said, this could happen to me fairly quickly. (dramatic ominous music) - [Tony] Two months before the breakout, an inmate on death row
sent an anonymous tip to the state assistant attorney general. - All right, let's get
this place searched fast. We wanna get it done quick. - [Tony] According to the informant, a bomb was being constructed
as part of an escape plan. (indistinct chatter) The scheme also involved
an exchange of uniforms with the guards. (indistinct chatter) This information was relayed to the warden who ordered shakedowns. (door clicking) - [Tony] Officers methodically
searched every cell on death row but found
no bomb-making materials or anything to indicate a
bomb was being constructed. Jim Lettner finds it difficult to believe the guards
were ignorant of the plan. He suspects one of them
may have actively aided in the escape, an escape freeing six of
Virginia's most dangerous men. (helicopter blades chuffing) (dramatic ominous music) Over an hour after the escape, police in Western Virginia mobilize and search the area around
Mecklenburg's prison in a hunt for six escaped killers. (helicopter blades chuffing)
(emergency sirens ringing) As the minutes tick away they struggle to maintain their search perimeter. Police begin to fear that if the escaped killers
slip beyond the perimeter, innocent people might die. (dramatic ominous music) - But it is so important that you remember every single detail, no matter how unimportant
it may seem to you. - [Tony] Inside the prison, James Lettner questions the guards, fearing one of them
helped the inmates escape. - Everyone else remain. - [Tony] Desperate to find any clue as to how the breakout occurred and where these dangerous men might be, he calls each officer to
account for his actions. (basketball thumping)
(sporty banter) - [Tony] As Lettner questions the guards, he begins to understand
how the escape unfolded. (boots crunching gravel) (sporty banter) Five guards stand watch
as the condemned men of C-Pod take their daily exercise. - That's me
(metal hoop rumbling) (indistinct chatter) - Willie Turner and another
inmate approach an officer, telling him they want to go back in early. One of the men claims
he has a knee injury. The other says he wants
to use the restroom. - [Prisoner] Why do we have to sit around and wait for these people? - [Tony] This is against prison policy. State police investigator, James Lettner. - It was a mistake to
allow those two individuals to go back separately from the others. If one inmate went back, then they all were supposed to go back. And the reason for that is that by taking those
two inmates back early, it took two of the correctional officers off the recreation yard
and back to the cell area, lessening the number of
eyes that were available to watch the remaining
inmates as they return from recreation to their cells. - [Tony] Now the ratio of guards to prisoners is disrupted. In the yard there are
only three officers left to watch over the remaining inmates. - All right, guys, let's do it, time to go in. Let's do it. (indistinct chatter) (ball thudding) - [Tony] The other inmates
are escorted to their cells. The guards seem unconcerned they are outnumbered three to one. (ominous drumming music) - The correctional officers assumed that nothing was going to happen, that everything was fine, that they had a secure operation and that they simply didn't
have to follow these rules. (long buzz) - [Tony] Had they been more vigilant, they would have noticed a
plan is already in motion, A plan who's success or failure depends on
one man, Earl Clanton. (indistinct chatter) The plan also relies on
the guards' complacency. They do not bother to count heads. The inmates bunch up and start to push, distracting the officers. (indistinct chatter)
(door clicking) Unnoticed, Clanton slips
into the guards' restroom. His job, to wait for a signal. A ruthless killer, Clanton was chosen as the
man to make the first strike. In 1980, he stabbed an
elementary school librarian eight times in the head. He then took the belt from her coat and strangled her to death. (indistinct chatter) - Settle down. - [Tony] Because they didn't count heads, the guards have no idea
Clanton has disappeared. Lettner's report would later
indicate this was a breach of security protocol. (long buzzing) - It's difficult to believe
that when you're dealing with individuals who have everyone murdered, at least one person, and in some instances, multiple murders, that the correctional officers
would become complacent and feel that they didn't have
to count these individuals or know where they were at every moment. It's difficult to believe
that that would occur, but it did in this incidence. - [Tony] The guards
escort the inmates back to the day room. They never noticed one of them is missing. (ominous music) (metal door banging) A guard tries the restroom
door but it's locked. - The locked door should've
- The door's locked. - Sent up red warning flags. In such a situation prison policy dictates they should call maintenance and all inmates be placed in their cells. But the guards don't do that. (dramatic ominous music)
(helicopter blades chuffing) Police are beginning to panic. It has been nearly two
hours and the fugitives have not been spotted. The officers are now
working a wide perimeter. (helicopter blades chuffing) They know the larger the perimeter, the easier it is for the
inmates to slip past them. (ominous music) Police are on the lookout for
the van used in the escape but have no idea which
direction to search. (van humming by) (dramatic swooshing music) - Warden, could I talk-- - [Tony] James Lettner
continues his investigation by questioning Nurse Rose Clark. (dramatic swooshing music) It is customary for Nurse
Clark to draw the water from the guards' restroom before she distributes
the inmates' medication. Unbeknownst to her, this is where Earl Clanton is now hiding. - The door's locked. - [Tony] The restroom door appears stuck. Nurse Clark notifies the guard. He acknowledges the
problem but does nothing. (dramatic ominous music) (indistinct radio chatter)
(long buzz) - All right, get these boys
lined up for their medication. - Everybody in the room.
- Let's go, gentlemen. (dramatic ominous music) - [Tony] Nurse Clark decides to distribute the
medication without water, as she has done in the past. - [Nurse Clark] Show me your tongue? - [Tony] As she is making her rounds, one of them complains
his toilet is clogged. He creates a diversion, distracting the guards from
what is really going on. (keys jingling)
(door clicking) (dramatic swooshing music) Officer Hunter joins Nurse Clark as she continues making
her medication rounds to the other pods in the building. - The escapees were con artists. They were shrewd in the ways of the street and how they could get around these correctional officers. They had observed from the moment that they entered the institution that certain rules were not being followed and it played right into their hands - [Tony] At Mecklenburg,
Building One is broken up into three pods, A, B and C. C-Pod is divided into two sections with a control booth
separating the sections. - [Man] Officer Hughs, please-- - [Tony] The man who controlled
C-Pod was Rick Hughs. (ominous music) Electrically activated locks
give officer Hughs control over who enters and leaves death row. (indistinct chatter) (indistinct radio chatter) Hughes tells Lettner that one of the inmates got his attention. (knocking on glass) It was Joe Giarrantano who was housed on the pod's left side. Giarrantano asks Hughes to pass a book to inmate James Briley who
was on the pod's right side. - All right, I'll do it this time. Come on. Come on. (telephone clicking on receiver) Linwood Briley and his brother, James, received death sentences
for seven murders. In one case, they repeatedly raped
a woman within earshot of her common law husband
and their five-year-old son, then killed the three of them. Officer Hughes leaves the
door to the control booth ajar as the prisoners had seen him
do dozens of times before. (latch clicking) He has no idea the inmates are already arming themselves with knives. - There was a fellow by
the name of Willie Turner. He was kind of a genius
as far as figuring out how to make weapons from
the things around him in the prison cell and how to hide them. And he would basically strip
metal from around the toilets or the sides of the door
or something like that and sharpen it and make a knife out of it. - [Tony] Convicted of
killing a jeweler in 1978 and sentenced to death, Willie Turner never finished fifth grade, but he learned to read
and write in prison. He claimed to have made a key for every cell he ever occupied. The guards suspect he is
behind the plan to escape. (dramatic ominous music) (latch clicking) - Thank you for the book. - [Tony] At James Briley's signal, Clanton bursts from the restroom. He hits a button in the control booth, releasing the other inmates. (dramatic ominous music) (inmates shouting) The prisoners take control of
C-Pod in barely three minutes. (inmates shouting) Each of the guards relayed
how he had been taken hostage and stripped of his uniform. (inmates shouting) The inmates take the only
defense the guards have, their nightsticks, along with their watches, rings and money. The guards are hogtied and
shackled with her own handcuffs. (inmates shouting) Blindfolded, they overhear
the inmates discuss how they need to capture
someone in authority. (inmates shouting) - [Man] One at a time, everyone else just relax. - [Tony] The senior officer
his Watch Commander, Lieutenant Mark Johnson. - Reconstruct the events
leading to the event from the very first
time you were involved? - I got a radio call-- - [Tony] Lettner's report indicates he was in building three when
he responded to a page. (dramatic swooshing music) Building Three, located
on the opposite side of Mecklenburg houses
the shipping department. - [Radio Chatter] Lieutenant
Johnson, please call 161. Lieutenant Johnson, 161. - [Tony] Lieutenant Johnson is is asked to call the extension
of the C-Pod day room. (phone audible ringing tone) (telephone ringing) The phone is answered by one
of the guards held hostage. - Lieutenant Johnson. - Lieutenant Johnson
has no idea the guard is being held at knife point. - C-Pod left needs you right away. - [Tony] The guard tells
Johnson he needs help with inmate Giarrantano, who he says has been
wounded in an altercation. - Lieutenant Fischer, Lieutenant Johnson, come in, please? (boots thudding on steps) - [Tony] Johnson calls the shift commander and orders him to report to C-Pod. (dramatic swooshing music) - So the key is just to
ignore them, you know. Don't pay any attention to them. - [Tony] Nurse Clark finishes
passing out her medication to the rest of the
inmates in Building One. The exit is through this locked door. - I've got the wrong set
of keys (indistinct). Just stay tight and I'll be right back. - [Tony] Unfortunately, Officer Hunter has misplaced his key. He decides to return to C-Pod, unaware it is now in
control of the inmates. (door banging) - Hey, easy. Easy. Easy. - [Tony] Hunter walks
right into their arms. - I'm moving. I'm moving. (inmates shouting) - [Tony] Hunter is taken
down to the pod's lower tier where he joins the other hostages. (inmates shouting) The conspirators need his uniform. They force Hunter to
strip to his underwear, then blindfold and hogtie him. (inmates shouting) The inmates know the security procedures and they make the system
work against itself. - C-Pod, we're up. - They got the other guards
to come to Pod C simply by faking emergencies that
they needed assistance with, inmates so-and-so who was not taking his medication or
resisting one thing or another. - Go to C-Pod. - [Tony] By creating the illusion of a fellow correctional
officer in trouble, the inmates lure other
guards into C-Pod one by one. They then capture them
and take their uniforms. Nurse Clark is beginning to wonder what is keeping Officer Hunter? (door clicking) When a guard finally
arrives she is relieved. - [Inmate] Hey, turn around. - [Tony] She has no idea
her terrifying ordeal was just beginning. (Nurse Clark gasping in fear) (helicopter blades chuffing)
(dramatic swooshing music) In Western Virginia, six convicted killers
have escape from death row and have been on the
loose for over two hours. (emergency sirens ringing) Investigators have no
leads to their whereabouts. (tires crunching on gravel) Police are frantically
searching a wide perimeter. (indistinct radio chatter) (helicopter blades chuffing) Using every resource available, they struggled to maintain it, desperate to contain the inmates. (helicopter blades chuffing) (dramatic swishing music) Virginia State Police investigator, Jim Lettner continues
gathering information for his report by interrogating
the prison security staff, hoping they will provide some leads to where the escaped inmates are headed. - Phone calls, radio calls. - [Tony] Each office recounts
his terrifying ordeal. (dramatic ominous drumming music) (door banging) - Come on. - [Tony] One by one
they are taken hostage. (inmates shouting)
(dramatic swooshing music) The inmates use their
uniforms as a disguise to lure more officers into the trap. The guards tell Lettner, James Briley wanted to kill some hostages. - There are too many guards in here. I think we'll have to kill a few of them. - [Tony] There were too many, Briley said. He was afraid they would
become unmanageable. Willie Turner, one of the inmates, talks Briley out of it. They had agreed there would be no murders. (inmate laughing) Derick Peterson returns with Nurse Clark. (inmates shouting) They take her to a cell. (dramatic ominous music) (inmates shouting) Nurse Clark is alone Earl Clanton appears. (boots thudding on cement) Clanton had been convicted
of killing two women and now he has his eyes on Nurse Clark. (inmates shouting) Surrounded by convicted killers
bent on freedom or revenge, the security staff doubts
they will live to see morning. (Nurse Clark screaming) The screams of Nurse
Clark stir them to anger, but they can do nothing. Linwood Briley joins Earl Clanton. - Yo, hold up. Yo. - [Tony] As they begin
to molest the nurse, Wilbert Lee Evans stops the men. - Do we have to? (dramatic ominous drumming music) - [Tony] Willie Turner reminds Linwood to remember the plan. (dramatic ominous rumbling music) It has been 20 minutes
since Lieutenant Johnson received a report about
an emergency on death row. (dramatic swishing music) He begins to wonder what
is happening in C-Pod? (boots thudding on stairs) He sent the shift commander to help out, but he never reported back. Johnson investigates
the situation himself. (door banging) The stairwell doors lock
automatically behind him. - Give me the jacket. Come here, it's time for you to shake him. - [Tony] The inmates
threaten to kill Johnson if he does not do as they order. (dramatic ominous music)
(inmates shouting) Once the inmates no longer
have any use for them, the hostages fear they will all be killed. (dramatic ominous music) It has been three hours since the escape and still there have been no
sightings of the fugitives. (dramatic swooshing music) (indistinct radio chatter) Authorities begin to fear they've slipped the search perimeter. (dramatic ominous rumbling music) If that is true, a lot of innocent people are in danger. (helicopter blades chuffing) As the prison guards
continue their account, Jim Lettner still hopes to find one detail that will lead him to the killers. In the main control room, Officer Cindy Smith had word
that an inmate was injured but no one had called the paramedics. (dramatic swooshing music)
(touchscreen beeping) (phone audible ringing tone) During the past hour several officers and supervisors had gone up to death row. (beeping engaged tone) None that have reported back. Officer Smith's begins to worry. (telephone ringing) - Main control room, Officer Smith? - [Tony] The inmates on death row have taken all the
guards on C-Pod hostage. - Throw these fools in
the closet back there. - [Tony] Having all the
uniforms and money they need, it is time to make good their escape and get out of Building One. (inmates shouting) - [Inmate] Move. Move. Move. - [Tony] They moved the
hostages to a janitor's closet at the end of C-Pod. (inmates shouting) James Briley grabs a television set. Somehow he would have to
pass it off as a bomb. (inmates shouting) (door clicking) Now that the inmates
have control of C-Pod, they have to get out of the building. At the center of Building
One is a main control room which controls the door to the outside. The inmates have to gain
control of this room. In the main control room, Officer Smith is still waiting word from the officers dispatched to see C-Pod.
(telephone ringing) - Officer Smith? - [Tony] Then she receives a call. - This is Lieutenant Johnson
(indistinct chatter). - [Tony] It sounds like
Lieutenant Johnson. He tells her a man is
being sent to relieve her. (phone clicking on receiver)
(touchscreen clicking) - By having her supervisor, who was a hostage, call her and tell her
that she would be relieved of duty by another guard, she didn't question who the guard was. (ominous piano music)
(door clicking) - [Tony] Peterson and Clanton, now dressed in guards uniforms, head for the main control room. (buzzer buzzing twice) Officer Smith has no way of
knowing the officers sent to relieve her is Derick Peterson. - Come on, get down on the ground. Get down on the ground. Get down. Get down. Get down. All right, there you go. (dramatic ominous music) - What's the station here?
- 166. - [Tony] The prisoners now have control of all doors to Building One. - (indistinct) dial 166. - [Tony] But there is only one way out of the prison compound, the sally port.
(buttons beeping) James Briley forces Lieutenant Johnson to call for a van. - We've got a bomb in Building One. We need both vehicle sally ports open. - [Tony] He claims they have an emergency. The van must be brought
around to the main sally port. - [Inmate] Come on. Come on. Come on. - [Inmate] I'll stay back here
and work the doors for you. - [Tony] Willie Turner
has an appeal pending and volunteers to stay behind
and guard the hostages. In the C-Pod control booth, Joe Giarrantano, who also stays behind, pushes a button opening
the stairwell door. The rest of the conspirators, disguised as guards, trooped downstairs to the loading dock. - [Inmate] Get down. Get down. - [Tony] Lieutenant
Johnson is no longer needed and so the Watch Commander is imprisoned in the Building One stairwell. (indistinct chatter) They leave behind one of their own in the control booth to open the door and let them out of Building One. (dramatic ominous music) They lock Officer Smith in a closet. One their way out, the six escapees raid the
room full of riot gear. Wearing helmets to further
hide their identities, they place the television on a stretcher, throw a blanket over it
and exit Building One. (dramatic ominous music) (vehicle humming by) For months prior to the breakout, the inmates leaked a story about a bomb being built in C-Pod. (vehicle back-up motion alarm beeping) So when James Briley warns the
officer in charge of the van that they have a live explosive
device and it might go off, the terrified officer
completely believes him. (fire extinguisher hissing) Linwood Briley sprays their bogus bomb with a fire extinguisher and
it appears to be smoking. (dramatic ominous music) (vehicle humming by) (dramatic swooshing music) The escape has taken less
than two hours to execute and now six vicious
killers are roaming free. (dramatic swooshing music)
(helicopter blades chuffing) It has been over three hours
since Virginia prison officials were awakened by terrifying news. (emergency sirens ringing) Six death row inmates have broken out of Mecklenburg Correctional Center, a state-of-the-art escape-proof facility. (dramatic ominous humming music) All police have is a
widening search and no leads. (helicopter blades chuffing) (indistinct chatter) James Lettner reports that none of the guards conspired in the escape. They are guilty only
of errors in judgment. Each error by itself would
not have been enough, but taken together, they enabled six condemned men to escape. The most pressing question
on Lettner's mind is where the killers are headed? Between them, the six
escapees have been convicted of killing 17 persons. (dramatic ominous rumbling music) They've been in and out of
prison most of their lives and now they are free men. (vehicle humming by) (dramatic swooshing music) (indistinct radio chatter) Officer Lawrence Harrison of the Warren County North
Carolina Sheriff's Department on patrol far outside the Virginia
authorities search perimeter, notices a white prison van. - At the time I thought it was just correctional people transferring because they do that at night. And they by, they waved at me and I waved
at them and they kept going. (vehicle humming by) - [Tony] The prisoners
have slipped the perimeter and Officer Harrison has
not yet been informed of the breakout. (vehicle humming) The escapees realize a white prison van would be easily spotted. (vehicle humming)
(inmates shouting) As their euphoria from
the escape wears off they begin arguing about
where they should go, what they should do with the van? (inmates shouting) Someone suggests they
hide the van in the woods and cover it with branches, but that would take time and
the six are getting nervous. (inmates shouting) While driving through
Warrenton, North Carolina, a town of about 1,000 people. They find a grove of trees. (van breaks squeaking)
It looks like a good place to leave the van. (inmates shouting) (van doors banging) The escapees split up. (dramatic ominous music) The Brileys, Tuggle and
Jones go one direction. (dramatic ominous music) (indistinct chatter) Clanton and Peterson go another. The men get lucky, finding some sweat clothes
hanging outside on a clothesline. (crickets chirping) They ditch their prison garb. (crickets chirping) (vehicle humming by) While police continued
to search the perimeter around the prison, the inmates are running free to the south of their search area. (indistinct radio chatter) (dramatic swooshing music) (vehicle humming) The fugitives have been on the run for three and a half hours when a North Carolina
Highway Patrol officer discovers the prison van. (indistinct radio chatter) - 211 Central, I'm stopping
to check out a suspicious van at the back of a school yard. - [Tony] It's 30 miles from Mecklenburg. (indistinct radio chatter)
(vehicle door clicking) It had been driven into some trees behind the Marion Boyd Elementary School. Park near the playground, the van is hardly inconspicuous. (vehicles humming by) Officers from the Warrenton Police and Sheriff's Department
approach the prison van. (dramatic ominous music) - [Officer] Clear. - [Officer] Check the door here. Check the door. (dramatic ominous music) (vehicle humming by)
(vehicle door clicking) Investigators find the riot
gear the prisoners used to disguise themselves, along with a television set
they passed off as a bomb. Unfortunately, they
find nothing to indicate which direction the escapees are heading. The riot gear can furnish a
scent for the bloodhounds. - Sir, certainly we called around. We're gonna call around a certain area. - Agent Lettner?
- Yes. - Excuse me, sir. I think we might have a break. - [Tony] Back at the prison, Lettner gets word a hospital
orderly had been carjacked at knife point by two men in uniform. Lettner suspects these
were two of the escapees. The orderly is lucky to
have escaped with his life. (dramatic ominous rumbling music) (vehicle humming by) When investigators examine his
car they find a prison shank, similar to those used in the escape, in the back seat. Police know the men have now split up and two of them are on foot. (emergency sirens ringing)
(dramatic swooshing music) The Virginia State Police, prison emergency teams, and the North Carolina Highway
Patrol take over a motel and set up a command post. Because the fugitives
have crossed state lines, the FBI is called in. Special Agent James Trotter is awakened in the middle of the night. - The phone rang and my wife answered it, handed the phone to me. It was Wayne Waddell, an agent down in Danville, Virginia, which covered the prison at Mecklenburg. Wayne said something like, Jimmy, I got a problem. We got a problem. Six guys have broken
out of death row here. (emergency sirens ringing) - [Tony] The fact the escapees split up would make them harder to find. But if they were on foot
they couldn't go far. (indistinct chatter) Investigators adjust
their search perimeter, vectoring in the location and time the van had been abandoned with the location and time of the attempted carjacking. - It's just a matter
of connecting the dots, going from point A to point B and seeing how far ahead of you they are and trying to outsmart them and beat them to the next place they're likely to go and be there waiting for them. - [Tony] Representatives of various law enforcement agencies
meet to set up a task force. Coordinating the search is Robert Pence, special agent in charge of
the Charlotte FBI office. - Where we got those command posts set up? - Because of the magnitude
of this incident, the response from law enforcement, I would say, was massive. We had every FBI agent in the
eastern part of the state, along with support that we sent from the headquarters in Charlotte. We used aircraft. We used dogs. We used the corrections officers. In other words, it was a door-to-door search. It was a field-type search. And while all this was going on, communications were being
sent to enlarge the search to prepare the rest of the sector and the rest of the country
to be aware of these people and be alert for them. (indistinct chatter) - [Tony] Special Agent Pence
needs more information, the names and addresses
of their next of kin, records of telephone calls they had made, the identities of persons with whom they were
authorized to communicate? - Well, what we did
simultaneously was search records to try to identify associates, relatives, neighbors, anyone who these
individuals might've tried to contact if they got
out of the Warrenton area. - [Tony] Police set up a tip line. Pence dispatches agents to interview the fugitives'
friends and family, (emergency sirens ringing) not just to gather information, but to warn them that the
killers are on the loose. - I believed that they
were still in the area. I mean, we had no indication
that they had left. So the perimeter was kept tight and we kept looking for them. But thoughts or feelings creep in to you that perhaps they did escape. (door clicking)
(crickets chirping) (ominous piano music) - [Tony] Then what the
police fear most, happens. A man reports his truck stolen. (door clicking)
(crickets chirping) (emergency sirens ringing) The truck, a five-year-old Ford Ranger was serviced the day
before and is full of gas. (emergency sirens ringing)
(vehicle breaks squeaking) Within moments, officials from the Department of Corrections, the highway patrol, sheriff's deputies and the local police
swarm over the property, searching for any clue that
might've been left behind. The man tells investigators his truck would be easy to identify. He has personalized license tags with the letters P-E-I-one. (crickets chirping)
(ominous piano music) Police order an all points
bulletin put out for the pickup. Investigators can't be sure
whether the killers had all fled in the truck or whether
some stayed behind, lurking in the backyards of Warrenton. (crickets chirping) Special Agent Pence. - So initially, it was
to try to contain them and then it became a national search. So while all this was going on, while the physical search was going on, communications would be
sent advising the rest of the country about what happened here, that we had the largest
breakout of death row inmates in US history and we needed to
apprehend them very quickly. (helicopter blades chuffing)
(ominous piano music) - [Tony] The new perimeter
has just been shattered. Now that the escapees have a vehicle, the search area extends for hundreds of miles up the East Coast. (emergency sirens ringing)
(dramatic swooshing music) (vehicles humming by) As dawn breaks the day after the escape, police set up a fortified perimeter around Warrenton, North Carolina. (vehicle humming by) Roadblocks are established and
every driver is questioned. (vehicle rumbling by) (indistinct chatter) Search teams are organized. Every available law enforcement
officer is recruited. Police bring in tracking dogs
to follow the escapees' scent. (indistinct radio chatter) (helicopter blades chuffing) Starting in the area
immediately around the van, a pattern search fans out
like ripples in a pond, covering an ever wider area, requiring more and more manpower. (helicopter blades chuffing) Police comb the woods
and search outbuildings, anywhere the escapees might hide. (helicopter blades chuffing) After several hours of searching, the investigators know only
that the fugitives had split up. Some of them may have stolen a truck. But police were no closer to finding them than when they started. (vehicle humming by) (dramatic swooshing music) This morning the residents of Warrenton, North Carolina wake up
to see helicopter shots of their town on the national news. (dramatic swooshing music)
(helicopter blades chuffing) At the prison, officials attempt to answer the questions of a frightened public. (helicopter blades chuffing) - At this point in time, our primary concern is the
recapture of the inmates who are at large at this point, and we are cooperating with the FBI, with North Carolina, with a number of other authorities
in an effort to do that. (helicopter blades chuffing) - [Tony] Fred Patton,
District First Sergeant in the North Carolina Highway Patrol. - You could all but
chart it like a fog bank as the fear rolled
across the four counties, from Warrenton outward. And as the sightings increased, people became more frightened. The fact that they were
in their midst six people that had killed 17 folks, had murdered them, including a five-year-old child, and among their rapes
was a 76-year-old woman, they began to arm themselves. - [Tony] Warrenton residents scrambled to buy weapons and ammunition. (birds chirping) (serene ominous instrumental music) Citizens are terrified to
learn six desperate killers are loose in their community.
(vehicle door banging) (birds chirping) Virginian pilot reporter, Tony Geramita - There was a lot of tension, a lot of fear. I remember people talking, saying they had their
guns and if anybody came on their step they would shoot them. I talk to some of the
merchants in this little town, apparently got cleaned out of guns and there was no ammunition to be bought. - [Tony] Residents barricade
themselves in their homes. Aware the fugitives have
disguised themselves as guards, they are wary of police officers
and to answer their doors with weapons in hand. Special Agent Robert Pence. - And we had a lot of
fear in the neighborhood of Warrenton where they were supposedly or possibly still contained. People were extremely afraid and scared. And people were going around door-to-door
making announcements that, lock your doors, lock your cars. A lot of people didn't sleep
there for a few nights. - [Tony] 300 sheriff's deputies, state troopers and highway
patrol officers joined in the search, hoping to ease the public's fears. Warren County Sheriff's
deputy, Lawrence Harrison. - At the time with deputies, what few we had, we made deliveries for the
old ladies that would call up to the grocery store and want something, we would pick it up and carry it to them because they was scared to come out. - [Journalist] How many people
are in the search right now? - [Officer] I don't know the number-- - [Tony] The media clamors for any information
about the investigation. - [Journalist] How many
sightings have you had total that you know of? - Well, there have been some
confirmed and some unconfirmed. - How many confirmed? - At this time we have two confirmed. - [Reporter] Anything on the pickup truck? - [Tony] The anxious public wants to know where the fugitives might be? - [Reporter] Do you think
they're laying low until dark? - Well, that's a possibility. Certainly, it's easier to move and not be detected after dark. - [Journalist] What do
you do in that case? (dramatic swooshing music) - [Tony] Earl Clanton and
Derick Peterson traded the guards' uniforms
for some sweat clothes. Clanton kept his guard's jacket
but ripped off the patches. (ominous music) The two fugitives walk into
a coin-operated laundry. Having spent a sleepless night on the run, they are hungry and thirsty. They had just been to a convenience store where they'd bought a bottle
of wine and some cheese. The commander of the Prison
Emergency Response Team or PERT happens to be
driving by the laundry. (vehicle humming) He spots a man wearing a coat. The coat is the same color and cut as a Mecklenburg guard's uniform. Certain this is one of
the escaped inmates, the officer decides to arrest him before he can leave the laundry. He hopes to catch him by surprise. - [Officer] Ma'am, get out. Get out. Go. Go.
- Freeze. - [Officer] Let me see your hands? - Turn around and get your hands up. - Come on, man.
- Come on, turn around. Don't make any moves. (dramatic ominous music) - [Tony] Clanton and
Peterson were out of prison for no more than 19 hours. - Any wrong move, guys, and it'll be your last. - [Tony] They didn't go far. and now their freedom is over. The two men concede they
expected to be caught because they were lost. (indistinct chatter) It turns out it was a
convenient place to be arrested. The coin-operated laundry
is only a 1/2 block from the county jail. - They found two of them there, they thought maybe the rest
of them would be there. So if we had fear before
when the van was discovered, we had a tremendous amount
of fear whenever two of them were apprehended right in town. So during that early two or three days, the mood was very serious and the people were very
concerned, very scared. We knew at that point it was
gonna be a complicated search because they weren't all
looking out for each other and they weren't together. And maybe two of them were
a little more half-hearted in this escape and now
we had to find the ones that really intended to go the route and where they were going. - [Tony] Investigators debate
the possible whereabouts of the other four escapees. To Special Agent Trotter, the Briley brothers are
at the top of their list. - The Briley brothers killed repeatedly for no apparent reason. They killed women. They killed pregnant women. They killed little children. They killed grown men. And they killed in very brutal and grizzly ways and apparently had absolutely no remorse for any of the crimes for
which they were convicted. - [Tony] Trotter fears that
unlike Peterson and Clanton, the Briley brothers won't
give up without a fight. (indistinct chatter) - Police are in a desperate
race against time today to find four killers who
they fear may kill again. (helicopter blades chuffing)
(dramatic swooshing music) - [Tony] The capture of
two escapees in the town of Warrenton, North Carolina, only intensifies the sense
of fear in the region. On the second day of the search, police scour a North Carolina campground after a woman reports she saw two of the convicts jogging across a field. (helicopter blades chuffing) Officers fan out through the woods, emerging hours later with
nothing but a cold trail. (helicopter whining to a start) Sightings of the escaped
death row inmates are coming in from throughout North
Carolina and Virginia. Each call has to be checked out. Fred Patton, District First Sergeant in the North Carolina Highway Patrol. - It was like the dam breaking. First of all there was a drip and then there was a
minor fluctuation of calls that we would receive as far
as sightings were concerned. And then the dam broke and sightings were coming
in by the hundreds. And of course by that time we
had mobilized enough people and had them spread out to the
point that we could respond to the sidings within
a short period of time, and this is what we wanted to do. - [Tony] Investigators
suspect the escapees may have left the area but
they cannot be sure. The manhunt continues
in and around Warrenton. - Well, these fellows are very smart. They know what they're doing, obviously, and they could be dug in anywhere and they gotta turn every
limb and every tree. (helicopter blades chuffing) - [Tony] Helicopters
searched the dense forests and red dirt fields on the
North Carolina, Virginia border. (indistinct radio chatter) Police patrol the waterways
and abandoned houses and stop traffic along
all roads and highways, looking for four dangerous men. Police continue to get tips. Special Agent Robert Pence. - So a lot of those tips were scared tips. They were fear tips. They weren't helping a lot. And I don't believe that any of the calls really
materialized as far as giving us direction about
where these fugitives might be. But I do think it gave
the citizens a conduit to really vent some of
their fears and concerns. (helicopter blades chuffing) - [Tony] A manhunt sweeps
the forests and swamps. All day long they search, growing more miserable by the hour. (water splashing) They run out of insect
repellent in Warrenton and have to send out for more. (water splashing) The officers endure difficult conditions, all to no avail. Officer Lawrence Harrison responds to several sightings of the fugitives. - Everybody in the whole county has seen them once we get there. And I don't know how many
bloodhounds we didn't have here. They will say, I saw him run across the road. We'll take the bloodhounds down there, turn out nothing. And they say, I saw him run there and there. We'll take the bloodhounds down there and sometimes we probably running them guys, we did see some guys
running across the road but it wasn't the Briley brothers. Coming from the liquor, stealing the marijuana patch. (Lawrence chuckling) (helicopter blades chuffing) - [Tony] Reports pour in as residents throughout Virginia and North
Carolina call police hotlines claiming to have seen the fugitives. (vehicle humming by) (birds chirping) The governor of Virginia
posts a $40,000 reward for information leading
to the fugitives' capture. (dramatic swooshing music) Sightings come in from
North Carolina and Virginia. Every call to be checked out, but leads nowhere. (dramatic swooshing music)
(vehicle humming by) Thinking that Brileys might return to their old neighborhood, Richmond, Virginia, police interview
their acquaintances and former gang members. Special Agent James Trotter. - These guys just killed
to see people die, just to be killing. And I think that's why
the Richmond community, upon learning that they had escaped, particularly the areas of Richmond which they frequented in the past, the people were terrified. Their own parents were terrified, not for them, but of them. (dramatic swooshing music) - [Tony] In Portsmouth, Virginia, just a few hours' drive from Warrenton, a police officer spots two
men breaking into a car. (door banging)
- Hey, police, what are you all doing? Let's see some hands. Let me see your hands. Step out from behind the car. Step out from behind the car. (dramatic ominous music)
Let me see your hands. - [Fugitive] Let's go. Let's go. (gunfire exploding) - [Tony] When he tries to stop them, the two men opened fire. (vehicle humming) - One of our officers saw Linwood Briley in the 1800 block of Elm Avenue, but then he lost sight of him. And shortly before nine o'clock another officer spotted Linwood Briley and James Briley here at Elm and Lincoln. Apparently they were tampering
or appear to be tampering with an automobile in this area. As soon as they saw
the officers, they ran. (helicopter blades chuffing) (dramatic swooshing music) (vehicle humming by) - [Tony] As fears spread, the sightings keep coming
in from far and wide. (car door banging)
(vehicle humming by) If the escapees did steal a pickup truck, they could be anywhere. (door bell chiming) The missing vehicle had enough
fuel to get past Richmond. - How are you doing? Where, ma'am?
- Yeah, he's right over there. - [Tony] On a hunch the
fugitives might head North. Agents begin interviewing
gas station attendance just North of Virginia's capitol. - Did you call about some
black guys in a pickup truck? - [Tony] One attendant
remembers seeing a pickup truck with one white man and three black men. - Investigator Jim Lettner. - I was absolutely convinced
that at least two of them and perhaps four of them were capable of murder or any other crime and would eventually commit other murders if they remained on the street. (dramatic swooshing music) - [Tony] Having lost their perimeter, investigators scramble for clues to where the fugitives might be headed. (dramatic ominous music) - The starting point-- - [Tony] They focus their attention on the leaders of the gang. They begin by examining a log of phone calls made from death row. The log indicates the Briley
brothers made a number of calls to the Philadelphia area. - [Officer] It is James Briley right here. - [Tony] The log entries lead agents to one wrong address after another. They begin to suspect the Briley's entered false phone numbers. Michael Carbonell is a
supervisory special agent with the FBI in Philadelphia. (car door banging) - Based upon all the
negative investigation we had conducted I felt that
those numbers were not right. In other words, they were not telling the guard which number they were actually calling - They're fakes. (indistinct chatter) - [Tony] Investigators
subpoena the toll records corresponding to the phone on death row. When they compare it
to the handwritten log, their suspicions are confirmed. - He dialed out to an area code, 215-- - [Tony] The phone company's records show the actual numbers the Brileys called. - Let me tell you what, take down these numbers. - [Tony] Agents now have over 50 good numbers to investigate. - Okay, give me everything
we have was maybe mail. (dramatic swooshing music) (vehicles humming by) - [Tony] Two of the calls had been placed to a house in North Philadelphia. Investigators know from
prison visitation records that the Brileys have an uncle
who lives in North Philly. (vehicles humming by) Carbonell set up to trace
their uncles outgoing calls. (vehicles humming by) - I didn't think that the
Briley brothers would be staying with him and I didn't wanna
hit his house until we were absolutely sure that they were here. The time was on our side
at that point so we decided to put a surveillance on his
residence and we conducted that surveillance for
probably four or five days. - [Tony] The FBI watches the Briley's uncle's every move. (vehicle rumbling) Although they never see
him with the Brileys, the agents have no choice
but to wait it out. (dramatic ominous rumbling music) As the FBI chases every
lead on the fugitives from Mecklenburg's death row, they get another break hundreds
of miles from Virginia. (dramatic swooshing music)
- Man, what we gonna do? Are we gonna eat? - [Tony] Lem Tuggle and
Willie Jones took eight days to make their way to Woodford, Vermont, a little resort town just
South of the Canadian border. (fire crackling) The men had spent the night in the woods. They decide to try and make it to Canada. - [Fugitive] I don't catch nothing. (dramatic ominous music) - [Tony] The two fugitives have a problem. Their stolen truck is low
on gas and they need money. - [Fugitive] Yeah, that's real funny. - [Tony] Tuggle leaves
Jones and drives back to a souvenir shop he had
visited three days before. - Oh, hi. - Diet Coke.
- Gotcha. - [Tony] Waiting for the
right time to make his move, Tuggle asks the owner for a soda. (dramatic ominous music) - And now will there be
anything else for you, sir? - Yes, ma'am. - [Tony] Drawing a hunting knife, he demands all the money
in the cash register. (paper bag rustling) Once Tuggle gets the money
he turns and walks out. The woman notes the truck's license tag, P-E-I-one. It is easy to remember. (vehicle humming) The take is about $80 in change. (paper bag rustling) It isn't much but it's enough for gas and a new start in Canada. Unfortunately for Tuggle, he is heading in the wrong direction. (dramatic swooshing music) Ronald Wunderlich has just woken up and is about to head off
for an all-night job, guarding a nuclear power station. - [Radio Chatter] Report
of a robbery just occurred. - [Tony] When he hears the report of a robbery at the Woodford Gift Shop (door banging) Wunderlich is a constable in
a town of only 300 people. (vehicle door banging) His Ford Escort doubles his patrol car. (tires crunching on gravel) (vehicle humming) In Stanford, Vermont it
seems unlikely he'll have to engage in any high-speed chases. (tires crunching on gravel) Trooper Daniel Bagebing
also hears the report. The dispatcher says that the suspect was last seen driving east on Route 9. - And the dispatch advised that upon running a registration check on the motor vehicle they had discovered that it was a stolen
vehicle suspected involved with escapees from the Mecklenburg area. - Bagebing accelerates
to intercept the vehicle. (vehicle humming by) (vehicle humming) Wunderlich is driving out of Stanford when he spots the suspect vehicle (tires screeching) coming right at him on the
wrong side of the road. (tires crunching on gravel) The constable whips his
Ford Escort into a U-turn and begins a pursuit. (vehicle humming) Author, Joe Jackson. - Most of the town constables had ever really done before was to hustle drunks off the street and check out reports of stolen bicycles. And all of a sudden he
was chasing this crazy man who had robbed a store at knife point. (vehicle humming by) - [Tony] Wunderlich radios Bagebing that the truck is now heading south toward the State of Massachusetts. Trooper Bagebing goes from a code two to a code three response, using his lights and siren. (tires screeching)
(emergency siren ringing) - I was accelerating around probably 80 or 90 miles an hour to try to meet them, to make up some time and
distance before he got north to the intersection of
Route 100 and Route 8. (emergency siren ringing) - [Tony] If they act quickly
they can set up a roadblock before the convict has
a chance to slip away. (emergency siren ringing)
(motorbike rumbling by) On the radio, Bagebing hears that other
officers are joining the chase. (emergency siren ringing) Wunderlich advises him that
the vehicle has turned around and is proceeding north on Route 100. (emergency siren ringing) The trooper and the fugitive
are now heading straight for each other. (emergency siren ringing) - At that time I was trying
to find a good location to execute a stop where there
weren't any residences around, where we could have
something of relative safety, yet still being enough of a field of view where I could see the truck coming. (emergency siren ringing) - [Tony] The officers now realize they are pursuing a convicted killer. (tires screeching to a halt) When Bagebing slings his
vehicle across the road, he knows he is putting
his life on the line in a high stakes game of dare. - There's a little element
of danger involved, but yet, it's something that being a rural patrol
officer you rarely see and you're kind of saying, oh no, to yourself, that what have I gotten myself into here? - [Tony] Bagebing is gambling that the suspect isn't desperate enough to ram his cruiser or that he is a good enough
shot to stop him before he does. (emergency siren ringing) A Vermont State trooper
and a town constable have boxed in one of
the death row escapees. (emergency siren ringing) It's now a question of whether Lem Tuggle, who had been convicted
of killing two persons, would be squeamish about killing a third? (emergency siren ringing) Weighing his options, Tuggle pulls over and stops. (dramatic ominous music) - I then ordered him to place his hands out the window so I could see his hands. And we then ordered Tuggle from the truck, to lay down on the pavement
and then approached him and took him into custody. - [Bagebing] Arms to your sides. He identified himself to me as, you know, my name is Lem and I'm from Virginia and something to the effect
that I'll expect you'll find that I'm wanted. (handcuffs clicking) - [Tony] Lem Tuggle has been a fugitive for just 10 days. He seems almost relieved to be captured. Tuggle admits that robbing the
gift shop was a big mistake. But the truck was out of gas
and he wanted to get to Canada. (dramatic swooshing music) (vehicles humming by) The next day an unusual call comes into the Vermont State Police. - State Police, Derby? - [Tony] The man gives
the dispatcher his name. - Willie Jones. Yes, can I help you? - [Tony] He says police
are looking for him. - For what? Where? - [Tony] He'd escaped from prison. - Mecklenburg? Mecklenburg, where? In Virginia? For what? - [Tony] He had broken out of death row. - How long? When? (indistinct radio chatter) And you wanna turn yourself in? I will be sending the cruiser up, the police up to talk with you. (emergency siren ringing) - [Tony] When Tuggle didn't return, Jones became lost and confused. (emergency siren ringing) Tired of being on the run, he wanted to turn himself in. The dispatcher asks Jones
to describe where he is? She determines that he's on Route 242, outside the town of Jay. Jones tells the dispatcher he is unarmed. (indistinct radio chatter) In his 26 years as a trooper, this is the only time
Richard Armitage has ever had a fugitive call and
asked to be picked up. - [Richard] Interlock your fingers. Put your hands on top of your head. - He just looked like he was
ready to turn himself in. He dejected. He looked tired, dirty, hungry. And it was obvious that
he'd been bit by a number of the black flies that
we do have in this area. And it was really, it was like the weight of the world had been
taken off his shoulders. He was so glad that he was going where he could get something
to eat and something to drink. (relaxing xylophone music) - [Tony] It wouldn't have been difficult for Jones to enter Canada. In Vermont, the border is
only guarded at the highways. If he knew where he was going, he could've easily just walked across. (vehicles humming by) But Jones gave himself up just five miles from the Canadian border. Author Joe Jackson believes Jones may have been overwhelmed by
his new found freedom. - They lived most of their
adult lives in prison. I mean, prison is their
world and so they're able to figure out how the prison world acts, but they're not able to figure
out how the free world acts. They fit in the prison world. They don't fit in the free world. - [Tony] With four of the
six fugitives captured, only the Brileys, the most dangerous
killers remain at large. With their well known
history of vicious murders, the two remaining fugitives
seem to be everywhere. Sightings come in from
as far north as Montreal. In Richmond, Virginia, where the brothers went
on their bloody rampage, everyone locks their doors. A manhunt is organized in
Oxford, North Carolina, after a man thought to be
Linwood Briley steals some cans of food from a convenience store. - Yeah, she came from-- - [Tony] In Richmond, Virginia, the family of a former gang member who turned state's evidence
against the Brileys is given police protection. (dramatic swooshing music) (indistinct chatter) Investigators questioned Lem Tuggle for clues to the Briley's whereabouts. (ominous rumbling music)
(crickets chirping) Tuggle tells police how
the escapees wandered to Warrenton looking for a
vehicle they could steal. (crickets chirping) They hot-wired a pickup
truck and took off. (vehicle door banging) Tuggle tells them the
Brileys had never been in Portsmouth or Richmond. (vehicle humming by) He says, they didn't kill
anyone while he was with them. (indistinct chatter) After stealing the pickup
truck in North Carolina, they drove North to Philadelphia. (fire roaring) They burned the guards'
uniforms in a trashcan. - Burn it up. Burn it up.
- According to Tuggle, the Brileys claimed they
arranged for someone to meet them with clothes and a gun. - Burn it all. Burn it all. Tuggle further recalls
that James Briley stuck one of the guard's badges in
Philadelphia's Hunting Park. (indistinct chatter) He and Jones then headed north
towards the Canadian border. (helicopter blades chuffing) Tuggle claims they even stopped
and asked two state troopers for directions to the New Jersey turnpike. There they were driving along, two escaped convicts from
a maximum security prison, wanted by the FBI and
law enforcement agencies in several states, but apparently no one noticed. (vehicle humming by) - Tuggle says he and Jones
eventually parted company at a campground when he
left to rob the gift shop. (dramatic swooshing music) (playful children banter) Special Agent Mike Carbonell
comes to Philadelphia with a map of the park drawn by Tuggle. - I frankly didn't believe it. I'm familiar with Hunting Park. When I looked at the map, there were no tennis
courts drawn on the map. I was skeptical. I felt, why would a
guy who's on death row, who's gonna be executed cooperate with us? (dramatic ominous rumbling music) - [Tony] Searching the trees, investigators find the guard's badge. - Right there.
- Oh yeah. - [Tony] This confirms Tuggle's story. - I was stunned, I didn't believe it. But the proof is in the pudding. The badge was there and then
we knew that they were here. (dramatic swooshing music) - [Tony] The FBI knows the Brileys have an uncle in Philadelphia. They believe the two fugitives
will probably contact him if they haven't done so already. Special Agent James Trotter. - They set up a surveillance and sat there for days, nothing. He would call me a
report and he would say, the guy's not doing anything, nobody's coming or going. - [Officer] He's on the move. (ominous music) - [Tony] Agents get a break
when they shadow the uncle to a body shop specializing in upholstery and vinyl car tops. Days earlier a woman in
New York notified police, she received a call from James Briley. The call originated from this garage. (shutter gate clanging) Its owner, Dan Latham had been introduced to the Brileys by their
uncle using false names. He called them Lucky and Slim. (shutter door clanging) (dramatic swooshing music) The FBI sets up a fixed
surveillance on Latham's garage. Agents see several men hanging around, but aren't sure if they're the Brileys. (dramatic ominous music)
(indistinct chatter) They send in an informant
from the neighborhood to try and confirm an ID. (vehicles humming by) - He was a street-type
guy who was very sharp that could really maneuver
in that environment. We sent him in there. He actually talked to James Briley. He came back out and met with us. He said, I think it's him. - [Tony] A tattoo on
the suspect's left arm further confirms the ID. Agents believe they have found James, but they see no sign of
his brother, Linwood. They wonder whether to
go in and arrest one or wait with the hope of getting both? (vehicle humming by) But if they wait, Virginia's most notorious
serial killers might slip away. (dramatic swooshing music) After 19 days of searching, the FBI believes they have
located the last two escapees from Mecklenburg's death row. They have taken refuge at a
body shop in North Philadelphia. The two fugitives appear
to be having a party. Having confirmed their
identities through an informant, agents decide it's time to move in. (emergency siren ringing) (tires screeching) (agents shouting) The garage owner, Dan Latham is surprised
by all the commotion. - I myself was in the office on the phone, just taking it easy, and I heard some wheels
screeching and coming to a halt and I heard a lot of screaming. I looked outside and all I seen was guns, a lot of guns. (dramatic ominous music) - [Tony] Both brothers
admit their identities and are led away in handcuffs. (indistinct radio chatter) The nationwide manhunt is over. The last of the Mecklenburg
six are recaptured. They had been free for 19 days. For Sergeant Fred Patton it
is the end of a nightmare. (indistinct radio chatter) - When the Briley brothers were finally apprehended in Philadelphia it was like the weight of the world had been lifted off of you, because our reiterate
that these were bad folks, these were killers. (people chatting) - [Journalist] The Briley brothers, who are facing death
sentences in Virginia, were picked up at a car shop
on Philadelphia's North Side. FBI agent, John Hogan says, they were surprised when
20 agents surrounded them. - They were apprehended without incident and they caused no problem to us. They had both admitted their identity. They have the appropriate scars and marks, so we know who they are. (helicopter blades chuffing) - [Journalist] The Briley
brothers were the last of six convicts to be
rounded up after their escape from the largest death row
prison breakout in US history. That was three weeks ago at Mecklenburg Correctional
Center in Virginia. The Brileys will be arraigned
in Philadelphia today on charges of unlawful
flight to avoid confinement. - [Tony] The FBI wants to make certain the
Brileys can't away again. Special Agent Trotter
arranges to have them kept in federal custody. - In these unlawful flight cases, usually as soon as you
catch them you dismiss the federal warrants and leave
it between the two states to work out getting them
back to where they belong. The FBI is out of it. But we were able to keep these guys in federal custody long
enough to have them returned to Virginia through the federal system, rather than having to go through state
extradition proceedings. (helicopter blades chuffing) - [Tony] In the wake of the escape, Mecklenburg goes into lockdown. The governor of Virginia
announces the firing of five guards. The warden and his security assistant are suspended without pay. An investigation by three
independent consultants finds that conditions at Mecklenburg
are highly dangerous, and at times, unmanageable. (emergency siren ringing) Two months after the escape
riots break out at the prison. (helicopter blades chuffing) Using homemade knives, inmates stab two guards and
take six others hostage. Author, Joe Jackson. (helicopter blades chuffing) - There was a lot of violence in the prison before the escape. But once the escape occurred
that was like a symbol to a lot of the other prisoners, and so at that point the
lid blew off of Mecklenburg and there was a big riot. (ambulance siren ringing) - [Tony] It appears to be
a repeat of earlier events. Only this time there was no escape. The standoff ends shortly after sunrise. Corrections Director, Robert Landon resigns three months later. Before he leaves, Landon puts many changes into effect. Doors to the guards' restrooms
are now locked all the time. Open stairwells where inmates
could hide are boarded up. Stricter procedures are put in place. (metal gates clanging) An interlock is installed
on the main sally port, preventing both gates
from opening at once. (birds chirping) With these changes in place, Jim Lettner believes that such an escape could never happen again. - Corrections were made
to our institutions, both in the way jobs were performed, as well as new regulations
that were instituted that makes our prisons more apt to be escape free in the future. (dramatic ominous rumbling music) - [Tony] In October of 1984, as Linwood Briley's execution grows near he is quoted as saying, at least I had my 19 days. Briley is the second man in 22 years to be executed in Virginia. (dramatic ominous rumbling music) But in the aftermath of the escape officials step
up the rate of executions. Six months after Linwood was put to death, James Briley follows his
brother to the electric chair. In that same month, Earl Clanton Junior pays the price for the two murders he committed. (crickets chirping) Derick Peterson, one of the first escapees to be recaptured makes
his final walk in 1991. (vehicle rumbling by) Willie Jones is executed in 1993. Willie Turner masterminded the escape but he remained behind because
he had an appeal pending. (dramatic ominous music) Convinced of his innocence, he puts his faith in the system. Willie Turner is executed in 1995. By that time, the State of Virginia stopped
using the electric chair. Turner's life is ended
by lethal injection. An hour after the poison
stops Turner's heart, his lawyer finds a loaded
32 caliber homemade gun inside a typewriter in his cell. Along with the weapon
is a handwritten note that reads simply, smile. The last escapee to die is Lem Tuggle. On December 12th, 1996, the convicted double murderer
is led to the death chamber. Joe Giarrantano, whose book
passing started the escape, had his sentence commuted
to life in prison. All the conspirators, he is the only survivor. (crickets chirping) (vehicle humming) The escape of the Mecklenburg six shocked and terrified the nation for 19 days. The coordinated efforts of police and law enforcement
officials returned the men to face the ultimate
penalty for their crimes. (crickets chirping) Since the escape, the Commonwealth of Virginia
has executed over 80 people. State sanctioned execution continues to be hotly debated in Virginia, America and around the world. (metal gate clanging)
(crickets chirping) (dramatic ominous music)
