Unlawful Flight | FULL EPISODE | The FBI Files

in 1996 a pair of convicted felons escaped across the country when a foreign military officer disappeared along their trail authorities wondered if the armed fugitives had become killers the fbi raced to find the escapees before more victims crossed their path [Applause] [Music] [Music] in alabama two desperate criminals fled the custody of a local deputy eluding authorities they made their way across the country in a wave of car theft abduction and murder i'm jim calstrom former head of the fbi's new york office escaped criminals believe they have nothing to lose they'll do anything to avoid capture after the convicts claimed their first victim further bloodshed was inevitable unless the fbi could find them and bring them to justice [Music] central alabama may 21 1996. a dekalb county deputy was assigned to transport three inmates from state prisons to face court dates michael thompson was to be sentenced for murder you know what it is the deputy knew thompson having transported him before thompson had persuaded the deputy to let him sit in the front seat thompson had just met another inmate roger yaiden the career criminal had 17 burglary convictions and three prison escapes on his record the third inmate was on work release the prisoners were not handcuffed for the short drive as the group neared talladega alabama thompson made his move at gunpoint thompson forced the deputy to keep driving quiet he ordered him to drive to a secluded area in the woods near lincoln alabama [Music] thompson and jaden freed themselves they marched their hostages into the woods shut up the shoes too the deputy's extra handcuff key fell unnoticed to the ground sit down clown sit down bound in the remote woods the officer didn't know if he would be executed all right hurry up all right let's go let's go all right i'll be riding with you again the two escapees simply ran off michael thompson and roger yaden took off in the direction of talladega leaving their prison clothes behind it was jaden's fourth escape from alabama authorities the deputy had to contact the sheriff's department [Music] with a dropped handcuff key he freed himself and the other inmate then ran for help [Music] the escaped convicts had the deputy service weapon and a shotgun stored in the patrol car under the cover of law officers the two felons endangered anyone in their path the deputy and the remaining inmate had flagged down a motorist and reached the local police department police immediately issued an urgent be on the lookout alert for the two escapees in the stolen patrol car one individual thompson six foot [Music] dekalb county law enforcement launched a search but the area contained hundreds of miles of rural roads despite the search no sightings of the fugitives or the deputy's car came in that day [Music] it wasn't until the evening that authorities received their first clue to thompsons and jaden's actions [Music] a local paramedic contacted talladega city police and told them about his [Music] ordeal he said that earlier that day he was driving near talladega when he noticed a sheriff's patrol car following him when he heard the siren the off-duty paramedic pulled over believed it was a routine stop [Music] the officer asked for his license and wallet paramedic bob courtney didn't think he'd been speeding the reason we pulled you over is your vehicle just the description of a vehicle that was involved in a hit and run and i told him well i haven't been in the accident you know you can check my truck you can look around it's not a scratch on it and he said well your truck fits the description that we've gotten so we're going to uh you know check it out courtney didn't suspect anything no flags went off when he first walked up to me because he was in full uniform i had the badge and the name tag and i really didn't make contact with the whole uniform i seen the gun when he had his hand on him [Music] following the deputy's orders the paramedic got into the patrol car [Music] he believed it was simply a misunderstanding that he would be released shortly he said well we're going to carry you back over here to the accident scene and i said well that's fine you know my truck doesn't fit the description we'll just get this cleared up he first realized something was wrong when a man in civilian clothes carrying a shotgun ran from the patrol car to his truck from the description police believe the man driving the pickup was roger yayton they believe michael thompson was the one dressed as the deputy [Music] thompson followed the pickup with the paramedic locked in the back what the deal is you can have courtney asked for an explanation keep it quiet he said we're just going to take your truck and i knew right then it was a kidnapping this guy's just kidding at me so i went into the pleading mode you know i told him i said look you know i'm only 30 years old i've got a wife and kids and you have my truck you have my gun there's no sense in killing me michael thompson followed behind to an isolated spot off the highway roger yaden had found the paramedic's nine millimeter handgun in the truck bob gordney was helpless in the patrol car's locked back seat [Music] the men forced him inside the cruiser's trunk the kidnapped paramedic believed they were going to kill him i was laying there at the point so if they shot through the trunk i knew they would miss me you know if a bullet was to come through maybe it would graze me and not hit any vital organs so i was trying to protect myself from the point of being shot through the trunk and i could hear vehicles pass by and then i heard my truck crank and then i heard it sped off and it was hot i felt like i was suffocating i kept thinking to myself you need to slow down because if you don't you're going to use up all your energy plus it's hot in here i'm going to and i'm probably gonna pass out i was scared i was shaking and i was laying in the trunk and i got to thinking okay you're a paramedic you've educated people a thousand times now it's time for you to do what you've learned to get yourself out of this trunk to educate yourself so you can still be alive using a jacket found in the trunk courtney worked for two hours finally he popped the trunk open he ran to the nearest house where a woman called police an updated bulletin was issued for the pair of fugitives in the black pickup truck they were now driving 232 to all units this is a broadcast for o 900 suspect they were armed with two nine millimeter handguns in the shot authorities sped to the main interstate figuring the fugitives would use it to flee the area with a stolen truck full of gas and interstate highways nearby law officers knew that michael thompson and roger yaden had a big lead on them they could be anywhere seven days later and 1200 miles away an abandoned black pickup truck with no license plates turned up in santa rosa new mexico the vehicle identification number on the dash had been destroyed [Music] the police located a second identification number on the truck's chassis a record search showed that it was the paramedics truck stolen in alabama because of the interstate travel the fbi was notified an immediate search of the area revealed no sign of michael thompson or roger yates the armed fugitives had dumped the one vehicle investigators could trace on june 7 1996 the fbi in birmingham alabama filed a warrant for unlawful flight to avoid confinement police agencies across the country were notified to watch for any sign of jaden and thompson [Music] two weeks later twelve hundred miles east of where the paramedic stolen truck was recovered in new mexico a group of diving students spotted a car at the bottom of fowler lake near terre haute indiana indiana department of natural resources agent dean jenkins responded with his team the car was laying it was in about 25 30 foot of water it was on its top the windshield been broke out from when it sank it apparently was driven off the ramp indiana department of natural resources officers dove into the lake to investigate they found a red car with no license plates divers could see items from the vehicle including travellers checks resting on the bottom there was no body nearby the degree of personal items we found and what they were travelers checks those kind of things that would ordinarily you would think could be stolen or discarded along the way prior to someone just dumping a stolen car i think that was the key thing that made me wonder what else was involved with this vehicle investigators removed the car to process it on shore in the trunk technicians recovered a british passport for army major david nichols travelers checks in airline ticket stubs issued to the major were found in the glove compartment [Music] among the items was an alabama jail booking slip with a local indiana name and address written on the back checking the car's identification number investigators discovered it was a rental from colorado reported missing along with the major 16 days after he had rented it the vin number is 726 jj because a foreign military officer was the likely victim of a crime supervisory special agent jack osborne from the fbi field office in indianapolis was called in he believed the name on the alabama jail booking slip was the best lead in major nichols disappearance [Music] from the booking slip that was found in the car on the back side with several handwritten notes not so much with phone numbers but maybe somebody's first name and an address one of those names an address led us to a relative of mr yaden who resided in terre haute the relative was an aunt of roger yates he was one of two escaped convicts whom investigators had searched for in new mexico [Music] she told an agent that she did not know why her name was on the back of the alabama jail booking slip she also had no knowledge of major nickels his red rental car or that her nephew had escaped custody she told us that she did have a nephew roger dale yaden who she believed was in custody in alabama and had communicated a lot with him in writing as her children had she did say that jaden had some old friends in the area but she couldn't recall their names if rajyadan had made it to indiana the fbi believed murderer michael thompson was with him they knew the pair of escaped convicts had already threatened to kill three others in alabama and were last seen with two handguns and a shotgun agents feared that roger yaden and michael thompson may have used one of those weapons on the missing british major in june of 1996 the fbi and indiana police searched for armed fugitives michael thompson and roger yayton who had escaped from alabama authorities they were considered prime suspects in the disappearance of british army major david nichols whose rental car was found at the bottom of an indiana lake according to fbi supervisory special agent jack osborne an alabama jail booking slip found inside the car linked the fugitives to the missing major the evidence certainly associated that vehicle with our missing major and that he was not in and around terre haute nor was he located in the lake it likewise then identified our two escaped prisoners that we believed were together and did have possession of the british army officer's car and that they still possibly could be in the terre haute area agents went to the british embassy in washington dc to find out more about the major's travel itinerary sent to us prior to his arrival the fbi needed to determine where and when major nicholls may have crossed paths with the armed fugitives the british government provided us some very basic information that indicated a british army officer of theirs i had been in the united states arriving on the 20th of may arrived at denver and was to travel to to new mexico to attend a language school and then to texas to attend a second school on travel orders issued by nato major david nichols was scheduled to arrive at the first seminar in albuquerque on may 26th nichols was a vice commander of the british defense school of languages an expert linguist fluent in five languages he told his wife and three children that he planned to sightsee for a few days before the seminar but school officials in albuquerque never heard from the major after he failed to arrive the fbi felt it was strange that the british army officer had not attended school the british government likewise through contact they had with the family and friends of the missing major felt that it was strange that he had not been in contact with them which then caused the british government great concern agent osborne contacted the fbi field office in albuquerque new mexico special agent john shum needed to determine where the major was last seen in the 450 miles between denver and albuquerque they gave us his itinerary photos descriptions potential contacts here in the u.s that he might have contacted once he once we couldn't find him where he was supposed to be so they gave us a complete what we would call a victimology of him his background and personality agents also check the british major's credit card purchases the last time he used his car was to buy gas in the small town of rattan on the colorado new mexico border the gas station was just 150 miles from the place michael thompson and roger yayton he escaped fugitives from alabama and abandoned the black pickup truck they had stolen agents wanted to confirm how far the british major had traveled past rittan yes they checked at a hotel in old town albuquerque where the major had made advanced reservations he never showed up and his reservation was never canceled the major had disappeared somewhere between the gas station near the colorado border where his credit card had been used and the hotel in albuquerque the fbi suspected michael thompson and roger yaden had abducted him but they had vanished too agent shum called the mage's wife in england to find out more about how her husband may have reacted if accosted by two desperate criminals she told me he was a very gentle man he was a very good man and that if he was confronted with these by these people that he would not have been confrontational he would have been willing to do what they say give him anything they want just to avoid a confrontation and she said that he would have been very concerned about uh about his safety and being able to make it back to england to uh help raise his his boys 1200 miles away in indiana close to the lake where the mage's car was found local police received a call from a junkyard manager who reported seeing two suspicious men on his property when the officer arrived the two men fled from a pickup truck loaded with scrap metal it was unsafe for a loan officer to follow two men into the woods he called in the truck's license plate numbers and learned the vehicle had been stolen crime scene technicians processed the truck they found a tag from a video camera strap that belonged to major david nichols they also recovered a letter that was addressed to fugitive roger yaiden's mother in alabama it was generally saying that that he was out of prison and was generally going to be staying in the terre haute area when agents contacted jaden's mother in alabama she said she hadn't heard from her son and had no idea where he might be no things things are going fine investigators were sure the fugitives were nearby your photograph the items that were recovered in that truck were extremely important because it not only associated yaden and thompson with that vehicle it also associated the missing major with that vehicle it was more compelling evidence that jaden and thompson were likely responsible for the mage's disappearance but the armed fugitives were moving fast and the fbi was still one step behind in the summer of 1996 the fbi continued their hunt for escaped alabama convicts michael thompson and roger yayton agents suspected they had carjacked a british man who was still missing then dumped his rental car in a lake near terre haute indiana where roger yayton had relatives [Music] at a nearby high school the fbi and indiana investigators had established a satellite command post they received a court order to examine yaden's local juvenile record they noticed that jaden often got into trouble with one particular friend checking the friends background they learned that he managed a nearby auto salvage yard indianapolis fbi special agent william hamilton would chase the lead all my partner and i decided that we would drive a unmarked vehicle into this area in an undercover capacity under the ruse of looking for a specific auto part the five-acre property was a good hiding place it was filled with a maze of cars surrounded by dense woods agents staked out the location i i just haven't seen anything in a while they needed to confirm that jaden's childhood friend was on duty order to assure their identities would not be discovered they left their badges and weapons in their vehicle after going all the way to the far south end of the salvage yard we noticed a trailer back in the woods and there was two white males there working the men fit the general description of the armed fugitives but the unarmed agents could not be sure hello they hope to learn more from the manager the undercover agents engaged him in small talk and confirmed that he was a friend of roger yaden's the childhood friend uh he indicated he'd known jaden for several years they had both came to his residence in early june and they showed up there in a red taurus that car matched the description of the missing major's vehicle by the time the agents finished their conversation the two men they had glimpsed earlier were gone the fbi believed those two men had been thompson and yayton [Music] after assembling an arrest team agents and local officers race back to the salvage yard on the way they noticed a pickup speeding in the opposite direction one agent spotted roger yayton inside traveling with the salvage yard manager [Applause] they couldn't see if michael thompson was also with jumped out and headed for the woods the fugitive's childhood friend was detained for questioning he said jaden had forced him to lead police on a chase until he could jump out of the truck assured he had not intentionally harbored the suspects police later released the friend the childhood friend knew nothing of their recent criminal behavior he had only knew that jaden had been in jail once for burglary roger yayton had eluded pursuing investigators a canine unit was called in to track him a highly trained dog picked up a scent on july 2nd 1996 roger yaiden decided he was finished running but his economist convicted murderer michael thompson was still at large having jaden in custody was only a partial victory according to fbi special agent jack osborne after jaden's arrest this is not over at all we know that we're now dealing with another fugitive maybe the worst of the two fugitives we do not know where he's at if he's still on the property if he's in the trailer if he's in the woods if he has a weapon or not suspecting michael thompson took refuge in the auto salvage yards trailer law enforcement teams surrounded this special agent hamilton with the fbi you are surrounded i repeat with the fbi [Music] [Music] there was no response the atmosphere was very tense we did not know if thompson was inside the trailer with a maybe a long gun or even a handgun you know positioned on some of our people so we had to maintain cover all around the perimeter of the trailer come out with your hands up you will not be harmed authorities gave the signal to use the gas [Music] [Music] they stormed the trailer no one knew if escaped murderer michael thompson was armed and barricaded inside on july 2nd 1996 after capturing alabama fugitive roger yaden in indiana fbi agents stormed a salvage yard trailer where they believed his partner was hiding [Music] but indiana department of natural resources agent dean jenkins and his team did not find convicted killer michael thompson inside for everybody that was a terrible disappointment because we figured we were on to him we caught one we were looking to get the other one and pretty much make it make it a clean sweep and he wasn't in there agents questioned the salvage yard manager a childhood friend of yaden's who had unknowingly harbored the fugitives he said he had no idea where thompson might be hiding but he did show agents where jaden and thompson kept their belongings [Music] from the trunk of a car agents retrieved a suitcase labeled with the name of missing british major david nichols the mages clothes and personal effects were still inside agents believed the fugitives had carjacked the major in new mexico search team secured a three-mile perimeter around the salvage yard and told the man to call immediately if he spotted thompson we used canines and broke up into teams of three and four officers with canines and searched the area ran tracks all throughout the lot the salvage yard area and then the surrounding woods looking for him and that that took an awfully long time that went from the time they inserted the gas in the afternoon well past darkness with a convicted killer on the loose fbi and local law enforcement could not afford to wait they patrol roadways and fields hoping to flush thompson from hiding despite hours of searching the fugitive had eluded them once again in the morning agents considered the possibility that thompson may have somehow slipped past the perimeter they had no way of knowing if he was still in the immediate area then special agent william hamilton got the call they were hoping for all right good listen don't go near him we're gonna be there on july the third the morning following the arrest of roger yaden the childhood friend of yaden telephoned me and advised me that the subject thompson was asleep in the junkyard in the back of one of the cars near his residence the trailer the team was concerned that thompson would be armed there was no telling what the desperate fugitive would do when cornered exhausted from running the killer gave up without a fight [Music] after 43 days 6 000 miles and thousands of man hours the last fugitive wanted in major nichols disappearance was in custody thompson refused to talk to investigators but roger yayton apprehended the day before felt differently hoping for leniency from federal authorities jaden agreed to tell investigators what they wanted to know fbi special agent jack osborne led the question [Music] he indicated a willingness to give us a statement to provide all of the information that he and thompson were involved in to include the initial escape to include the carjacking in alabama and this is the first time that we learned that the british army officer had been killed [Music] in the black pickup the pair had carjacked from alabama the fugitives made their way to new mexico selling tools from the truck for money when their cash ran out they decided to rob and carjack another victim they staked out a remote rest area 100 miles south of rattan new mexico the last known town where british major nichols had traveled the convicts figured that tourists would be traveling with a lot of money and waited for someone who was traveling alone [Music] that's when the british major pulled up [Music] as they had done in alabama they forced their victim into the trunk of the thompson drove the major's rental car while jaden followed in the truck from jaden's account the british major reacted to the crime as the major's wife had predicted he would according to special agent john everything she said about him is exactly what jaden told us happened that uh major nichols was non-confrontational he did what he could to um keep the situation from escalating he talked about uh his three boys in england about how he needed to to get back there for them and he he asked that he not be hurt because he was concerned about what would happen to his children said thompson had planned the whole thing and that he was calling the shots they drove 50 miles until it was dark then pulled into a deserted area off the highway [Music] at gunpoint thompson forced major nickels out of the trunk [Music] without warning he shot him in the back of the head thompson turned the major over and shot again they hid his body at the site then abandoned the pickup truck several miles away jaden said thompson never explained why he had killed this carjacking victim you the pair of fugitives drove major nickel's car to indiana where they dumped it in fowler lake roger yadan had confessed his crimes to the fbi but he wanted a deal before he gave up the location of major nickel's body he wanted to hold back until he could get some assurance from the government that we would not seek the death penalty against him if that occurred then he was willing to help us find the body of the missing major if we had not located the body already all right so let's talk about this deal agents met with jaden and his lawyer the prisoner said he would tell them where the body was if they also promised he would not serve time in an alabama state prison [Music] initial searches without his help turned up nothing fbi special agent john shum was worried the mage's body would not be found without yaydon's help i don't follow the most important thing for us to do was find major nichols body that was going to be important to be successful in any prosecution and it was important for us because it was the right thing to do since this man since we couldn't make him safe in this country since we couldn't guarantee his safety at least we could return his body to his family federal prosecutors agreed to the deal jaden led investigators to a secluded spot in the new mexico wilderness the prisoner was an accomplished escape artist having fled custody more than once well we were very concerned about that because he had escaped four times before in alabama he was obviously very good at that plus we had to be concerned about our own safety so not only did we focus on the mission of finding major nichols body but we had to be very very concerned about making sure roger yaden was not trying to deceive us and just using this as a roost to set up an escape attempt fbi field agents were wary as a swat team secured the location they had no way of knowing if jaden might have friends in the area waiting to strike at agents on september 24 1996 recaptured prisoner roger yayton led the fbi into the new mexico desert where he claimed the body of major david nichols remained hidden after being murdered jaden would be spared the death penalty if he could locate the remains fbi special agent john shum recalls that the likelihood of finding the body without yaden's help was slim it was a very desolate area it was off of a very little used two-lane highway in new mexico in a very remote area and then off this two-lane highway we had to go down a gravel road for approximately a mile and then off the gravel road we had to drive into a cattle pasture for several hundred yards so it was incredibly remote agents were concerned that jaden had taken them there as a ruse to affect another escape finally jaden pointed out a spot to the agents there it is and even yate himself seemed very somber and respectful of of the situation we were in that we had finally located this man's body and we're going to able to be able to to give him a proper resting place now exposure to the elements made identification impossible examiners took dental x-rays which were later matched to records sent from england right major nichols family in britain was notified the officer's murderer michael thompson avoided a possible death sentence by pleading guilty in federal court to carjacking and murdering a foreign official he was sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole for kidnapping robbery and escape in alabama thompson received five additional life sentences in exchange for his cooperation roger yaden was allowed to plead guilty to only one count of carjacking and was sentenced to 18 years jaden was afraid of alabama state prisons was part of his deal he was to serve his sentence in a federal facility jaden time to get up he was temporarily held at a county jail in las vegas new mexico until he could be transferred okay let's go [Music] hey get up come on get up remarkably roger yaden had escaped again two other inmates also made the breakout with yates a search party with a dog team tracked jaden's scent from jail but the trail ended at an interstate highway later that day authorities captured one of two other inmates who escaped with jaden go ahead the inmate had injured his leg in the attempt and was unable to get far on foot he explained to authorities how they got out [Music] he said that jaden had designed the plan [Music] in the jail's black market he bartered for an allen wrench into hacksaw [Music] jaden unlocked maintenance panels to gain access to air ducts that led to the roof he cut through ductwork then the roof to get outside the fourth man stayed behind to replace the panel the escapees moved along the roof of the jail then jumped over the wall once on the outside the inmates said they split up that was the last time he saw yayton prison officials called fbi special agent john shum to give him the bad news and once i heard jaden escaped yet again from federal custody my first reaction was i was very angry because here was a guy that had a history of having escaped numerous times in the past the people that were responsible for his custody knew his history and they should have been more careful investigators believe jaden would likely head toward family and friends in dekalb county alabama have you seen roger lately agents interviewed anyone jaden might have contacted in the area including an ex-girlfriend have you talked to him on the phone no letter like the others she said she hadn't seen or heard from him they left a card and told her to call if jaden surfaced after the agents left she admitted to her current boyfriend that she had let jaden hide in her house the boyfriend was upset and called police nearby officers responded they didn't know if jaden was armed and waiting for them five weeks after his escape from new mexico officers finally cornered roger yayton captured in dekalb county alabama roger yadon's crime spree ended where it began his escape nullified the deal with federal prosecutors he was charged with the crimes he had committed during his last escape from alabama [Music] alabama assistant attorney general david estes prosecuted yaden in talladega the jury in this case deliberated for a very short period of time at an hour at the most and they came back and they convicted roger dale yaden of three counts of kidnapping in the first degree two counts of robbery in the first degree and one count of escape in the first degree jaden received five concurrent life sentences without parole [Music] now in maximum lockdown roger yayton will never leave alabama prison alive [Applause] [Music] you

Channel: The FBI Files

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Keywords: FBI, FBI Files, FBI Documentary, Documentary, Crime, Crime Documentary, Crime Patrol, True Crime, True crime daily, Unsolved, Crime Stories, Crime Documentaries Full Episodes, Full Episode, unsolved true crime, fbi files full episodes, we got him, mystery, solved, investigation, police, criminal, prison, jail

Id: GdnW5WwPB3k

Length: 50min 9sec (3009 seconds)

Published: Sat Oct 31 2020