Unusual Prison Escapes

Prison escapes are rare, but in some cases, inmates use very special skills and cunning to break free. The most bizarre prison escapes worldwide are compiled in this article. These detainees truly thought out of the box.

Escaping with Hamburger Meat - June 5, 2015

David Sweat and Richard Matt, two inmates from the Clinton Correctional Facility, took months to plan their escape. Both prisoners worked in "privileged" sections of the prison, including the kitchen, giving them access to various tools. While walking around the prison yard, the duo discovered a bump in the field that was actually a pipe they could crawl through to escape. Richard Matt also built a relationship with the prison tailor, Joyce Mitchell, and convinced her to smuggle hacksaw blades hidden in hamburger meat.

All of this provided them with the necessary tools to cut through steel walls. They left dummies with prison sweaters in their beds to make guards believe they were in bed, gaining time. They also left a note for the guards saying, "Have a nice day."

Originally, Joyce was supposed to wait for them outside the prison walls with a getaway car. However, Joyce didn't show up, and the escaped duo had to continue on foot. After several days on the run, they were eventually found, resulting in Sweat getting injured and Matt being shot dead.

Joyce Mitchell pleaded guilty to her involvement in the escape and was sentenced to up to 7 years in prison, which she serves at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility for women.

Nectarines as Grenades - May 1986

In 1986, Michel Vaujour used nectarines in a unique escape plan. Michel's wife, Nadine, was not in prison and took helicopter lessons before the escape. Michel used nectarines painted as grenades to gain access to the prison roof. From there, his wife picked him up in a helicopter, and they landed on a soccer field. His wife was subsequently arrested. Michel was later shot after a failed robbery, which he survived.

Tunnel Escape - January 2001

Joaquín Guzmán Loera, also known as 'El Chapo,' is a Mexican drug lord and former leader of the Sinaloa Cartel. He managed to escape from prison twice. His first escape was in January 2001. After being arrested by the Mexican police on drug charges, El Chapo bribed some guards in his prison to help him escape. He eventually escaped the prison by climbing into a cart of laundry and managed to avoid being recaptured for the next 13 years.

In 2014, he was arrested again, and about 17 months later, El Chapo escaped again. This time, he received much media attention and escaped through a miles-long tunnel built under the showers of the maximum-security prison. The tunnel had lighting, ventilation, and a modified motorcycle, likely used to assist in the tunnel's construction. In January 2016, El Chapo was arrested again.

A Magical Key - January 10, 1995

In another incredible escape story, three inmates escaped by memorizing the outline of a key. Inmates Andrew Rodger, Keith Rose, and Matthew Williams made all the necessary tools for their escape in the prison workshop. They memorized the main key outline a guard carried and then replicated it, allowing them to open any door during their escape. They also made a steel ladder and a gun.

They were caught four days after their escape while trying to plan a plane theft.

Public Enemy #1 - March 3, 1934

Gangster John Dillinger was dubbed "Public Enemy #1" by the FBI. Dillinger was both a bank robber and a murderer. He even escaped from prison twice. His first escape was from an Ohio prison with the help of eight friends. After being arrested for the second time, he was taken to Lake County Jail in Crown Point. Dillinger then escaped from the prison using a fake gun. There is still uncertainty about what the fake gun was made of and how the escape could have happened. The most common assumption is that he used a wooden gun painted black with shoe polish. Guards mistook the fake gun for a real firearm and let Dillinger leave the prison.

While on the run, Dillinger committed several more robberies. After a few months, Dillinger died in a shootout with the FBI.

Yoga Escape - September 2012

South Korean Choi Gap Bok was arrested on September 12, 2012, for theft. Choi had been a yoga practitioner for 23 years and, on September 17, just five days after his arrest, he wriggled through a food slot only 15 centimeters long and 45 centimeters wide using his flexible body. This reportedly took only 34 seconds. His escape earned him the nickname "Korean Houdini" by journalists. He was rearrested just six days later.

Helicopter Escape - October 12, 2001

French robber and convicted murderer Pascal Payet has three successful prison escapes under his belt, giving him worldwide notoriety. On October 12, 2001, Pascal escaped from a French village prison by being picked up on the roof by friends with a hijacked helicopter. He then returned by helicopter to the prison in 2003 and helped three other inmates escape.

In 2005, he was arrested again and sentenced to 30 years in prison for the murder of a guard during a carjacking in 1997. He spent a short time in prison before deciding to escape again. In July 2007, Pascal arranged for his friends to hijack a helicopter, hold the pilot hostage, and force him to fly to Pascal's prison, where he was waiting on the roof. Although his third escape was successful, he was eventually arrested again in Spain.

Alabama Escape - July 2017

In July 2017, twelve inmates escaped from an Alabama prison using peanut butter. The inmates spread peanut butter over the label next to a door leading outside. When the inmates asked the guard to open the door for them, the guard, thinking he was opening an internal door, did not realize it was an outside door.

The escaped inmates then climbed the prison fence using blankets. Eleven of the escaped inmates were recaptured within 12 hours. The last escaped inmate, Brady Andrew Kilpatrick, was arrested a few days later in Florida.

Catch Me If You Can - April 1971

Frank Abagnale was a notorious fraudster and imposter, on whom the 2002 Steven Spielberg film 'Catch Me If You Can' is based. Abagnale started committing crimes at the age of 15 and escaped from prison twice. The first time, when he was deported to the US, Frank escaped from a British plane at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City. Eventually, in April 1971, Abagnale was arrested again, after which he planned his more grandiose escape.

In April 1971, Abagnale managed to deceive his guards into assisting him in his escape. His detention statements were forgotten during check-in at the prison. At that time, many US prisons were inspected for civil rights issues. Abagnale seized the opportunity to manipulate the prison guards by making them believe he was an undercover inspector posing as an inmate for an assessment. He spent weeks building the story. He used an accomplice outside the prison to further convince the guards by forging an FBI business card that identified him as an undercover FBI agent posing as a prisoner for an assessment. The guards gave him special treatment, thinking they were helping the prison pass the inspection with flying colors. In the end, he walked out of the prison without any issues, and the guards allowed it.

Abagnale was on the run for only two months before being arrested again. The prison suffered PR damage, and the story came out, making Abagnale instantly famous for his ingenious escape.

The Alcatraz Escape - June 11, 1962

Another remarkable escape is the story of three inmates who escaped from Alcatraz. Alcatraz is a maximum-security federal prison on an island off the coast of San Francisco. The prison is surrounded by water, making it believed to be impossible to escape. That all changed on June 11, 1962, when Frank Lee Morris, John Anglin, and Clarence Anglin escaped from Alcatraz by digging a tunnel through a concrete wall with a spoon. To ensure their escape went unnoticed for as long as possible, they made paper-mâché dummies with hair from the prison barber shop and placed them in their beds. The three inmates then took to the water on a makeshift boat made from more than 50 stolen raincoats.

Their escape was only noticed the next morning by prison guards. At that point, an extensive search for the escaped criminals began, but they were never heard from again. To this day, it is assumed that the men drowned in the water. However, this theory has never been confirmed, and their bodies have not been found to date.

Rumors circulate that the three men moved to Brazil. In 2013, the police received a letter claiming to be from John Anglin. The letter stated that all three successfully escaped, and he was the only one still alive at the time, at 83 years old. The FBI stated that the fingerprint and DNA evidence on the letter was inconclusive, and the identity of the letter's sender could not be determined. In 2016, a photo was revealed allegedly showing the two Anglin brothers in Brazil 13 years after their disappearance. Authorities have not confirmed if this photo indeed depicts the escaped criminals.

Dressed as a Woman - 2012

In 2012, drug dealer Ronald Silva escaped from a Brazilian prison. When his wife visited him in prison, as she did every week, she gave her husband the clothes she was wearing and put on an extra outfit she had brought in her bag.

Silva had shaved his arms and legs, applied fake nails, put on a wig, applied lipstick, and worn heels to complete his transformation into a woman. He was able to walk right past the guards without attracting any attention. As he walked to his friends waiting at a bus stop, an officer noticed something was amiss because Silva struggled to walk in high heels.

Silva's wife claimed she had no idea what he planned to do with the women's clothes.