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Hutchinson News Sunday, Jan, 26, 1969 Page $If You ’re Thinking of Escapethe Lockup, Forget ItBy JEANETTE JACKSONSo you’re sitting it out at the Reno County Jail, or Hutchinson’s jail, or maybe 'at the Kansas State Industrial Reformatory.You figure you can break-ouit and make it “on the bricks.” Cool it, unless you’re a gambler who gets hot on 100:1 odds.“There have been few or none that have escaped for long from here,” Joe Noble, KSIR superintendent, commented Saturday as he talked about escapees from tie institution.Records show only one KSIR Inmate, who made good, made his solitary escaipe in March, 1932.George Petrie, now about 63 if alive, is still unaccounted. He was sentenced to KSIR In1931 for assault with intent to commit a felony.Presently a manhunt is un-' derway for three KSIR inmates who sawed their way to freedom Wednesday, but law enforcement officials appear confident of the manhunt’s end.“They’ll be caught,” Reno County Sheriff Charles Heide-breoht said, “They always make a mistake.”Noble said the reformatory’s statistics revealed that inmate’s periods of freedom after escape only averaged less than two weeks.They’ll Be BackAlthough officials freely admit they have no leads presently on the whereabouts of the thnee escapees, most believe it’s merely a matter of timebefore the inmates are re-cap-tured.The three — Daniel -F. Hill, Bill. Hoff man, and Glen Henson —had beien assigned to a cleanup detail in the officers mess.They sawed one bar out of the window and squeezed through a nine-inch space between the remaining bars. The staff dining hah overlooks a stairway leading to the roof tower on the walls.A night long search failed. Around 7 a.m. Thursday, Glen England reported his car stolen. He lives about 2% miles southeast of the reformatory.Heel tracks with a v-notch were f o u n d at the scene. Many of the inmates shoes carry this mark.Hill, 24, was serving a oneto five year sentence from Johnson County on third degree burglary and grand larceny charges.Hoffman, 23, was serving a five to ten on a burglary charge from Pottawatomie County.From Barber County, Glen Henson, 21, was on a one to ten sentence on forgery charges.Hill was scheduled to go before the parole board on Feb. 20. He might have been released within another 30 days, Noble said.Why Escape?What makes a man throw away a chance ait parole?“I don’t really know,” Noble said. “We know Hill’s wife at Kansas City, Ks., had quit writing to him.”The risks are extremely rough, the odds excessivelyFromhigh, ami further punishment is a certainty.Jail breaking will carry a one to five years added to the original sentence to be served consecutively.In the latest escape a car their rap could add another five to 15 years.Parole possibilities wouldn’t exist again for Hill for four years or longer.The longest time of freedom for an escaped KSIR inmate in-recent memory was nine months.James R. Smith, about 22, scaled the south wai during the height of a Sunday night activity.Before he was recaptured, he had been spotted in his hometown of Camion City, Colo., two days after his escape.Nobel recalled the longest escape he remembered was from Lansing State Prison where he formerly served.The prison inmate escaped for over 20 years, rebuilt his life, and ultimately became mayor of a small town in Canada.But he erred. He shot a deer out of season during a hunting trip. Fingerprinted, his true identity was uncovered.Not all are that lucky.Duane Haltom, now a Highway Patrolman, remembers one capture he made back when he worked for the Reno County Sheriff’s office.Success On Routine PatrolHe was on a routine patrol of K-96 one night when a hitchhiker signaled from the middleof the highway.He was still dressed in prison denims, but with the white identification ripped off.Haltom handcuffed him and gave him a lift—back to the state reformatory.Officials agree it is only a matter of time.Five inmates of the Reno Counity jail escaped in 1957, but ultimately everyone returned to serve his time.Heidebrechit said two were found in Nebraska, one in Texas, and one, returning to see his girl friend, was arrested in Hutchinson.The last one was returned here three years later after serving a term in Oregon.Upon learning of an escape,the Sheriff’s office puts out an APB (all points bulletin) on their teletype to alert all lawmen. They also call Wichita State for a radio alert.The KBI issues nctiifcation over their statewide network from Topeka. KSIR, if it’s one of their men, mail out flyera to possible connection points.Sent To Home AreaIn Hill’s case, a flyer went to his wife’s area. The other had relatives or known friends in Florida and California.ID and license tag of the stolen England car has also been widely circulated.Now police wait for a lead or for the escapees to “fall” again. They always do.It’s only a matter of time.
Newspaper Details
Hutchinson News
Hutchinson, Kansas, US
Sun, Jan 26, 1969
Page 34
Full Page
Clipped by
Hutchinson P.
KS, USA 11 Dec 2023
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