The escape plan was simple: trick a new jailer into opening a door leading outside. How? By using Peanut Butter, of course. Twelve Inmates in Jasper, Alabama -- a town located 35 miles northwest of Birmingham -- took advantage of the guard that was put in charge of monitoring over 140 inmates from the control room.
The inmates were between 18 and 30 years old. The charges held against them ranged anywhere from disorderly conduct to attempted murder.
The 10-minute escape
The inmates devised a plot using saved-up peanut butter from their regular meals.
They used the peanut butter to change the number above their cell door, matching it with the number above a door that led outside.
Walker County Sheriff Jim Underwood said that the inmates then hollered at the jailer in the control room to open the cell door with the number they had drawn. The young guard was completely fooled and unlocked the door for the inmates, allowing them to make their escape.
The group then fled from the jail, ditching their orange uniforms in the process. They then used blankets to climb a barbed wire fence around 15-feet high. One inmate had his thumb sliced in the process and -- following his recapture -- had it sewn back on in the hospital.
Underwood claims that the escape probably took 10 minutes or less.
Manhunt
After getting past the fence, the inmates scurried off in all different directions. Some fled on foot while others were suspected of using a car to get away. Most of them, however, stayed together in groups following their escape. This made it possible for police to recapture eleven of the twelve runaways within just eight hours.
Many of them never left the Jasper area.
These eleven men were arrested without having to use violence.
The last escapee found in Florida
The escape took place Sunday night, but the last of the dozen inmates was not captured until Tuesday, August 1. The last fugitive was 24-year-old Bradley Andrew Kilpatrick. He was jailed for marijuana possession as well as drug paraphernalia.
Kilpatrick was found in Martin County, Florida on Tuesday evening. The county, located in southeast Florida, is more than 600 miles away from Jasper. With his capture, all twelve of the runaway inmates are now back at the Walker County Jail.
Underwood said that he and other officials would be more careful about who to station in the control room. The position requires one person to monitor and control 140 inmates -- a hefty responsibility for a young and inexperienced jailer. He also added that the camera system would need to be equipped with more monitors.
Despite the unusual means of escape, the sheriffs have no plans to place any dietary restrictions on the inmates. Underwood's reasoning? The inmates just really love peanut butter sandwiches.
