Speaker 1: A wall street line, shackle change, Oh we someome, girdie,
it's calling my name. There is no mercy and it's
been a tentery juice as the huge stream game Wrangle three.
Speaker 2: I'm here be by me to die.
Speaker 1: Inside these walls, inside the wild.
Speaker 2: And when the girl as I'm hey everyone, and welcome
back to Bloody Angola, a podcast one and forty two
years in the making, the complete story of America's bloodiest prison.
I'm Jim Chapman, and today we're gonna call this episode
man Hunt. The reason for that is if you joined
us last week on Bloody Angola major escape in New Orleans,
ten prisoners went on the run, I'm gonna give you
an update on that. We're gonna talk about another escape
that took place just a week after this escape in Louisiana.
Unbelievable story there, and even another escape a couple of
states over. So let's get into it, and I'm gonna
refer to some articles today as we move along, and
I'm gonna catch you up first on the New Orleans
prison escape situation. I'm referring to this article in front
of me, and it's headlined arrest mounts for those helping
New Orleans prison escapees with two still on the run.
That's right. The last time that I left you, there
were five escapees still on the run. That is now
down to two, and all during this time people have
been getting arrested for aiding in a betting which I
played you the governor's statement he wouldn't joking around when
he said, if you're helping these folks, you're going down.
And that's exactly what happened for many people. Let's get
into the article. A massive manhunt that began for ten
escapees was down to two on Tuesday, while authorities turn
their attention toward people aiding the inmates who literally broke
out of a New Orleans jail eleven days ago. Louisiana
State Police announced Monday that three more escapees had been
nabbed in the Louisiana and Texas areas and pledged to
pursue every lead until the two who remain at large
are once again in custody. Police also announced the arrest
of six people accused of aiding the escapee. Quote. Individuals
who choose to assist, conceal, or harbor these fugitives are
violating the law and will be arrested regardless of the
level of assistance given or where they are found. That
from Louisiana State Police Sergeant Capes to Gaul. She went
on to say, harboring fugitives threatens the safety of our
communities and it will not be tolerated. The latest inmates
to be recaptured were Lenton van Buren twenty six, who
was taken into custody in Baton Ridge, Louisiana by local
police there, and Leo Tate, who is thirty one, as
well as Jermaine Donald forty two.
Speaker 1: Now.
Speaker 2: The latter two were arrested in Walker County, Texas by
the Texas Department of Public Safety. And look, there is
a lot of video out there from the car chase
that ensued to catch these guys. I suggest you go
check that out if you're arrested. All three of these
individuals are expected to face additional charges related to escape quote.
This is a clear example of how effective collaboration and
open communication between agencies can lead to successful outcomes. That
also from the State Police spokesman. Six more have been
accused of eighty escapees. At least thirteen people have been arrested,
including an inmate who did not flee for collaborating with
the escapees. Six arrest were announced Monday, including Diamond White
on charges that include principal to aggravated escape and obstruction
of justice for helping Antoine Massey. According to state police,
and we'll get into him a little bit more later.
Antoine Massey remains at large. Other announced Monday include Lenika
Van Buren twenty eight, Taysha Randolph twenty seven, Patricia Van
Buren eighteen, Angel McKay forty one, and Lenton Van Buren Senior,
who is forty eight, all charges of accessory after the fact,
accused of aiding Van Buren. All were booked into the
Plackaman's Parish jail. Trayvon Williams, an inmate who did not escape,
was charged with ten counts of being principled to simple escape.
That from Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrell. The same day,
New Orleans Police Department said it arrested Emmitt Weber on
a charge of accessory after the fact too simple escape.
Weber was one of four more were people questioned after
investigators comb through surveillance footage connecting crucial dots in the
search quote, as I promise we initiated our investigation and
we will hold absolutely everyone who contributed any role to
the prison break in New Orleans accountable. That from Liz Murrell.
Others arrested in connection with the prison escape include jail
maintenance workers Sterling Williams who is thirty three, Casey Smith,
Connie Whedon, Courteeny Harris, and Corvona Te Baptiste Smith. They
are all women and they are accused of being contact
with and helping the escapees. Sterling Williams is charged with
being a principal to simple escape and malfeasance in office.
Muriell said. Williams admitted that he complied with the demand
from one of the inmates to shut off water and
miss Sell and of course I told you about that
last week now. Michael Kennedy, a lawyer for Stirling Williams,
said that his client argues he didn't know the men
were planning to escape and shut off the water because
an inmate had clogged a toilet, and of course he
changed that story. Initially he was threatened to turn off
the water, threaten to get Shanks, specifically Van Bieren, who
has been in custody on second degree murder in connection
with the twenty twenty one fatal shooting was caught with
the help of the tip from the public. He was
apprehended while sitting on a bench near a department store
in the city of Baton Rouge. Donald and Tate were
arrested the same day in Huntsville, Texas, after leading law
enforcement officers from several agencies on a high speed chase. Donald,
who before the escape, was being held on charges that
included second degree murder, now faces additional charges of escape
and resisting. Tate, who had been held on burglary and
obstruction charges, must now face aggravated escape and escape from
custody charges. And then the article gets into what prison
escape ease are still on the run, and of course
the search continued for Massey, who is thirty two, and
Derrick Groves, who is twenty seven. Massy is charged with
domestic abuse involving strangulation and theft of a motor vehicle.
There is also a warrant for his arrest in Saint
Tammany Parish for second degree rape, second degree kidnapping, domestic
abuse involving strangulation, and violation of a protective order involving
battery stemming from an incident in November. Groves was convicted
of two counts of second degree murder in two counts
of attempted second degree murder in October in connection with
a shooting during Marty Gras in twenty eighteen. Groves has
been awaiting sentencing on manslaughter charges since October. Then it
goes into how they escaped. Of course I told you
about that, and it's interesting that it notes a twenty
thousand dollars reward per inmate leading to information for the
arrest and the inmate that was caught in Baton Rouge
sitting on that bench. Someone called in a tip that
they never claimed the twenty grand at least not yet.
Orleans Parish DA Jason Williams said he's worried about the
safety of his staff. He said the escape appears to
be an inside job and that he is very concerned
for the safety of his staff. He said he's especially
worried for two colleagues who tried the second degree murder case.
He in his Groves one of the two remaining escapees,
and of course I told you that was a big
risk with them being out, is they may try to
start giving people payback. In their mind, the two colleagues
have left the state for their safety. According to District
Attorney Jason Williams, he would not say whether his office
has received any credible threats. Quote, they're young, They've got families,
and they don't deserve to be in a situation. Some
victims and witnesses in the cases against escapees also wanted
to be relocated. William said he worries the dangers following
the escape will chill people's willingness to testify and serve
on juries in other cases, and he has legitimate gripe
there now. As more news began to come out, another
article was released and it headlined a promising tip thiszles
as the main hunt for a convicted killer in a
chronic escapee intensifies. A double murder and repeat escapee have
a vaded capture for rom as two weeks, leading authorities
to believe the fugitives could be anywhere in the United States.
As of Wednesday morning, Antwine Massey and Derrick Groves were
still on the run, twelve days after they and eight
other inmates broke out of the Orleans Justice Center in
New Orleans. The eight other fugitives have been caught, mostly
in New Orleans, but two of the most recent arrest
happened in Texas. Now several states are involved in the
main hunt for Massy and Groves. And just to catch
you up on where these eight escapees have been caught.
The Keenan Dennis was captured in New Orleans on May sixteenth,
the same day Robert Moody was captured, and the same
day Kendall Miles was captured. They were all caught in
New Orleans. Gary Price was captured three days later on
May nineteenth in New Orleans. Corey Boyd captured the following day,
May twentieth in New Orleans. Jermaine Donald was captured in
Walker County, Texas, as was Leo Taate Senior. They were together.
They led police on a chase. This was on May
twenty six, so they actually got across state lines. Lenon
van Gearn Junior was captured in Baton Rouge, sitting on
that bench in front of that store. That was also
on May twenty six. And of course Derrick Groves and
Antoine Massey's still at large. And look, they have people
out there right now taking bats on who's gonna get
caught first, On who's gonna get caught last because eventually
they'll get caught, and may take time, may take years,
but eventually they will get caught. Now continue on with
this article. Quote, we are currently at an impass on
figuring out where these two are, Deputy US Marshall Brian
Fair said, and you definitely don't want to hear somebody's
in an impass when looking for escape fugitives. Quote. They
could be here locally or anywhere in the United States.
At this point, more staff members from the US Marshall
Service have joined in the manhunt as the search grows,
and it's getting more methodical. According to the US Marshals,
the vehicle that two of the escapees, Tate and Donald,
who were captured in Texas, was rented in New Orleans
and driven to Texas. That from Attorney General Liz Murrel,
the two remaining escapees could also be outside of Louisiana,
she said, quote, they absolutely could be moving into other areas.
I alerted my colleagues in surrounding states immediately after the
jail break to be on the alert and to notify
their law enforcement partners that these individuals could be coming
to their state. A glimmer of hope emerged Tuesday, when
someone reported a possible sighting of Massy. This was at
eight thirty am in Natche's, Mississippi. And y'all, Massy is
not someone who can really blend in because he has
a bunch of face tattoos, So keep that in mind.
And Natchez incidentally is right across the Louisiana state line,
about one hundred and thirty five miles from New Orleans.
It's in Mississippi. But Tuesday night, that hope faded quote,
we do not believe that the suspect is in our area.
That from Adams County, Mississippi Sheriff Travis Patten. That's not
to say he wasn't here, but we are saying he
is not here now. Authorities in Natchez used a lot
of manpower to search the area for the escapees, including helicopters,
police dogs, drones, and video surveillance. And that's something really interesting. Look,
these escapes that occur down they usually don't go more
than a couple of days because of technology. It's really
shocking these guys have been able to remain on the
run for two weeks. Now. Then it gets into who
Massy is and he's actually a fugitive who has a habit,
if you will, of escaping. He was most recently charged
with a vehicle theft and domestic abuse involving strangulation, but
the thirty two year old does have a long track
record of escaping custody. In two thousand and seven, he
broke out of a New Orleans juvenile detention center after
being arrested on suspicion of armed robbery and aggravated assault.
A broken lock at that detention center allowed Massey, who
was then fifteen, and five other juveniles who access metal shackles,
which they used to shadow or window and escape. Massy
stayed on the run for more than two weeks before
authorities found him on an interstate in East New Orleans, mass.
He has also cut off electronic ankle monitors twice that
from Matt Dennis, an employee with the company who operates
those monitors. Court records from late twenty twenty three, said
Massy had tampered and or removed quote ordered GPS monitors.
Dennis said he was astonished that someone with Massy's escape
history was being held on the first floor of a
New Orleans jail, a floor that had defective door locks.
Quote there isn't an ounce in this man's history that
doesn't scream escape. Groves was found to be one of
the gunmen who opened fire with an AK forty seven
style rifle on what should have been a joyous, Mighty
grass gathering. The DA's office said Groves was found guilty
of two counts of second degree murder and two counts
of attempted second degree murder, both charges that carry a
life sentence, so he has absolutely nothing to lose by escaping.
Authorities have had a lot of leads and are getting
tips from the community. District Attorney of New Orleans, Jason
Williams said Tuesday, quote, it's vitally important that we catch
these fugitives, whether it's in Arkansas, whether it's a Louisiana.
But it's also critically important we know how they got
out and who helped them get out, and we can't
wait until they're in custody to do that. My office,
the digital forensics team, everyone has been gowering through hours
and hours of jail calls using some AI software to
figure out who they were in contact with in the
night and hours before the escape. Their circle is tightening
as people who are assisting are being arrested, and authorities
are chasing down leads trying to identify other associates of
escapees in neighboring states. Those arrested in connection with helping
the inmates include relatives and romantic partners. And then, as
of just a few hours before this recording, they increase
that twenty thousand dollars reward offer to fifty thousand dollars
for tips leading to the capture of the two remaining
fugitives in that New Orleans escape one thousand dollars. Dozen't
entice you fifty thousand shit, and I'll tell you what,
a lot of people would write your ass out for
fifty g's. So these guys probably are going to get
caught sooner rather than later. Now all this is going down,
it's been big news for the last two weeks. You
would think every other prison in the state of Louisiana
would be on high alert. Right watch your prisoners. We
don't want to be in that position. Well. A Louisiana
jail inmate who escaped from a parish jail about a
year ago has accomplished the same feat again, according to authorities.
Trayvon Johnson, nineteen made his latest escape this was last
Thursday from a Tangibahoe Parish jail, which has a history
of jail breaks involving a half dozen inmates in recent years.
Johnson had been awaiting trial for his alleged role in
a home invasion that left a man killed and a
child injured. Authorities said they became suspicious when a member
of the public called the Sheriff's office shortly before ten
pm Thursday, asking whether Johnson was still in custody. Quote
Following an immediate headcount of the jail population and a
review of Johnson's movements throughout the day, was determined he
escaped around four point thirty pm, when another inmate helped
lift him over the perimeter fence. Law enforcement officers are
now searching for Johnson and also contacting victims and reaching
out to Johnson's relatives and associates. In the summer of
twenty twenty four, Johnson was among a group of four
inmates who escaped from the same jail over Memorial Day weekend,
crawling under a gap in a wall and then scaling
two razor wire fences. Three of those escape ease, including Johnson,
were captured within days, but it took six months to
apprehend the fourth fugitive. Manpower shortages, inadequate staff training and experience,
as well as a lack of supervision and insufficient head
counts contributed to the escape last year, authority said at
the time. In twenty seventeen, two brothers being held on
charges that included attempted murder escape from the jail's exercise yard.
They were recaptured the next day in Tanja Peho Pairish
Jail and amt Is about seventy five miles from New Orleans.
The latest jail break comes as state and federal officers
continue hunting for five of the ten inmates, and of
course when he escaped, there were still five on the
lease from New Orleans. But that blew my mind. Now
a little update, an article came out saying officials in
Louisiana weren't aware the inmate was missing until a tipster
called them. Authorities in Louisiana who were looking for an
inmate who escaped jail for the second time in a
year after a member of the public tipped them off. Thursday.
Trayvon Johnson was awaiting trial in Tanji Pearish Jail for
his alleged role in a twenty twenty two Hammond area
home invasion where a man was killed his child was injured.
And incidentally, they did correct his age here it said
he was nineteen in the first article. They corrected that
he is twenty two. The Sheriff's office set it received
a call just before ten pm on Thursday from a
member of the public asking if Johnson was still in custody.
Could you imagine that call? The person did not identify themselves.
According to Sheriff Gerald Sticker, following an immediate head count
and a review of his movements, it was determined that
he escaped. I told you all about that already. It
set around four fifteen pm. There was an incident at
the dorm in the jail where an inmate flooded a
cell by stopping up a shower. As a result, a
deputy was dispatched to the back with a crew of
trustees to clean that water out of the dorm. While
they were doing so, they opened the back door to
the jail that leads into the yard, adding that the
door to the dorm was left open for about one minute.
A deputy who realized the back door was open, closed,
but not before two individuals Johnson and another inmate, Trayvon Wallace,
were able to get out. Wallace was found by an
exterior door when deputies went to make sure it was shut.
He was escorted back to his cell, but a head
count was not done at the time and the incident
was not reported up the chain of command. That's a
big no note. An official count done around two hours
later determined that all inmates were accounted for, but upon
reviewing surveillance video, jail staff did not do a proper count. Quote.
We have policies in place for this. We have procedures
in place that dictate the amount of accounts were supposed
to do per day. So that's another opportunity missed that.
According to the sheriff, surveillance video outside the yard showed
Johnson scaling the back fence while Wallace, who was underneath him,
gave him a boost. For whatever reason, he couldn't get
over the fence on his own, or he was just
there to help the first individual get over that fence.
He returned back to the jail and that's where our
deputies intercepted him. Wallace has been charged with simple escape
and principal to help someone escape. Johnson had been entered
into the National Crime Information Center as an escapee. This
is Johnson's second escape from the jail in a year.
He was also one of foreignmates who broke out of
the facility a year ago this month. And of course
I told you about that. Johnson is five feet five,
weighs one hundred and twenty five pounds and is from
the Tickfall area. Anyone who sees Johnson needs to call police,
et cetera. Now four people have been placed on administrative leave.
I bet they have regarding that incident. Johnson's escape isn't
the only prison break that has plagued Louise end of
this week, and of course they go into the New
Orleans escape and then this article came out. The tangebaho
A Paaris Sheriff's office has confirmed that Trayvon Johnson, the
twenty two year old accused murderer who escaped Thursday May
twenty second from the parish jail for the second time,
has been recaptured. Johnson was apprehended in a meet Louisiana,
beginning an end to a multi agency man hunt that
began with his disappearance from a jail that went undetected
for nearly six hours. Authority say Johnson fled the jail
Thursday at four point thirty pm, assisted by another inmate
who helped him scale the perimeter fence. Surveillance footage received
later showed Johnson jumping over the outer gate just after
the dorm doors opened and closed, a sequence triggered by
a toilet being flooded. Stickers said staff found Wallace and
returned him to his cell, but did not notify a
leadership nor initiate a head gown. According to the timeline
provided by the Sheriff's office, staff failed to notice his
absence until six PM, when a head count was logged.
The escape was only confirmed after nine PM, when someone
called the jail to ask about Johnson's custody status. Now
imagine if someone wouldn't have called that jail, he could
have went twenty four hours without anybody knowing. Internal notification
and mobilization began at nine to fifty six pm, and
the public was alerted nearly two hours later at eleven
fifty four pm. That's too long for a escaped murderer,
in my opinion. In a news conference, Sticker apologized to
the community and Johnson's victims. He said four jail employees
are on administrative leave, and the escape is not believed
to be an inside job. Johnson, who is from Tickfall,
is a waiting trial on the twenty twenty two ham
And home invasion, in which a father was shot and
killed and his twelve year old daughter was critically wounded.
He was previously involved in another jail break in May
of twenty twenty four, when he and three others Amaron Hook,
Finn Aver Gidry and JaMarcus Ciprion, escaped the same jail.
Johnson was later found hiding in a dumpster behind a
Dollar General store outside of Ham In Louisiana, which y'all
is in the same area at the time. He was
recaptured along on Gidry. Now, following that twenty twenty four escape,
newly elected Sheriff Gerald Sticker vowed to reform jail operations.
He forced out then warden Jerry Martin, who had been
hired under former Sheriff Daniel Edwards. Martin's tenure was plagued
by discipline issues, and an investigation by a news source
revealed he had been fired from Orleans Paris Sheriff's office
in twenty twenty two following multiple suspensions, including one for
threatening to kill an inmate. Now, Sheriff Sticker has placed
four current jail employees on administrative leave as the department
investigates how Johnson was able to escape again and how
the delay happened, and then it goes into this is
all During the New Orleans escapees were being sought as well.
In the last article I'm going to go to on
this one says additional arrest and Tangy Jel escape alleged
broader conspiracy. Two additional people have been arrested in connection
with last Friday's Jeil escape by suspect Trayvon Johnson. Johnson
was taken into custody Friday in Bennett Road area near
a meet after being on the run for around twenty
four hours. He was taken by helicopter to Angola, Bloody, Angola,
where he will remain in custody pending his trial for
a twenty twenty two Hammid area home invasion. Damien Booth
thirty seven was arrested alongside Johnson and booked on charges
to principle too simple escape and aggravated escape. Trayvon Wallace
twenty eight helped Johnson scale the perimeter fence and I
went into exactly how that worked. So almost in all
these cases, you've got something helping these guys. Now, thankfully,
he's back in custody, still to being sought out of
the ten that escaped Orleans jail, and I came across
another escape and this one's really disturbing. This guy is
dangerous and a manhunt is still continual for a guy
out of Arkansas. This guy was a former Arkansas police chief.
His name is Grant Harden. They actually had a series done,
I think it was on Netflix regarding this guy. But
he's serving a thirty year sentence for murder and rape
and they are now in their fourth day of trying
to find him. Grant Harden, who is fifty six, has
been in present since twenty seventeen on first Green murder
and rape charges. He escaped the Calico Rock North Central
unit on Sunday at approximately two point fifty pm. And
keep in mind this guy's a former police chief. Harden
escaped custody through a sally port by impersonating a corrections
officer quote in dress and manner, which caused another corrections
officer operating the security gate to open the gate and
allow him to walk right out a fucking front door.
Official said during a press conference on Wednesday that Harden
was not wearing an official uniform from the Department of
Correction and it had to have been homemade or brought
in somehow. Surveillance footage showed Harden pulling a cart, which
was found abandoned outside the gates of the prison. He
remains at large as of this recording, with official saying
during a press conference they're confident that he is still
in the area of the prison. Officials said citizens in
Iszard County and surrounding county should stay vigilant, lock your house,
your doors, and report any suspicious activity. In The US
Marshals are also assisting in the search efforts. Stone County
Sheriff Brandon Long said, quote, I am very scared this
guy is going to hurt or kill somebody before this
is over with. Harden, who was a former police chief
in Gateway, Arkansas, worked in the prison kitchen, but it's
unclear whether his job involved any access to the sally
port he used to escape. He has had no significant
disciplinary issues during his time at the prison, and there's
no reason to believe anyone aided him. Prison official say.
Nathan Smith, the former Benton County prosecutor who helped put
him behind bars, said the escaped inmate is associopath quote,
he has no moral core or center that would prevent
him from doing anything to anyone hard misconsidered extremely dangerous
and should not be approached. And look, this is some
pretty rough terrain in that area of Arkansas, and they're struggling,
especially having days of rain hit them recently, to locate
this guy. They said, the search is just really being hindered.
Of course, they are continuing to conduct roadblocks near the prison,
et cetera, and checkpoints to see if he's got a vehicle.
But very dangerous individual. He pleaded guilty in October twenty
seventeen to the first degree murder in the shooting death
of a fifty nine year old by the name of
James Appleton, and was also convicted of a nineteen ninety
seven rape of an the elementary school teacher in Rogers, Arkansas.
That particular crime was highlighted in a documentary called Devil
in the Ozarks. Dude still on the lease, And I
bring that up because this doesn't only happen in the
state of Louisiana. These escapes lately. It seems like every
state that I've looked at is have problems with escape,
so keep your eyes peeled. I wanted to bring you
an update on what we talked about last week with
the Orleans escaped inmates and also give you updates on
the Tangible Hoo escape inmate and this crazy sum bitch
that escaped from Arkansas. Thank you so much for listening, supporting.
Check out the Patreon commercial, free early releases, and more
at patreon dot com. Slash Bloody Andngola podcast and until
next time, I'm Jim Chapman for Bloody and Gola, a
podcast one hundred and forty two years in the making,
the complete story of America's Bloody is prison peace m hm.
Speaker 1: H A wall Street line, shackle change, Oh with someome girdie.
It's calling my name. There is no mercy and it's
been a tentury Jesus as the Hill Stream game Rango three.
Speaker 2: I'm here, be.
Speaker 1: By mere or die inside these walls, inside.
Speaker 2: The wild and when the girls I know It's sold.
Speaker 1: Very angle, very ang