Texas Seven
Encyclopedia
The Texas 7 was a group of prisoners who escaped from the John Connally Unit
near Kenedy, Texas
on December 13, 2000. They were apprehended January 21–23, 2001 as a direct result of the television show America's Most Wanted
.
.
At the time of the breakout, the reported ringleader of the Texas Seven, 30-year-old George Rivas, was serving 18 consecutive 15-to-life sentences. Michael Anthony Rodriguez, 38, was serving a 99-to-life term, while Larry James Harper, 37, Joseph Garcia and Patrick Henry Murphy, Jr., 39, were all serving 50 year sentences. Donald Keith Newbury, the member with the longest rap sheet of the group, was serving a 99-year sentence, and the youngest member, Randy Halprin, 23, was serving a 30-year sentence for injury to a child.
Using several well-planned ploys, the seven convicts overpowered and restrained nine civilian maintenance supervisors, four correctional officers and three uninvolved inmates at approximately 11:20 a.m. The escape occurred during the slowest period of the day (during lunch and at count time) when there was less surveillance of certain locations, such as the maintenance area. Most of these plans involved one of the offenders calling someone over, while another hit the unsuspecting person on the head from behind. Once each victim was subdued, the offenders removed some of his clothing, tied him up, gagged him and placed him in an electrical room behind a locked door.
The attackers stole clothing, credit cards, and identification from their victims. The group also impersonated prison officers on the phone and created false stories to ward off suspicion from authorities.
After that, three of the group made their way to the back gate of the prison, some disguised in stolen civilian clothing. They pretended to be there to install video monitors. One guard at the gatehouse was subdued, and the trio raided the guard tower and stole numerous weapons. Meanwhile, the four offenders who stayed behind made calls to the prison tower guards to distract them. They then stole a prison maintenance pick-up truck, which they drove to the back gate of the prison, picked up their cohorts, and drove away from the prison.
Gary C. King, who wrote a Crime Library article about the seven, stated that some people compared this breakout to the breakout
from Alcatraz that took place decades earlier.
The white prison truck was found in the parking lot of the Wal-Mart
in Kenedy, Texas. The Texas 7 first went into San Antonio
right after breaking out of the complex. Realizing that they were running out of funds, they robbed a Radio Shack
in Pearland, Texas
the next day on December 14.
On December 19, four of the members checked into an Econo Lodge
motel in Farmers Branch, Texas
(under assumed names). They decided to rob an Oshman's Sporting Goods in nearby Irving, Texas
. On December 24, 2000, they held up the store and stole at least 40 guns and sets of ammunition. An off-duty employee standing outside of the store noticed the commotion inside and called police. Irving policeman Aubrey Hawkins responded to the call, arrived on the scene and was almost immediately ambushed; his autopsy later showed that he had sustained eleven gunshots and had been run over by the fleeing gang. Hawkins died at Parkland Memorial Hospital
in Dallas shortly after his arrival.
After Officer Hawkins's murder, a $100,000 reward was offered to whoever could snare the group of criminals. The reward climbed to $500,000 before the group was apprehended.
On January 23, 2001, Colorado State Trooper Jason Lee Manspeaker died in an automobile accident on I-70 near Loveland Pass while investigating a reported sighting of the getaway vehicle of the Texas Seven. Trooper Manspeaker's Jeep Cherokee patrol vehicle hit a patch of ice and slammed into a flatbed trailer on the left shoulder of I-70.
Park in Woodland Park, Colorado
, happened to watch the television program America's Most Wanted
on January 20, 2001. He believed that the Texas 7, who were being compared to Ángel Maturino Reséndiz
, were in Holder's trailer park and informed Holder so. When he confirmed this, he reported the suspicious activities to local authorities the next day on January 21.
The El Paso County Sheriff's Department SWAT
team found Garcia, Rodriguez, and Rivas in a Jeep Cherokee
in the RV Park. Authorities moved in and captured them at a nearby gas station. They then found Halprin and Harper in an RV; Halprin surrendered peacefully, but Harper was found dead after a standoff; he had shot himself in the chest with a pistol. The surviving four members were taken into police custody.
On January 23, they received information on the whereabouts of the last two. They were hiding out in a Holiday Inn
in Colorado Springs, Colorado
. A deal brokered between the two, Newbury and Murphy, allowed them to make live TV appearances before they were arrested. In the early hours of January 24, a local KKTV
television anchorman, Eric Singer, was taken into the hotel where on camera he interviewed the two by telephone. Both of them harshly denounced the criminal justice system in Texas, with Newbury adding "the system is as corrupt as we are."
In 2008 authorities indicted Patsy Gomez and Raul Rodriguez, the father of Michael Rodriguez, for conspiring to help the Texas 7.
George Rivas was sentenced to death after being extradited to Texas. Since then, the other five surviving members of the Texas 7 have also been put on death row alongside Rivas.
Rodriguez announced that he wished to forgo any further appeal (beyond the appeal to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals
, mandatory in all death-penalty cases). He underwent a court-ordered psychiatric evaluation in January 2007, which concluded that he was mentally competent to decide to forgo further appeals, and he was executed on August 14, 2008, the first of the surviving members to be executed. Rodriguez was TDCJ#999413, and his pre-death sentence TDCJ number was 698074.
As of 2011 all of the surviving men are incarcerated on death row at the Polunsky Unit
of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice
(TDCJ), located in West Livingston
:
John Connally Unit
The John B. Connally Unit is a maximum-security prison for males located in unincorporated Karnes County, Texas, United States. It is located on Texas State Highway 181 south of the city of Kenedy. The prison, with about of space, is operated by the Correctional Institutions Division of the Texas...
near Kenedy, Texas
Kenedy, Texas
Kenedy is a city in Karnes County, Texas, United States, named for Mifflin Kenedy, who bought and wanted to develop a new town that would carry his name...
on December 13, 2000. They were apprehended January 21–23, 2001 as a direct result of the television show America's Most Wanted
America's Most Wanted
America's Most Wanted is an American television program produced by 20th Television, and was the longest-running program of any kind in the history of the Fox Television Network until it was announced on May 16, 2011 that the series was canceled after twenty-three years, with the final episode...
.
Members
The group was composed of the following Texas state prisoners:- Joseph C. Garcia (born in San Antonio, TexasSan Antonio, TexasSan Antonio is the seventh-largest city in the United States of America and the second-largest city within the state of Texas, with a population of 1.33 million. Located in the American Southwest and the south–central part of Texas, the city serves as the seat of Bexar County. In 2011,...
on November 6, 1971, 29 at time of escape) - Randy Ethan Halprin (born September 13, 1977 in McKinney, TexasMcKinney, TexasMcKinney is a city in and the county seat of Collin County, Texas, United States, and the second in population to Plano. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city's 2010 population was 131,117 The Census Bureau listed McKinney as the nation's fastest growing city from 2000 to 2003 and again in...
, 23 at time of escape) - Larry James Harper (September 10, 1963 Danville, IllinoisDanville, IllinoisDanville is a city in Vermilion County, Illinois, United States. It is the principal city of the'Danville, Illinois Metropolitan Statistical Area' which encompasses all of Danville and Vermilion County. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 32,467. It is the county seat of...
- January 22, 2001 Woodland Park, ColoradoWoodland Park, ColoradoThe City of Woodland Park is a Home Rule Municipality that is the most populous city in Teller County, Colorado, United States and is immediately west of El Paso County and the unincorporated community of Crystola. Many residents in this bedroom community, which is surrounded by the one-million...
, 37 at time of escape, 37 at time of death) - Patrick Henry Murphy, Jr. (born October 3, 1961 in Dallas, TexasDallas, TexasDallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
, 39 at time of escape) - Donald Keith Newbury (born May 18, 1962 in Albuquerque, New MexicoAlbuquerque, New MexicoAlbuquerque is the largest city in the state of New Mexico, United States. It is the county seat of Bernalillo County and is situated in the central part of the state, straddling the Rio Grande. The city population was 545,852 as of the 2010 Census and ranks as the 32nd-largest city in the U.S. As...
, 38 at time of escape) - George Rivas (born May 6, 1970 in El Paso, TexasEl Paso, TexasEl Paso, is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States, and lies in far West Texas. In the 2010 census, the city had a population of 649,121. It is the sixth largest city in Texas and the 19th largest city in the United States...
, 30 at time of escape) - Leader - Michael Anthony Rodriguez (October 29, 1962 San Antonio, TexasSan Antonio, TexasSan Antonio is the seventh-largest city in the United States of America and the second-largest city within the state of Texas, with a population of 1.33 million. Located in the American Southwest and the south–central part of Texas, the city serves as the seat of Bexar County. In 2011,...
- August 14, 2008 Huntsville, TexasHuntsville, TexasHuntsville is a city in and the county seat of Walker County, Texas, United States. The population was 35,508 at the 2010 census. It is the center of the Huntsville micropolitan area....
, 38 at time of escape, 45 at time of death) executed
Escape
On December 13, 2000, the seven carried out an elaborate scheme and escaped from the John B. Connally Unit, a maximum-security state prison near the South Texas city of KenedyKenedy, Texas
Kenedy is a city in Karnes County, Texas, United States, named for Mifflin Kenedy, who bought and wanted to develop a new town that would carry his name...
.
At the time of the breakout, the reported ringleader of the Texas Seven, 30-year-old George Rivas, was serving 18 consecutive 15-to-life sentences. Michael Anthony Rodriguez, 38, was serving a 99-to-life term, while Larry James Harper, 37, Joseph Garcia and Patrick Henry Murphy, Jr., 39, were all serving 50 year sentences. Donald Keith Newbury, the member with the longest rap sheet of the group, was serving a 99-year sentence, and the youngest member, Randy Halprin, 23, was serving a 30-year sentence for injury to a child.
Using several well-planned ploys, the seven convicts overpowered and restrained nine civilian maintenance supervisors, four correctional officers and three uninvolved inmates at approximately 11:20 a.m. The escape occurred during the slowest period of the day (during lunch and at count time) when there was less surveillance of certain locations, such as the maintenance area. Most of these plans involved one of the offenders calling someone over, while another hit the unsuspecting person on the head from behind. Once each victim was subdued, the offenders removed some of his clothing, tied him up, gagged him and placed him in an electrical room behind a locked door.
The attackers stole clothing, credit cards, and identification from their victims. The group also impersonated prison officers on the phone and created false stories to ward off suspicion from authorities.
After that, three of the group made their way to the back gate of the prison, some disguised in stolen civilian clothing. They pretended to be there to install video monitors. One guard at the gatehouse was subdued, and the trio raided the guard tower and stole numerous weapons. Meanwhile, the four offenders who stayed behind made calls to the prison tower guards to distract them. They then stole a prison maintenance pick-up truck, which they drove to the back gate of the prison, picked up their cohorts, and drove away from the prison.
Gary C. King, who wrote a Crime Library article about the seven, stated that some people compared this breakout to the breakout
June 1962 Alcatraz escape
The June 1962 Alcatraz escape was an escape attempt by American criminals Clarence Anglin, John Anglin, Frank Morris, and Allen West from Alcatraz Island, one of the United States' most famous prisons, it is possibly the only successful escape attempt from the prison.- Previous attempts :There...
from Alcatraz that took place decades earlier.
Crime spree
Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. , branded as Walmart since 2008 and Wal-Mart before then, is an American public multinational corporation that runs chains of large discount department stores and warehouse stores. The company is the world's 18th largest public corporation, according to the Forbes Global 2000...
in Kenedy, Texas. The Texas 7 first went into San Antonio
San Antonio, Texas
San Antonio is the seventh-largest city in the United States of America and the second-largest city within the state of Texas, with a population of 1.33 million. Located in the American Southwest and the south–central part of Texas, the city serves as the seat of Bexar County. In 2011,...
right after breaking out of the complex. Realizing that they were running out of funds, they robbed a Radio Shack
Radio shack
Radio shack is a slang term for a room or structure for housing radio equipment.-History:In the early days of radio, equipment was experimental and home-built. The first radio transmitters used a noisy spark to generate radio waves and were often housed in a garage or shed. When radio was first...
in Pearland, Texas
Pearland, Texas
Pearland , is a city located along the Gulf Coast region in the US state of Texas within the metropolitan area and is in the counties of Brazoria, Fort Bend, and Harris. As of the census of 2000, the city's population was 37,640. As of 2008, Pearland is estimated to have a population of 90,700...
the next day on December 14.
On December 19, four of the members checked into an Econo Lodge
Econo Lodge
Econo Lodge is an economy motel chain based in the United States and Canada. Econo Lodge is the second largest brand in the Choice Hotels system. It is one of the best known brands in its category and aims to provide affordable rooms to budget travelers. Econo Lodge properties contain a minimum of...
motel in Farmers Branch, Texas
Farmers Branch, Texas
Farmers Branch is a city in Dallas County, Texas, United States. It is both an inner-ring suburb of Dallas and is part of the Dallas–Fort Worth Metroplex. The population was 27,508 at the 2000 census. A July 1, 2008 U.S...
(under assumed names). They decided to rob an Oshman's Sporting Goods in nearby Irving, Texas
Irving, Texas
Irving is a city located in the U.S. state of Texas within Dallas County. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city population was 216,290. Irving is within the Dallas–Plano–Irving metropolitan division of the Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metropolitan area, designated...
. On December 24, 2000, they held up the store and stole at least 40 guns and sets of ammunition. An off-duty employee standing outside of the store noticed the commotion inside and called police. Irving policeman Aubrey Hawkins responded to the call, arrived on the scene and was almost immediately ambushed; his autopsy later showed that he had sustained eleven gunshots and had been run over by the fleeing gang. Hawkins died at Parkland Memorial Hospital
Parkland Memorial Hospital
Parkland Memorial Hospital is a hospital located at 5201 Harry Hines Boulevard, just west of Oak Lawn in Dallas, Texas . It is the main hospital of the Dallas County Hospital District and serves as Dallas County's public hospital.- History :The original hospital opened in 1894 in a wooden...
in Dallas shortly after his arrival.
After Officer Hawkins's murder, a $100,000 reward was offered to whoever could snare the group of criminals. The reward climbed to $500,000 before the group was apprehended.
On January 23, 2001, Colorado State Trooper Jason Lee Manspeaker died in an automobile accident on I-70 near Loveland Pass while investigating a reported sighting of the getaway vehicle of the Texas Seven. Trooper Manspeaker's Jeep Cherokee patrol vehicle hit a patch of ice and slammed into a flatbed trailer on the left shoulder of I-70.
Capture and Conviction
A friend of Wade Holder, the owner of the Coachlight Motel and R.V.Recreational vehicle
Recreational vehicle or RV is, in North America, the usual term for a Motor vehicle or trailer equipped with living space and amenities found in a home.-Features:...
Park in Woodland Park, Colorado
Woodland Park, Colorado
The City of Woodland Park is a Home Rule Municipality that is the most populous city in Teller County, Colorado, United States and is immediately west of El Paso County and the unincorporated community of Crystola. Many residents in this bedroom community, which is surrounded by the one-million...
, happened to watch the television program America's Most Wanted
America's Most Wanted
America's Most Wanted is an American television program produced by 20th Television, and was the longest-running program of any kind in the history of the Fox Television Network until it was announced on May 16, 2011 that the series was canceled after twenty-three years, with the final episode...
on January 20, 2001. He believed that the Texas 7, who were being compared to Ángel Maturino Reséndiz
Ángel Maturino Reséndiz
Angel Maturino Reséndiz, aka The Railroad Killer/The Railway Killer , was an itinerant Mexican serial killer responsible for as many as thirty murders across the United States and Mexico during the 1990s. Some also involved sexual assault...
, were in Holder's trailer park and informed Holder so. When he confirmed this, he reported the suspicious activities to local authorities the next day on January 21.
The El Paso County Sheriff's Department SWAT
SWAT
A SWAT team is an elite tactical unit in various national law enforcement departments. They are trained to perform high-risk operations that fall outside of the abilities of regular officers...
team found Garcia, Rodriguez, and Rivas in a Jeep Cherokee
Jeep Cherokee (XJ)
The Jeep Cherokee is a unibody compact SUV. It shared the name of the original full-size SJ model, but without a body-on-frame chassis, it set the stage for the modern SUV. Its innovative appearance and sales popularity spawned important imitators as other automakers began to notice that this...
in the RV Park. Authorities moved in and captured them at a nearby gas station. They then found Halprin and Harper in an RV; Halprin surrendered peacefully, but Harper was found dead after a standoff; he had shot himself in the chest with a pistol. The surviving four members were taken into police custody.
On January 23, they received information on the whereabouts of the last two. They were hiding out in a Holiday Inn
Holiday Inn
Holiday Inn is a brand of hotels, formally a economy motel chain, forming part of the British InterContinental Hotels Group . It is one of the world's largest hotel chains with 238,440 bedrooms and 1,301 hotels globally. There are currently 5 hotels in the pipeline...
in Colorado Springs, Colorado
Colorado Springs, Colorado
Colorado Springs is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and most populous city of El Paso County, Colorado, United States. Colorado Springs is located in South-Central Colorado, in the southern portion of the state. It is situated on Fountain Creek and is located south of the Colorado...
. A deal brokered between the two, Newbury and Murphy, allowed them to make live TV appearances before they were arrested. In the early hours of January 24, a local KKTV
KKTV
KKTV, virtual channel 11 , is the CBS-affiliated television station in Colorado Springs, Colorado. It serves the Colorado Springs/Pueblo market and is owned by Gray Television. Its transmitter is located on Cheyenne Mountain in Colorado Springs...
television anchorman, Eric Singer, was taken into the hotel where on camera he interviewed the two by telephone. Both of them harshly denounced the criminal justice system in Texas, with Newbury adding "the system is as corrupt as we are."
In 2008 authorities indicted Patsy Gomez and Raul Rodriguez, the father of Michael Rodriguez, for conspiring to help the Texas 7.
George Rivas was sentenced to death after being extradited to Texas. Since then, the other five surviving members of the Texas 7 have also been put on death row alongside Rivas.
Rodriguez announced that he wished to forgo any further appeal (beyond the appeal to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals
Texas Court of Criminal Appeals
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals is the court of last resort for all criminal matters in the State of Texas, United States. The Court, which is based in the Supreme Court Building in Downtown Austin, is composed of a Presiding Judge and eight judges....
, mandatory in all death-penalty cases). He underwent a court-ordered psychiatric evaluation in January 2007, which concluded that he was mentally competent to decide to forgo further appeals, and he was executed on August 14, 2008, the first of the surviving members to be executed. Rodriguez was TDCJ#999413, and his pre-death sentence TDCJ number was 698074.
As of 2011 all of the surviving men are incarcerated on death row at the Polunsky Unit
Polunsky Unit
Allan B. Polunsky Unit is a prison in West Livingston, unincorporated Polk County, Texas, located approximately southwest of Livingston along Farm to Market Road 350. The Texas Department of Criminal Justice operates the facility. The unit houses the State of Texas death row, and it has a maximum...
of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice
Texas Department of Criminal Justice
The Texas Department of Criminal Justice is a department of the government of the state of Texas. The TDCJ is responsible for statewide criminal justice for adult offenders, including managing offenders in state prisons, state jails and private correctional facilities, funding and certain...
(TDCJ), located in West Livingston
West Livingston, Texas
West Livingston is a census-designated place in western Polk County, Texas, United States, located along the eastern shore of Lake Livingston west of central Livingston. The population was 6,612 at the 2000 census. West Livingston has the Livingston Municipal Airport and the Texas Department of...
:
- Garcia has the TDCJTexas Department of Criminal JusticeThe Texas Department of Criminal Justice is a department of the government of the state of Texas. The TDCJ is responsible for statewide criminal justice for adult offenders, including managing offenders in state prisons, state jails and private correctional facilities, funding and certain...
number 00999441, - Halprin has the TDCJ number 00999453,
- Murphy has the TDCJ number 00999461,
- Newbury has the TDCJ number 00999403, Newbury has a scheduled execution date of February 1, 2012.
- Rivas has the TDCJ number 00999394. Rivas has a scheduled execution date of February 29, 2012.
Miscellaneous
In 2007, award-winning film and television production company Wild Dream Films produced The Hunt For The Texas 7, a 90-minute feature documentary about the prison break. The film was aired in late September 2008 on MSNBC. The film features interviews with members of The Texas 7 currently on Death Row, and eye witnesses. On March 25, 2011, Investigation Discovery aired an episode about the case subtitled "The Deadly Seven".External links
- "Serious Incident Review - Connally Unit - December 13, 2000 - Texas Department of Criminal JusticeTexas Department of Criminal JusticeThe Texas Department of Criminal Justice is a department of the government of the state of Texas. The TDCJ is responsible for statewide criminal justice for adult offenders, including managing offenders in state prisons, state jails and private correctional facilities, funding and certain...
- Texas Seven Feature at America's Most Wanted
- The Texas 7 Film
- Court TV's complete case file on Texas Seven murder
- The Daring Escape of the Texas 7
- Website of Randy Halprin
- Website of Randy Halprin (Archive)
- Offender information, Texas Department of Criminal Justice
- Aubrey Hawkins - City of Irving
- "Escapee Gets Death Sentence", New York Times
- "Prison Escapee: I Deserve to Die", CBS News