The Mammoth Book of Prison Breaks (12 page)

(For the sake of historical accuracy, it should be noted that both Sean O’Riley and Jean Sebring were probably names created by Abagnale and Redding for the book: O’Riley’s real name was Joe Shea, and he and Abagnale remained friends for the rest of the FBI agent’s life.)

While the prison guards initially tried to bluff that Abagnale had managed to forcibly escape from custody – something considerably more hardened criminals had failed to do over past decades – the truth of his con was soon revealed. A manhunt followed and Abagnale managed to evade capture by FBI agents by posing as a member of the Bureau himself. However two months later, he was arrested in Washington DC, and served four years in Virginia before being paroled to Houston, Texas. After a period of dead-end jobs, he suggested to his parole officer that he could advise banks on how to avoid being conned – and ended up becoming one of the greatest poachers-turned-gamekeepers in American history.

As mentioned, Abagnale’s own account was heavily fictionalized during the writing process – many of the institutions he claimed to have conned denied that he did so, perhaps, as he suggested, to avoid embarrassment – but his escape from prison, even if it wasn’t quite as flamboyant as he suggests, certainly occurred. The incident is not included in the movie version: in that, he escapes from the plane and is then arrested a little later.

Sources:

Abagnale, Frank W. with Stan Redding:
Catch Me If You Can: The Amazing True Story of the Youngest and Most Daring Con Man in the History of Fun and Profit!
(Grosset & Dunlap, 1980)

Abagnale & Associates website:
www.abagnale.com

Weekly World News,
7 April 1981: “The Great Imposter”

BBC News Online, 27 January 2003: “Conman who came in from the cold”

The struggle to end the apartheid regime in South Africa produced many heroes: men and women who refused to give in to the oppressive demands of the white minority who ruled the country. Many of the government’s opponents were thrown into jail with no idea when, or indeed if, they would be released. But some people were determined to get out and, at the end of 1979, three men – deemed terrorists by those in charge – were able to escape from the notorious Pretoria Prison.

Tim Jenkin was brought up in South Africa, and didn’t question the way of life until he went to visit Britain after leaving school. He returned to South Africa to study sociology at university, and found himself increasingly questioning what was going on around him. At the end of the three-year course in April 1974, he and his friend Stephen Lee headed to London and contacted the African National Congress (ANC). They were trained with practical and survival skills to act as a propaganda cell in the South African underground, and sent back in July 1975.

One of their main jobs was to produce “leaflet bombs”, simple timed explosives that threw bundles of leaflets high in the air near a targeted group of people. They could be hidden inside cardboard boxes or ordinary shopping bags. Their first was released in March 1976 to mark the anniversary of the Sharpeville massacre in 1960, and seemed to be successful, although the arrest of other ANC operatives and the harsh sentences that they were given made it clear that they were involved in a very risky business. The work escalated through 1977 and early 1978, with banners supporting the ANC and pamphlets exhorting the South African people to “Awake!” and throw off the Vorster regime.

In February 1978, Jenkin and Lee started to realize that they and their team were under police surveillance, but didn’t take sensible precautions. On Thursday 2 March, they were arrested and charged under the 1967 Terrorism Act. While waiting trial, both read Henri Charriere’s book
Papillon,
and although Jenkin recognized how incredible the story was, it started him seriously thinking about the mechanics of escaping: the need to devote every moment of every day to the escape, to have contingency plans for the contingency plans, and to make sure you can survive on the outside.

The first part of the plan was to ensure that they had some money, and the two men created “chargers” similar to those supposedly used by Papillon: tubes that could be inserted in the anus containing rolled-up money. On 15 June 1978, Jenkin was sentenced to twelve years’ imprisonment, Lee to eight. Straight after the hearing, Jenkin obtained some aspirin from his mother to make sure he stayed constipated, so that his charger would remain in place while they were transferred to their new home: Pretoria Prison.

Built in the late 1960s for white male political prisoners, Pretoria Prison was part of the prison complex known as Pretoria Central. This comprised a central prison for criminals of all kinds from across the country; Pretoria Prison for local felons, as well as the political prisoners; and a maximum security prison for the condemned, habitual escapees and recidivists. It was regarded as one of the most secure prisons in the world. Any escape would need to start from the prison yard, so that was heavily guarded by day, and searchlights to keep it floodlit at night, as well as a vicious guard dog.

Jenkin and Lee monitored the routine: the dog sometimes didn’t arrive until after lock-up at 4.30 p.m.; there wasn’t a guard on duty in the watchtower between lock-up and 10 p.m. But they would still need to get as far as the yard before they could contemplate getting over the wall from there. To do that, they needed to learn how to pick locks.

Close examination of the lock on his cell door enabled Jenkin to create pieces that would form a wooden key in the prison workshop, and to his amazement, it worked first time. He then needed to create a key for the outer door lock, but that took longer, as he didn’t have as easy access to check the dimensions. After a near disaster when a test key broke in the lock, he realized he would need to check the next version when the door was locked, so had to create a device to be able to reach the lock from within the cell. Using a broomstick handle connected to a piece of wood, which had the key fixed to it, he was able to unlock the second obstacle, after three months of trial and error.

Another political prisoner, Alex Moumbaris, became part of the escape group; most of the other prisoners were interested in escaping, but not as concerned with the technical aspects as Jenkin and Lee were. Other plans were discussed, such as sneaking out through the yard gate when the watchtowers guard’s attentions were elsewhere, or when he sheltered from a thunderstorm, but these were dismissed as impractical. By the end of 1978, Jenkin, Lee and Moumbaris were subject to oversight of their plans by a “Washing Committee”, consisting of Moumbaris and one of the most respected prisoners, Dave Kitson.

It was around then that they started to consider escape routes that began somewhere other than the prison yard. Their success with creating keys meant that a more direct exit through the front door might be feasible. Maybe they could capture the night warder, and use his keys to get out of the prison? There seemed to be too many risks inherent in that approach, but it did make them think about simply opening any locks as they progressed through the prison. To that end, they worked on their lock-picking skills, and created a key for the prison workshop so they could get at a supply of tools that they might need. They also made keys for every other door that they could get at which didn’t use duplicates of the ones they had already made, sometimes using soap impressions of the keys if the warders left them in the locks, or on other times actually taking the locks out of the doors and then taking them apart.

There were ten different sorts of locks on the doors between them and freedom, and they were able to create copies of all bar three of them. They therefore built a set of lockpicks from pieces of bent wire, which they were confident they would be able to use to get through those three doors.

At the start of 1979, it seemed as if they were ready to go; at that stage, the plan still involved taking keys from the night warder for his car, but otherwise letting themselves out of the prison using the keys that they had. However, shortly before they were going to try, the prospective escapers heard that outside contacts had offered some assistance, if they could have a bit more time to set things up. Although Moumbaris was still keen to try, the others agreed to wait until mid-April. This allowed them time to develop their lock-picking abilities further, and build better devices.

Jenkin’s decision to prepare for all contingencies included making sure that they knew what they would do if the promised outside help failed to materialize. They would steal the warder’s car, and head towards Jan Smuts Airport (or take the airport bus if for some reason the car wasn’t available to them), where the group, that now comprised eight people, would split into two parties. Jenkin, Lee, Moumbaris and two others would hire a car at the airport – one of the group had been left with his identity documentation by the security police, which included a driving licence – and drive towards northern Lesotho, around five to six hours away. Although Jenkin would have preferred to make for Swaziland, a couple of hours nearer, he was outvoted.

There was also a discussion over the use of firearms, and taking the warder’s rifle or pistol. The majority of the group were against it – not least because they were worried that they would be pursued as armed terrorists and risked being shot on sight – so as a back-up, Jenkin, Lee and Moumbaris prepared a wooden replica of a Beretta 7.62mm pistol. When they saw how good it looked, the others agreed to incorporate it into the plan.

Unfortunately, no reply came from the outside contacts before the next proposed date, 21 April, so the attempt was postponed once more. They made contact at the start of May, pointing out that they hadn’t had time to get everything ready, so the escape committee suggested that those on the outside should set the date. Jenkin, Lee and Moumbaris were becoming impatient – they were particularly concerned as the money they had secreted was being phased out as legal tender, and if they weren’t careful, all of their painful efforts would have been for nothing.

During the wait for a reply – it took a month each way for communications – two of the eight escapers dropped out, including the man with the driving licence. That necessitated a rethink of the plan, but in the end, that worked out for the best, as the remainder had to devise a way to check the locks of the three doors that they had previously been unable to access. If they then had keys for every door, they weren’t going to need to accost the night warder for his keys, and they could make their escape stealthily.

Various prisoners had to be taken out of the jail during late June and early July for medical appointments, and they noticed that a new guard post was being built by the front of the prison, with the gate moved closer to the front door. Worried that this would mean a twenty-four hour watch on the gate, Jenkin, Lee and Moumbaris considered making an attempt but in the end they realized that it was too risky.

Jenkin and Moumbaris made several tries to check the heavy sixth door, which they had not been able to get at previously, and by mid-October they had found a key that worked. Once through that door, they could check the others which lay between that and the exit, and also find out how the sentries operated at the front gate – in effect, they were carrying out a dry run for the actual escape. Another one of the escape group dropped out during the planning of this stage, as he felt the necessary diversionary tactics weren’t worth the risk. In early November, Jenkin and Moumbaris carried out the reconnaissance, and managed to check all the locks except the very outer door.

With only five left in the group, the decision was taken not to bother with outside assistance – the men felt happier relying on their own devices – and then when it became clear that there would not be time to carry out another recce, two more dropped out. A date of 11 December was agreed; if for any reason Jenkin, Lee and Moumbaris could not try then, plans would be put back by twenty-four hours.

Civilian clothes had been obtained from various sources, including a whole mound of them that had been left accidentally within the prison. Their own clothes, which might be given to dogs to track their scent, were washed. The three men got rid of any personal items and destroyed documents and notes. A bag with their escape equipment – the sets of keys and lockpicks, as well as any workshop tools that they might need along the way – was hidden in the shower room, and as they took a final shower before lock-up, they collected the keys they needed for the first stage.

As soon as the section door was secured behind their jailers after lock-up, the trio set to work. They created dummies in their beds from overalls stuffed with clothing, books and towels, with shoes propped up vertically. Their prison uniforms were left in hot soapy water to eliminate the scent, and they dressed in their escape kit: sports shorts, socks and white T-shirts. They then let themselves out of their cells, replacing the heads on the brooms to confuse the guards, and picked up the rest of their escape equipment from the shower room. They also put on gloves and balaclavas, despite the summer heat: they didn’t want to be recognized by the guards.

The other prisoners created a small diversion to get the guard out of the way, and the three escapers quickly passed through the doors until they only had three between them and freedom. By five o’clock, they had reached the final door, and when Moumbaris looked outside, the main gate was open.

But none of the keys that they had created would fit the final door. They tried picking the lock, but nothing would make the bolt turn. In the end, they decided the only way forward was to chisel the door open, even if that meant that they lost the major element of surprise which they had been counting on. None of the other doors in the prison that they had opened would show any signs of force so their means of escape should mystify the authorities. Moumbaris chiselled away at the wood behind the locking plate for half an hour until the bolt came clear when he pulled the door handle.