3: Yoshie Shiratori
Yoshie Shiratori is famous for four escaping prison four times in his life. He was born on July 31, 1907 and died on February 24, 1979. He was born in Japan and became an anti-hero in Japanese culture. He was also called “the man that no prison could hold”.
Yoshie was first accused of murder and robbery and was sent to Aomori Prison. Three years later he picked the lock of his handcuffs with a short wire he found in a bathing bucket and escaped. Three days later he was recaptured and sentenced to life in prison for escaping prison and supposedly stealing supplies from a hospital.
He was eventually transferred to Akita Prison in 1914. He then managed to escape Akita Prison by climbing the walls of his cell reaching an air vent and left. He went to the home of a police officer from his old prison asking for help. The police officer did what most police officers would do and turned him in.
Yoshie was transferred for the second time to Abashiri Prison. This prison was for the worst of the worst of Japan’s criminals and because the police wanted Yoshie to stay put this seems like the perfect place. Well not exactly because he escapes again. Every morning he would pit miso soup on his handcuffs and his cell. The salt and moisture weakened the cuffs and the cell. When the wartime blackout of August 26, 1944, happened, he dislocated his shoulders and squeezed himself through an inspection hole where they gave him food.
Yoshie Shiratori was caught and taken to court and was sentenced to death. He was then sent to Sapporo Prison where he had a special cell that made it so that he couldn’t escape through the vents or ceiling. While waiting for his execution day he needed to escape so he unlocked the bolts of the wooden floor and dug his way out with a bowl.
He was turned in by a cop because he told him that he was an escaped convict and went to court again. His death sentence was revoked and he went to jail for 20 years in Fuchu Prison till 1961 when he was put on parole
2: John Dillinger
John was an American gangster during the great depression. He was born on June 22, 1903, in Indianapolis Indiana and died on July 22, 1934, in Chicago Illinois. His gang was known as “Dillinger Gang” or “The Terror Gang”. His gang was in the midwest robbing banks and police arsenals and staging prison breakouts.
Early in his life, he was always getting in trouble and his father noticing this and thinking the temptations of the city were getting to him, left Indianapolis and they moved to a farm near Mooresville, Indiana.
There he began doing the same thing, getting into trouble. Breaking the law and having trouble with his father he joined the navy. When their boat docked in Boston he left it and went back to Mooresville. There he got married and went to Indianapolis. When he got there it was hard to find a job so he joined Ed Singleton and his search for easy money.
The first time they tried, they tried robbing a Mooresville grocery store which didn’t work out so well. They were arrested and taken to court. Singleton pleaded not guilty and was sentenced to two years of prison. John Dillinger, doing what his father taught him as a child, told the truth about what he did and was sentenced to twenty years in prison.
After being in jail for eight years he was put on parole. Almost immediately after this, he robbed a bank in Bluffton, Ohio on May 10. On September 22 he was found and was taken to a county jail in Lima, Ohio. While searching him they found a plan to break out of prison, but he denied everything they asked about it. Four days later his friends used the same plan to escape from prison with guns they smuggled in.
Three of them and a parolee went to Lima Prison where Dillinger was being held and broke him out. After this Dillinger and his gang robbed banks and stole guns, ammo, and bulletproof vests from police stations. While they were staying in a hotel that lit on fire, the firemen recognized two of the gang members and the cops arrested them and eventually arrested Dillinger. They were put in the county jail that was said to be escape-proof. Dillinger and his gang members escaped by threatening the guards with a wooden gun he carved.
He then makes the worst mistake ever. He steals the sheriff’s car and then crosses state borders with it which is breaking the National Motor Vehicle Theft Act which is a federal offense which then the grand jury had to talk about which brought in the FBI(Federal Bureau of Investigation).
This all ends in John Dillinger getting shot in the end when he tried to pull his pistol out.
1: Texas Seven
On December 13, 2000, the Texas seven broke out of John B Connally Unit. They had a plan to get out and it worked. The group restrained 16 people and took their clothes, ID, and credit cards. Four of them stayed behind to distract the tower guards by calling them. Once distracted they raided the tower and stole weapons and a truck.
Once this happened a massive manhunt broke out. This lasted for six weeks until they were finally caught. The group though had switched away vehicles. The vehicle was provided by the dad of one of the criminals. They then robbed a radio shack and left with money and police scanners.
Next, they robbed a sporting goods store. They got a lot of money and more weapons. There they also killed the police officer shooting him multiple times and running him over. With all their money they fled to colorado where they bought a motorhome, told people they were Christian missionaries and stayed at an RV park.
On January 22, 2001, four of the fugitives were taken captive. The other fifth one committed suicide not wanting to go back to jail. The other two were found at a hotel in Colorado, trying to explain themselves saying they were protesting against Texas’ criminal justice system. They have turned themselves in eventually and sentenced to death
In the end, you could say all of them got what they deserved. Some of them doing things worse than others. All in all, this is three people or groups of people who have escaped prison.
