Memo details audacious, well-planned Texas prison escape

David Tull, Irving Police Department spokesman, shows new sketches of the seven convicts on Friday

Justice officials refuse to confirm or deny authenticity

In this story: The plan Information frustration Convicts suspected in policeman's death RELATED STORIES, SITES

AUSTIN, Texas (CNN) -- A spokesman for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice told CNN Saturday he would neither verify nor deny the authenticity of a memo detailing events surrounding the December 13 escape of seven inmates from the Connally Unit near Kenedy, Texas.

"I have a lot less heartburn with the content of the memo than I do with how it came to be in the hands of the news media," said state Department of Criminal Justice spokesman Glen Castlebury.

RESOURCE Profiles of the escapees   INTERACTIVE Interactive map of the Texas manhunt   AUDIO Larry Todd, a spokesman for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, spoke to CNN by telephone on Friday 211K/19 sec. AIFF or WAV sound 182K/16 sec. AIFF or WAV sound 100K/9 sec. AIFF or WAV sound   TRANSCRIPT Early Edition: San Marcos Police Commander Discusses Manhunt for Texas Prison Escapees     ALSO A look at the fugitives in Texas     MESSAGE BOARD Violence in America

The memo, marked "confidential information for law enforcement only," begins by describing the escape as executed "flawlessly" by a "meticulous plan that involved taking 13 hostages on the unit, gaining access to the unit armory, and stealing a marked state vehicle, all without drawing any attention to themselves."

The memo is addressed to John F. McAuliffe, inspector general, and is said to be from Terry D. Cobbs, an investigator with the Fugitive Apprehension Unit.

The plan

The memo lays out the plan: Six inmates working in the maintenance unit allegedly told their civilian employee supervisors they were going to skip the noon meal at the dining hall and instead have a "spread" -- when each inmate brings commissary-bought food items for a "picnic of sorts."

The six maintenance inmates were: George Rivas, Larry Harper, Randy Halprin, Donald Newbury, Joseph Garcia and Patrick Murphy, Jr.

The spread "would have occurred on a work table inside the maintenance shop, which is within the secure perimeters of the prison," Castlebury said.

The inmates' supervisors left for lunch and a seventh inmate, Michael Rodriguez, who worked for the Inside Yard Squad, joined the other six in the maintenance office.

As eleven maintenance employees returned from lunch, one by one, the inmates took them hostage.

"All hostages were stripped to their underwear, tied up with wire and ropes, and locked in closets," the memo said. One of the inmates, identifying himself as a maintenance supervisor, called out to the picket officer at a back gate guard tower, which also serves as one of the unit's armories, and said he was sending maintenance personnel and inmates to install video surveillance equipment.

Two men wearing street clothes and two inmates carrying toolboxes and video equipment approached the back gate office, where they overpowered the officer there. Three of the men guarded that officer, while the fourth made his way to the picket officer and said he was there to install the video equipment. The officer allowed the inmate, who was wearing street clothing, a cowboy hat and sunglasses, to enter the armory.

"The inmate overpowered the officer, taking control of the picket/armory and the perimeter gates," the memo said.

The three inmates guarding the maintenance hostages took the keys to a maintenance truck from one of the employees, loaded items from the office onto the truck and met the other four inmates at the back gate. The seven men then loaded weapons and ammunition onto the truck, including 14 Smith and Wesson .357 magnum revolvers, one semiautomatic Colt AR-15 .223 rifle, one Remington 870 pump 12-gauge shotgun and over 200 rounds of ammunition.

"The escapees then drove away from the Connally Unit undetected," the memo said.

The stolen state truck was recovered behind a Wal-Mart store in Kenedy, Texas. The memo said the men were captured on an automatic teller machine camera talking to and joining the occupants of a dark Chevrolet Cavalier and some of the fugitives were seen getting into a dark-colored sports utility vehicle. The license plate numbers of neither of the vehicles were known, the memo said.

Information frustration

Castlebury, who said he understands that both the media and public are frustrated by the lack of information because "intelligence work, by its nature, is not disclosed," accused some media outlets of playing up the word picnic, to "sensationalize their lead and their headline."

"There was basically nothing in the editorial content of that memo that we have not already told the media," he said.

"I feel no need to comment on the context and the contents of the memo because the investigation, the in-depth investigation of how the escape happened will be completed and made public this coming week," he said.

Convicts suspected in policeman's death

The seven fugitives are suspects in the Christmas Eve shooting death of Irving Police Officer Aubrey Hawkins, 29. Hawkins and several other officers responded to a call from an employee at an Oshman's sporting goods store.

Irving police said Hawkins entered the rear of the building and apparently confronted the departing suspects, who were identified by a witness as the seven convicts.

The Irving Police Department Friday released sketches of the fugitives, reflecting changes in weight and other characteristics as described by witnesses.

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January 5, 2001
Texas police on high alert as search for escaped convicts continues
January 4, 2001
Seven escaped convicts still believed to be in Dallas, Texas, area
January 2, 2001
Texas fugitives charged with Radio Shack robbery
December 29, 2000
Police search for escaped convicts linked to officer's death
December 26, 2000

Texas Department of Criminal Justice
Irving Police Department

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