4 Most Famous Prison Escapes From Michigan State Prison
Here are the four most famous prison escapes from Michigan State Prison located in Jackson.
Michigan State Prison
Michigan State Prison is also known as Jackson State Prison. The prison opened in 1839 holding both men and women prisoners up until 1852 when it became a male-only prison. In 1924, a new bigger prison was built property that would hold over 5,000 inmates and would be much harder to escape. The prison didn't change again until 1988 when it was divided into four distinct prisons.
Four Most Famous Prison Escapes at Michigan State Prison
Prison escapes do not happen as often as they used to. Prisons are now built better and with all the surveillance technology it is more difficult to escape, but some prisoners still find a way out.
Below are the most famous escapes that occurred at Michigan State Prison.
1. Dale Otto Remling Makes Boldest of All Escapes
Dale Otto Remling was more of a small-time criminal - usually involved in theft, passing bad checks, fraud, and using stolen IDs. He wasn't a famous mobster, an athlete, or a troubled actor, just an average criminal doing his time, at least that's what authorities thought.
In 1975, a helicopter landed inside the prison walls and Remling quickly jumped in the copter in a matter of seconds and was gone. Unfortunately for Remling, when the copter landed to let him out he missed his ride and wound up wandering through the woods to a bar where he was captured nearly 40 hours later.
2. Four Men Cut Their Way Out of Prison
On April 23, 1963, Dlemer Crachy, Robert Gipson, James Hall, and Richard Mauch were the first prisoners to cut their way out of Michigan State Prison. The four men used tools that were swiped from the prison's maintenance shop to cut their cell bars. Mauch had also made some keys to help the prisoners get gates that led to another window they had sawed the bars to. Once outside the men cut through a fence and then they were off.
A manhunt began and an all-points bulletin was sent out alerting the public to beware of four escaped men who were extremely dangerous. Hall was captured on May 7 in Carthage, Missouri, after drinking and driving which got him into a couple of car accidents.
3. 13 Prisoners Escape Michigan State Prison At Once
On December 20, 1953, 13 inmates managed to escape through the prison sewer system. The inmates went to a house not far from the prison and knocked on the door claiming there had been an accident when the door opened they rushed in a held a family of three as hostages. The inmates tied up the family and stole some clothes and a pistol. They then cut the phone lines to the home and drove off in the family's car.
Six prisoners of the prisoners that had stolen the family's car were caught by the Michigan State Police. Five more who had stolen a Cadillac and taken two women hostage were captured in Detroit. The final two prisoners had fled to Indiana where there were caught in a hotel room three days after their escape.
4. Alex "Red" Bryant Kidnaps Guard At Knife Point
On January 24, 1952 prisoner Alex Bryant kidnapped a prison guard by the name of Delbert Murdock by knifepoint. Bryant was serving a life sentence for a slew of crimes including armed robbery, rape, and a parole violation. He was working on a prison farm outside of the prison when he kidnapped the guard and made a run for it. Bryant was then put on the FBI's 10 most wanted list but wasn't found until two years later in Los Angeles, California where he had married and had a baby, and was living a normal life. March 4, 1954, Bryant returned to prison.
Research for this article came from a series of articles linked to this article at Mlive.com
