Bobby Ross Jr., Staff Writer
January 18, 2001, Thursday City Edition
Copyright 2001 The Daily Oklahoman
The Daily Oklahoman January 18, 2001, Thursday City Edition
(COALGATE, Okla.) -- In the end, the escapees surrendered peacefully.
Two days after breaking out of the Oklahoma State Penitentiary’s “High Max” unit, murderer-rapist James Robert Thomas and kidnapper Willie Lee Hoffman received a surprise visit Wednesday afternoon.
Armed with a search warrant, dozens of correctional officers, sheriff’s deputies, police and state troopers surrounded a two-story, A-frame house about six miles east of Coalgate.
Other officers blocked nearby roads and highways.
Then came the knock at the door.
A man who lives at the house answered the door, and authorities immediately took him into custody, said Jerry Massie, state Corrections Department spokesman.
“There was a .22-caliber rifle leaning against the wall, but no attempt to get it,” Massie said. “Thinking there were several people upstairs, the officers ordered them down.”
Thomas, 25, and Hoffman, 21, quickly appeared.
The escapees, wearing sweatshirts and blue jeans, then came down the stairs as ordered.
Officers pulled a hunting knife with a 4-inch blade from Hoffman’s front pocket, Massie said. No other weapons were found.
“There was a fourth person who we also ordered to come down,” Massie said. “He then was secured, as well.”
At 1:12 p.m., the search officially was over.
The violent criminals responsible for the first escape in the 9 1/2-year history of the penitentiary’s underground H Unit were in custody.
“They seemed surprised, but they did not resist,” penitentiary spokeswoman Lee Mann said of the escapees’ reaction.
By 2:30 p.m. Thursday, Thomas and Hoffman were returned to the penitentiary in McAlester, 41 miles northeast of Coalgate.
They were given physicals and put back in the state prison system’s highest security unit.
“They were very quiet,” Mann said.
Thomas is serving a life sentence for first-degree murder and 400 years for first-degree rape. At age 17 in 1993, he strangled and raped Jessie Roberts, 81, in Oklahoma City.
Hoffman is serving 20 years for crimes that include kidnapping, concealing stolen property and assault and battery of a police officer.
Both could face additional charges of escape.
The two escaped from the state’s highest security prison unit shortly before 5 a.m. Monday by removing the combination sink/commodes from the walls of their cells.
They leaped two 15-foot high fences and avoided 20 feet of ground-based razor wire on their way to short-lived freedom.
Inmate Nathan Washington, 28, also tried to escape. But the convicted robber became entangled in the razor wire and suffered cuts that required stitches.
Less than four hours after escaping, Thomas and Hoffman accosted two women at a McAlester recreation center, robbed them of $ 65 and stole a car, police said.
When authorities found the stolen car about 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, the escapees’ cover began to evaporate.
Coal County Sheriff Roy Deck said he first got a tip Monday from someone who thought he had seen two men matching the suspects’ description in the area.
But the case broke Wednesday when an informant led sheriff’s officials to the stolen car, which was parked outside Coalgate’s Hurley Health Center.
Schoolchildren who reported seeing the escapees also helped authorities, Deck and Massie said. But they were vague about specifics.
“From there,” Massie said of the tips, “we were able to develop it into possible locations.”
Thinking the inmates might be at the house east of Coalgate or at another one in Lehigh, seven miles north of Coalgate, authorities surrounded both places, the sheriff said.
“I called in every agency that was available for a perimeter within the county, in case they attempted to flee... while we were trying to get a search warrant,” Deck said.
The two men who lived at the house where Thomas and Hoffman were hiding also took unexpected trips to McAlester.
Robert McDonald, 29, and Carl D. Lewis, 23, both of Coalgate, were being held Wednesday night in the Pittsburg County jail on complaints of harboring fugitives.
McDonald and Lewis were taken to Pittsburg County because of security and crowding concerns at the Coal County jail, authorities said.
According to a search warrant obtained by Coalgate Police Chief Calvin Weeden, Jimmy Sanders and Franchesca Edgar told authorities the escapees were at their house Tuesday night.
They reported that Hoffman and Thomas left their residence in an older model dark blue pickup driven by McDonald. About 9 a.m., the sheriff contacted one of McDonald’s neighbors and confirmed the pickup was parked at his house.
Edgar and Sanders’ brother, Darrell Sanders, were arrested on complaints of aiding the escapees, officials said. Jimmy Sanders was not arrested, Deck said.
The sheriff said drug charges also are possible against some of those who helped hide the escapees. However, he did not elaborate.
“It’s all under investigation,” he said Wednesday night.
Authorities said they did not know the relationship between the escapees and those arrested on accessory complaints.
But the sheriff said he was certain of one thing.
“It makes me very relieved that these little ladies in this community can rest peacefully tonight along with me.”
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