TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - At least seven inmates in Florida have used forged documents in attempts to escape from prison, including two killers who were mistakenly freed because of the paperwork, authorities said Tuesday.
Police said they were looking at several suspects in the investigation of the escape of Joseph Jenkins and Charles Walker, but so far they have made no arrests. Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner Gerald Bailey said the prisoners were not cooperating.
“In law enforcement terms, they’ve lawyered up,” Bailey said. “But we will find the details of what led to these escapes without their help, but should they choose to cooperate, we will have the answers that we need, the answers that we demand sooner rather than later.”
Jenkins and Walker were let out of a Panhandle prison Sept. 27 and Oct. 8, respectively, because of fake paperwork that reduced their life sentences to 15 years, authorities said. It was Jenkins’ second time trying to escape with forged papers. He failed in 2011, Bailey said.
Jenkins and Walker were captured Saturday at a Panama City motel. Police also want to know how the men got to the motel and who was coming from Atlanta to take them somewhere else.
Front Section, Pages 4 on 10/23/2013