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Private Notes
The transgressions of elusive criminals Dennis Wayne Hope, William Van Poyck and Kenneth "Speedy" Raulerson are detailed.
Love is blind, and some people are so in love they’ll even turn a blind eye to justice. This special edition of I (ALMOST) GOT AWAY WITH IT highlights three true stories of fugitives who found romance while under constant and intense pressure to evade law enforcement. The stories of love on the lam include: Steve Lamb, a notorious drug czar who fell in love while hiding out in Venezuela; Courtney Savage, who reunited with an old high school flame while running from murder charges; and Michael Brown, a teenage killer who married his prison pen pal and then escaped with his new bride.
During the heat of an argument, Michael McGuffey shot his wife in the head. With help from his mother, he flees to Mexico. The FBI is able to find Michael by tracing his bank records.
The main suspect in the murder of a pregnant ex-girlfriend, and wanted for the shooting of a current one, Michael Alfonso is a jealous boyfriend who time and again turns to violence. It is Alfonso's criminal lifestyle that gets him caught.
Jerry Bowen fled before sentencing of the murder of Brenda Breckenridge. Bowen erased his fingerprints with acid and befriended homeless men to assume their identities. After 7 yrs, detectives were able to find enough remaining prints to declare a match.
In 1975, Michael Brown killed Richard Sullivan during a robbery. Brown was convicted, and while in prison married a woman named Donna. He soon escaped so they could start a new life together. They lived for more than 15 years without incident.
Gonzolo Martinez is a 17-year old gang member, sentenced to 48 years in prison. A chance arises, and Martinez escapes to Mexico and becomes a drug dealer. Only when Martinez tries to cross the border, do the feds get their chance to capture him.
Scott Burnside hires a hit man to kill a friend's wife. But when the hit goes wrong, and four people are found murdered, Burnside flees to a remote island. On the run, Scott is unable to adjust to his lonely life. His family ties tip the Feds.
Richard Garber thinks he has gotten away with murder, after he bludgeons a neighbor to death. But when he becomes the lead suspect in the case, Garber hits the road spending 8 months dodging the Feds and sneaking cash from his girlfriend.
Joe Crouch wakes up one morning, and after 40 years of marriage, shoots his wife while she sleeps. He flees to Florida and embraces his fugitive life. He funds his hobbies by robbing banks. It is his love of karoake that gets him caught.
Marshall Brown was 19 when he committed his first contract killing. A drug dealer put a hit out on Horace Morrison. Brown was soon convicted and spent the next 19 years in prison planning his escape. This is the story of his life on the run.
Joe Loya is a professional bank robber, addicted to the adrenaline of power. After 13 months of successful robberies, Loya's luck runs out when one robbery goes wrong. It's the latest in bank technology that leads investigators to Loya and ends his spree.
Scott Freeburg has been in and out of prison his whole life. So when a drug deal goes wrong, Scott Freeburg runs to Canada.But soon Scott is back in the gang life. And the Canadian police quickly ID him by his tattoos and extradite him back to the U.S.
Kerry Silvers was facing 55 years in the slammer for robbery and battery, so he decided to escape. Along with two other prisoners they overpowered a few guards and were able to calmly walk out of prison.
In central Florida in 1991, Marvin Carson settled an argument with rival gang member Richard Hawk by shooting him repeatedly with an AK47. Carson then went on the run. But when he returned to his home town, police were tipped.
Robert Spencer has just shot his girlfriend. He is a thug and drug dealer, who in a blind panic gets high and goes on the run, living every day as a party. He finds the affection of a friend's mother, which ultimately leads to his arrest.
With 41 arrests and no convictions, Philip Williams had no worries that stabbing his ex in a parking lot would give him any trouble. But when he became a wanted man, he hit the road. Surviving on his gambling wins, Williams kept on the move.
Michael Hess is a wanted prison escapee on the run with a new identity and has been living in the same town he is wanted in for two decades. Hess learns to beat the system and enjoy his new life of work, weed and women before he's busted.
When Edward Roberson and two fellow inmates went to the showers, they didn't come back. Breaking out, the three scale the fences and run for it. Roberson has escaped and now has stolen guns, in a stolen car running for his life.
Courtenay Savage is an ex-cop with a loaded gun aimed at a friend's trailer. She has no idea she is caught on tape. After an arrest and posting bail, she goes on the run, leaving ties to the police department and the sex industry.
"In the streets, a man's greed is his motivation," is the motto of Raymond Ross. After beating a teen into a coma, Ross pulls some fast dope deals to raise money and skip town. Hiding with his wanted cousin, Ross beats his way into the dealing scene, by pushing dope and mixing music to sell. Until one night when instead of giving, Ross gets a beating from another dealer, nearly landing him in the hospital. This is a wake up call for Ross, deciding to live it big at the club, and sure enough that night this drug dealing DJ, gets caught on the downbeat.
Steve Lamb grew up as a middle class beach boy, but dreamt big. He started by moving small amounts of pot from Mexico, which opened doors to larger business with Jamaica. By the time he was 20, Lamb was part of the "Steinhatchee Seven," a group of young, easygoing drug traffickers who were making millions. Lamb's life was spent in and out of jail, hiding from undercover cops, and moving thousands of bails of marijuana across the ocean. With all the close calls, it was finally a sting operation that caught Lamb with a thousand pounds of marijuana.
What was planned as an easy robbery turns into The Carnegie Deli Murders. Sean Salley shoots an actress and her friends above a deli in New York, and flees to New Orleans and then to Miami where he plans to leave the country for good.
In 1997 members of the Republic of Texas separatist group took Joe Rowe and his wife hostage. The Texas Rangers were able to negotiate their release, and capture four separatists, however two members, Richard Keyes and Mike Matson got away. Fleeing into the mountainous hills of Davis, Texas they spent two days evading helicopters and police dogs, eventually Matson pulls his pistol, preferring to go out in standoff. Keyes keeps running. Using an underground Militia group, Keyes is able to hideout in the woods undetected, until a tail leads the FBI to his hideout, and his capture.
Life as drug dealer's muscle is not going to keep you out of trouble. Lane Slettvet, knew this, but tested fate until one night on a job to retrieve a prostitute from another drug dealer, Slettvet stabs and kills the man. Trying to lay low with his sister, and under the radar of the cops proves hard for Slettvet, constantly drawn to the life of parties, fights and drugs. Then one night, in a drunken stupor, Slettvet breaks a bottle over a taxi driver's head. The incident is reported, and Slettvet's run comes to an end.
After witnessing a murder, Anthony Ragno goes on the run. Building a new life trafficking pot in the Haitian islands, a coke addiction and close calls with local governments drive Ragno back to the US with a fake name.
Eric Quesada and Michael Newhouse grew up as best friends, until high school gang life separated them. After a confrontation in a mall, Quesada made threats and one night did a drive by, killing Newhouse. Quesada went on the run to Mexico, using family connections to stay on the move. Eric had a close call, when a tipster called the Marshals at gave up his location. Quesada was caught with the joined forces of Mexican and US officials. He spent 2 years fighting extradition before he was sent back to the US and sentenced to 99 years.
Randall Zandstra hid at his ex-wife's with a gun, waiting for a shot at her new boyfriend. He got one, but he also got 12 years in prison. Due to a technicality, a retrial was called. Zandstra fled. He ran to Vegas, winning big in tournaments. He also ran mail scams, but he got caught. With a stream of fraud trials Zandstra is transferred to multiple states but along the way he escapes. US Marshals tracked Zandstra down, where he makes a last attempt for freedom, crawling from the car-wreck with a broken leg, hand and back. He is now in a New Jersey prison.
Christopher Daniel Gay was a working class guy, who dabbled in petty theft. However, by 1999 these crimes escalated and he was convicted of 12 counts of theft and sent to jail. Gay is known for his endless escapes from prison but more importantly for his unusual choice in escape vehicles--- everything from 18-wheelers, to RVs and most famously singer Crystal Gale's tour bus. But this is hardly a joy ride, as Gay rushes to say good-bye to his dying mother. When Gay is arrested, he escapes during the prison transport and again is cruising the open road.
In October 2007 Juanita Liebman, her boyfriend and a friend go to Biketoberfest in Florida. The trio befriends James Mason, who they plan to rob. But things get out of hand and in an alcohol-fueled frenzy, the trio kick Mason into a coma. They flee with cash and jewelry. Luckily for Liebman, the cops have a false lead, and are convinced that the woman they want is the wife of Juanita's boyfriend. Juanita tries to lay low, but her epilepsy requires medical attention. And when police learn that Liebman is who they want, they stake out her pharmacy, waiting for their chance to catch her.
On July 18, 2000, 22 yr old Aurlieas McClarty walks into a store in Orange County Florida and guns down a store manager for a mere $200. McClarty is placed on the FBI 10 Most Wanted List. Despite being a wanted man, McClarty doesn't keep a low profile and soon becomes wanted for counterfeiting money in Florida, and bank robberies in Maryland. McClarty goes from state to state, defrauding banks, stores and women. All McClarty wants is money, cars, drugs and women, and does anything to get them. But none of these can protect him when a SWAT team breaks down his door, and arrest him.
Ricky McCurry has been in and out of prison his whole life, escaping by tricking and bribing guards. On the outside, McCurry runs into bad luck with botched robberies and high-speed chases.
Brenda Wynn loves heroin and has done time in prison for it. But now she is out, and plans to make a new life as a rap artist, she even hires herself a chauffeur, named Ray. But when Ray steals Wynn's money, she flies into a frenzy and runs him over with her car, dead set on killing him. Now with the fear of going back to prison, Wynn does what she can to stay on the run, using phony credit cards, and manipulating men to give her money. But the cops are closing in, and Wynn's free ride comes to an end.
Scott Eizember has a temper and a history of abuse. So when his girlfriend dumps him, Scott wants revenge. He goes on a violent spree, but is injured during his pursuit. Does he risk capture, or continue on his rampage to find his ex and exact vengeance?
Larry McClendon, while in prison for murder, escapes with seven others. Larry is forced to be creative in his evasion of the cops. Hiding in abandoned shacks, and muddy pigpens. He even dresses as a woman as a disguise.
Henry Lee Marshall is obsessed with Martha Leathers, and in a fit of jealousy, kills her husband and flees. Unable to stay away for long, Marshall returns to harass her. Finally, after nine years of stalking Martha, his time on the run comes to an end.
In jail for fraud, Steven Russell falls in love with inmate Philip Morris. When Morris is released, Russell is desperate to be reunited. He escapes from jail with elaborate cons. Once out, the two live a lavish life, supported by scams that alert the FBI.
Dennis Hope works at a store, using his job to study the armored-car guard routine. He decides to mimic a guard and rob stores. Hope is caught and imprisoned. He manages to escape and goes on a crime spree, until his past comes back to haunt him.
When a friend is fired from a restaurant, Konh Chung Bounnam and his friends decide to rob it. The plan goes awry and three people are killed. His friends are caught but Bounnam stays free. He hides until his need for money gets the FBI's attention.
Dominic Reddick has escaped prison, and is on the run. He goes to Georgia, where someone calls the cops on him, and Reddick flees to the woods. Searching for food, he finds donuts in a dumpster. Little does he know that inside the shop, cops are waiting.
Kenneth "Speedy" Raulerson is wanted in Florida for armed robbery. He flees to Alaska to work the crab boats. After six months, he returns to the backwoods of Florida. Raulerson knows he will eventually be caught and is prepared to go down fighting.
A neighbor calls 911 when she smells smoke coming from an apartment shared by Ricky Sleight and William Baldi. The police find Baldi's dead body, but Sleight escapes by riding freight trains across the country. The FBI turns to the media for help.
Abraham Cavazos shoots a man at a party and flees to Juarez, Mexico to disappear. Cavazos uses multiple women to support him in Mexico. He changes identities, locations and girlfriends, but it's not enough to keep authorities from tracking him down.
Kevin Cross is a bold Oklahoma drug lord. After he is deceived by an associate, he kills the man as revenge. Wanted for kidnapping and murder, he flees to Mexico. When the payback for betrayal is death, how far will Cross go to stay out of prison?
JohnnyRay Gasca, a successful video pirate, scams the film industry while partying with celebrities and hiding from the law. Gasca went to prison for attempted murder and U.S. Marshals believe Gasca's illicit lifestyle will soon turn violent.
Jermaine LeBron and a group of friends murder a man in Florida and steal his expensive truck. LeBron then teams up with Howard Kendall to continue the crime spree. Their plan unravels when the friends confess to the murder and rats LeBron out to police.
Fired from his job as a fashion writer, Peter Braunstein vows to take revenge on the fashionistas who snubbed him. Posing as a firefighter, he kidnaps a co-worker and terrorizes her for 16 hours before leading detectives on a multi-state chase.
After serving nearly a decade for a slew of drug, robbery and assault charges, McCollum is determined to turn his life around. He builds a reputation as a successful car salesman until a freak accident threatens to send him back to the pen.
In 1985 Kaysie Dudley's mother gets fired from her job as a caregiver for an elderly widow and the pair plot to steal her rings as revenge. When the 77-year-old woman unexpectedly puts up a fight, Dudley resorts to the unthinkable -cold blooded murder.
With seven escapes under his belt, Frankie Lee Bass will stop at nothing to be free. While facing five life sentences for a spree of Florida robberies, Bass makes a daring escape and goes on the run. How long will he be able to stay out?
By the age of 17, William Van Poyck is convicted of robbery and serves 6 years behind bars before escaping from a maximum security prison. In 1987, he prepares for his most daring crime yet; ambushing a prison transport van.
In July of 2009, Valerie Castellano robs a bank in rural Indiana. She flees with her three children and her girlfriend to Mexico. Back in Indiana, police focus their attention on Valerie's mother, hoping she will be the key to her daughter's capture.
A con artist, Fred Brito has reinvented himself dozens of times. With no formal training, he's conducted a symphony orchestra, been elected to a public office, and administered mass as a fake catholic priest. Will the real Fred ever be brought to justice?
After leading police on a high speed chase, criminal Toby Young is caught, but not for long. He forces his way out of jail and after escaping to Mexico through drug tunnels, he learns the true cost of being on the run.
After leading police on a high speed chase, criminal Toby Young is caught, but not for long. He forces his way out of jail and after escaping to Mexico through drug tunnels, he learns the true cost of being on the run.
Robert Jeffery loses his entire drug business in a fire. In order to pay off his supplier, he robs a bank but is arrested. He escapes from jail and survives by dealing drugs and pulling scams, until he meets a woman and moves to the suburbs. But soon the FBI finds him and corners him at a busy subway station.
After killing his step-mom and three young brothers, James Wiley is given a life sentence. He escapes into the Wyoming wilderness and hides under the wheel of a big rig, holding on for dear life as the truck heads down the highway. He calls a friend for help at a rest area but gets caught and sent back to prison.
Nicholas Johnson is a teenage robber terrorizing the streets of Portland, Oregon. After getting caught, he plans an elaborate escape and slips past the prison’s high-level security system. With the help of his family, Johnson stays hidden from the law until a tip leads police right to his whereabouts.
Jerry Wright builds a booming meth business in the Tennessee hills until his makeshift lab blows up. During a fight over money, Wright kills a man and runs to his sister’s in Ohio but gets caught. He escapes from prison but can't handle the stress of being a fugitive. He is soon captured and sent back to jail.
Mark and Maverick Maher are teenage punks who form their own militia -- a band of youths who rob houses and break into cars. After sending a threatening audio tape to police, they go on the run, living in the Florida swamps and eventually leading police on a lengthy chase through an upscale neighborhood.
William Alderman robs to support his girlfriend and her 3-year-old daughter. The trio heads to Idaho, breaking into vacation homes and using the little girl to help carry out the crimes. During a botched robbery, a man is killed and the family runs but gets caught during a takedown at a roadside motel.
David Harden is a clean-cut businessman living a double life as a burglar. His drug habit forces him to commit more daring crimes until he gets caught. He runs to Costa Rica, pulling scams until a friend turns on him. After getting deported, he sneaks out of prison hidden in a trash bin to live as a fugitive.
Patsy Jones is the leader of a band of thieves, targeting tourists leaving the Miami airport by robbing and carjacking them at gunpoint. One night, a tourist fails to stop and Jones shoots and kills him. She hides in an abandoned apartment until the intense manhunt leads the police right to her doorstep.
Jeremy Woods is a con-artist with a love for violence. He convinces his girlfriend to forge bad checks and murders her and her son so he can walk away a free man. He flees to New Orleans but is arrested on unrelated charges and confesses to the murder.
John Ditullio is wanted for assault charges and joins the American Nazi Party. In a rage fit he beats a homeless man to death and kills a neighbor who he feels is an enemy of the white race. After a tense fight, he is captured and now serves time in FL.
Two stories of fugitives determined to evade capture. First, serial robber Roy Betts accidentally shoots a man and launches a statewide manhunt to find and arrest him. Next, Donna Schatz goes on the run after carrying out a violent vendetta on her ex.
Two men become fugitives from the law. First, Howard murders a man and flees to New York, where he plots a daring escape. Then, Brendan breaks out of jail by overpowering a guard. When his mother is arrested for helping him, the chase is on.
Two stories of fugitives on the run. First, a scam artist cons aspiring artists out of millions. But when one victim demands justice, a high-profile manhunt ensues. Then, a modern day Bonnie and Clyde eludes police until a slip-up leads to their doorstep.
When teenager Randy Baggett can't take any more of his abusive stepfather, he gets help from a friend and they beat and choke him to death. Two years later, Randy gets locked up, but he escapes twice, keeping police and detectives on their toes.
Lifelong pals and criminals Timothy Fletcher and Doni Brown break out of a Florida prison in 2009. Anxious for freedom, the two need money. A robbery that ends in murder puts them on most wanted lists and leads cops on a manhunt across the Southeast.
Posing as a veteran and preying on women to get cash, cars, and even a house, Jerrod Durr finds himself in a multistate game of cat and mouse with cops. Wanted in four states, will police hunt him down and uncover his true identity?
Walter Rhodes and 2 other suspects were involved with the murder of 2 cops. Rhodes agrees to testify against the others for a lesser sentence and is released in 18 years. Shortly after, he violates his parole - but refuses to ever go back to prison.
19-year-old Kylen Padgett's escalating crimes get him arrested. After a jury acquits him for attempted murder, he reverts back to his old ways by robbing wealthy home owners. The crime-spree launches a county-wide manhunt.
Stolen weapons dealer, Conan Helsley, robs a pawnshop with his girlfriend and older brother. Cops eventually hunt them down and put the trio behind bars, but Conan manages to escape! How long can he hide?
After getting arrested for robbery, Robert Askew runs from a work camp and goes back to stealing to make a living. Askew eventually gets caught again, but he escapes from jail during a hurricane and goes on a crime spree, breaking into vacation homes.
Tony Darwin makes millions piloting marijuana into Florida. Even after getting caught, he continues works for a notorious smuggler until a deadly plane crash forces him to flee the country. The pressure mounts when his girlfriend threatens to rat him out
The transgressions of elusive criminals Dennis Wayne Hope, William Van Poyck and Kenneth "Speedy" Raulerson are detailed.
David Corbin is a career criminal. After a stint in prison, Corbin launches a crime wave, stealing cars and selling them for a profit. But when a jealous girlfriend rats him out, Corbin is caught and sent to prison where he pulls off a daring escape.
Terry Banks is in prison for life. When he falls for a guard named Lynette, he's determined to break free to start a life with her. She helps him escape and they go on the run. But when the FBI tracks them down, will they commit another desperate act?
Brian Maurice Fuller charms his way into wealthy people's homes, only to rob them blind. He gets caught, does his time and is released. But Fuller can't resist the lure of robbing the rich. He eludes police until a tip leads them right to his door.
Patrick Murphy and six other inmates pull off the largest escape in Texas history. They launch a statewide crime spree but up the ante when they kill a police officer. They hide in an RV Park but get recognized, prompting a showdown with authorities.
After killing his mother, Scott Webb and his wife go on the run. They head to Texas and fool a small-town church into taking pity on them. But when their story hits the local news, church members call police, who track the couple down in Seattle.
After killing a man, ex-con Rondell Reed crashes his getaway car and is sent to prison. He and his cellmate escape by squeezing through an air duct. Once free, he steals and carjacks his way north to Ohio where another chase leads to another car crash.
Ex-con Roger Delucenay is locked up in county jail. When his brother is sent there a few months later, the two carry out a daring escape. They run to Kentucky to lay low but when a jealous ex rats them out, the two are forced to run again to stay free.
Serving life for a double homicide, Harold Laird breaks out of prison. On the lam, he evades the law in a series of near misses from Texas to New Orleans. Exhausted, Laird passes out in a stolen truck. When a cop notices, he runs the plates, discovers it's stolen, and calls for backup and arrests Laird.
Peter Gibbs faces a long stretch in prison for a string of robberies but he refuses to go down without a fight.
Bank robber Steven Ray Milam is called the Handsome Guy Bandit as he makes a costly mistake forcing him to leave his family and go on the run.
Jimmy Maxwell's volatile nature sees him being a menace to authorities every time they manage to corner him after he escapes from prison.
Albert Paul ends up being arrested for murder and spends the next twenty years pulling off daring prison breaks only to get captured following every attempt.
Whilst serving a 60-year sentence for a crime he says he didn't commit, Russell Kerr plots with a fellow inmate an elaborate escape plan.
Having been given a long sentence for robbery, Robert Nielsen escapes prison and lives under the radar with his family, but they are unable to hide the young fugitive from the challenges of being on the run.
Deeply in debt after suffering a serious injury, Jaime Jones dons a disguise and robs banks to pay off his debts and take care of his family.
Facing a long prison sentence, Darryl Norris pulls off a brilliant escape through the ceiling of his cell and plans to flee the country.
After Andrew Heim's prison buddy finds a way to tunnel out of the prison, he escapes along with five other inmates, and they are dubbed The Pittsburgh Six.
Desperate for their next high, Michael Kidd, Kevin Crandall and Marcus Thompson break into upscale homes on Halloween night in search of money, then their crime spree ends in a terrifying hostage situation.
