Using forged documents to escape prison, two convicted murderers were back in custody Saturday night, and state law-enforcement officials are searching for ways to prevent it from happening again.
In a press conference after the capture of Charles Walker and Joseph Jenkins, Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner Gerald Bailey confessed there are no guarantees that the two were the only ones to utilize a paperwork “gap” to scam their way out of prison, reports the News Service of Florida.
“I can’t tell you with 100 percent degree of certainty that it hasn’t been done before; that will be part of the review,” Bailey told reporters Sunday.
Corrections Secretary Michael Crews also said that they have been studying release procedures, and want to meet with Florida Association of Court Clerks & Comptrollers on Monday to modify the release process.
“It is embarrassing,” Crews said, “but my concentration at this point … is making sure that we come up with a process and procedure that prohibits this from happening in the future.”
Rep. Darryl Rouson, who sits on the House Justice Appropriations Subcommittee, has joined other legislators calling for hearings how two 34-year-olds faked documents to secure release from the Franklin Correctional Institution. Both Walker and Jenkins were from Orange County, serving life sentences, Walker for second-degree, and Jenkins for first-degree murder.
“This is unconscionable, almost unthinkable,” the St. Petersburg Democrat said in a press release. “People have faith in government that it will keep the peace and justice. If these two convicted murderers were let go by the Florida Department of Corrections, something must change.”
According to the News Service, FDLE does know of at least two other times forged documents helped win releases for inmates, but those attempts were unsuccessful.
In this case, Bailey expects more arrests in the plot where the convicts spent about $8,000 to acquire “official looking” documents.
“They had to have had help, and a lot of help, to get to where they were last night,” Bailey told reporters.
