8 Times Inmates Made Daring Escapes From the Missouri State Pen

Some of Hollywood's best movies involve an escape from a prison. Did you know that 8 times inmates in real life have made daring escapes from the old Missouri State Penitentiary and got away with it? This is that interesting history that even movies can't equal.

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The old Missouri State Penitentiary had quite a twisted history from its beginnings in 1836 until it was closed in 2004. The official site tells the history of the times when these (some believe very haunted) walls couldn't contain the inmates incarcerated within. Here are the 8 times daring escapes were made.

The Missouri State Penitentiary site says that escapes were common when the prison was just built. One got away and stole a resident's horse. They say almost every citizen was packing heat to protect themselves the problem was so bad. That's when a secret underground tunnel was discovered under the prison which inmates had been using to getaway Shawshank Redemption style.

One of the more interesting and controversial escapes from the Missouri State Pen happened in 1870 when several escaped aboard Union Pacific freight trains. Guards accused train operators of encouraging the escapees by "throwing apples at them". Not making that up.

As the story goes, inmates being brought to the Missouri state prison by train would complain their ankle braces were hurting them and request they be allowed to soak them in water. With the ankle restraints off, they would wait until the train was at half speed and jump off. They disappeared into the forest never to be seen again.

In November of 1905, a group of inmates concocted a wild plot to escape the prison involving blowing open the front gate with nitroglycerin. It worked to a degree, but in the ensuing shootout, a guard was killed. A young boy proved the hero by grabbing the harness of the fleeing inmates enabling their recapture. The Missouri Supreme Court sentenced the group to death for the escape and killings.

One of the boldest escapes from the Missouri State Penitentiary happened in 1916 when an inmate used a ladder to scale a guard tower and then plummeted over the steep wall without being injured. He was never captured while media nicknamed him the "Human Fly" for his nimbleness.

You will not find a more Shawshank Redemption type of escape than one in 1924 when an inmate escaped the Missouri State Pen through a sewer pipe. Just like Andy in the movie, he emerged with crud all over him and would have gotten away with it if he hadn't tried to rob a drugstore in Colorado later at which point he was brought back to Missouri and reincarcerated.

Two inmates in 1926 also used ladders to ascend the Missouri State Penitentiary walls with the plan being to escape via the nearby Missouri River. What they did not expect is once they grabbed onto ice blocks in the river, the current steered them back to the prison where they were recaptured. In addition, they both were in serious condition with frostbite now also.

By far the most famous escape from the Missouri State Penitentiary and one of the most tragic was the 1967 escape of James Earl Ray via a bread truck. One year later, he would take the life of Martin Luther King Jr.