Evening star., 1934-07-29
GUARDS DISMISSED
IN ESCAPE OF FIVE
Indiana Prison Warden Is
PuzzIed-AN Long, Term
Prisoners.
~ the Associated Press

~ the Associated Press.
MICHIGAN CITY. Ind. July "a
Another gang Of convict-despersdoea
by their records as gun HANDY as
any OF the group associated with the
late John DillinGer-escaped nys-
teriously from Indiana State Prison
here today.
-Four of the fve who gained their
liberty were bandits and one was a
burglar They started their break
from the prison hospital and worked
40 silently and efficiently that they
were dashing away tn a stolen auto
bile before their escape was known.
Three had previous escape records.
The night captain Of the guards,
w. C. GriSwold, and w. r. Netzel, an
other guard. we're discharged several
hours later by Warden Louis Kunkel
on charges OF gross negligence. Har-
~ Parker, another guard, was ss-
pended for 10 days. Each man was
on the night shift.
Dummies in Bed Denied.
How the men got on the administra-
ton building roof and then climbed
over the high light-fooded wall, pa
tTolled by armed guards, puzzled War
den Kunkel.
First reports we're that the convicts
had made dummies" OF pillows and
stuffed them In their beds so as not
TO arouse the suspicious of the guards.
Prison officials later denied this.
The break was quite In contrast to
that Of last September. when Harry
Pierpont and Charles Makley, now
awaiting death In Ohio State Prison
for murder. and eight others stormed
the front doors OF the institution here
and shot their way to freedom.
Maurice OFlaherty, IS, who has
served several prison terms in Indiana
and Ohio and who was held in St.
Louis in 1925 on suspicion of having
murdered a policeman, is believed to
have led the escape. He was serving
20 years for bank bandity. Police
described him as "a vicious man with
gun"
Others Have Records.
Others who escaped are William
@. Jay, As. serving 20 years for rob-
berry; John Burnett, 81, serving 10
years for burglary: Kenneth Rogers,
~. and Louis Crail. 10, serving 10 and
Is years, respectively, for robbery.
Jay has served terms in jefferson
City, Mo. State Prison and at Joliet,
Ill. Burnett Is wanted In Colorado
as an escaped convict. Grail served
q previous reformatory sentence for
assault and battery with intent to
rob.
OF1aherty's record shows that he
was dismissed after being held in
prison for nine months in st. Louis
after policeman John Corgan was
murdered. His record shows that he
turned States evidence.
Investigation at the prison showed
that the lsck on door leading TO
the new hospital wing had been tam
pered with in such manner that by
q certain movement it could be un-
locked. 1t was through hat door that
the prisoners must have escaped, the
prison authorities deduced, and then
climbed onto the roof either of the
hospital unit or the nearby admins
tration building.
No Ropes Found.
No rope or any other equipment
which might have permitted them to
climb over the wall and to freedom
has been found. The guards patroll-
ing the wall said they saw no one
and heard nothing.
The convicts are believed to have
stolen an automobile owned by Arthur
Weyler, living near the prison, to
continue their fight. He reported
his car stolen this morning.
1t took subtlety on the part of
OFlaherty to be into the hospital
ward from where the escape began.
he was admitted to the hospital last
wednesday on complaint of stomach
pains and discharged early yesterday
evening. When he spat blood in his
cell he was taken back to the hos
pital. Prison attaches now believe
he cut himself to produce the blood.
Rogers was hospitalized when he
complained OF illness Thursday after
noon, apparently caused by working
In the heat. Burnett was admitted
early last night when he complained
Of being sick.
The other two. men-Jay and Grail
were TRUSTEES in the hospital ward.
There have been frequent escapes
from the prison in the last year, some
Of them coming before the big break
of last September which issgenerally
believed to have been engineered by
John Dillinger, and others have oc-
Cured since that time In most cases.
however, the escapes were by walk
away-trusties or prisoners working
u