Stolen car used by escapees found

Convicted murderer James Robert Thomas and kidnapper Willie Lee Hoffman escaped from the maximum security penitentiary Monday.

They pulled toilets from their cell walls, went through a hidden maintenance area, into an air vent, onto the roof and then to the ground. They scaled two razor wire-topped fences. A third inmate also escaped but was captured after getting tangled in the razor wire.

Department of Corrections spokesman Jerry Massie said authorities on Wednesday found the 1995 white Oldsmobile Ciera the two men were driving.

Prison spokeswoman Lee Mann said investigators were en route to the scene to look for any evidence that might indicate the escaped convicts were nearby. If so, a search would be launched.

Thomas, 25, and Hoffman, 21, were last seen 9 a.m. Monday driving the car. They are accused of stealing it from a woman at an aerobics class in McAlester.

The two men escaped from Oklahoma State Penitentiary's "high max" unit.

"This unit was built in 1991 and it remains state-of-the-art in its design and security," prison spokeswoman Lee Mann said Wednesday, But the escape showed chinks in the armor of the heavily guarded prison, home to the state's most dangerous criminals and its death chamber.

Mann said metal plates would be installed behind the toilets in the three damaged cells, and may be installed in all cells in the unit.

She said an inspection of the other cells and their contents turned up no illicit tools or indication of tampering with the toilets.

Besides the cell inspection, Mann said correctional officers were more closely observing inmates and their activities.

"We are always certainly more vigilant when something like this occurs," Mann said. "It brings it all to us -- the reality that such things occur. And all security measures that are in place are being looked at."

Initial proposals include another razor wire barrier inside the first fence and cameras in the maintenance work space.

One thing that won't change is the presence of the work space, behnd the toilets.

She said such areas are standard in many modern prisons, and allow crews to fix plumbing and electrical problems without entering an inmate's cell.

"It's a security factor," Mann said. "The way the old prisons were constructed, you had to remove an inmate from a cell and secure them somewhere before even minor repairs. Or else you had to go in there with them. At any rate you're at risk."

Thomas was serving a life-without-parole sentence for murdering 81-year-old Jessie Roberts in 1993, as well as a 400 years for raping her. Hoffman was serving 20 years for kidnapping and other crimes in Oklahoma and Payne counties.