Seven prisoners escaped from a maximum security prison in the US on December 13, 2000, triggering a nationwide manhunt.
Joseph Garcia, Randy Halprin, Larry James Harper, Patrick Murphy Jr and Donald Newbury, George Rivas, and Michael Anthony Rodriguez left behind a note that read: “You haven’t heard the last of us yet.”
Joseph Garcia, Randy Halprin, Larry James Harper, Patrick Murphy Jr and Donald Newbury, George Rivas, and Michael Anthony Rodriguez broke out of prison on December 13, 2000. (Texas Department of Corrections)
They then switched into another getaway vehicle that had been provided by the father of one of the escapees.
All seven were serving hefty jail sentences for serious crimes like murder, sexual assault and child abuse.
The group then launched a crime spree that resulted in the death of a police officer.
The day after their escape they robbed an electronics store.
And on Christmas Eve that year they stole large amounts of cash and guns from a sporting goods store.
In their getaway they shot and ran over police officer Aubrey Hawkins, killing him.
They then spent the next month hiding out at a trailer park in Colorado, telling people they were a group of Christian missionaries.
But the Texas Seven were brought undone by an episode of America’s Most Wanted.
Someone recognised the group from the show and tipped off the police.
Four of the seven were arrested on January 22, 2001, and a fifth committed suicide.
Two others were arrested two days later after a standoff at a Colorado hotel.
The surviving six were put on trial for the murder of Aubrey Hawkins and all were sentenced to death.
The prisoners broke out of the John B Connally Unit, a maximum security prison in Texas. (Texas Department of Corrections)
Four have since been executed between 2008 and 2018.
The executions of the last two have been delayed. The first is because of a religious discrimination lawsuit after he was denied a Buddhist chaplain.
The final man has been granted a retrial after it was revealed the judge had levelled a series of anti-semitic slurs about him.
He will face retrial in 2027.