Convicted Killer Cons His Way Out of Jail

HOUSTON (Nov. 4) - A Texas death row inmate somehow found some civilian clothing, changed out of his orange jumpsuit and used a fake ID badge to escape late Thursday from the Harris County Jail.

Charles Victor Thompson, 35, of Tomball, was in Houston after being re-sentenced last week to execution.

"He managed to get some civilian clothing. He had changed out of the orange jumpsuit that inmates ordinarily wear," Harris County sheriff's Lt. John Martin said in the online edition of the Houston Chronicle. "He may have been taken out of the cell block and put in the attorney booth in the guise of having an attorney visit."

Thompson also had an ID card suggesting he worked for the Texas Attorney General's office.

"It was convincing enough that the deputy let him out of the facility," Martin said.

"It definitely suggests that this was preplanned and strongly suggests he had help in making his escape," said Martin.

Thompson had been expected to be returned to the Texas prison system within 45 days, according to Department of Criminal Justice spokeswoman Michelle Lyons.

Thompson was condemned for the 1998 shooting deaths of his ex-girlfriend, Dennise Hayslip, 39, of Tomball, and her new boyfriend, Darren Keith Cain, 30, of Spring.

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals later upheld his 1999 conviction, but had ordered a new sentencing hearing.

I'd be interested in knowing just how many death row inmates were being held in this jail. Frankly, I can't see his being held there permenantly, or is it standard procedure to house death row inmates for extended periods in Texas jails? I'm thinking he was transferred there while his resentencing took place and was probably in the process of being sent to a prison that had a death row unit. If there were only a few death row inmates at this facility, photographs of these guys should have been kept at the gate areas leading outside the jail.

I'd also like to know the circumstances of his being sent to the visiting area for an attorney visit. Did someone call the death row unit and advise them that his attorney had arrived for a visit? Did an employee make a phone call, identifying themselves as a visiting room officer and claiming the inmate's lawyer was there for a visit? Or perhaps another inmate gained access to a phone and called pretending to be a visiting room officer and set it all up. If the inmate told his unit officer that he had a visit, and the officer(s) let him go without verifying it with the area where attorney/client visits took place...shame on him or them. And wasn't this inmate pat frisked on the way into the attorney/client room? If he wasn't...tsk, tsk, tsk! Had someone done a thorough job of frisking him, they should have found the ID card and the clothing underneath the jumpsuit. Either this guy had help from the inside, or there are some pretty stupid jail officers at that place. I can say that from experience, having worked in NY's state prison system for over 23 years. Something's definitely wrong here.

If this guy just up and walked out of Harris County Jail He's gone. He had help from at least 2 people on the inside.
Either a white shirt wannabe or a cop was in on it. A lot of planing went on so he had to be in contact with someone on the outside. Houston is a good town to hide in if you have dark hair and can look Hispanic. Plenty of places to hide where people mind there own business and keep a low profile to avoid the attention from the fuzz.

I bet the guy was south of the boarder before this ever hit the news. Or He's up north of Tomball around Magnolia hiding out in the woods.

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