2. Randy Greenawalt
In 1974, Randy Greenawalt was sentenced to life for murdering a truck driver. As the trucker slept in his cab, Greenawalt drew an “X” on the window of the vehicle and fired a bullet through it. He also admitted to killing two other men, another trucker in Arkansas, and a man in Colorado. He was sent to the Arizona State Prison.
While doing his time, he met Gary Tison, who was also serving a life sentence. While trying to escape, Tison had killed a corrections officer who was transporting him to a Florida prison.
In late July 1978, Tison and Greenawalt were being held in the minimum-security area of the prison. On July 30, under the pretense of a visit, three of Tison’s sons sneaked shotguns and handguns into the prison in a cooler. After locking the guards in a closet, Tison and Greenawalt dressed in civilian clothes, calmly walked to their car, and drove away.
Their escape wasn’t without its hitches, though. At one point, they got two flat tires, so they flagged down a passing car. Inside the car was 24-year-old John Lyons, his 23-year-old wife Donnelda, their two-year-old son Christopher, and the couple’s 15-year-old niece Teresa Tyson. The five criminals forced their innocent victims into the car with the flat tires and drove them to the desert. There, Tison and Greenawalt opened fire with the shotguns. The bodies of John, Donnelda, and Christopher were found on August 6. Five days later, Teresa’s body was found a short distance away.
Later, while they were stuck in traffic in Colorado, Greenawalt and the four Tisons saw a van that suited them better. They forced their way into the van and killed the newly married couple inside. The bodies of 26-year-old James Judge and 23-year-old Margene Judge were found partially buried a few months later.
On August 11, the gang was stopped by a police roadblock. Tison’s oldest son, who was driving the van, was shot in the head when he tried to ram a second barricade. Tison, his remaining two sons, and Greenawalt ran into the desert. Everyone but Tison was arrested. Tison died of dehydration in the desert.
Greenawalt and the two surviving Tisons were sentenced to death. The Tisons had their sentences commuted to life, but Greenawalt was executedon January 23, 1997, for the six murders he helped to commit during the gang’s 12 days on the lam.
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