July 10, 2025

The Posse

The Posse
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In this episode of “Bloody Angola Podcast” Jim Chapman explores Wilford Lindsly’s 1936 escape from Louisiana State Penitentiary, detailing his violent past, the chaotic manhunt, and its tragic consequences, highlighting the history of Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola.

Chapters
01:38 Round up the Posse
12:25 A Arrest in Texas
13:19 The Hunt for Wilford Lindsly
16:01 Tragic Mistakes in the Manhunt
17:03 The Motives Behind the Killings
21:55 The Final Stand of Wilford Lindsly
31:02 The Aftermath of a Bloody Escape

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WEBVTT

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H a wall street line, shackle change, Oh weesome, girdy,

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it's calling my name. There is no mercy and it's

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been a tentery juice as the huge stream game, a

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wrangle of three.

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Come here by me or die inside these walls, inside

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the wild and when no girl as I'm.

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Hey, everyone, Welcome back to Bloody Angola, a podcast one

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hundred and forty two years in the making, the complete

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story of America's bloodiest prison. I'm Jim Chapman, and You've

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heard a lot of stories of the history of Louisiana

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State Penitentiary on this show, but the one I'm about

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to tell you today, I really came across on accident.

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I was doing some research on historic escapes and I

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came across one in particular in this may be one

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of the wildest escapes, definitely one of the most tragic

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in Louisiana State Penitentiary history that did not have to

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do with Charlotte Fraser. And so today I'm going to

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tell you about an inmate by the name of Wilford Lensley.

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And I'm gonna start off by telling you what landed

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Wilford into Bloody Angola, and then what led up to

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what you're going to hear about within the meat of

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this story. So we're going to go back to nineteen

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thirty two, July eleventh, actually, and I'm going to reference

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an article from Shreveport, Louisiana. It's The Times newspaper from

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that day and it reads headline, jealous man slay's rival

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in gunfighting. Y'all know how these old articles read. You

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just can't beat them. Baton Reage, Louisiana, July eleventh. A

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charge of murder was filed late today against Wilford Lensley,

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a twenty four year old grocery clerk, in connection with

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the fatal shooting of Stanley Couvion, who was twenty one

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late Sunday night, in an altercation said to have grown

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out of jealousy. Get this over. A sixteen year old girl,

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Gilmour Couvion, cousin of the slain youth, was wounded in

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the shooting fray, but is reported recovering in the hospital.

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The charge against Lensley, who disappeared after the shooting, following

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questions of witnesses by District Attorney John fred Odom, his

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assistant Fred S. LeBlanc, and police help of authorities over

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a widespread area. Was enlisted in an attempt to locate Lensley,

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described as a disappointed suitor who shot Stanley Cuvion in

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the heart when he found him in an automobile with

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Miss Alvida Piazza in a business district filling station, and

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then wounded Gilmour Cuvion station employee and the cousin of

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the girl's escort in the thigh. So they eventually catch

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Lindsey and he goes to trial, and he ends up

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taking a plea in which he pleads guilty. He gets

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a life sentence inside of bloody Angola in what newspapers

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were terming as a jealousy slang. Now at this time,

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it was February first of nineteen thirty three when he

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got that sentence handed down of life, and it's off

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to Angola for this young man. And apparently he didn't

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like prison too much. And it wasn't much longer after

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that when in late May of nineteen thirty six, absolute

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tragedy happens. And I'm going to reference another article. This

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is from the Saint Francisville Democrat. It was published on

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May thirtieth of nineteen thirty six. And it's important to

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note that a lot of these papers, they weren't daily papers,

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they were weekly papers or every three days or whatever.

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So this isn't necessarily the date when this went down,

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but it was a date when it was printed in

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that particular paper. And at this point in time, Lendsey

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had been in prison for roughly four years. So it

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reads like this bloody tragedy on Angola. Captain and Miss

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Nelson Himel were killed by a trustee prisoner at their

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home Camp g in Gola State Farm late Wednesday afternoon.

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As of this writing, Wilford Lensley, twenty five years old,

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white convict is being sought as the slayer. There were

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no Whie witnesses to the tragedy, but it is thought

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from the circumstantial evidence that Miss Himel was stabbed to

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death and that Captain Himel was shot to death perhaps

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an hour or two later Miss Himel was killed. The

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double crime was not discovered until two shots were heard,

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these being responsible for the death of Captain Heimel, and

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y'all had spelled Himel, but it could be Email, which

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is a Cajun last name here, but that's tally spelled

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h y Nel, so we're gonna go with Himel fell

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aside Guidry. Trusty Cook at the Himl residence heard the

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shooting and came out to investigate. As he did so,

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Alfred held a gun on him and forced him to

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go with him to the camp. The two got into

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Captain Himmel's automobile and drove seven miles across the huge

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penitentiary form, going out the back gate, which leads into

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Wilkeson County, Mississippi. The automobile became bogged a mud and

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was abandoned. The convicts became separated, and Guidry made his

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way back to the camp and furnished the only clue

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to the trail of the fugitive. Sheriff Wilcox was at

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Baton Rouge when news of the tragedy reached town, but

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he had left immediately for Angola. In the meantime, Deputy

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Sheriff ce Daniels summoned a posse and went and y'all that, yes,

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this is that time frame in the thirties. They got

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a posse together becuz they went to Angola to lead

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assistance in the manhunt. Penitentiary officials were already on the

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trail and were soon reinforced by twelve members of the

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State Bureau of Criminal Identification. The trail is being followed

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closely and it seems that it can only be a

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matter of hours until the fugitive is either captured or killed.

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Parish Corner was on the scene early and immediately held

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an inquest. This revealed that Captain Himel had been shot twice,

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once in the head and once in the body, and

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that Miss Himel had been killed by stabbing. It was

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the belief that Miss Himmel was first stabbed and that

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Captain Himel was then shot. Miss Himel's body was found

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in the bathtub in the bathroom where the doors had

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been locked from the outside. Captain Himel was shot with

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his own rifle. Alfred Lindsay is about twenty five years

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old and was sent up from East Baton Rouge Parish

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for murder about four years ago, receiving a life sentence.

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This is the first trouble of this nature to occur

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on Angola in several months, and I guess that's a

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flex form and it does not seem to have been

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a part of an attempted escape, which is at the

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bottom of most trouble of this nature. On the prison form.

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Several men have been killed on Angola in recent years

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when they tried to prevent escapes. However, Miss Himmel was

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the first woman to be killed on Angola in about

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twenty years. Miss Elkert, who was wife of the prison physician,

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was killed by a trustee house servant about twenty years ago,

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and that's interesting. I may do a story on that.

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At some point, Captain and Miss Himmel were held in

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the highest esteem by people of West Feliciana Parish and

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the personnel at Angola. Captain Himel had been long in

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the penitentiary service, first being attached to Hope Form near Generat.

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When this plantation was abandoned, he was transferred to Angola.

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He was out of the service for a while under

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the Long administration, and they're talking about Huey Long. But

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it was found his service was invaluable and he was reinstated,

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being assigned to one of the hard prisons on the farm.

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Captain and Miss Himel rendered faithful and efficient service to

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the state and at the same time preserved independence of

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thought and action. William Wade's seventeen year old son of

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Miss E B. Wade, was shot and instantly killed by

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trustee guards. Thursday afternoon, Miss Wade sent her son to

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get something at a nearby store, telling him to hurry,

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and he ran. It is sad that the guards called

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upon him to halt. When he failed to do so,

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they shot him down. An accidental discharge of a gun

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by a member of the posse caused the wounding of

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two men. Just how seriously we have been unable to

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learn A veteran dog sergeant of the penitentiary and a

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foreman at Camp A were also shot. Friday morning, as

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the Democrat goes to Price, the hunt for the fugitive

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is still on the parishes being searched thoroughly. There are

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officers from different sections of the state, and many volunteers

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have joined in the hunt. So at this point in

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time been shot and killed because look, everybody's on fire.

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This guy has escaped prison. And how about what I

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just told you, seventeen year old kid walking across the field.

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He starts running because his mom said hurry up, and

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they shoot him, I guess, assuming he is the escaped convict.

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And other shootings related to that guy's escape. So he's

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calls quite the bullshit and blooding and Gola at this point.

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So they're on the case. And another article comes out

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and it says huge posse pushes hunt for fugitive. More

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than one hundred men and fifteen bloodhounds tracking in Gola

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escape And I'm referencing this from the Times in Shreveport

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as well. More than one hundred armed men of foot

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and on horseback and fifteen bloodhounds with attendants today search

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for the underbrush of a densely wooded strip south of

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the state prison for Wilford Lensley, twenty three years old.

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And if you notice every article, he's a different age.

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Back in those days, people have really no freaking clue

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how old you were. You just told them and they

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went by that. Nobody kept a good record of it.

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But I'll continue on twenty three year old escape lifer

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whose career has resulted in the slaying now of four

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persons and the wounding of three others. The dead Stanley

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Couvian killed in Baton Rouge by Lensley during a quarrel

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over a girl. That case which sent Lindsey to the

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state prison for life. Then it goes on Captain Nelson

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Himel and his wife of the penitentiary staff slaying in

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their home on the prison grounds Wednesday by Lensley before

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his escape for freedom. William Wade, a seventeen year old

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death farm youth, shot and killed by mistake yesterday by

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two prison guards, Jay Coover and Willie Green, who mistook

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him for the fugitive convict in the hunt. Those injured

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gs Cuvian, who is the cousin of Stanley Couvian who

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was shot. And it cuts off right there, unfortunately, but

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that gives you an idea of all these guys and

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one gal already in the bloodshed involved by the escape

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of this guy. I'm going to read you another article

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that came out, and this tells you how crazy the

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news was back in these days. Suspect is held as

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Louisiana fugitive. The State Guara of Identification said that a

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man is held in Texas, Canada, Texas, but was not

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Wilford Lensley. The bureau said the prisoner's height was given

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as six feet two while Lensley was only five foot

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six inches. I would say that's a big difference there.

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Jim, did you see what happened in Texas today?

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Wait before you tell me that, let me tell you

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what happened in New York.

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It cannot be as crazy as the case I told

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you about yesterday in Louisiana.

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You know what, we should do a podcast about it.

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And with that we did. Crime War Weekly covers the

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crime news headlines that have dominated the week.

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We cover trending crimes from over the country and even

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sprinkle in a few globally.

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Crime War Weekly is available now wherever you listen to

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your podcasts.

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Simply by searching Crime Wire Weekly or clicking the link

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in the description of this podcast. A man police believed

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might possibly be Wilford Lensley, who escaped Wednesday from the

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Angola prison farm after killing a prison captain and his wife,

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was arrested and they're referencing just prior to finding out

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he wasn't the right guy in this particular section. Officers

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said he was otherwise uncommunicative. He was arrested while prowling

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through a residential section of the city and was taken

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a headquarters while officers communicated with the Baton Ridge and

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Angola authorities. The arrest was made near the Northwest Louisiana line,

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while a South Louisiana posse continued a wide hunt for Lensley,

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twenty three, a lifetime who escaped from Angola Wednesday night

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after killing a captain and his wife. Peace officers led

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by bloodhounds were closing in on a wooden area about

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twelve miles east of here where this paper was printed today,

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in the belief that Wilford Linsley, twenty three year old

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convict who escaped the prison farm Wednesday night after killing

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two was hiding in a heavy underbrush in the vicinity.

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The hunt centered on a district approximately three square miles

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in the vicinity of a store in Saint Francisville. All

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but about sixty men in the huge posse that sought

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the fugitive yesterday were called back to the prison headquarters

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last night. The morning, fourteen fresh bloodhounds, followed by guards

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on horseback and a foot took up the trail again.

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During the night, the guard searched trains passing through the

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area and continued to stop automobiles on the highway. Then,

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physicians reported that the condition of a guard who was

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critically shot. Tom Flew was accidentally shot during the hunt

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yesterday and he was critical but showed a slight improvement

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during the night. Charles McCrory another guard wounded when one

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of the man hunt party fired into the underbrush at

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what he thought was an escape. Desperado was reportedly to

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be resting comfortably. I mean, they're shooting at everybody. This

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is wild And why is this Because a lot of

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these possing members back in those days, they weren't police officers.

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They had no training. They hunted, probably, but they had

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no training in anything. They were just out there and

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in something moved, they were shooting and killing it. A

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third unfortunate victim of the hunt, Willie Wade, seventeen, who

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was shot and killed by Jack Hoover and Willie Green,

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convict trustee guards at the penitentiary when he refused to

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hault at their command. He will be buried this afternoon.

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Prison officials reported that Hoover and Green had been brought

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back to the penitentiary and removed from duty. I would

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imagine so, but the opinion prevailed that the shooting was

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definitely an accident. Wild shit, right there, These guys shot

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00:16:05.080 --> 00:16:09.080
and killed as innocent seventeen year old kid, and they're saying, eh,

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00:16:09.120 --> 00:16:12.639
it was an accident. They shouldn't be punished for that.

247
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A coroner's jerry reported He died from gunshot ones inflicted

248
00:16:17.320 --> 00:16:21.279
by Jack Hoover and Willie Green, convict trustee guards. And

249
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that's the other aspect of this. These weren't correctional officers

250
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like you have today. These were convict guards. And I've

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00:16:29.039 --> 00:16:31.320
told you about this before when Wood he was hosting

252
00:16:31.360 --> 00:16:33.639
the show, he told you about it as well. These

253
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were convict trustee guards. Could you imagine these days giving

254
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a convict a shotgun and saying, here, you're in charge

255
00:16:43.399 --> 00:16:45.840
of all the other convicts, make sure that they don't escape.

256
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Just wild stuff back in the really bloody years of

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Bloody and Gola. But I'll continue on it, says his

258
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weeping mother said she did not blame those poor convict

259
00:16:56.360 --> 00:16:59.759
boys because they were doing what they thought was right

260
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of Officials said. The only motive they could discover which

261
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led Lensley to kill the captain and Miss Himmel, for

262
00:17:05.920 --> 00:17:08.920
whom he served as a yard boy, was because of

263
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his desire to escape, They said. Miss Himel had not

264
00:17:12.559 --> 00:17:15.880
been assaulted. Lensley was serving a life sentence for the

265
00:17:15.960 --> 00:17:19.839
killing and baton rouge of Stanley Couvion in an argument

266
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over a date with a young girl. Yeah, sixteen year

267
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old girl. Mind you, he was twenty plus at the time.

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Two guards who killed the farm boy. They testified at

269
00:17:29.160 --> 00:17:33.200
the corner's inquest into his death. Green, a Negro guard,

270
00:17:33.279 --> 00:17:35.680
said he was on a cliff back of a brush

271
00:17:35.759 --> 00:17:38.680
pile when he saw the youth wearing clothing like that

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00:17:38.839 --> 00:17:41.640
of the fleeing convict, coming down the road. Quote. I

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couldn't tell if he was the man we were hunting,

274
00:17:44.480 --> 00:17:48.319
and a hollered halt to him, Green testified. Quote, he

275
00:17:48.400 --> 00:17:51.559
started to run and reached to his back pocket and

276
00:17:51.680 --> 00:17:54.920
as he did, eye shot him. So there you have

277
00:17:55.599 --> 00:17:58.519
that man. You cannot make this up. And this is

278
00:17:58.920 --> 00:18:03.039
this is the true history of not only Angola prison,

279
00:18:03.119 --> 00:18:07.359
but this occurred pretty much nationwide at other prisons as well.

280
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And speaking of trustee guards at Angola, there was actually

281
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somehow I came across this article from July one of

282
00:18:16.480 --> 00:18:21.160
nineteen thirty six where they interviewed a trustee guard and

283
00:18:21.240 --> 00:18:23.240
he seemed to have wrote his own It was almost

284
00:18:23.279 --> 00:18:26.319
like an opinion article in this paper. This was the

285
00:18:26.359 --> 00:18:29.160
Times Shreport, and I'm gonna read it to you. It says,

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00:18:29.680 --> 00:18:33.400
in Gola, Louisiana, when the free guards put me out

287
00:18:33.440 --> 00:18:35.680
of the truck, and he's writing this from his point

288
00:18:35.720 --> 00:18:39.039
of view at Post number two on the Saint Francisville

289
00:18:39.119 --> 00:18:42.440
Angola Highway. Wednesday night, I took up my station in

290
00:18:42.480 --> 00:18:45.160
the woods a short distance from the highway. And again

291
00:18:45.799 --> 00:18:50.400
this is a trustee lifer at Angola. They give him

292
00:18:50.440 --> 00:18:52.599
a shotgun. They say, help us hunt this guy that

293
00:18:52.759 --> 00:18:56.880
escaped prison, and they drop him off right outside the

294
00:18:56.920 --> 00:19:01.480
gates looking for this cat right to my mind. So

295
00:19:01.559 --> 00:19:03.920
he goes on. He says, no. Sooner had I posted

296
00:19:04.000 --> 00:19:07.920
myself than Lensley jumped me. He got the drop on

297
00:19:08.000 --> 00:19:10.400
me and he made me drop my gun. He ordered

298
00:19:10.400 --> 00:19:13.839
me to step out and keep my mouth shut. Lensley

299
00:19:13.920 --> 00:19:16.480
picked up my gun and we crossed the highway to

300
00:19:16.559 --> 00:19:19.640
the south side, where he made me exchange clothes with him.

301
00:19:20.119 --> 00:19:23.319
He then unloaded my gun and took the other ammunition

302
00:19:23.440 --> 00:19:26.319
I had and gave the gun back to me. We

303
00:19:26.359 --> 00:19:28.519
spent the rest of the night in the woods, never

304
00:19:28.599 --> 00:19:31.640
getting very far from the highway. I caught a nap

305
00:19:31.759 --> 00:19:34.559
during the middle of the night, but Lensley never closed

306
00:19:34.559 --> 00:19:38.160
his eyes. Thursday, we stayed in the woods, camping in

307
00:19:38.160 --> 00:19:42.640
the hills, but always keeping close to the underbrush. Lensley

308
00:19:42.720 --> 00:19:44.880
told me that he planned to capture a car on

309
00:19:44.920 --> 00:19:48.000
the highway and break through the guard lines. He said

310
00:19:48.000 --> 00:19:50.839
he would let me go when we got through the lines.

311
00:19:50.960 --> 00:19:53.720
All Thursday night and Friday we stayed along the Bayou,

312
00:19:53.960 --> 00:19:57.480
occasionally working toward the highway to watch for cars, but

313
00:19:57.640 --> 00:20:02.759
opportunity never presented itself for to take one. Yesterday afternoon,

314
00:20:02.920 --> 00:20:06.359
Lensley spotted the oil derreck where a car was parked.

315
00:20:06.400 --> 00:20:08.400
He told me he was going to get that car.

316
00:20:08.640 --> 00:20:12.079
We watched the dereck all that afternoon and head within

317
00:20:12.200 --> 00:20:15.440
five hundred feet of it. Saturday night, just after daylight,

318
00:20:15.559 --> 00:20:18.079
we moved up to the derek and Lensley told me

319
00:20:18.119 --> 00:20:19.880
to get out of the opening and see if there

320
00:20:19.880 --> 00:20:22.880
were any guards there. As I stepped into the opening,

321
00:20:22.960 --> 00:20:26.119
I saw Drew Fields, a convict guard. He recognized me

322
00:20:26.279 --> 00:20:28.960
and didn't shoot. He told me to drop my gun

323
00:20:29.000 --> 00:20:30.960
and asked me what I was doing there. I told

324
00:20:31.039 --> 00:20:34.319
him I had been kidnapped by Lensley. Fields then came

325
00:20:34.359 --> 00:20:37.400
to the door of the toolhouse after laying his gun

326
00:20:37.519 --> 00:20:40.720
down inside, and I motioned him that Lensley was in

327
00:20:40.759 --> 00:20:44.200
the brush behind me. As Phil stepped back for his gun,

328
00:20:44.359 --> 00:20:47.319
Lensley raised up in fired. The bullet went through the

329
00:20:47.359 --> 00:20:51.839
galvanized iron wall of the toolhouse, striking an oil watchman inside.

330
00:20:52.160 --> 00:20:56.000
After that time, Fields yelled that the toolhouse is bulletproof,

331
00:20:56.440 --> 00:20:58.480
and I knew he was trying to keep Lensley from

332
00:20:58.519 --> 00:21:03.119
shooting anymore. When Lensley fired, I jumped behind an automobile

333
00:21:03.200 --> 00:21:07.000
out of range of Lensley's gun. Lensley eased back into

334
00:21:07.079 --> 00:21:09.839
the woods and made for the ravine. I ran to

335
00:21:09.920 --> 00:21:12.759
a nearby negro's house, and I got an old negro

336
00:21:13.000 --> 00:21:15.279
to go out to the highway with me. I was

337
00:21:15.319 --> 00:21:17.960
afraid to go on the road by myself because I

338
00:21:18.079 --> 00:21:22.119
had on Lensley's clothes and was about his build and

339
00:21:22.160 --> 00:21:25.799
thought someone may shoot me. Huh, probably good guess. We

340
00:21:25.880 --> 00:21:28.759
flagged some highway cops. They took us to Percy's store,

341
00:21:28.799 --> 00:21:31.039
where we got some more men in the hounds, and

342
00:21:31.079 --> 00:21:34.119
went back to the toolhouse. A few minutes later, Lensley

343
00:21:34.440 --> 00:21:38.400
was dead. We ate blackberries and dewberries and drank from

344
00:21:38.440 --> 00:21:41.960
the bayou. Mosquitoes nearly ran us crazy and kept me

345
00:21:42.000 --> 00:21:45.359
from getting much sleep, and probably kept Lensley awake the

346
00:21:45.359 --> 00:21:48.200
whole time. It was an awful experience, and I guess

347
00:21:48.319 --> 00:21:53.200
I'm lucky to be here today. So I just told you.

348
00:21:53.359 --> 00:21:56.720
At this point Lensley was dead, right? How did he die?

349
00:21:56.799 --> 00:22:00.599
What happened in this article is dated June first, nineteen

350
00:22:00.720 --> 00:22:04.599
thirty six from The Times. In shreport, it says headline

351
00:22:04.720 --> 00:22:10.119
and Gola escapee kills himself, cheats posse as he chooses

352
00:22:10.480 --> 00:22:14.559
suicide death. Wilford Lensley's life comes to an end of

353
00:22:14.880 --> 00:22:19.279
bloody trail in desperate gun battle early Sunday morning. Had

354
00:22:19.319 --> 00:22:23.160
taken trustee guard as hostage. Twenty three year old triple

355
00:22:23.240 --> 00:22:26.680
slayer Wilford Lensley plunged a bullet through his own heart

356
00:22:26.720 --> 00:22:30.440
early today after a terrific gun battle. And that is

357
00:22:30.519 --> 00:22:33.759
exactly how they describe it. With possemen who had trapped

358
00:22:33.839 --> 00:22:37.039
him in a ravine twelve miles east of the Louisiana

359
00:22:37.039 --> 00:22:41.759
State Penitentiary. Forms As a dozen heavily armed possemen closed

360
00:22:41.759 --> 00:22:45.559
in with their guns blazing a steady fire, the one

361
00:22:45.599 --> 00:22:49.240
hundred and thirty five pound convict Desperado, he was a

362
00:22:49.240 --> 00:22:51.480
big boy, one hundred and thirty five pounds and five

363
00:22:51.519 --> 00:22:54.319
foot six right, took a final shot at an officer

364
00:22:54.359 --> 00:22:58.400
ten feet away and shouted, I'm shot. I'm dying. He

365
00:22:58.480 --> 00:23:02.400
pressed the muzzle of his revolver against his breast and

366
00:23:02.480 --> 00:23:06.279
pulled the trigger. When officers reached him, his shirt was afire.

367
00:23:06.680 --> 00:23:09.839
He died instantly, with his pistol griped tightly in his

368
00:23:09.960 --> 00:23:13.440
right hand in a high powered rifle, which jammed at

369
00:23:13.440 --> 00:23:16.599
his feet. A few minutes earlier, James Hamilton, a trustee

370
00:23:16.599 --> 00:23:20.000
guard who Lensley had abducted and kept with him since

371
00:23:20.039 --> 00:23:23.519
shortly after he fled from the prison Wednesday night, notified

372
00:23:23.559 --> 00:23:27.440
possemen of the murderer's whereabouts. Lensley died in a desperate

373
00:23:27.480 --> 00:23:30.799
attempt to make his way through the corridor of possemen

374
00:23:30.960 --> 00:23:34.799
thrown about the wooded area along Saint Francisville and Goal

375
00:23:34.880 --> 00:23:38.359
Highway after he was reportedly seen in the vicinity of

376
00:23:38.440 --> 00:23:42.640
a store Thursday morning. Hamilton escaped from Lensley as the

377
00:23:42.720 --> 00:23:46.640
latter engaged another trustee convict guard and an oil Well

378
00:23:46.759 --> 00:23:49.480
watchman in a guard fight in an effort to take

379
00:23:49.519 --> 00:23:54.000
the watchman's automobile. The watchman, Ja Walker, was shot through

380
00:23:54.000 --> 00:23:57.119
the leg and rushed to a Baton Ridge hospital. The

381
00:23:57.160 --> 00:24:00.279
wounding of Walker added to the list of casualty in

382
00:24:00.359 --> 00:24:04.880
the and again the verbiage of these exciting three day

383
00:24:04.960 --> 00:24:09.319
hunt for Lensley since Wednesday afternoon, when some unexplained motives

384
00:24:09.359 --> 00:24:12.640
prompted Lensley to stab Miss Himmel to death in the

385
00:24:12.680 --> 00:24:16.240
bathtub of her camp home, then send two bullets through

386
00:24:16.279 --> 00:24:19.519
her husband three hours later. A bloody trail has marked

387
00:24:19.519 --> 00:24:22.920
the search. Willie Wade, an eighteen year old farm boy

388
00:24:23.000 --> 00:24:26.480
so he was seventeen now he was eighteen, was killed

389
00:24:26.519 --> 00:24:30.960
Thursday when two trustee guards mistook him for Lensley. Tom J.

390
00:24:31.319 --> 00:24:35.039
Blew It a prison camp form and died from inflicted

391
00:24:35.039 --> 00:24:37.440
by a fellow guard while closing in on a wooded

392
00:24:37.519 --> 00:24:41.079
patch where Lensley was believed to be hiding. Another guard,

393
00:24:41.240 --> 00:24:44.640
Charlie McCrory, fell from the same burst of fire that

394
00:24:44.799 --> 00:24:48.759
killed blew It. But we'll recover. Walker will also recover.

395
00:24:48.920 --> 00:24:51.960
Hamilton was abducted by Lensley as he took up a

396
00:24:52.079 --> 00:24:55.720
guard post on the Percy Store area late Wednesday night.

397
00:24:56.160 --> 00:24:58.440
He said the killer jumped him as he entered the

398
00:24:58.480 --> 00:25:01.759
woods north of the Saint Wrensisville Highway, took his gun

399
00:25:01.759 --> 00:25:05.839
and AMMO, and forced him to exchange clothing. When Lensley

400
00:25:05.920 --> 00:25:08.359
fled the present. He was clad in a blue shirt

401
00:25:08.440 --> 00:25:12.119
and stripe it blue and white Trusty trousers. Hamilton was

402
00:25:12.200 --> 00:25:16.119
dressed in tan trousers and a shirt worn by Trustee guards.

403
00:25:16.160 --> 00:25:19.200
He said Lensley unloaded his shotgun and returned it to

404
00:25:19.319 --> 00:25:21.799
him and made him walk in the front at all times.

405
00:25:21.880 --> 00:25:24.079
They crossed to the south side of the highway to

406
00:25:24.160 --> 00:25:27.559
make their way up Little Bayou Sarah, keeping close to

407
00:25:27.680 --> 00:25:31.359
the dense underbrush in the daytime and frequently waiting in

408
00:25:31.400 --> 00:25:34.880
the shallow waters of the bayou to throw off bloodhounds.

409
00:25:34.960 --> 00:25:38.000
Hamilton said he was permitted to catch short naps during

410
00:25:38.039 --> 00:25:40.759
the night, but that Lensley didn't close his eyes. They

411
00:25:40.880 --> 00:25:45.079
ate blackberries and drank from the bayou occasionally. Hamilton said.

412
00:25:45.119 --> 00:25:47.519
They will work their way toward the highway in hopes

413
00:25:47.559 --> 00:25:51.799
of capturing an automobile, but the opportunity never presented itself.

414
00:25:52.279 --> 00:25:55.839
Before daylight today, Lensley told Hamilton he couldn't stand it

415
00:25:55.880 --> 00:25:58.480
any longer and was going to make a break through

416
00:25:58.519 --> 00:26:03.000
the lines. Yesterday afternoon, Hamilton said Lensley spotted an oil

417
00:26:03.079 --> 00:26:06.680
derek in a toolhouse where the watchman's car was parked.

418
00:26:06.960 --> 00:26:09.359
He said he was going to get the car. Quote.

419
00:26:09.400 --> 00:26:12.319
When we approached the oil Derek shortly after daybreak, and

420
00:26:12.400 --> 00:26:14.799
Lensley made me go out into the opening to see

421
00:26:14.839 --> 00:26:17.559
if there are any guards station there. I saw Drew Fields,

422
00:26:17.599 --> 00:26:19.880
and I read you all that part. Now it goes

423
00:26:19.920 --> 00:26:23.119
on to say when Lensley shot at Fields, I jumped

424
00:26:23.119 --> 00:26:25.960
from behind the car and Fields had hollered out of

425
00:26:25.960 --> 00:26:29.319
that toolhouse that it was bulletproof, and I guess Lensley

426
00:26:29.480 --> 00:26:32.839
believed him, and he eased up that by you as

427
00:26:32.839 --> 00:26:35.519
he did so, I slipped off toward a nearby negro

428
00:26:35.680 --> 00:26:38.359
house and got the negro to go to the highway

429
00:26:38.400 --> 00:26:41.480
with me. In this way, it's written. In those days, y'all,

430
00:26:41.640 --> 00:26:43.559
I was afraid to go to the road by myself

431
00:26:43.599 --> 00:26:46.400
because I was afraid i'd get shot. Hamilton bears a

432
00:26:46.440 --> 00:26:49.519
slight resemblance to Lensley. He's about the same height and

433
00:26:49.640 --> 00:26:53.240
slender build, and had on Lindsey's clothing. When they reached

434
00:26:53.240 --> 00:26:56.279
the highway, they flagged down three patrolmen and they took

435
00:26:56.319 --> 00:27:00.319
these guys to a store where Quote, we got more

436
00:27:00.359 --> 00:27:02.720
men in the hounds and went back to the toolhouse.

437
00:27:03.079 --> 00:27:06.319
The possemen were in charge of Sheriff elect Teddy Martin

438
00:27:06.400 --> 00:27:10.279
of West Feliciana Parrish. They immediately formed a circle around

439
00:27:10.279 --> 00:27:13.200
the area and closed in. Martin was on the opposite

440
00:27:13.200 --> 00:27:16.119
bank of a little Bayou Sarah, he said when he

441
00:27:16.160 --> 00:27:18.519
saw a group of guards on the other side, on

442
00:27:18.599 --> 00:27:21.880
the top of a bluff firing at Lensley. I waited

443
00:27:21.920 --> 00:27:24.960
across the creek, he said, firing as I went, and

444
00:27:25.039 --> 00:27:28.359
Lewis heard a state policeman also started shooting and came

445
00:27:28.400 --> 00:27:31.640
around by a piece of sand. I mean everybody start

446
00:27:31.720 --> 00:27:35.799
shooting and fired at Lensley also. We advanced step by step,

447
00:27:35.920 --> 00:27:38.680
and he shot at me a total of sixteen times.

448
00:27:39.119 --> 00:27:42.799
Finally he shouted, I'm shot. I'm lying, But we thought

449
00:27:42.799 --> 00:27:45.799
he was playing possums, so we approached him very carefully.

450
00:27:45.839 --> 00:27:47.839
When we got up to him, however, we saw that

451
00:27:47.880 --> 00:27:50.279
he was dead and that his shirt was on fire.

452
00:27:50.559 --> 00:27:53.279
Martin said that Lensley had been firing with a rifle

453
00:27:53.319 --> 00:27:55.680
that he took from Captain Hymel, but at the end

454
00:27:55.720 --> 00:27:58.160
he was using the captain's pistol, and that it was

455
00:27:58.200 --> 00:28:02.319
apparent that he shot himself with that pistol. Quote Lindsey

456
00:28:02.519 --> 00:28:05.680
fired point blank, it heard, and myself just before he

457
00:28:05.759 --> 00:28:09.480
turned the pistol on himself. I guess we were pretty lucky.

458
00:28:09.640 --> 00:28:13.000
During the exchange of fire, one of Lensley's shots knocked

459
00:28:13.039 --> 00:28:16.359
a gun from the hands of a prison dog sergeant.

460
00:28:16.440 --> 00:28:19.359
It was estimated the murderer fired a score of times,

461
00:28:19.400 --> 00:28:22.680
but none of his shots found their mark. Three unfired

462
00:28:22.720 --> 00:28:27.799
cartridges were found in Linsley's rifle, and six undischarged bullets

463
00:28:27.839 --> 00:28:31.480
were in the magazine of his revolver. The corner immediately

464
00:28:31.559 --> 00:28:34.880
summoned a jury and conducted an inquest, and the jury

465
00:28:35.000 --> 00:28:38.319
found quote weave. A jury impaneled and sworn to determine

466
00:28:38.319 --> 00:28:40.920
that the cause of death of Wilfrid Lensley find that

467
00:28:40.960 --> 00:28:44.079
he died of gunshot wounds, the bullet having entered the

468
00:28:44.079 --> 00:28:46.839
body two inches blow the collar bone, and passing through

469
00:28:46.880 --> 00:28:51.000
the left lung, making an exit in the left lower lumbar.

470
00:28:51.640 --> 00:28:55.839
We hereby agree that Lensley died of a self inflicted wound.

471
00:28:56.000 --> 00:28:59.400
Immediately after the inquest, Lensley's body was removed to a

472
00:28:59.400 --> 00:29:02.680
prison hiuse middle at Angola. An hour later, it was

473
00:29:02.720 --> 00:29:05.920
claimed by his father in taking the baton ridge for burial,

474
00:29:06.039 --> 00:29:08.480
Lensley's death brought to an end one of the most

475
00:29:08.480 --> 00:29:12.640
intensive hunts in the history of Louisiana Penitentiary. During the

476
00:29:12.799 --> 00:29:16.359
three days, nearly three hundred men engaged in the search.

477
00:29:16.799 --> 00:29:19.799
The posse was composed of agents of the State Bureau

478
00:29:19.960 --> 00:29:24.759
of Identification, State Highway Police, paid prison guards and trustee

479
00:29:24.839 --> 00:29:30.440
convict guards. Warden Jones. General Louis P. Guier, Superintendent of

480
00:29:30.440 --> 00:29:34.599
State Police, directed the search activities. Lensley was committed to

481
00:29:34.640 --> 00:29:37.640
the penitentiary three years ago from Baton Rouge under life

482
00:29:37.680 --> 00:29:40.480
sentence after pleading guilty to the murder in connection with

483
00:29:40.519 --> 00:29:44.559
the shooting of Stanley Cuvian twenty two, after what witnesses

484
00:29:44.559 --> 00:29:47.440
said was an argument over whether he or Cuvian was

485
00:29:47.480 --> 00:29:50.240
going to take home a young girl with whom Cuvian

486
00:29:50.440 --> 00:29:53.920
was seated in an automobile parked at a filling station.

487
00:29:54.119 --> 00:29:57.559
He entered the penitentiary in February of nineteen thirty three.

488
00:29:57.599 --> 00:30:01.079
A month later, he was made a trustee guard. Says

489
00:30:01.759 --> 00:30:05.839
that's crazy. This guy just got into Angola a month

490
00:30:05.960 --> 00:30:09.079
prior for murder, a life sentence, and he's made a

491
00:30:09.119 --> 00:30:14.000
trustee guard. Here, here's your shotgun, right, that's crazy. Eighteen

492
00:30:14.039 --> 00:30:17.000
months ago he was assigned to captain Himel's house as

493
00:30:17.039 --> 00:30:21.000
a houseboy. His record at the penitentiary was spotless, and

494
00:30:21.079 --> 00:30:24.519
prison authorities were unable to assign any reason for the

495
00:30:24.559 --> 00:30:27.599
slang of the captain and his wife. Lensley made his

496
00:30:27.799 --> 00:30:30.799
escape from Camp G of the Penal Farm at dust

497
00:30:30.880 --> 00:30:34.880
Wednesday night, after forcing fell aside Guillery of a fellow

498
00:30:34.960 --> 00:30:39.640
convict to accompany him in Captain Himmel's car. Gillory was

499
00:30:39.680 --> 00:30:42.839
released a few minutes later, and Lensley then abandoned the

500
00:30:42.880 --> 00:30:46.640
automobile at the foot of the Tunica Hills, where the

501
00:30:46.680 --> 00:30:49.920
car was bogged down in a muddy ditch. Recounting his

502
00:30:50.039 --> 00:30:53.319
activities from that point on Warden Jones said today he

503
00:30:53.400 --> 00:30:56.519
believed Lensley had circled the north side of the Penal Farm,

504
00:30:56.880 --> 00:31:00.000
cutting back to the Saint Francisville Highway on the east side,

505
00:31:00.079 --> 00:31:03.720
out of the farm where he abducted Hamilton. So there

506
00:31:03.799 --> 00:31:08.920
you have it, the full story of the escape of

507
00:31:09.079 --> 00:31:12.599
Alfred Lensley. And I got to say, all the research

508
00:31:12.599 --> 00:31:16.519
I've done over the years on Bloody Andngola, I never

509
00:31:16.559 --> 00:31:20.519
heard of this. So, as I told you, I'm working

510
00:31:20.559 --> 00:31:23.480
on an episode that is highlighting some of the most

511
00:31:23.599 --> 00:31:27.240
prolific escapes at ain't Goola that you've never heard about

512
00:31:27.640 --> 00:31:31.000
a lot of these. There's not this much information because

513
00:31:31.039 --> 00:31:33.680
not that much happened. But there's a lot of escapes

514
00:31:33.720 --> 00:31:36.359
where they get out and they don't get far from

515
00:31:36.839 --> 00:31:39.960
Bloody Angola before they get caught, So you can cover

516
00:31:40.559 --> 00:31:44.319
several in one episode. That's what I was originally researching

517
00:31:44.359 --> 00:31:46.599
when I came across this, and I'm like, oh man,

518
00:31:47.000 --> 00:31:50.400
this will start to finish right here. So I hope

519
00:31:50.440 --> 00:31:54.279
you enjoyed that. Thank you so much for listening. Check

520
00:31:54.359 --> 00:31:58.279
us out on Patreon, commercial, free, early releases, bonus episodes,

521
00:31:58.319 --> 00:32:02.640
and more, Patreon, dot comlash Bloody in Goola Podcast and

522
00:32:02.759 --> 00:32:06.519
until next time. I'm Jim Chapman for Bloody in Gola,

523
00:32:06.799 --> 00:32:11.119
a podcast on two years and making the complete story

524
00:32:11.359 --> 00:32:14.359
of America's bloodiest present Peace.

525
00:32:29.880 --> 00:32:40.400
A Wall Street line, shackle change O gluesome Gurdie, it's

526
00:32:40.519 --> 00:32:46.880
calling my name. There is no mercy and this been

527
00:32:47.079 --> 00:32:55.440
a tentery juice ass the huge stream game Wrangle three.

528
00:32:57.079 --> 00:32:57.599
Come here.

529
00:33:00.079 --> 00:33:09.039
He found me to die inside these walls, inside the wild.

530
00:33:10.599 --> 00:33:28.759
And when the wals I know it's auberbody angleolers Obody Angle,