Escapes from Rawlins State Penitentiary

Because of the high escape rate from the Laramie Territory Prison, authorities took 12 years building the new state penitentiary to make it escape proof.

In 1912, a prisoner uprising occurred because of deteriorating conditions at the prison. Disgruntled inmates burned the broom factory and 27 prisoners escaped. After the escape, one Rawlins resident was killed as well as 4 inmates.

Bill Carlisle

Bill (William) Carlisle, known as the gentleman bandit, robbed trains. He gained trustee status at the prison and worked in the shirt factory there.

On the night of November 15, 1919 he didn’t return on time from his work in the prison. He had been known to be late some nights when he needed to load-up trucks with the shirts.

He escaped inside a packing crate filled with shirts that were regularly shipped out of the prison. He claimed he nailed himself in there. He managed to rob a train before being caught. Afterwards, he completed his prison sentence and was released.

Al Biscaro

Al Biscaro, also know as Charles Nichols or William Morgan, was a man that had high hopes from his low station in life.

Biscaro had been in the prison infirmary for a while after an operation removing his appendix. On May 16, 1921 he held the prison doctor, a guard, a laborer that came to do some work at the prison,and seven inmates hostage in the infirmary with a pistol his wife snuck into him.

He then sent his demands to the warden. He wanted all the guards removed from the walls and a car, with four women inside, to escape with. He was talked out of taking four women and took the doctor and laborer who offered themselves as replacements.

When Biscaro reached the agreed upon distance that he was not to be followed, a short pursuit then took place. Eventually the doctor, who was driving the car, wrecked it when he realized he was probably not going to get out of the situation alive. The doctor escaped after being fired at several times. Biscaro hid in a nearby ravine where he was shot, and is believed to have shot himself.

Other Interesting Prison Breaks

One man, using broom handles he tied together from the prison broom factory, attempted to pole vault over the wall. It didn’t work.

Another inmate tried to climb the wall but didn’t realize there was a catwalk on the other side. When he slid over the top he fell and hit the catwalk and broke his nose, never actually making it to freedom.

In one instance a few inmates escaped from the prison dungeon with just can openers.

In another, a few inmates that were trustees working in the kitchen managed to saw their way through the bars to brief freedom.

In the old days, if a man escaped prison and kept out of trouble and off the radar for 16 years, he was pardoned. There were 12 successful escapes where men were not caught afterward that received this pardon.

In 1959, four men dug a tunnel down through the tool shed under the old gallows. After much digging, in an attempt to see how far they had gone, they lit a match. However, they were not aware they had hit a gas line causing a leak. This set off an explosion, literally blowing their chance of escape. Only one of the men was minimally injured. They had gotten fairly close to the outer wall.

In the 60s or 70s, a prisoner escaped. A few days later the warden’s wife heard a knock at the door of their home next to the prison. She opened the door to see the escaped inmate who said he was tired and wanted to turn himself in. The Warden’s wife made him lunch and then walked him back to the prison.

While some men got away from Wyoming’s prisons over the years, most were caught and brought back to prison or killed while attempting to escape, just like the two recent escaped prisoners in New York.

Check out part 1 about Laramie Territory Prison escapes.