Inmate apparently fashioned a rope to swing over razor wire to freedom
eastoregonian.com/front page/10-6-99
By KAREN ZACHARIAS of the East Oregonian
PENDLETON — Eastern Oregon Correctional Institution has the best track record in the state for security. Up until Saturday, EOCI had never had an escape in it’s 14-year history.
“EOCI is a well-run facility. Their record of 14 years without an escape is a testament to how well the facility is run,” said Brian Beaus, Department of Corrections classification administrator.
Echoing that same sentiment, Pendleton City Manager Larry Lehman said, “They are professionals who’ve done a pretty good job here. It’s very unfortunate this occurred.”
Sheriff John Trumbo empathizes with the staff at EOCI.
“The fact that they have 1,500 inmates and this is their first escape tells me they run a pretty tight ship. I have 140 inmates trying every day to defeat the system. With as many as EOCI has, eventually somebody’s going to figure out a way,” he said.
That somebody was James Kinney. A convicted sex abuser, Kinney was supposed to see the other side of the fence until 2034, his earliest release date under the Measure 11 crimes he committed. Kinney was convicted in Josephine County of two counts of sex abuse and one count each of first- and second-degree sodomy for the rape of a 12-year-old girl.
“Everybody knew he has an escape history,” Beaus said.
In May, Kinney was tried in Umatilla County for fashioning an escape device. A rope was found in Kinney’s cell at EOCI in February of 1998. However, it was unclear to the jury if the rope was Kinney’s or his cell mates. They found Kinney not guilty.
However, the staff at EOCI and DOC were convinced the rope was Kinney’s. In March of 1998 he was transferred to the Oregon State Penitentiary (a maximum security prison) in Salem and placed in the Intensive Management Unit, where he remained until February 1999, when he was transferred back to EOCI.
Court documents reveal that Kinney fashioned the rope from nylon belt straps used for flag football. Each of those straps measured about 42 inches. Kinney knotted them together until he had a rope 12 to 15 feet in length.
At one end of the rope, Kinney crafted a lasso. DOC’s own internal investigation revealed that such a rope would “enable a person to rapidly climb a fence,” or swing from one.
Apparently undeterred in his escape plan, since arriving at EOCI the second time Kinney apparently fashioned the same kind of rope, once again using the flag football nylon belt straps.
More diligent and determined than ever, Kinney used his exercise time in the yard to run. His quickness and agility was recognized among staff and inmates alike.
“We knew he was a threat,” said Kathy Jackson, EOCI’s executive assistant to the superintendent.
It only took one mistake. One moment when somebody failed to notice and he was gone.
As inmates filed out of EOCI’s auditorium room Saturday night, Kinney crouched behind them and made his way to the balcony, according to sources familiar with the incident. Then he went out the door and onto the ledge connecting the administration building to the auditorium building.
No alarms went off. He had only moments to loop the end of his rope onto the fence that extends west behind the administration building. Catching the loop across the fence post, Kinney apparently took a running leap, Tarzan style, and propelled himself to the perimeter fence. Pouncing off only the top of the coiled razor wire, Kinney was up and over the fence in a matter of moments, sources close to the investigation confirmed.
Although alarms pealed and patrol cars screeched, Kinney’s agility and quickness served him well. The only sign of Kinney since chapel that night has been reports of someone matching his description at Albertson’s round 11 p.m. Saturday.
Investigators claim they have not been able to make a positive ID from videotape footage at Albertson’s but stop short of saying that the individual in question was not Kinney. Umatilla County Search and Rescue tracking dogs followed a blood trail to Albertson’s.
An EOCI employee shopping there that night reportedly thought he recognized the man wearing an overcoat. He reportedly even said hello to the fellow but received only a nod in response.
The Kinney-lookalike reportedly had his hand stuffed in a pocket, went directly to the bathroom and came out with his hand wrapped in a gauze of some sort. He was seen later, by the EOCI employee, getting into a car in Albertson’s parking lot.
Investigators have had little else than reported sightings to go on. A volunteer at St. Mary’s Outreach reported someone matching Kinney’s description asked for assistance Tuesday afternoon. Receptionists at the East Oregonian reported that a man matching Kinney’s description came into the office Tuesday morning to purchase a paper and insisted on paying $4 for the 50 cents issue. The individual told receptionists he had just gotten out of EOCI “a couple of days ago.”
However, investigators have no idea whether Kinney still is in the area. In fact, some doubt that he is.
Kinney remains at large and the focus of an intensive investigation by DOC’s Fugitive Apprehension Unit and Oregon State Police. He is considered extremely dangerous. Persons with information regarding his possible whereabouts are encouraged to contact their local authorities.