Published time: October 17, 2013 18:37
Charles Walker (R) and Joseph Jenkins is shown in this undated booking photo provided by the Florida Department of Corrections October 17, 2013.
Two convicted murderers are on the loose in Florida after a local prison accidentally allowed them to walk free.
The two men, Joseph Jenkins and Charles Walker, were serving life
behind bars before separately walking out of the Carrabelle
prison on September 27 and October 8, respectively.
Multiple reports indicate the men were able to leave because of
forged court documents that reduced their sentence. The Florida
Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) didn’t realize a mistake had
been made until this week on Tuesday, October 15.
“These two individuals are out. They shouldn’t be, and we want
to get them back in custody,” Angelo Nieves, Orange County
Sheriff’s Office spokesman, said to the Associated Press.
“This shouldn’t have happened, but it did, and our concern is
to get these individuals into custody.”
Right now, law enforcement officials are focused squarely on
finding and detaining the two inmates as quickly as possible.
“We’re working with other law enforcement partners on how this
could have happened, but right now our primary focus is on the
manhunt,” FDLE spokeswoman Gretl Plessinger said. “We are
in the very early stages of the investigation to determine what
happened.”
According to the AP the forged papers were filed by the Orange
County clerk of courts, which handles thousands of various
documents every day. There’s currently no way to efficiently
authenticate all the paperwork that flows between the clerk’s
office and all the other agencies.
“We’re kind of like the post office,” Leesa Bainbridge, a
spokeswoman for the clerk of courts, said. “It comes in and we
move it along.”
Jenkins was convicted of first-degree murder back in 1998 for
shooting Orlando resident Roscue Pugh. Walker, meanwhile, was
convicted of second-degree murder for shooting 23-year-old Cedric
Slater in 1999.
Copyright: RT