Convicted Murderers Escape Arkansas Prison

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Police say Jeffery Grinder is a convicted murderer and escaped from an Arkansas prison on May 29, 2009, along with Adams.

An all-out manhunt in underway for two men convicted of capital murder who escaped from a high-security Arkansas prison.

Federal law enforcement officials tell AMW that Calvin Adams, 39, and Jeffery Grinder, 32, escaped from the Cummins Unit prison in Grady, Ark. on May 29, 2009.

Prison officials say the men escaped when they traded their inmate apparel for prison guard garb, so instead of scaling the prison's razor-wire and electric fences, the men nonchalantly walked out of the facility during a shift change.

It's a move that has now sent shock waves of fear through the communities they terrorized before being sent away.

Baxter County, Ark. Sheriff John Montgomery is particularly concerned. Adams has ties to Sheriff Montgomery's community, and following the escape, he says officials found a list of three people who authorities say Adams intended to threaten.

Those people, he said, have been notified by the authorities.

A History Of Brutal Violence

According to prison officials, the men were sent away for two disturbing murders.

Arkansas Department of Corrections Official Dina Tyler says Adams was convicted in 1995 for kidnapping a couple from a home in Leachville, Ark., following a robbery.

"He apparently took them to a county road, where he shot them," Tyler said. "The husband was killed, the wife survived."

Grinder, too, was set to spend his life behind bars without the possibility of parole. Tyler says Grinder was convicted in 2004 of killing a 77-year-old man during a robbery.

While officials are trying to determine if the men had inside or outside help, they are also focusing on rounding up any clues that could put these dangerous individuals back behind bars.

Montgomery says the men were spotted in Baxter County, but more recent sightings have placed the men in Missouri.

A sighting on June 1, 2009 placed Adams in Kalamazoo, Mich.

Grinder also has ties to Michigan, authorities said.

Calvin Adams is 5'7" and weighs 154 lbs. He is 39 years old and has scars on his arms, legs and back.

Jeffery Grinder, they said, is 5'9" and weighs 150 lbs. He is 32 years old, and has the tattoo "KI" on the upper left side of his chest.

They were last seen driving in a four-door maroon Hyundai Sonata with the Arkansas license plate number 595-NYM.
 

Escaped Killers Back In Police Custody

A pair of convicted killers who escaped from an Arkansas prison on May 29, 2009 are back behind bars.

After four days on the run, a New York State Trooper put an end to the manhunt when he caught the men speeding in the same car with which they escaped.

Calvin Adams and Jeffery Grinder were arrested on June 2, 2009, following a short car chase that ended when the men crashed into a pole.

The men were allegedly speeding down a road in Rochester, N.Y., when the state trooper attempted to pull the vehicle over. Officials say no one was hurt in the chase, and the men now are awaiting extradition back to Arkansas.

The arrests will bring great relief to many people in Arkansas. After escaping from prison, officials say the men left a note behind stating that they intended to hurt several people. Before escaping, both men were set to spend the rest of their lives behind bars.

Grinder was convicted in 2004 of killing a 77-year-old man.

Adams pled guilty in 1994 to killing a young banker and attempting to kill the banker's pregnant wife.