Convicted Killer Sarah Pender Escapes From Ind. Prison

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Cops say Sarah Jo Pender is a violent fugitive, accused of breaking out of an Indiana prison in early August 2008.

In 2000, cops say Sarah Jo Pender and her boyfriend killed their two roommates, shooting each of them with a shotgun and dumping their bodies in an Indianapolis dumpster.  The two were eventually captured by police in Noblesville, Ind. and were sentenced in Marion County in 2002.

Pender's accomplice in the murder, Richard Hull, is currently serving a 75-year sentence, while Pender had been serving a maximum 110-year sentence for her role in the murders.

It seems that nearly six years behind bars was all Pender could take, as in August 2008, she busted out of Rockville Correctional Facility shortly before a routine inmate head count.  IDOC officials say Rockville Correctional Facility is a multi-level, medium-security penitentiary, which has the ability to hold all levels of female offenders.  It would have and should have held Pender, too, if it were not for her manipulative ways.

Since the story first broke, Rockville Correctional Facility Officer Scott A. Spitler, a five-year veteran of the institution, has been arrested in connection with Pender's escape.  He faces charges of Assisting a Criminal, Official Misconduct, Sexual Misconduct and Trafficking with an Inmate.

The Indiana Department of Corrections tells AMW that Spitler allegedly drove Pender out of the prison after hiding her in the back of his IDOC van.

Once beyond the prison gates, cops say ex-inmate Jamie Long, one of Pender's closest friends, was waiting patiently for Spitler to approach.  When Spitler came to a stop, Pender then emerged from the backseat of his van and hopped into Long's vehicle, and she has remained on the lam ever since.

But how did Pender coordinate this masterful escape?

Cops: Mastermind Uses Sex To Bust Out Of Big House

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Cops say Scott Spitler, a former corrections officer at Rockville Correctional Facility in Indiana, helped convicted double-murderer Sarah Pender escape from prison in August 2008.

According to authorities, Pender used her body to get what she desired most -- freedom.  Just like she did back in 2000, when she convinced Richard Hull to shoot her two roommates, cops say Pender was again able to manipulate a variety of other people to aide in her escape.

In the six years she spent locked up, officials tell us she made connections both inside the prison and out, and those connections were allegedly able to get her anything she wanted.  According to police, one of those key connections was Jamie Long, her long-time friend and former lover, who provided her with the illegal loot.

Selling contraband items such as cell phones, drugs, and tobacco, authorities say Pender was running quite the lucrative business within the walls of Rockville.  While cops say Pender wouldn't have been anywhere near as successful of a businesswoman in prison if it were not for Long, it was not just Jamie Long to whom Pender owes a debt of gratitude for her escape.

Cops say the whole enterprise would not have been possible if it was not for Pender's illicit relationship with former officer Spitler.  The two had allegedly been having relations for some time, and seeing as Pender had all the time in the world to plan an escape, she just needed to find the right time to execute it.

That time came on August 4, 2008.

Indy Officials Need Help Capturing Female Killer

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Prison officials tell AMW that Sarah Pender enjoyed performing for fellow inmates, singing and dancing for their entertainment.

Prison officials tell AMW that Pender stands 5'8" tall and weighs between 150 and 200 lbs., with brown hair and blue eyes.  She has two tattoos on her body -- a target on her right leg and a butterfly on her chest.

Though she's only been out a few months, authorities have learned that Pender appears to have developed a cocaine habit, and has made attempts to change her appearance. According to sources, Pender's cut off most of her long hair, and has apparently dyed her hair a dark color.

The IDOC website lists Pender's earliest release date as October 28, 2052, meaning her first legal opportunity to taste the joys of freedom again would come at the ripe old age of 73.

Once authorities capture Pender, the odds of a 2052 release date will significantly dwindle, as she is sure to face a serious penalty tacked on to her already-steep prison term.

In fact, Marshals consider Pender such a menace to society that on Monday, October 20, 2008, they officially added her to their infamous 15 Most Wanted Fugitives List.

They believe that by adding her to the list, they can effectively smoke her out of whatever hole she's hiding in, and place her back behind bars once again.

If you've seen this cunning and dangerous fugitive, please call our hotline right away, before she has the opportunity to kill yet again.

AMW Capture #1051

Pender In Custody, Hours After Appearing on AMW

Sarah Pender was captured in a bare apartment by Chicago Police Officers mere hours after she was featured as one of AMW's Top Ten Fugitives of 2008.
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It's a remarkable capture that happened less than two hours after AMW viewers saw prison escapee Sarah Pender on our Top Ten Fugitives of 2008 list. After recognizing Pender on the show, a tipster called in to the Chicago Police Department to give them the exact location of her hideout.

They say she was living in the Rodger's Park neighborhood and going by the fake name "Ashley Thompson."

When police knocked on her door at 11 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 20, 2008, they say Pender was in the middle of packing her bags for a hasty escape. It took some prodding, but Pender finally admitted to police that she was, in fact, Sarah Pender.

Pender waived extradition in Chicago and was transported back to Indiana on December 22, 2008.  She is being held at the Indiana Women's Prison in Indianapolis.