The Texas Seven: A Mass Breakout That Ended in a Walmart Parking Lot

On December 13, 2000, seven inmates at the John B. Connally Unit — a maximum-security prison in Kenedy, Texas — executed one of the most brazen mass escapes in American correctional history. They didn't tunnel out. They didn't cut bars. They simply overpowered the staff, stole their clothes, and walked through the front gate.

THE ESCAPE: The plan relied on timing, coordination, and the exploitation of a maintenance work assignment that gave the seven men access to a low-security area of the facility. Over the course of an afternoon, the group — later dubbed the "Texas Seven" by media — systematically neutralized guards and civilian employees, locking them in a closet or binding them with their own restraints. They stole civilian clothes, weapons, a prison vehicle, and $1,000 in cash from the facility's commissary.

The seven men were:

• George Rivas (ringleader, serving 99 years for kidnapping)
• Joseph Garcia, Donald Newbury, Larry Harper, Patrick Murphy Jr., Michael Rodriguez, and Randy Halprin

THE KILLING: On Christmas Eve 2000, the group robbed an Oshman's Sporting Goods store in Irving, Texas. When Officer Aubrey Hawkins of the Irving Police Department responded, the seven men shot him 11 times and ran over him with their vehicle. He was 29 years old.

THE CAPTURE: For six weeks, the Texas Seven evaded one of the largest manhunts in state history. On January 20, 2001, an episode of America's Most Wanted aired their photographs. A viewer recognized them from a campground in Woodland Park, Colorado, where the group had been living in RVs under false identities.

Police surrounded the campsite. Larry Harper shot himself rather than surrender. The remaining six were arrested without further violence.

THE AFTERMATH: George Rivas and five others were sentenced to death. Patrick Murphy Jr. received a life sentence due to his lesser role. Rivas was executed in 2012. The case prompted a sweeping review of Texas prison work-assignment security protocols.

Tell us your thoughts in the comments below.

Please like and subscribe for more investigations from The Evidence Log.