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A British Major Stopped for Gas. Two Escaped Convicts Needed His Car. · FBI Files

• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Keep driving.
• 0:03
  Speaker 2: Take it easy. In 1996, a pair of convicted felons
• 0:10
  Speaker 2: escaped across the country. When a foreign military officer disappeared
• 0:16
  Speaker 2: along their trail, authorities wondered if the armed fugitives had
• 0:20
  Speaker 2: become killers. The FBI raced to find the escapees before
• 0:27
  Speaker 2: more victims crossed their path.
• 1:01
  Speaker 3: In Alabama, two desperate criminals fled the custody of a
• 1:04
  Speaker 3: local deputy. Eluding authorities, they made their way across the
• 1:08
  Speaker 3: country in a wave of car theft, abduction, and murder.
• 1:12
  Speaker 3: I'm Jim Kallstrom, former head of the FBI's New York office.
• 1:16
  Speaker 3: Escaped criminals believe they have nothing to lose. They'll do
• 1:19
  Speaker 3: anything to avoid capture. After the convicts claimed their first victim,
• 1:24
  Speaker 3: further bloodshed was inevitable, unless the FBI could find them
• 1:28
  Speaker 3: and bring them to justice.
• 1:38
  Speaker 2: Central Alabama, May 21st, 1996. A DeKalb County deputy was
• 1:46
  Speaker 2: assigned to transport three inmates from state prisons to face
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: court dates. Michael Thompson was to be sentenced for murder.
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: The deputy knew Thompson, having transported him before. Thompson had
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: persuaded the deputy to let him sit in the front seat.
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: Thompson had just met another inmate, Roger Yadin. The career
• 2:21
  Speaker 2: criminal had 17 burglary convictions and three prison escapes on
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: his record. The third inmate was on work release. The
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: prisoners were not handcuffed for the short drive. As the
• 2:37
  Speaker 2: group neared Talladega, Alabama, Thompson made his move. At gunpoint,
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: Thompson forced the deputy to keep driving. He ordered him
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: to drive to a secluded area in the woods near Lincoln, Alabama.
• 3:14
  Speaker 3: Come up.
• 3:19
  Speaker 2: Come up. Thompson and Yadin freed themselves. They marched their
• 3:31
  Speaker 2: hostages into the woods. Keep walking.
• 3:33
  Speaker 3: Keep walking. Be cool with it, man.
• 3:35
  Speaker 4: Come on.
• 3:47
  Speaker 2: The men forced the deputy and the other inmate to
• 3:49
  Speaker 2: strip out of their clothes. The deputy's extra handcuff key
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: fell unnoticed to the ground. Bound in the remote woods,
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: the officer didn't know if he would be executed.
• 4:13
  Speaker 5: All right, hurry.
• 4:17
  Speaker 4: Up.
• 4:18
  Speaker 6: Got the clue. Let's go. All right, I'll be riding
• 4:22
  Speaker 6: with you again.
• 4:24
  Speaker 2: The two escapees simply ran off. Michael Thompson and Roger
• 4:30
  Speaker 2: Yadin took off in the direction of Talladega, leaving their
• 4:33
  Speaker 2: prison clothes behind. It was Yadin's fourth escape from Alabama authorities.
• 4:42
  Speaker 2: the deputy had to contact the sheriff's department. With a
• 4:48
  Speaker 2: dropped handcuff key, he freed himself and the other inmate,
• 4:51
  Speaker 2: then ran for help. The escaped convicts had the deputy's
• 5:00
  Speaker 2: service weapon and a shotgun stored in the patrol car.
• 5:06
  Speaker 2: Under the cover of law officers, the two felons endangered
• 5:09
  Speaker 2: anyone in their path The deputy and the remaining inmate
• 5:20
  Speaker 2: had flagged down a motorist and reached the local police department.
• 5:24
  Speaker 5: The problem is, I pushed my head against the window.
• 5:27
  Speaker 2: Police immediately issued an urgent be on the lookout alert
• 5:30
  Speaker 2: for the two escapees in the stolen patrol car.
• 5:33
  Speaker 6: One individual Thompson, six foot.
• 5:38
  Speaker 2: The Calb County law enforcement launched a search. But the
• 5:43
  Speaker 2: area contained hundreds of miles of rural roads. Despite the search,
• 5:50
  Speaker 2: no sightings of the fugitives or the deputy's car came
• 5:53
  Speaker 2: in that day. It wasn't until the evening that authorities
• 6:00
  Speaker 2: received their first clue to Thompson's and Yadin's actions. A
• 6:07
  Speaker 2: local paramedic contacted Talladega City Police and told them about
• 6:10
  Speaker 2: his ordeal. He said that earlier that day, he was
• 6:17
  Speaker 2: driving near Talladega when he noticed a sheriff's patrol car
• 6:20
  Speaker 2: following him. When he heard the siren, the off-duty paramedic
• 6:27
  Speaker 2: pulled over. He believed it was a routine stop. The
• 6:50
  Speaker 2: officer asked for his license and wallet. Paramedic Bob Courtney
• 6:57
  Speaker 2: didn't think he'd been speeding.
• 7:01
  Speaker 6: The reason we pulled you over is your vehicle fits
• 7:04
  Speaker 6: the description of a vehicle that was involved in a
• 7:06
  Speaker 6: hit and run. And I told him, well, I haven't
• 7:08
  Speaker 6: been in any accident. You know, you can check my truck.
• 7:11
  Speaker 6: You can look around. It's not a scratch on it.
• 7:14
  Speaker 6: And he said, well, your truck fits the description that
• 7:16
  Speaker 6: we've gotten, so we're going to, you know, check it out.
• 7:23
  Speaker 2: Gordney didn't suspect anything.
• 7:24
  Speaker 6: No flags went off when he first walked up to
• 7:28
  Speaker 6: me because he was in full uniform, had the badge
• 7:31
  Speaker 6: and the name tag. And I really didn't make contact
• 7:35
  Speaker 6: with the whole uniform. I seen the gun when he
• 7:36
  Speaker 6: had his hand on it.
• 7:39
  Speaker 2: Gordney gave the deputy his paramedic badge number, asking him
• 7:42
  Speaker 2: to call in to verify his identity.
• 7:44
  Speaker 7: But the deputy refused.
• 7:51
  Speaker 2: Following the deputy's orders, the paramedic got into the patrol car.
• 7:59
  Speaker 2: He believed it was simply a misunderstanding and that he
• 8:02
  Speaker 2: would be released shortly.
• 8:06
  Speaker 6: He said, well, we're going to carry you back over
• 8:07
  Speaker 6: here to the accident scene. And I said, well, that's fine.
• 8:10
  Speaker 6: My truck doesn't fit the description. We'll just get this
• 8:12
  Speaker 6: cleared up.
• 8:14
  Speaker 2: He first realized something was wrong when a man in
• 8:16
  Speaker 2: civilian clothes carrying a shotgun ran from the patrol car
• 8:20
  Speaker 2: to his truck. From the description, police believe the man
• 8:26
  Speaker 2: driving the pickup was Roger Yadin. They believe Michael Thompson
• 8:35
  Speaker 2: was the one dressed as the deputy. Thompson followed the
• 8:41
  Speaker 2: pickup with the paramedic locked in the back.
• 8:43
  Speaker 5: Gortney asked for an explanation.
• 8:50
  Speaker 3: Keep it quiet.
• 8:50
  Speaker 6: He said, we're just going to take your truck. And
• 8:53
  Speaker 6: I knew right then it was a kidnapping. This guy says,
• 8:55
  Speaker 6: kidnap me. So I went into the pleading mode. I
• 9:01
  Speaker 6: told him, I said, look, I'm only 30 years old.
• 9:04
  Speaker 6: I've got a wife and kids. And you have my truck.
• 9:07
  Speaker 6: You have my gun. There's no sense in killing me.
• 9:14
  Speaker 2: Michael Thompson followed behind to an isolated spot off the highway.
• 9:26
  Speaker 2: Roger Yadin had found the paramedic's 9mm handgun in the truck.
• 9:35
  Speaker 2: Bob Gordney was helpless in the patrol car's locked back seat.
• 9:48
  Speaker 2: The men forced him inside the cruiser's trunk. The kidnapped
• 9:53
  Speaker 2: paramedic believed they were going to kill him.
• 9:56
  Speaker 6: I was laying there at the point, so if I
• 9:58
  Speaker 6: shot through the trunk, I knew they would miss me.
• 10:01
  Speaker 6: If a bullet was to come through, maybe it would
• 10:03
  Speaker 6: graze me and not hit any vital organs, so I
• 10:05
  Speaker 6: was trying to protect myself from the point of being
• 10:08
  Speaker 6: shot through the trunk. And I could hear vehicles pass by,
• 10:12
  Speaker 6: and then I heard my truck crank, and then I heard.
• 10:15
  Speaker 2: It sped off.
• 10:16
  Speaker 4: And it was hot.
• 10:18
  Speaker 6: I felt like I was suffocating. I kept thinking to myself,
• 10:20
  Speaker 6: you need to slow down. Because if you don't, you're
• 10:22
  Speaker 6: going to use up all your energy. Plus, it's hot
• 10:25
  Speaker 6: in here. I'm going to dehydrate. And I'm probably going
• 10:27
  Speaker 6: to pass out.
• 10:29
  Speaker 2: I was scared.
• 10:30
  Speaker 6: I was shaking. And I was laying in the trunk.
• 10:33
  Speaker 6: And I got to thinking, OK, you're a paramedic. You've
• 10:35
  Speaker 6: extricated people a thousand times. Now it's time for you
• 10:39
  Speaker 6: to do what you've learned to get yourself out of
• 10:41
  Speaker 6: this trunk, to extricate yourself so you can still be alive.
• 10:48
  Speaker 2: Using a jack he found in the trunk, Courtney worked
• 10:50
  Speaker 2: for two hours. Finally, he popped the trunk open. He
• 11:03
  Speaker 2: ran to the nearest house where a woman called police.
• 11:11
  Speaker 2: An updated bulletin was issued for the pair of fugitives
• 11:14
  Speaker 2: in the black pickup truck they were now driving.
• 11:16
  Speaker 5: 232 to all units. This is a broadcast for 0900 suspect.
• 11:23
  Speaker 2: They were armed with two 9mm handguns and a shotgun.
• 11:26
  Speaker 2: Authorities sped to the main interstate, figuring the fugitives would
• 11:32
  Speaker 2: use it to flee the area. With a stolen truck
• 11:37
  Speaker 2: full of gas and interstate highways nearby, law officers knew
• 11:41
  Speaker 2: that Michael Thompson and Roger Yadin had a big lead
• 11:43
  Speaker 2: on them. They could be anywhere. Seven days later and 1,200
• 11:54
  Speaker 2: miles away, an abandoned black pickup truck with no license
• 11:58
  Speaker 2: plates turned up in Santa Rosa, New Mexico. The vehicle
• 12:02
  Speaker 2: identification number on the dash had been destroyed. The police
• 12:09
  Speaker 2: located a second identification number on the truck's chassis. A
• 12:15
  Speaker 2: record search showed that it was the paramedics truck stolen
• 12:18
  Speaker 2: in Alabama. Because of the interstate travel, the FBI was notified.
• 12:27
  Speaker 2: An immediate search of the area revealed no sign of
• 12:29
  Speaker 2: Michael Thompson or Roger Yadin. The armed fugitives had dumped
• 12:35
  Speaker 2: the one vehicle investigators could trace. On June 7th, 1996,
• 12:40
  Speaker 2: the FBI in Birmingham, Alabama, filed a warrant for unlawful
• 12:45
  Speaker 2: flight to avoid confinement. Police agencies across the country were
• 12:52
  Speaker 2: notified to watch for any sign of Yadin and Thompson.
• 12:59
  Speaker 2: Two weeks later, 1,200 miles east of where the paramedic's
• 13:02
  Speaker 2: stolen truck was recovered in New Mexico, a group of
• 13:05
  Speaker 2: diving students spotted a car at the bottom of Fowler
• 13:08
  Speaker 2: Lake near Terre Haute, Indiana. Indiana Department of Natural Resources
• 13:15
  Speaker 2: agent Dean Jenkins responded with his team.
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: The car was laying, it was in about 25, 30
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: foot of water. It was on its top. The windshield
• 13:27
  Speaker 1: had been broke out. From when it sank, it apparently
• 13:30
  Speaker 1: was driven off the ramp.
• 13:34
  Speaker 2: Indiana Department of Natural Resources officers dove into the lake
• 13:37
  Speaker 2: to investigate. they found a red car with no license plates.
• 13:45
  Speaker 2: Divers could see items from the vehicle, including traveler's checks
• 13:48
  Speaker 2: resting on the bottom. There was no body nearby.
• 13:57
  Speaker 1: The degree of personal items we found and what they were,
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: traveler's checks, those kind of things that ordinarily you would
• 14:03
  Speaker 1: think would be stolen or discarded along the way prior
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: to someone just dumping a stolen car, I think that
• 14:08
  Speaker 1: was the key thing that made me wonder what else
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: was involved with this vehicle.
• 14:15
  Speaker 2: Investigators removed the car to process it on shore. In
• 14:27
  Speaker 2: the trunk, technicians recovered a British passport for Army Major
• 14:31
  Speaker 2: David Nichols. Travelers' checks and airline ticket stubs issued to
• 14:37
  Speaker 2: the Major were found in the glove compartment. Among the
• 14:42
  Speaker 2: items was an Alabama jail booking slip with a local
• 14:45
  Speaker 2: Indiana name and address written on the back. Checking the
• 14:51
  Speaker 2: car's identification number, investigators discovered it was a rental from Colorado,
• 14:55
  Speaker 2: reported missing along with the major 16 days after he
• 14:59
  Speaker 2: had rented it.
• 15:00
  Speaker 3: The VIN number is 726JJ6.
• 15:07
  Speaker 2: Because a foreign military officer was the likely victim of
• 15:10
  Speaker 2: a crime, Supervisory Special Agent Jack Osborne from the FBI
• 15:15
  Speaker 2: field office in Indianapolis was called in. He believed the
• 15:19
  Speaker 2: name on the Alabama jail booking slip was the best
• 15:22
  Speaker 2: lead in Major Nichols' disappearance.
• 15:26
  Speaker 8: From the booking slip that was found in the car,
• 15:29
  Speaker 8: on the back side was several handwritten notes, not so
• 15:33
  Speaker 8: much with phone numbers, but maybe somebody's first name and
• 15:36
  Speaker 8: an address. One of those names and address... led us
• 15:41
  Speaker 8: to a relative of Mr. Yadin who resided in Terre Haute.
• 15:48
  Speaker 2: The relative was an aunt of Roger Yadin's. He was
• 15:51
  Speaker 2: one of two escaped convicts whom investigators had searched for
• 15:54
  Speaker 2: in New Mexico. She told an agent that she did
• 15:59
  Speaker 2: not know why her name was on the back of
• 16:01
  Speaker 2: the Alabama jail booking slip. She also had no knowledge
• 16:05
  Speaker 2: of Major Nichols, his red rental car, or that her
• 16:08
  Speaker 2: nephew had escaped custody.
• 16:11
  Speaker 8: She told us that she did have a nephew, Roger
• 16:15
  Speaker 8: Dale Yadin, who she believed was in custody in Alabama
• 16:19
  Speaker 8: and had communicated a lot with him in writing as
• 16:22
  Speaker 8: her children had.
• 16:25
  Speaker 2: She did say that Yadin had some old friends in
• 16:27
  Speaker 2: the area, but she couldn't recall their names. If Roger
• 16:33
  Speaker 2: Yadin had made it to Indiana, the FBI believed murderer
• 16:36
  Speaker 2: Michael Thompson was with him. They knew the pair of
• 16:42
  Speaker 2: escaped convicts had already threatened to kill three others in
• 16:44
  Speaker 2: Alabama and were last seen with two handguns and a shotgun.
• 16:50
  Speaker 2: Agents feared that Roger Yadin and Michael Thompson may have
• 16:53
  Speaker 2: used one of those weapons on the missing British major.
• 17:01
  Speaker 2: In June of 1996, the FBI and Indiana police searched
• 17:06
  Speaker 2: for armed fugitives Michael Thompson and Roger Yadin who had
• 17:09
  Speaker 2: escaped from Alabama authorities. They were considered prime suspects in
• 17:14
  Speaker 2: the disappearance of British Army Major David Nichols, whose rental
• 17:18
  Speaker 2: car was found at the bottom of an Indiana lake.
• 17:24
  Speaker 2: According to FBI Supervisory Special Agent Jack Osborne, an Alabama
• 17:29
  Speaker 2: jail booking slip found inside the car linked the fugitives
• 17:32
  Speaker 2: to the missing major.
• 17:35
  Speaker 8: The evidence certainly associated that vehicle with our missing major.
• 17:38
  Speaker 8: and that he was not in and around Terre Haute,
• 17:42
  Speaker 8: nor was he located in the lake. It likewise then
• 17:46
  Speaker 8: identified our two escaped prisoners that we believed were together
• 17:51
  Speaker 8: and did have possession of the British Army officer's car,
• 17:56
  Speaker 8: and that they still possibly could be in the Terre
• 17:59
  Speaker 8: Haute area.
• 18:04
  Speaker 2: Agents went to the British Embassy in Washington DC to
• 18:07
  Speaker 2: find out more about the Major's travel itinerary. The FBI
• 18:13
  Speaker 2: needed to determine where and when Major Nichols may have
• 18:16
  Speaker 2: crossed paths with the armed fugitives.
• 18:21
  Speaker 8: The British government provided us some very basic information that
• 18:25
  Speaker 8: indicated a British Army officer of theirs had been in
• 18:30
  Speaker 8: the United States arriving on the 20th of May arrived
• 18:34
  Speaker 8: at Denver and was to travel to New Mexico to
• 18:38
  Speaker 8: attend a language school and then to Texas to attend
• 18:41
  Speaker 8: a second school.
• 18:44
  Speaker 2: On travel orders issued by NATO, Major David Nichols was
• 18:48
  Speaker 2: scheduled to arrive at the first seminar in Albuquerque on
• 18:50
  Speaker 2: May 26th. Nichols was a vice commander of the British
• 18:55
  Speaker 2: Defense School of Languages, an expert linguist fluent in five languages.
• 19:00
  Speaker 2: He told his wife and three children that he planned
• 19:02
  Speaker 2: to sightsee for a few days before the seminar. But
• 19:07
  Speaker 2: school officials in Albuquerque never heard from the major after
• 19:10
  Speaker 2: he failed to arrive.
• 19:11
  Speaker 8: The FBI felt it was strange that the British Army
• 19:17
  Speaker 8: officer had not attended school. The British government, likewise, through
• 19:22
  Speaker 8: contact they had with the family and friends of the
• 19:26
  Speaker 8: missing major, felt that it was strange that he had
• 19:29
  Speaker 8: not been in contact with them, which then caused the
• 19:32
  Speaker 8: British government great concern.
• 19:39
  Speaker 2: Agent Osborne contacted the FBI field office in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
• 19:44
  Speaker 2: Special Agent John Shum needed to determine where the major
• 19:47
  Speaker 2: was last seen in the 450 miles between Denver and Albuquerque.
• 19:52
  Speaker 7: They gave us his itinerary, photos, descriptions, potential contacts here
• 20:01
  Speaker 7: in the U.S. that he might have contacted once we
• 20:05
  Speaker 7: couldn't find him where he was supposed to be. So
• 20:08
  Speaker 7: they gave us a complete list what we would call
• 20:10
  Speaker 7: a victimology of him, his background and personality.
• 20:18
  Speaker 2: Agents also checked the British major's credit card purchases. The
• 20:25
  Speaker 2: last time he used his card was to buy gas
• 20:27
  Speaker 2: in the small town of Rattan on the Colorado-New Mexico border.
• 20:33
  Speaker 2: The gas station was just 150 miles from the place
• 20:36
  Speaker 2: Michael Thompson and Roger Yates The escaped fugitives from Alabama
• 20:40
  Speaker 2: had abandoned the black pickup truck they had stolen. Agents
• 20:49
  Speaker 2: wanted to confirm how far the British major had traveled
• 20:52
  Speaker 2: past Rattan. They checked at a hotel in Old Town, Albuquerque,
• 20:58
  Speaker 2: where the major had made advance reservations. He never showed up,
• 21:05
  Speaker 2: and his reservation was never canceled. The Major had disappeared
• 21:11
  Speaker 2: somewhere between the gas station near the Colorado border, where
• 21:14
  Speaker 2: his credit card had been used, and the hotel in Albuquerque.
• 21:18
  Speaker 2: The FBI suspected Michael Thompson and Roger Yadin had abducted him.
• 21:23
  Speaker 2: But they had vanished too. Agent Shum called the Major's
• 21:31
  Speaker 2: wife in England to find out more about how her
• 21:33
  Speaker 2: husband may have reacted if accosted by two desperate criminals.
• 21:41
  Speaker 7: She told me he was a very gentle man, he
• 21:46
  Speaker 7: was a very good man, and that if he was
• 21:49
  Speaker 7: confronted by these people, that he would not have been confrontational.
• 21:55
  Speaker 7: He would have been willing to do what they say,
• 22:03
  Speaker 7: give them anything they want, just to avoid a confrontation.
• 22:07
  Speaker 7: And she said that he would have been very concerned about.
• 22:11
  Speaker 7: About his safety and being able to make it back
• 22:13
  Speaker 7: to England to help raise his boys.
• 22:16
  Speaker 2: 1,200 miles away in Indiana, close to the lake where
• 22:22
  Speaker 2: the Major's car was found, local police received a call
• 22:26
  Speaker 2: from a junkyard manager who reported seeing two suspicious men
• 22:29
  Speaker 2: on his property. When the officer arrived, the two men
• 22:36
  Speaker 2: fled from a pickup truck loaded with scrap metal. It
• 22:42
  Speaker 2: was unsafe for a lone officer to follow two men
• 22:45
  Speaker 2: into the woods. He called in the truck's license plate
• 22:51
  Speaker 2: numbers and learned the vehicle had been stolen. Crime scene
• 22:59
  Speaker 2: technicians processed the truck. They found a tag from a
• 23:06
  Speaker 2: video camera strap that belonged to Major David Nichols. They
• 23:15
  Speaker 2: also recovered a letter that was addressed to fugitive Roger
• 23:18
  Speaker 2: Yadin's mother in Alabama.
• 23:21
  Speaker 8: And it was generally saying that he was out of
• 23:24
  Speaker 8: prison and was generally going to be staying in the
• 23:27
  Speaker 8: Terre Haute area.
• 23:30
  Speaker 2: When agents contacted Yadin's mother in Alabama, she said she
• 23:34
  Speaker 2: hadn't heard from her son and had no idea where
• 23:36
  Speaker 2: he might be.
• 23:37
  Speaker 8: No, things are going fine.
• 23:39
  Speaker 2: Investigators were sure the fugitives were nearby.
• 23:43
  Speaker 8: The items that were recovered in that truck were extremely
• 23:47
  Speaker 8: important because it not only associated Yadin and Thompson with
• 23:51
  Speaker 8: that vehicle, it also associated the missing Major with that vehicle.
• 23:59
  Speaker 2: It was more compelling evidence that Yadin and Thompson were
• 24:03
  Speaker 2: likely responsible for the Major's disappearance. But the armed fugitives
• 24:08
  Speaker 2: were moving fast, and the FBI was still one step behind.
• 24:15
  Speaker 2: In the summer of 1996, the FBI continued their hunt
• 24:19
  Speaker 2: for escaped Alabama convicts Michael Thompson and Roger Yadin. Agents
• 24:25
  Speaker 2: suspected they had carjacked a British man who was still missing,
• 24:28
  Speaker 2: then dumped his rental car in a lake near Terre Haute, Indiana,
• 24:32
  Speaker 2: where Roger Yadin had relatives. At a nearby high school,
• 24:39
  Speaker 2: the FBI and Indiana investigators had established a satellite command post.
• 24:45
  Speaker 2: They received a court order to examine Yadin's local juvenile record.
• 24:52
  Speaker 2: They noticed that Yadin often got into trouble with one
• 24:54
  Speaker 2: particular friend. Checking the friend's background, they learned that he
• 25:00
  Speaker 2: managed a nearby auto salvage yard. Indianapolis FBI Special Agent
• 25:07
  Speaker 2: William Hamilton would chase the lead.
• 25:11
  Speaker 5: My partner and I decided that we would drive a
• 25:14
  Speaker 5: unmarked vehicle into this area in an undercover capacity under
• 25:21
  Speaker 5: the ruse of looking for a specific auto part.
• 25:28
  Speaker 2: The five-acre property was a good hiding place. It was
• 25:32
  Speaker 2: filled with a maze of cars surrounded by dense woods.
• 25:38
  Speaker 2: Agents staked out the location. They needed to confirm that
• 25:44
  Speaker 2: Yadin's childhood friend was on duty. In order to assure
• 25:53
  Speaker 2: their identities would not be discovered, they left their badges
• 25:56
  Speaker 2: and weapons in their vehicle.
• 26:00
  Speaker 5: After going all the way to the far south end
• 26:04
  Speaker 5: of the salvage yard, we noticed a trailer back in
• 26:07
  Speaker 5: the woods, and there was two white males there working.
• 26:15
  Speaker 2: The men fit the general description of the armed fugitives,
• 26:18
  Speaker 2: but the unarmed agents could not be sure. They hoped
• 26:23
  Speaker 2: to learn more from the manager. The undercover agents engaged
• 26:28
  Speaker 2: him in small talk. and confirmed that he was a
• 26:31
  Speaker 2: friend of Roger Yadin's.
• 26:33
  Speaker 5: The childhood friend, he indicated that he'd known Yadin for
• 26:37
  Speaker 5: several years. They had both came to his residence in
• 26:41
  Speaker 5: early June, and they showed up there in a red Taurus.
• 26:47
  Speaker 2: That car matched the description of the missing Major's vehicle.
• 26:52
  Speaker 2: By the time the agents finished their conversation, the two
• 26:55
  Speaker 2: men they had glimpsed earlier were gone. the FBI believed
• 27:01
  Speaker 2: those two men had been Thompson and Yadin. After assembling
• 27:09
  Speaker 2: an arrest team, agents and local officers raced back to
• 27:12
  Speaker 2: the salvage yard. On the way, they noticed a pickup
• 27:17
  Speaker 2: speeding in the opposite direction. One agent spotted Roger Yadin inside,
• 27:23
  Speaker 2: traveling with the salvage yard manager. They couldn't see if
• 27:28
  Speaker 2: Michael Thompson was also with them. Investigators gave chase. They
• 27:36
  Speaker 2: trailed the truck to a dead end. Yadin jumped out
• 27:41
  Speaker 2: and headed for the woods. The fugitive's childhood friend was
• 27:52
  Speaker 2: detained for questioning. He said Yadin had forced him to
• 28:00
  Speaker 2: lead police on a chase until he could jump out
• 28:02
  Speaker 2: of the truck. Assured he had not intentionally harbored the suspects,
• 28:08
  Speaker 2: police later released the friend.
• 28:12
  Speaker 5: The childhood friend knew nothing of their recent criminal behavior.
• 28:16
  Speaker 5: He had only knew that Yadin had been in jail
• 28:19
  Speaker 5: once for burglary.
• 28:23
  Speaker 2: Roger Yadin had eluded pursuing investigators. A canine unit was
• 28:30
  Speaker 2: called in to track him. A highly trained dog picked
• 28:39
  Speaker 2: up a scent.
• 28:40
  Speaker 6: Mike.
• 28:44
  Speaker 8: Mike.
• 28:45
  Speaker 2: Mike.
• 28:47
  Speaker 4: Right there.
• 28:52
  Speaker 2: On July 2nd, 1996, Roger Yadin decided he was finished running.
• 29:00
  Speaker 2: But his accomplice, convicted murderer Michael Thompson, was still at large.
• 29:07
  Speaker 2: Having Yadin in custody was only a partial victory, according
• 29:11
  Speaker 2: to FBI Special Agent Jack Osborne.
• 29:16
  Speaker 8: After Yadin's arrest, this is not over at all. We
• 29:20
  Speaker 8: know that we're now... dealing with another fugitive, maybe the
• 29:24
  Speaker 8: worst of the two fugitives, we do not know where
• 29:27
  Speaker 8: he's at, if he's still on the property, if he's
• 29:30
  Speaker 8: in the trailer, if he's in the woods, if he
• 29:32
  Speaker 8: has a weapon or not.
• 29:32
  Speaker 2: Come out with your hands up. Suspecting Michael Thompson took
• 29:37
  Speaker 2: refuge in the auto salvage yard's trailer, law enforcement teams
• 29:41
  Speaker 2: surrounded him.
• 29:42
  Speaker 5: Mr.
• 29:42
  Speaker 1: Thompson, this is Special Agent Hamilton with the FBI. You
• 29:46
  Speaker 1: are surrounded, I repeat.
• 29:48
  Speaker 6: With the FBI.
• 29:48
  Speaker 2: They ordered him to come out unarmed.
• 29:50
  Speaker 5: You are surrounded.
• 29:53
  Speaker 6: This is a warning.
• 29:54
  Speaker 2: Agents warned anyone inside that the trailer would be tear gassed.
• 29:57
  Speaker 2: Come out with your hands up.
• 29:59
  Speaker 6: Again, I repeat, we are going to fire tear gas.
• 30:02
  Speaker 2: There was no response.
• 30:03
  Speaker 6: Come out with your hands up.
• 30:05
  Speaker 5: The atmosphere was very tense. We did not know if
• 30:08
  Speaker 5: Thompson was inside the trailer with maybe a long gun
• 30:12
  Speaker 5: or even a handgun positioned on some of our people.
• 30:17
  Speaker 5: So we had to maintain cover all around the perimeter
• 30:20
  Speaker 5: of the trailer.
• 30:22
  Speaker 1: Come out with your hands up. You will not be harmed.
• 30:29
  Speaker 2: Authorities gave the signal to use the gas. They stormed
• 31:01
  Speaker 2: the trailer. No one knew if escaped murderer Michael Thompson
• 31:09
  Speaker 2: was armed and barricaded inside. On July 2nd, 1996, after
• 31:22
  Speaker 2: capturing Alabama fugitive Roger Yadin in Indiana, FBI agents stormed
• 31:27
  Speaker 2: a salvage yard trailer where they believed his partner was hiding.
• 31:39
  Speaker 2: But Indiana Department of Natural Resources agent Dean Jenkins and
• 31:43
  Speaker 2: his team did not find convicted killer Michael Thompson inside.
• 31:49
  Speaker 1: That was a terrible disappointment because we figured we were
• 31:51
  Speaker 1: onto him. We caught one, we were looking to get
• 31:53
  Speaker 1: the other one and pretty much make it a clean sweep,
• 31:57
  Speaker 1: and he wasn't in there.
• 32:00
  Speaker 2: Agents questioned the salvage yard manager, a childhood friend of
• 32:04
  Speaker 2: Yadin's who had unknowingly harbored the fugitives. He said he
• 32:10
  Speaker 2: had no idea where Thompson might be hiding, but he
• 32:14
  Speaker 2: did show agents where Yadin and Thompson kept their belongings.
• 32:22
  Speaker 2: From the trunk of a car, agents retrieved a suitcase
• 32:25
  Speaker 2: labeled with the name of missing British Major David Nichols.
• 32:30
  Speaker 2: The Major's clothes and personal effects were still inside. Agents
• 32:35
  Speaker 2: believed the fugitives had carjacked the Major in New Mexico.
• 32:39
  Speaker 2: The search team secured a three-mile perimeter around the salvage
• 32:42
  Speaker 2: yard and told the man to call immediately if he
• 32:45
  Speaker 2: spotted Thompson.
• 32:47
  Speaker 1: We used canines and broke up into teams of three
• 32:51
  Speaker 1: and four officers with canines and searched the area, ran
• 32:55
  Speaker 1: tracks all throughout the lot, the salvage yard area, and
• 32:59
  Speaker 1: then the surrounding woods looking for him. And that took
• 33:02
  Speaker 1: an awfully long time. That went from the time they
• 33:05
  Speaker 1: inserted the gas in the afternoon well past darkness.
• 33:12
  Speaker 2: With a convicted killer on the loose, FBI and local
• 33:15
  Speaker 2: law enforcement could not afford to wait. They patrolled roadways
• 33:21
  Speaker 2: and fields, hoping to flush Thompson from hiding. Despite hours
• 33:28
  Speaker 2: of searching, the fugitive had eluded them once again. In
• 33:36
  Speaker 2: the morning, agents considered the possibility that Thompson may have
• 33:39
  Speaker 2: somehow slipped past the perimeter. They had no way of
• 33:43
  Speaker 2: knowing if he was still in the immediate area. Then
• 33:49
  Speaker 2: Special Agent William Hamilton got the call they were hoping for.
• 33:56
  Speaker 5: On July the 3rd, the morning following the arrest of
• 34:00
  Speaker 5: Roger Yadin, the childhood friend of Yadin telephoned me and
• 34:05
  Speaker 5: advised me that The subject Thompson was asleep in the
• 34:09
  Speaker 5: junkyard in the back of one of the cars near
• 34:12
  Speaker 5: his residence, the trailer.
• 34:20
  Speaker 2: The team was concerned that Thompson would be armed. There
• 34:28
  Speaker 2: was no telling what the desperate fugitive would do when cornered.
• 34:35
  Speaker 2: Exhausted from running, the killer gave up without a fight.
• 34:41
  Speaker 2: After 43 days, 6,000 miles, and thousands of man hours,
• 34:45
  Speaker 2: the last fugitive wanted in Major Nichols' disappearance was in custody.
• 34:52
  Speaker 2: Thompson refused to talk to investigators. But Roger Yadin, apprehended
• 34:58
  Speaker 2: the day before, felt differently. Hoping for leniency from federal authorities,
• 35:05
  Speaker 2: Yadin agreed to tell investigators what they wanted to know.
• 35:11
  Speaker 2: FBI Special Agent Jack Osborne led the questioning.
• 35:19
  Speaker 8: He indicated a willingness to give us a statement to
• 35:24
  Speaker 8: provide all of the information that he and Thompson were
• 35:28
  Speaker 8: involved in to include the initial escape, to include the carjacking,
• 35:35
  Speaker 8: in Alabama, and this is the first time that we
• 35:40
  Speaker 8: learned that the British Army officer had been killed.
• 35:47
  Speaker 2: In the black pickup the pair had carjacked from Alabama,
• 35:50
  Speaker 2: the fugitives made their way to New Mexico, selling tools
• 35:53
  Speaker 2: from the truck for money. When their cash ran out,
• 35:58
  Speaker 2: they decided to rob and carjack another victim. They staked
• 36:08
  Speaker 2: out a remote rest area 100 miles south of Raton,
• 36:11
  Speaker 2: New Mexico, the last known town where British Major Nichols
• 36:14
  Speaker 2: had traveled. The convicts figured that tourists would be traveling
• 36:18
  Speaker 2: with a lot of money and waited for someone who
• 36:21
  Speaker 2: was traveling alone. That's when the British Major pulled up.
• 37:01
  Speaker 2: As they had done in Alabama, they forced their victim
• 37:03
  Speaker 2: into the trunk of the car. Thompson drove the Major's
• 37:07
  Speaker 2: rental car while Yadin followed in the truck. From Yadin's account,
• 37:12
  Speaker 2: the British Major reacted to the crime as the Major's
• 37:14
  Speaker 2: wife had predicted he would, according to Special Agent John Shum.
• 37:20
  Speaker 7: Everything she said about him is exactly what Yadin told
• 37:24
  Speaker 7: us happened, that Major Nichols was non-confrontational. He did what
• 37:30
  Speaker 7: he could to keep the situation from escalating He talked
• 37:36
  Speaker 7: about his three boys in England, about how he needed
• 37:41
  Speaker 7: to get back there for them, and he asked that
• 37:45
  Speaker 7: he not be hurt because he was concerned about what
• 37:48
  Speaker 7: would happen to his children.
• 37:55
  Speaker 2: Yadin said Thompson had planned the whole thing and that
• 37:58
  Speaker 2: he was calling the shots. They drove 50 miles until
• 38:03
  Speaker 2: it was dark, then pulled into a deserted area off
• 38:06
  Speaker 2: the highway. At gunpoint, Thompson forced Major Nichols out of
• 38:25
  Speaker 2: the trunk. Without warning, he shot him in the back
• 38:31
  Speaker 2: of the head. Thompson turned the major over and shot again.
• 38:41
  Speaker 2: They hid his body at the site, then abandoned the
• 38:43
  Speaker 2: pickup truck several miles away. Yadin said Thompson never explained
• 38:54
  Speaker 2: why he had killed this carjacking victim. The pair of
• 38:59
  Speaker 2: fugitives drove Major Nichols' car to Indiana, where they dumped
• 39:02
  Speaker 2: it in Fowler Lake. Roger Yadin had confessed his crimes
• 39:09
  Speaker 2: to the FBI, but he wanted a deal before he
• 39:13
  Speaker 2: gave up the location of Major Nichols' body.
• 39:17
  Speaker 8: He wanted to hold back until he could get some
• 39:20
  Speaker 8: assurance from the government that we would not seek the
• 39:24
  Speaker 8: death penalty against him. If that occurred, then he would...
• 39:30
  Speaker 8: willing to help us find the body of the missing
• 39:33
  Speaker 8: major if we had not located the body already.
• 39:38
  Speaker 1: All right, so let's talk about this deal.
• 39:40
  Speaker 6: What are you looking for?
• 39:41
  Speaker 2: Agents met with Yadin and his lawyer. What kind of
• 39:42
  Speaker 2: timing was that? The prisoner said he would tell them
• 39:48
  Speaker 2: where the body was if they also promised he would
• 39:50
  Speaker 2: not serve time in an Alabama state prison. Initial searches
• 39:57
  Speaker 2: without his help turned up nothing. FBI Special Agent John
• 40:02
  Speaker 2: Shum was worried the Major's body would not be found
• 40:05
  Speaker 2: without Yadin's help.
• 40:09
  Speaker 7: The most important thing for us to do was find
• 40:12
  Speaker 7: Major Nichols' body. That was going to be important to find.
• 40:15
  Speaker 7: to be successful in any prosecution, and it was important
• 40:19
  Speaker 7: for us because it was the right thing to do.
• 40:24
  Speaker 7: Since this man, since we couldn't make him safe in
• 40:28
  Speaker 7: this country, since we couldn't guarantee his safety, at least
• 40:31
  Speaker 7: we could return his body to his family.
• 40:40
  Speaker 2: Federal prosecutors agreed to the deal.
• 40:42
  Speaker 6: It's all written out.
• 40:46
  Speaker 3: What do you want me to do?
• 40:53
  Speaker 2: Yadin led investigators to a secluded spot in the New
• 40:56
  Speaker 2: Mexico wilderness. The prisoner was an accomplished escape artist, having
• 41:06
  Speaker 2: fled custody more than once.
• 41:09
  Speaker 7: We were very concerned about that because he had escaped
• 41:12
  Speaker 7: four times before in Alabama. He was obviously very good
• 41:16
  Speaker 7: at that, plus we had to be concerned about our
• 41:19
  Speaker 7: own safety. So not only did we focus on the
• 41:24
  Speaker 7: mission of finding Major Nichols' body, but we had to
• 41:27
  Speaker 7: be very, very concerned about making sure Roger Yadin was
• 41:32
  Speaker 7: not trying to deceive us and just using this as
• 41:36
  Speaker 7: a ruse to set up an escape attempt.
• 41:41
  Speaker 2: FBI field agents were wary as a SWAT team secured
• 41:44
  Speaker 2: the location. They had no way of knowing if Yadin
• 41:49
  Speaker 2: might have friends in the area waiting to strike at agents.
• 41:56
  Speaker 2: On September 24th, 1996, recaptured prisoner Roger Yadin led the
• 42:01
  Speaker 2: FBI into the New Mexico desert where he claimed the
• 42:04
  Speaker 2: body of Major David Nichols remained hidden after being murdered.
• 42:11
  Speaker 2: Yadin would be spared the death penalty if he could
• 42:13
  Speaker 2: locate the remains. FBI Special Agent John Shum recalls that
• 42:19
  Speaker 2: the likelihood of finding the body without Yadin's help was slim.
• 42:24
  Speaker 2: It was a very desolate area.
• 42:27
  Speaker 7: It was off of a very little-used two-lane highway in
• 42:30
  Speaker 7: New Mexico in a very remote area. And then off
• 42:33
  Speaker 7: this two-lane highway, we had to go down a gravel
• 42:36
  Speaker 7: road for approximately a mile. And then off the gravel road,
• 42:40
  Speaker 7: we had to drive into a cattle pasture for several
• 42:43
  Speaker 7: hundred yards. So it was incredibly remote.
• 42:47
  Speaker 2: Agents were concerned that Yadin had taken them there as
• 42:50
  Speaker 2: a ruse to effect another escape. Finally, Yadin pointed out
• 42:58
  Speaker 2: a spot to the agents.
• 43:00
  Speaker 7: There it is. And even Yadin himself seemed very somber
• 43:09
  Speaker 7: and respectful of the situation we were in, that we
• 43:13
  Speaker 7: had finally located this man's body and we're going to
• 43:17
  Speaker 7: be able to give him a proper resting place now.
• 43:25
  Speaker 2: Exposure to the elements made identification impossible. Examiners took dental x-rays,
• 43:33
  Speaker 2: which were later matched to records sent from England, Major
• 43:37
  Speaker 2: Nichols' family in Britain was notified. The officer's murderer, Michael Thompson,
• 43:46
  Speaker 2: avoided a possible death sentence by pleading guilty in federal
• 43:49
  Speaker 2: court to carjacking and murdering a foreign official. He was
• 43:54
  Speaker 2: sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole.
• 43:59
  Speaker 2: For kidnapping, robbery, and escape in Alabama, Thompson received five
• 44:03
  Speaker 2: additional life sentences. In exchange for his cooperation, Roger Yadin
• 44:16
  Speaker 2: was allowed to plead guilty to only one count of
• 44:18
  Speaker 2: carjacking and was sentenced to 18 years. Yadin was afraid
• 44:28
  Speaker 2: of Alabama state prison. As part of his deal, he
• 44:31
  Speaker 2: was to serve his sentence in a federal facility.
• 44:36
  Speaker 6: Yadin, time to get up.
• 44:37
  Speaker 2: He was temporarily held at a county jail in Las Vegas,
• 44:40
  Speaker 2: New Mexico until he could be transferred.
• 44:44
  Speaker 6: Hey, let's go.
• 44:52
  Speaker 5: Hey, get up.
• 44:54
  Speaker 2: Come on, get up. Remarkably, Roger Yadin had escaped again.
• 45:03
  Speaker 2: Two other inmates also made the breakout with Yadin. A
• 45:10
  Speaker 2: search party with a dog team tracked Yadin's scent from jail.
• 45:15
  Speaker 2: but the trail ended at an interstate highway. Later that day,
• 45:23
  Speaker 2: authorities captured one of two other inmates who escaped with Yadin.
• 45:31
  Speaker 2: The inmate had injured his leg in the attempt and
• 45:33
  Speaker 2: was unable to get far on foot. He explained to
• 45:37
  Speaker 2: authorities how they got out. He said that Yadin had
• 45:42
  Speaker 2: designed the plan In the jail's black market, he bartered
• 45:49
  Speaker 2: for an Allen wrench and a hacksaw. Yadin unlocked maintenance
• 46:01
  Speaker 2: panels to gain access to air ducts that led to
• 46:04
  Speaker 2: the roof. He cut through ductwork, then the roof to
• 46:08
  Speaker 2: get outside. A fourth man stayed behind to replace the panel.
• 46:31
  Speaker 2: The escapees moved along the roof of the jail, then
• 46:34
  Speaker 2: jumped over the wall. Once on the outside, the inmates
• 46:42
  Speaker 2: said they split up. That was the last time he
• 46:48
  Speaker 2: saw Yeadon Prison officials called FBI Special Agent John Shum
• 46:55
  Speaker 2: to give him the bad news.
• 46:58
  Speaker 7: Once I heard Yagen escaped yet again from federal custody,
• 47:01
  Speaker 7: my first reaction was, I was very angry, because here
• 47:06
  Speaker 7: was a guy that had a history of having escaped
• 47:10
  Speaker 7: numerous times in the past. The people that were responsible
• 47:13
  Speaker 7: for his custody knew his history, and they should have
• 47:18
  Speaker 7: been more careful.
• 47:22
  Speaker 2: Investigators believed Yadin would likely head toward family and friends
• 47:25
  Speaker 2: in DeKalb County, Alabama.
• 47:30
  Speaker 5: Have you seen Roger Leglet?
• 47:32
  Speaker 4: No.
• 47:32
  Speaker 2: Agents interviewed anyone Yadin might have contacted in the area,
• 47:36
  Speaker 2: including an ex-girlfriend. Have you talked to him on the phone?
• 47:40
  Speaker 2: No letter. Like the others, she said she hadn't seen
• 47:43
  Speaker 2: or heard from him.
• 47:44
  Speaker 6: I don't know if he knew anything.
• 47:46
  Speaker 2: They left a card and told her to call if
• 47:48
  Speaker 2: Yadin surfaced. After the agents left, she admitted to her
• 47:58
  Speaker 2: current boyfriend that she had let Yadin hide in her house.
• 48:03
  Speaker 2: He was upstairs in the attic. The boyfriend was upset
• 48:12
  Speaker 2: and called police. Nearby officers responded. They didn't know if
• 48:25
  Speaker 2: Yadin was armed and waiting for them. Five weeks after
• 48:35
  Speaker 2: his escape from New Mexico, officers finally cornered Roger Yadin.
• 48:43
  Speaker 2: Captured in DeKalb County, Alabama, Roger Yadin's crime spree ended
• 48:48
  Speaker 2: where it began. His escape nullified the deal with federal prosecutors.
• 48:56
  Speaker 2: He was charged with the crimes he had committed during
• 48:58
  Speaker 2: his last escape from Alabama. Alabama Assistant Attorney General David
• 49:06
  Speaker 2: Estes prosecuted Yadin in Talladega.
• 49:11
  Speaker 4: The jury in this case deliberated for a very short
• 49:13
  Speaker 4: period of time, an hour at the most. And they
• 49:16
  Speaker 4: came back and they convicted Roger Dale Yadin of three
• 49:21
  Speaker 4: counts of kidnapping in the first degree, two counts of
• 49:23
  Speaker 4: robbery in the first degree, and one count of escape
• 49:26
  Speaker 4: in the first degree.
• 49:31
  Speaker 2: Yadin received five concurrent life sentences without parole. Now in
• 49:38
  Speaker 2: maximum lockdown, Roger Yadin, will never leave Alabama prison alive. Bye.