‘Devil in the Ozarks’ investigators uncover how murderer escaped prison before manhunt
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Arkansas lawmakers questioned officials with the state’s Department of Corrections on Thursday about the escape of a dangerous inmate nicknamed the “Devil in the Ozarks” in late May.
Grant Hardin, a 56-year-old murderer and rapist, was captured on June 6, approximately 1.5 miles north-northwest of the North Central Unit prison facility from which he escaped on May 25, the Izard County Sheriff’s Office said.
DOC Chairman Benny Magness told Arkansas State Sen. Fredrick Love during a Thursday hearing that while no officials actively had helped Hardin escape, a kitchen supervisor had allowed the inmate — who worked in the kitchen — to work on the back dock without supervision, which Magness noted is “against policy.”
“Then, the guy in the tower that let him through the gate…you don’t open that gate for anybody or anything when there’s not a ground person there to verify who it is who is wanting to exit the prison,” Magness said, adding that those two employees were terminated for workplace violations.
NOTORIOUS ‘DEVIL IN THE OZARKS’ FINALLY CAUGHT WEEKS AFTER LONG MANHUNT THAT DREW MULTIPLE AGENCIES
The DOC chairman also said the “stars had to line up” for Hardin to successfully escape. He fled the prison around 3 p.m. that Sunday through a sally port in the detention facility, wearing a makeshift ADC-style uniform, ADC communications director Rand Champion said previously, noting the uniform he had been wearing was not official.
Magness also said Hardin apparently used a black “magic marker” to dye his clothing as part of his disguise.
“I did actually see the little badge that he made out of a soup can top,” Magness said.
Hardin was serving an 80-year sentence for the 2017 murder of James Appleton and a previously unsolved 1997 rape case.
ARKANSAS OFFICIALS RELEASE NEW PHOTO OF ESCAPED ‘DEVIL IN THE OZARKS’ ON RUN FOR WEEKS
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Multiple federal, state and local agencies were involved in the search for Hardin in the weeks following his escape.
“I’m incredibly appreciative to all of our dedicated law enforcement agencies that spent countless hours, both day and night, sacrificing their time, utilizing their resources and lending their invaluable expertise to this search,” Arkansas Secretary of Corrections Lindsay Wallace said after Hardin was captured on June 6.
“To every one of our Department staff that assisted in this manhunt over the last 13 days, I give my heartfelt thank you for your immeasurable contributions to bring this search to a peaceful conclusion.”
Fox News Digital’s Sarah Rumpf-Whitten contributed to this report.