Escaped Prisoner Voluntarily Turns Himself Into Warden 38 Years After He Got Away
In 1931, a Nebraska man walked back to the prison that he had escaped from in 1893 after bargaining with God to save his life when he was shipwrecked
When prisoners escape from prison, they are constantly looking over their shoulder, fearful of being caught at any moment. However, as more time goes by, it’s a little easier to feel more confident in sustained freedom. One man was successfully on the lam for 38 years after breaking out of his cell, only to voluntarily turn himself into the same facility he left to fulfill a promise he made to save his life when he was 66 years old.
Charles E. Johnson escaped from the Lincoln, Nebraska Penitentiary in 1893 when he was 17 months into a two-year sentence for forgery — having been convicted of signing his mother’s name to a threshing machine loan contract. The experience was so harrowing, he determined he couldn’t stay for the remainder of his term. He was serving as a trusty, which allowed him to be in the engine house, which was located outside of the prison — allowing him to effect his escape by simply walking away.
Fast forward to 1931, Johnson was 66 years old and had been a “free man” for some 38 years…
