Wednesday January 24 1:40 PM ET
Last Two Texas Prison Fugitives Surrender

By Clark Curtis

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Reuters) - The last two of the notorious ``Texas Seven'' prison fugitives, feared as armed and extremely dangerous, gave up peacefully in Colorado on Wednesday,
ending one of the most intense U.S. manhunts in decades.

Patrick Murphy, 39, and Donald Newbury, 38, walked out of a hotel room backwards with their shirts off after police allowed them to be interviewed by a local television station.

In the interview, they lashed out at the Texas penal system, which they said was ruining the lives of young inmates. But they expressed no sorrow for their alleged role in shooting a police officer in Texas last month.

Officials were visibly relieved that the surrender took place without violence. ``All of us in our heart of hearts believed this could have ended up in a gun battle. We are elated with the outcome,'' Mark Mershon, special FBI agent in charge of Colorado, said after the 5 hours and 45 minutes of negotiations.

The hunt for the fugitives took on an air of the Wild West and prompted comparisons with the 1930s infamous bank robbers Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker. Acting on a tip, police on Monday captured four members of the gang in a trailer that was their hideout in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. A seventh killed himself with a gun.

Police allowed the duo to speak with a television reporter -- who was in the command post at the hotel -- because of the rapport the police had established with the two during the negotiations by telephone, Colorado Springs police department spokesman Lt. Skip Arms told reporters.

Police Relieved

``We feel very fortunate that this happened without injury to anybody,'' Arms said moments after the two walked out of a Holiday Inn hotel room that was a virtual mini-arsenal with two shotguns and 10 pistols, all loaded.

Police said they were able to account for all 60 weapons the seven had assembled in their six-week saga.

Newbury was serving a 99-year sentence for armed robbery and Murphy a 50-year sentence for aggravated sexual assault.

The hotel they were holed up in was very close to where they had abandoned a brown van that was discovered on Tuesday morning. They surrendered about 20 miles from where the rest of the gang
were captured.

Police got a tip from a hotel employee who reported a ''suspicious and evasive'' guest. Police, who still did not know the complaint was about the convicts, simply telephoned the room, Arms said. When police realized they had found the last two, dozens of police and SWAT team members surrounded the hotel.

Mershon said police were investigating the possibility that accomplices helped the seven, but declined to elaborate.

The seven were wanted for killing a police officer, Aubrey Hawkins, in Irving, Texas in a Christmas Eve robbery at a sporting goods store where cash and weapons were taken, allowing the fugitives to finance their life on the run.

Weapons Stolen

They stole 44 weapons from the sporting goods store, 15 during their prison escape and one from the police officer they allegedly shot.

Texas officials have said they plan to seek the death penalty for the slaying of the police officer.

Hawkins' mother Jayne Hawkins, who has launched a vocal one-woman campaign to reform Texas prison security since her son's death, said she was relieved by the surrender.

``I'm elated and relieved. Now we're safe, now we can begin to move forward and make sure this never happens again,'' she told reporters at her home in Dallas.

``I heard one of the escapees say the Texas prison system is as corrupt as they are. So I think my cause has been strengthened, don't you?''

Irving Police Chief Lowell Cannaday welcomed the capture of the last two men a month to the day after officer Hawkins died in a hail of gunfire that left him with 11 bullet wounds.

``We are just so happy that these people have been caught,'' Cannaday told reporters.

Jayne Hawkins has taken up complaints by the Texas prison guard association that the nation's second-largest prison system is understaffed, guards are underpaid with starting salaries under
$20,000 and turnover is too high.

The Texas Department of Criminal Justice has disputed that staffing or pay levels contributed to the Dec. 13 escape. Instead, the department's own report on the break-out blamed security lapses by guards and as a consequence the warden was replaced and three guards disciplined.

Rambling Interview

All Murphy and Newbury wanted to talk about in the rambling interview was their view of the Texas prison system. ``Maybe this will open the eyes of some people,'' Murphy said.

Newbury complained that he had to ``threaten to beat up'' his attorney so he could get another one who would see him in prison. He complained that he was sent to prison for 99 years for a robbery that netted $68.

The two said the gang picked Colorado to hide out at random because they were trying to get away from a blizzard in Texas after the Christmas robbery.

Each escapee spoke for five minutes with local television reporter Eric Singer of KTTV. Singer, in a very calm voice, reminded them of their promise to surrender.

Singer said he was nervous beforehand. ``I hope I don't mess up and I hope I don't touch off any hot buttons to exasperate the situation,'' he said he was thinking just moments before the interviews started.

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