A review of a quadruple murderer's escape from the Ionia Correctional Facility revealed staff failed to reset motion sensor alarms in the area where Michael Elliot pried open two fences -- using a pair of hobby craft scissors and his belt buckle -- until about an hour and a half after he escaped.
It was a "critical error" and failure to reset them played a "major role" in the Feb. 2 escape, according to an 8-page investigative review of Elliot's escape released by the Michigan Department of Corrections today.
"(Elliot) did not know about that security measure," MDOC spokesman Russ Marlan said. "And had that been working, had staff followed the proper protocol, most certainly he would have been detected before escaping the prison."
The sally port alarms were activated shortly before 3 p.m. but not re-set until 8:24 p.m., and two employees working in the control center monitor room remain suspended, Marlan said. A union representative could not be reached for comment.
The report also said informal prisoner counts were not performed on the day of his escape during the afternoon shift, as required by operating procedures and an alarm that detects vibration hadn't been operational for years on a fence he crawled underneath, which officials want repaired and said "may have prevented this escape."
Last month, MDOC officials talked to Elliot in La Porte County Indiana, where he is being held pending extradition to Michigan.
"Elliot claims he had no assistance and investigators could find no evidence that he had any type of inside assistance," the report said. "His escape plan was done all on his own."
He decided to do it on Super Bowl Sunday because he thought the staff may be distracted by the game, but there is no evidence that MDOC employees had diverted attention because of the football game, the document said.
Elliot told investigators he wore white thermals under his blue uniform and waited for the yard officer to turn his back before attempting the escape in white clothes, including a white mask and white shoes that helped him blend in with the snow.
He used a hook from his locker to dig out snow and crawl under a fence and went to the sally port area, where he later escaped.
Once on the lam, Elliot broke into a garage and stole a box cutter, hammer and roll of duct tape. He then abducted a woman in Ionia, who was able to escape when they stopped for gas in Middlebury, Ind., and was captured in a stolen car in La Porte County, Ind.
The report included a security action plan, which said wardens have been asked to submit a list of their top five security needs, a review of prisoner worker uniforms is under way to "establish uniforms that are more recognizable and visible in color," snow removal strategies are being re-evaluated and perimeter gates at all prisons are being reviewed for security.
Copyright 2014 - Detroit Free Press
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
