Steven Jay Russell

He was born in September in 1954. He became famous when he ran away from the jail to look after his boyfriend Jim Kemple. He scaped on March 13th 1992 from Harris County Jail, Houston, Texas.

He was sentenced to serve ten years for insurance fraud, another six months for passport fraud and Virginia wanted 90 days of jail time from him for theft, but Russell decided to escape because his boyfriend had AIDS and he was near to die.

He studiously observed the prison’s guards, acquired a t-shirt and some red sweat pants and stole a Walkie Talkie. When the time was right he changed out of his prison jumpsuit, into his new clothes, walked past the prison guards, into the visitors’ area and out through the front door.

Russell and Kemple fled to Mexico City, only returning to America because of money issues and Kemple’s health. Russell spent two years on the run with Kemple, caring for him as his health deteriorated. Eventually the police tracked Russell down in Philadelphia. He was back in custody. Kemple died a few weeks later, which devastated Russell.

In the spring of the following year, 1995, Russell met Phillip Morris in the prison law library. Morris was serving time for automobile-related theft. They fell in love. By the end of the year they were both paroled and set about building a life together. Eager to provide for Morris, Russell falsified his resume and got a job as the CFO of a health management organisation called NAMM. During the four months he worked for them, in early 1996, he stole $800,000. 

Russell was back in jail at the end of May 1996. Pending trial and facing a 45-year sentence for theft, his bail was initially set at $900,000. Russell decided 45 years was simply too long to serve. Impersonating a judge, he called the district clerk’s office and reduced his bail amount to $45,000. Once free on bail, he fled. It was his second escape. Three days later however he’d been caught and was back in jail. 

His third escape happened five months later when he again walked out the prison’s front door. This time he was dressed as a doctor, having dyed a white pair of prison scrubs green using water and Magic Marker pens. He and Phillip fled to Mississippi, but were arrested within ten days. 

Russell’s fourth and final escape was his most audacious. He falsified his medical records, lost a huge amount of weight and faked the symptoms of late stage AIDS. Believing he was about to die the authorities admitted him to a hospice near San Antonio on special needs parole in March 1998. Next, Russell called the hospice from an internal phone, impersonating a doctor specialising in experimental AIDS treatment. He had himself taken away from the centre to take part in the fictitious treatment and later declared himself dead. He was free. 

While out on the run, Russell (determined to get Morris out of prison) managed to make up an attorney's bar card. He then called the Estelle Unit where Morris was serving his time, posing as a judge, and issued a bench warrant to have Morris moved to a Dallas prison so he could visit him disguised as his attorney Jean Louis without being recognized. U.S. Marshals visited the prison to find Russell already gone. He then dropped off the radar for a period of time.

On March 20, 1998, Russell posed as a millionaire from Virginia in an attempt to legitimize a $75,000 loan from NationsBank in Dallas; when bank officials became suspicious and alerted the police, Russell feigned a heart attack and was transported to a hospital. Russell was placed on security watch but he impersonated an FBI agent and called the hospital on his cell phone to tell them he could be released.

U.S. Marshals later tracked Russell down in Florida where they arrested him when he went to retrieve a fax. Russell was then sentenced to a total of 144 years in prison (99 years for the escapes and 45 years for subsequent scams).

As of 2010, Russell, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, is located in the Polunsky Unit, on a 23-hour lockup, only having one free hour a day to shower and exercise to prevent him from escaping. His release date from prison is July 12, 2140.