1 00:00:08,133 --> 00:00:10,135 [distant chatter] 2 00:00:11,970 --> 00:00:13,054 [door opens] 3 00:00:13,763 --> 00:00:14,639 [door slams] 4 00:00:14,723 --> 00:00:18,101 [man] The last thing I want is for Lester Eubanks to die a free man. 5 00:00:20,186 --> 00:00:21,688 [woman] He murdered my sister. 6 00:00:22,897 --> 00:00:24,065 The Bible says... 7 00:00:24,858 --> 00:00:26,276 you take a life, you... 8 00:00:27,152 --> 00:00:28,153 give your life. 9 00:00:29,821 --> 00:00:31,990 [man] To go from death row 10 00:00:32,532 --> 00:00:34,284 to the shopping mall, 11 00:00:34,909 --> 00:00:37,203 and then allow him to escape... 12 00:00:38,580 --> 00:00:40,123 is unfathomable. 13 00:00:41,291 --> 00:00:42,292 I want him caught. 14 00:00:46,296 --> 00:00:49,799 [suspenseful main theme playing] 15 00:01:22,916 --> 00:01:24,084 [car horn toots] 16 00:01:32,258 --> 00:01:34,594 [woman] Well, I've been here since I was three. 17 00:01:35,762 --> 00:01:37,764 It was a great place to live. 18 00:01:39,099 --> 00:01:42,769 Like any small town, just everybody knew everybody. 19 00:01:45,188 --> 00:01:47,482 Mansfield was a very safe place. 20 00:01:48,817 --> 00:01:54,197 I never remember feeling, um, scared or afraid or... 21 00:01:54,906 --> 00:01:56,741 of something happening to me. 22 00:01:59,619 --> 00:02:00,453 Never. 23 00:02:03,123 --> 00:02:04,499 [children giggling] 24 00:02:04,582 --> 00:02:06,000 [birds singing] 25 00:02:06,084 --> 00:02:07,293 [bicycle bell rings] 26 00:02:07,377 --> 00:02:08,795 [Myrtle] Mary Ellen was a... 27 00:02:09,420 --> 00:02:12,465 She was a... uh, you know, just a typical little girl. 28 00:02:13,383 --> 00:02:14,968 Riding bikes and... 29 00:02:15,635 --> 00:02:16,845 hopscotch and... 30 00:02:18,096 --> 00:02:19,806 you know, playing with dolls. 31 00:02:20,515 --> 00:02:22,308 Oh, she had a lot of friends. 32 00:02:23,143 --> 00:02:25,979 She was just a... giggly girl. 33 00:02:26,062 --> 00:02:27,689 That's all I remember her doing, 34 00:02:27,772 --> 00:02:29,774 just giggling with her friends. 35 00:02:32,026 --> 00:02:35,155 There was seven of us. 36 00:02:36,030 --> 00:02:38,908 We all had things that we had to do in the home. 37 00:02:39,576 --> 00:02:42,954 The boys, trash and mopping the floor. 38 00:02:43,872 --> 00:02:47,792 And the girls did, like, the dishes, 39 00:02:47,876 --> 00:02:51,963 and washing, and folding clothes, and, um... 40 00:02:52,046 --> 00:02:52,881 and all that. 41 00:02:52,964 --> 00:02:54,966 [water running] 42 00:02:55,675 --> 00:02:59,012 That's how she came about doing the laundry that night. 43 00:03:01,139 --> 00:03:04,893 Mary Ellen and Brenda had washed all the clothes, 44 00:03:04,976 --> 00:03:05,935 and, um... 45 00:03:07,437 --> 00:03:11,399 they ended up with wet clothes because the dryer broke. 46 00:03:13,776 --> 00:03:16,154 So, they had to get a taxi 47 00:03:16,237 --> 00:03:19,657 to go to take the wet clothes to the laundromat. 48 00:03:21,576 --> 00:03:25,205 Mom felt comfortable sending them there at that time of night 49 00:03:25,288 --> 00:03:29,167 because my grandmother lived right next door to the laundromat, 50 00:03:29,250 --> 00:03:33,338 and they knew they could go there if anything happened. 51 00:03:38,051 --> 00:03:39,844 [dryer whirs] 52 00:03:39,928 --> 00:03:42,722 They got there, and they were... was drying the clothes 53 00:03:42,805 --> 00:03:44,474 and they run out of change. 54 00:03:45,892 --> 00:03:49,979 And, uh, Mary Ellen went to the other laundromat 55 00:03:50,063 --> 00:03:52,065 to get change. 56 00:03:53,942 --> 00:03:56,486 Take five minutes to walk that distance. 57 00:04:04,327 --> 00:04:06,037 [vehicle drives past] 58 00:04:08,039 --> 00:04:08,873 [dog barks] 59 00:04:13,086 --> 00:04:15,546 And then, when she didn't come back... 60 00:04:17,382 --> 00:04:19,592 Brenda went to my grandmother's 61 00:04:19,676 --> 00:04:22,845 and told her that Mary Ellen had went to get change 62 00:04:22,929 --> 00:04:24,472 and she wasn't back yet. 63 00:04:25,515 --> 00:04:28,518 And my grandmother told her to stay there and she'd go... 64 00:04:29,227 --> 00:04:30,061 and, uh... 65 00:04:30,812 --> 00:04:32,313 see if she could find her. 66 00:04:39,529 --> 00:04:43,449 On her way down there, she saw the police. 67 00:04:46,786 --> 00:04:49,205 And she eventually saw 68 00:04:49,289 --> 00:04:51,624 that it was Mary Ellen there... 69 00:04:53,334 --> 00:04:54,961 and what had happened to her. 70 00:04:59,674 --> 00:05:02,135 [man] Mary Ellen had been, uh, shot. 71 00:05:09,851 --> 00:05:11,853 [indistinct radio messages] 72 00:05:12,520 --> 00:05:15,606 The police were able to determine 73 00:05:15,690 --> 00:05:18,985 what caliber of gun that, uh... 74 00:05:19,652 --> 00:05:21,070 she was shot with. 75 00:05:22,613 --> 00:05:25,783 So, they started going to all the gun stores 76 00:05:25,867 --> 00:05:30,413 and hardware stores that sold guns in, uh... Mansfield. 77 00:05:31,622 --> 00:05:35,001 They ended up at the Diamond Hardware up on South Diamond Street, 78 00:05:35,376 --> 00:05:37,211 and they asked to see the books. 79 00:05:39,547 --> 00:05:43,926 They see a weapon that fit the description of the gun 80 00:05:44,010 --> 00:05:46,429 that was used to shoot Mary Ellen. 81 00:05:48,556 --> 00:05:51,434 And it was purchased by Lester Eubanks. 82 00:05:57,273 --> 00:06:00,818 And then they start really beating the bushes, 83 00:06:00,902 --> 00:06:02,195 talking to informants, 84 00:06:02,278 --> 00:06:06,115 and some informant said he saw Lester Eubanks 85 00:06:06,657 --> 00:06:09,035 in that area earlier in the night, 86 00:06:09,118 --> 00:06:11,079 before the crime occurred. 87 00:06:13,331 --> 00:06:14,707 [Myrtle] Lester Eubanks. 88 00:06:15,333 --> 00:06:17,418 He was just a guy that walked down the street, 89 00:06:17,502 --> 00:06:18,961 I never knew who he was. 90 00:06:19,462 --> 00:06:20,963 [birds cry] 91 00:06:21,964 --> 00:06:24,008 But I just always thought he was weird, 92 00:06:24,634 --> 00:06:26,677 and appeared to be a loner. 93 00:06:27,804 --> 00:06:30,098 Always had these nunchucks with him, 94 00:06:30,181 --> 00:06:32,475 those karate sticks. 95 00:06:32,558 --> 00:06:35,561 That's what he'd do with them, walk up and down the street. 96 00:06:39,816 --> 00:06:42,151 [man] Lester Eubanks grew up in Mansfield. 97 00:06:43,569 --> 00:06:45,405 He's a sharp-looking man. 98 00:06:45,488 --> 00:06:46,948 He is well-liked. 99 00:06:47,573 --> 00:06:49,325 Easily... 100 00:06:49,409 --> 00:06:51,202 um, can fit into anywhere. 101 00:06:53,955 --> 00:06:56,416 But he was also what we would consider to... 102 00:06:56,499 --> 00:06:59,293 to label a sexual predator, today. 103 00:07:00,253 --> 00:07:01,462 [John] Lester Eubanks. 104 00:07:01,546 --> 00:07:04,966 He had been arrested two times in the past 105 00:07:05,550 --> 00:07:07,176 for sex offenses. 106 00:07:08,428 --> 00:07:10,054 And at the time of the homicide, 107 00:07:10,138 --> 00:07:13,349 he was out on bond for a rape attempt. 108 00:07:14,809 --> 00:07:17,854 [sighs] This... this guy shouldn't have even been out. 109 00:07:22,733 --> 00:07:23,734 [door closes] 110 00:07:32,160 --> 00:07:33,286 Sunday morning, 111 00:07:33,369 --> 00:07:36,706 officers, uh, picked him up, took him to the police station. 112 00:07:36,789 --> 00:07:37,623 [phone ringing] 113 00:07:37,707 --> 00:07:40,460 They conducted an interview of him. 114 00:07:41,961 --> 00:07:43,421 He confessed. 115 00:07:45,256 --> 00:07:46,090 And... 116 00:07:46,632 --> 00:07:47,717 we had the right man. 117 00:07:55,683 --> 00:07:57,977 [David] His confession was pretty detailed... 118 00:07:59,187 --> 00:08:01,772 in explaining what he did to this little girl. 119 00:08:05,234 --> 00:08:08,404 That night, Lester Eubanks was just hanging in the area. 120 00:08:10,239 --> 00:08:11,449 He sees an opportunity. 121 00:08:11,991 --> 00:08:14,494 He sees this beautiful little girl walk past him. 122 00:08:15,203 --> 00:08:18,456 He grabs her, pulls her behind the house. 123 00:08:19,248 --> 00:08:20,416 She starts to scream. 124 00:08:27,507 --> 00:08:29,884 [muffled screaming] 125 00:08:32,970 --> 00:08:34,472 Shoots her twice. 126 00:08:34,555 --> 00:08:35,973 Um, her screaming stops. 127 00:08:39,060 --> 00:08:40,811 [John] Eubanks left the scene, 128 00:08:40,895 --> 00:08:43,314 went around the corner to his apartment. 129 00:08:45,566 --> 00:08:47,777 Got dressed to go downtown and go dancing. 130 00:08:50,404 --> 00:08:52,281 And on his way downtown, 131 00:08:52,365 --> 00:08:55,409 come back by the scene of the crime, 132 00:08:55,493 --> 00:08:57,245 and Mary Ellen was, uh... 133 00:08:59,872 --> 00:09:01,666 writhing in ag... agony. 134 00:09:04,710 --> 00:09:06,879 She was still alive after being shot, 135 00:09:07,713 --> 00:09:08,839 wanting help, 136 00:09:09,674 --> 00:09:10,675 so he helped her. 137 00:09:12,677 --> 00:09:14,804 [David] "I picked up a brick in the alley 138 00:09:14,887 --> 00:09:17,306 and I went back to where this little girl..." 139 00:09:17,390 --> 00:09:18,766 I can't even read any more. 140 00:09:19,433 --> 00:09:20,434 He went back. 141 00:09:21,519 --> 00:09:22,520 He admitted to it. 142 00:09:23,437 --> 00:09:24,397 He's a monster. 143 00:09:25,856 --> 00:09:26,774 He's a monster. 144 00:09:29,777 --> 00:09:30,778 It's disgusting. 145 00:09:34,782 --> 00:09:35,783 [dogs barking] 146 00:09:37,785 --> 00:09:38,786 [birds chirping] 147 00:09:39,328 --> 00:09:41,539 [Myrtle] Sometime during that morning, 148 00:09:41,622 --> 00:09:42,873 the detectives came 149 00:09:43,583 --> 00:09:46,502 and told us why they were there and... 150 00:09:48,671 --> 00:09:51,048 I... Just total shock and... 151 00:09:52,925 --> 00:09:53,968 couldn't believe it. 152 00:09:54,927 --> 00:09:58,222 My mother was hysterical, crying, and... 153 00:09:58,848 --> 00:10:01,183 my sister Brenda was, uh... 154 00:10:01,267 --> 00:10:03,561 She was in shock for a long time. 155 00:10:05,229 --> 00:10:07,106 Yeah, I think it affected her... 156 00:10:08,149 --> 00:10:09,942 up until the time she died. 157 00:10:11,902 --> 00:10:14,947 I can't imagine having to deal with that. 158 00:10:17,908 --> 00:10:23,039 [David] This monster takes her entire family's world 159 00:10:23,122 --> 00:10:24,832 and just crushes it, 160 00:10:24,915 --> 00:10:27,126 and changes their future. 161 00:10:34,550 --> 00:10:38,346 [Myrtle] I went to the trial daily because I wanted him to know 162 00:10:38,429 --> 00:10:42,141 that she had a lot of people that cared about her and loved her, 163 00:10:42,224 --> 00:10:45,561 and what he had taken from, you know, the world. 164 00:10:46,854 --> 00:10:48,814 I just wanted him to know we cared. 165 00:10:50,024 --> 00:10:51,025 [man] He testified. 166 00:10:51,609 --> 00:10:53,778 He... wanted to get up there 167 00:10:53,861 --> 00:10:57,448 and I think that's really the... uh, a trait of a narcissist. 168 00:10:59,784 --> 00:11:02,119 He didn't seem to show any remorse at all, 169 00:11:02,203 --> 00:11:04,163 other than the fact that he was caught. 170 00:11:04,246 --> 00:11:05,456 [gavel bangs] 171 00:11:05,539 --> 00:11:07,917 Upon his confession in the courtroom, 172 00:11:08,000 --> 00:11:11,879 he was convicted by a jury of his peers. He was sentenced to death. 173 00:11:14,548 --> 00:11:16,300 [Dale] He was sent to the death row 174 00:11:17,009 --> 00:11:18,302 in the Ohio prison system. 175 00:11:20,221 --> 00:11:22,139 [Myrtle] Everybody was happy. 176 00:11:22,223 --> 00:11:24,725 It was wrapped up in a bow. 177 00:11:26,310 --> 00:11:27,144 For a while. 178 00:11:32,900 --> 00:11:37,071 [man] The Ohio Penitentiary was located in downtown Columbus. 179 00:11:37,571 --> 00:11:40,741 And that is where Lester Eubanks was confined 180 00:11:40,825 --> 00:11:43,994 on his conviction from, uh, Richland County. 181 00:11:49,083 --> 00:11:50,626 [man] I knew Lester Eubanks. 182 00:11:52,253 --> 00:11:53,546 I didn't go around him. 183 00:11:55,381 --> 00:11:58,134 I wasn't afraid of him, just that I didn't like him. 184 00:11:59,009 --> 00:12:01,137 I didn't know what he was there for except murder. 185 00:12:02,805 --> 00:12:05,224 Lester was... a tall guy. 186 00:12:06,100 --> 00:12:07,143 Very cocky. 187 00:12:07,893 --> 00:12:09,145 Very opinionated. 188 00:12:10,438 --> 00:12:12,606 Lester was, was... had an attitude. 189 00:12:13,441 --> 00:12:16,777 Was a lot of people he didn't like, a lot of things he didn't like. 190 00:12:18,904 --> 00:12:20,614 He was basically a loner. 191 00:12:22,450 --> 00:12:25,286 Painting or writing, or doing whatever he done, you know? 192 00:12:26,787 --> 00:12:32,168 [David] Eubanks was allowed to have, um, paintbrushes and canvases. 193 00:12:32,752 --> 00:12:35,129 That was not unusual for any prisoner 194 00:12:35,212 --> 00:12:37,882 on death row in the '60s and '70s, 195 00:12:37,965 --> 00:12:41,010 to be able to utilize whatever skills they had. 196 00:12:41,552 --> 00:12:45,222 They were able to eat their time doing something constructive. 197 00:12:53,814 --> 00:12:58,277 Three separate times, his execution was pushed back 198 00:12:58,360 --> 00:13:00,070 for unknown reasons. 199 00:13:00,863 --> 00:13:04,366 And then finally, it was pushed because, 1972, 200 00:13:04,450 --> 00:13:06,827 the death penalty was abolished. 201 00:13:11,332 --> 00:13:14,585 [Ron] The United States Supreme Court in 1972 found 202 00:13:14,668 --> 00:13:16,921 that the death penalty was administered 203 00:13:17,004 --> 00:13:19,298 in an arbitrary and capricious method. 204 00:13:22,301 --> 00:13:26,597 So, Eubanks, along with, uh, other Ohio death row prisoners, 205 00:13:26,680 --> 00:13:28,599 had to have their sentence set aside 206 00:13:28,682 --> 00:13:32,186 and it reverted to a life sentence. 207 00:13:34,021 --> 00:13:36,690 I was angry. I was angry. 208 00:13:38,108 --> 00:13:40,361 And... shocked and... 209 00:13:43,239 --> 00:13:44,949 um... confused. 210 00:13:47,117 --> 00:13:50,830 But if we can't do anything about some things, you have to... 211 00:13:52,081 --> 00:13:52,915 let it go. 212 00:13:54,124 --> 00:13:55,793 Um, that's what we did. 213 00:13:56,418 --> 00:13:58,254 We went on with our lives, 214 00:13:58,337 --> 00:14:00,047 knowing that he was in prison. 215 00:14:00,506 --> 00:14:02,341 [distant voices] 216 00:14:05,177 --> 00:14:08,722 [David] After the death penalty was... 217 00:14:08,806 --> 00:14:10,266 um, abolished, 218 00:14:11,058 --> 00:14:13,686 Lester Eubanks was put into general population. 219 00:14:14,687 --> 00:14:18,399 ["Bill"] He could put on a facade, where he looks like a good guy, 220 00:14:18,482 --> 00:14:19,525 but he's not. 221 00:14:21,193 --> 00:14:22,653 [David] He's a smooth talker. 222 00:14:23,445 --> 00:14:24,697 He won the guards over, 223 00:14:24,780 --> 00:14:29,368 and there's no other reasonable explanation than that. 224 00:14:30,744 --> 00:14:33,706 They allowed him to go into this honor program. 225 00:14:35,958 --> 00:14:40,379 [Ron] At the time, there was a national reform kind of movement 226 00:14:40,462 --> 00:14:44,884 to, uh, do things, uh, in a prison with inmates 227 00:14:44,967 --> 00:14:47,219 to help them prepare for life on the outside. 228 00:14:49,388 --> 00:14:53,934 Eubanks became eligible for this honor or trustee program 229 00:14:54,018 --> 00:14:56,353 that allowed him, under certain circumstances, 230 00:14:56,437 --> 00:14:58,856 to, uh... venture outside the prison. 231 00:15:00,524 --> 00:15:04,945 Sometimes they were allowed to drive trucks from prison to prison. 232 00:15:05,029 --> 00:15:08,198 Sometimes they were permitted outside in the presence of a guard 233 00:15:08,282 --> 00:15:09,992 to go run errands. 234 00:15:10,701 --> 00:15:15,414 The rationale was to reward prisoners for good behavior. 235 00:15:15,831 --> 00:15:18,751 That would help them both control the population 236 00:15:18,834 --> 00:15:21,170 as well as incentivize good conduct. 237 00:15:22,880 --> 00:15:27,134 [David] He was in several art shows, um, where he won awards. 238 00:15:27,217 --> 00:15:29,553 You see photographs of him standing there 239 00:15:29,637 --> 00:15:33,641 with these people that don't know who he is, or what he did. 240 00:15:35,267 --> 00:15:37,353 He was a serial sex offender. 241 00:15:37,436 --> 00:15:40,940 Today, we know that he's probably one of the last people you'd wanna... 242 00:15:41,607 --> 00:15:45,110 let in that program because of their recidivism rate. 243 00:15:46,278 --> 00:15:48,364 Or, uh, you know, ability to reoffend. 244 00:15:48,781 --> 00:15:50,324 That was a real bad idea. 245 00:15:55,037 --> 00:15:57,498 [Ron] As part of this furlough program, 246 00:15:57,581 --> 00:16:00,501 four prisoners, along with, uh, Lester Eubanks, 247 00:16:00,793 --> 00:16:03,253 were permitted to go on a Christmas shopping trip. 248 00:16:03,337 --> 00:16:05,130 Merry Christmas! 249 00:16:06,757 --> 00:16:08,092 [David] Money in hand, 250 00:16:08,175 --> 00:16:09,802 and he's in civilian attire. 251 00:16:10,761 --> 00:16:13,639 They're given instructions, of course. "Hey, you go ahead. 252 00:16:13,722 --> 00:16:15,641 Do your shopping for your families. 253 00:16:17,434 --> 00:16:20,062 You have to report back by 2 p.m." 254 00:16:21,021 --> 00:16:23,607 [Ron] And rather than staying together as a group, 255 00:16:23,691 --> 00:16:26,819 uh, they were permitted to leave the presence of the guard 256 00:16:26,902 --> 00:16:30,072 and be on their own, shopping among the public. 257 00:16:39,289 --> 00:16:41,417 It was a period of two to three hours later 258 00:16:41,500 --> 00:16:43,919 where they were gonna meet at a particular place, 259 00:16:44,003 --> 00:16:45,254 and when that time came, 260 00:16:45,337 --> 00:16:48,716 uh, Lester Eubanks did not report back to the agreed meeting place. 261 00:16:54,930 --> 00:16:55,973 [shop bell rings] 262 00:17:01,770 --> 00:17:02,855 [bell rings] 263 00:17:04,189 --> 00:17:06,108 [David] He avoided the electric chair. 264 00:17:07,276 --> 00:17:10,362 He avoided a lifetime in a prison cell. 265 00:17:11,405 --> 00:17:13,991 Lester Eubanks was allowed to walk away. 266 00:17:16,660 --> 00:17:18,579 What were they hoping to accomplish 267 00:17:18,662 --> 00:17:21,582 with this absurd program of taking a... 268 00:17:22,958 --> 00:17:24,626 a child murderer... 269 00:17:25,252 --> 00:17:26,503 to go Christmas shopping, 270 00:17:26,587 --> 00:17:29,715 and not even having a guard stand beside him the entire time? 271 00:17:31,633 --> 00:17:33,635 It... it just is baffling. 272 00:17:36,722 --> 00:17:38,182 [phone rings] 273 00:17:39,683 --> 00:17:41,393 [Myrtle] And my mom called me. 274 00:17:41,477 --> 00:17:46,190 She said sheriff called her and told her that he had escaped. 275 00:17:47,483 --> 00:17:49,234 She was... she was real upset. 276 00:17:50,486 --> 00:17:51,653 I was angry, 277 00:17:52,071 --> 00:17:53,238 and shocked, and... 278 00:17:54,698 --> 00:17:57,743 Christmas shopping is all we could think. 279 00:17:57,826 --> 00:18:00,120 How do you go Christmas shopping from prison? 280 00:18:05,209 --> 00:18:08,670 No one really knows how he escaped from the immediate area, 281 00:18:08,754 --> 00:18:10,380 Great Southern Shopping Center, 282 00:18:10,464 --> 00:18:13,342 but, uh, I don't think he could have done that 283 00:18:13,425 --> 00:18:15,886 if this was a spur-of-the-moment decision by him. 284 00:18:18,180 --> 00:18:19,807 There had to have been planning, 285 00:18:19,890 --> 00:18:23,143 I think he had to have made some kind of arrangements in advance. 286 00:18:23,227 --> 00:18:24,520 [door buzzes] 287 00:18:25,104 --> 00:18:27,648 [David] It was found that when he was in prison, 288 00:18:28,023 --> 00:18:31,193 his visitation list was alarming. 289 00:18:31,276 --> 00:18:32,486 [inaudible speech] 290 00:18:32,569 --> 00:18:35,948 [David] Eubanks had visitors regularly show up at the prison. 291 00:18:36,865 --> 00:18:40,369 But the visitations just prior to his escape 292 00:18:40,744 --> 00:18:42,079 truly escalate. 293 00:18:42,162 --> 00:18:45,290 You know, you go from once a month regularly for years 294 00:18:45,833 --> 00:18:49,795 to once a week, and then all of a sudden, you walk away? 295 00:18:49,878 --> 00:18:51,130 That's suspicious. 296 00:18:52,339 --> 00:18:53,590 It was pre-planned. 297 00:18:54,341 --> 00:18:56,969 It makes you believe that those visitors... 298 00:18:57,511 --> 00:18:59,179 had a little bit of culpability. 299 00:19:00,264 --> 00:19:02,766 [Ron] The theory was that someone from his family 300 00:19:02,850 --> 00:19:05,227 that, uh, supported him may have helped him, 301 00:19:05,310 --> 00:19:07,354 or it wouldn't have been so successful. 302 00:19:09,773 --> 00:19:12,985 [David] His family was talked to, his associates were talked to, 303 00:19:13,068 --> 00:19:15,737 and they failed to surrender any information, 304 00:19:15,821 --> 00:19:17,197 um, to where he was at. 305 00:19:18,615 --> 00:19:22,202 I don't know how anyone cannot think 306 00:19:22,286 --> 00:19:24,163 that this was premeditated. 307 00:19:24,246 --> 00:19:26,999 His ability to become an honor inmate, 308 00:19:27,082 --> 00:19:29,459 this is him earning the trust of the guards, 309 00:19:29,543 --> 00:19:31,086 trust of the prison system. 310 00:19:31,170 --> 00:19:34,840 And it's his ability to become that chameleon to fit... 311 00:19:34,923 --> 00:19:36,675 to... to walk outside the walls. 312 00:19:39,094 --> 00:19:41,013 After Eubanks' escape, 313 00:19:41,096 --> 00:19:45,642 Franklin County Sheriff's Office put a local warrant in the system, 314 00:19:45,726 --> 00:19:48,854 and the FBI took out a federal arrest warrant. 315 00:19:48,937 --> 00:19:51,273 This warrant is gonna be a nationwide pickup, 316 00:19:51,356 --> 00:19:54,860 meaning that if he is caught anywhere in the continental United States, 317 00:19:54,943 --> 00:19:58,197 he's gonna be arrested and brought back to Ohio. 318 00:20:14,504 --> 00:20:16,215 [John] In December of '93... 319 00:20:17,674 --> 00:20:20,344 I was a detective bureau commander, I was a captain. 320 00:20:21,053 --> 00:20:25,307 And I'd thought, you know, we haven't heard a lot about, uh, Eubanks. 321 00:20:25,390 --> 00:20:27,601 Maybe he's been apprehended 322 00:20:27,684 --> 00:20:29,686 and they didn't notify anybody, which... 323 00:20:30,270 --> 00:20:31,271 I don't... 324 00:20:31,355 --> 00:20:34,691 might be a little crazy, but, uh... 325 00:20:35,359 --> 00:20:36,902 We checked it in the computer. 326 00:20:38,779 --> 00:20:40,364 I would've expected to see, 327 00:20:41,073 --> 00:20:44,117 "Wanted for an unlawful flight. 328 00:20:44,785 --> 00:20:47,621 Felony escape from the penitentiary 329 00:20:47,704 --> 00:20:48,956 for the state of Ohio." 330 00:20:52,918 --> 00:20:53,919 I discovered... 331 00:20:54,836 --> 00:20:57,422 there were no warrants to be found. 332 00:20:58,298 --> 00:21:01,176 The federal warrant was removed from the database. 333 00:21:01,802 --> 00:21:04,263 [Dale] If no warrant was there when he was encountered 334 00:21:04,346 --> 00:21:07,140 in a field interview situation or a car stop... 335 00:21:08,433 --> 00:21:10,644 uh, with no warrant in the system... 336 00:21:10,727 --> 00:21:12,604 [engine revs] 337 00:21:12,688 --> 00:21:14,064 ...he would've been let go. 338 00:21:16,275 --> 00:21:18,068 When I discovered that nothing... 339 00:21:18,986 --> 00:21:23,532 no affirmative steps were being taken by any agency 340 00:21:23,615 --> 00:21:24,866 to try and bring this... 341 00:21:25,867 --> 00:21:28,078 guy to justice... 342 00:21:28,954 --> 00:21:31,373 I thought, "This is unbelievable." 343 00:21:32,374 --> 00:21:36,086 It was just a lack of either required follow-up 344 00:21:36,169 --> 00:21:37,713 or a clerical kind of error. 345 00:21:37,796 --> 00:21:41,133 That is the only explanation I have or that I can come up with. 346 00:21:42,342 --> 00:21:44,469 [John] It should not have happened, but... 347 00:21:45,178 --> 00:21:46,138 it did. 348 00:21:46,221 --> 00:21:47,556 You have to deal with it. 349 00:21:48,432 --> 00:21:49,975 So, that's what we did. 350 00:21:52,060 --> 00:21:54,062 We thought maybe 351 00:21:54,146 --> 00:21:57,774 if we could get him exposed nationwide, 352 00:21:58,567 --> 00:21:59,693 we can get this guy. 353 00:22:00,193 --> 00:22:02,070 That's when we decided to... 354 00:22:03,322 --> 00:22:05,991 try and get him exposed on America's Most Wanted. 355 00:22:08,035 --> 00:22:11,621 Fourteen-year-old Mary Ellen was exceptionally bright and responsible. 356 00:22:11,997 --> 00:22:13,206 What happened that... 357 00:22:13,290 --> 00:22:16,126 [John] The night of the show, get a call from a lady 358 00:22:16,209 --> 00:22:19,171 who watched the show and says, "I know him... 359 00:22:20,088 --> 00:22:21,757 and I used to run around with him 360 00:22:21,840 --> 00:22:24,926 in Los Angeles, back in the '70s." 361 00:22:25,969 --> 00:22:27,220 And according to her, 362 00:22:27,304 --> 00:22:31,141 Eubanks, he ended up, uh, living with Kay Banks, 363 00:22:31,224 --> 00:22:33,143 his cousin's widow. 364 00:22:38,398 --> 00:22:42,527 [man] When the detectives in Ohio gave us the name of Kay Banks... 365 00:22:43,195 --> 00:22:45,572 a pair of detectives met her at her home. 366 00:22:47,699 --> 00:22:53,455 She was fearful that she would somehow be caught up in some trouble herself 367 00:22:53,538 --> 00:22:55,415 for harboring a fugitive, 368 00:22:55,499 --> 00:22:57,876 and, uh, so she wanted to cooperate. 369 00:22:59,002 --> 00:23:03,757 Kay told the detectives that he lived with her in Los Angeles, 370 00:23:03,840 --> 00:23:05,926 that he was no longer there. 371 00:23:06,510 --> 00:23:09,054 She said that she was originally from Ohio. 372 00:23:10,097 --> 00:23:14,226 And Kay was married to Darrell Banks... 373 00:23:15,018 --> 00:23:16,520 Eubanks' cousin. 374 00:23:17,396 --> 00:23:21,608 And he was a pretty popular singer in Detroit back in the '60s. 375 00:23:23,026 --> 00:23:26,029 Darrell got shot and killed up in Detroit, 376 00:23:26,530 --> 00:23:28,990 and she ended up out in California. 377 00:23:30,492 --> 00:23:33,620 [David] She established a relationship with Lester 378 00:23:33,703 --> 00:23:34,996 through the prison walls. 379 00:23:35,080 --> 00:23:36,540 She was his pen pal. 380 00:23:37,791 --> 00:23:40,127 There was a photo of Kay in his jail cell. 381 00:23:41,795 --> 00:23:45,382 Kay had indicated that after Eubanks had walked away 382 00:23:45,465 --> 00:23:47,509 and effected his escape, 383 00:23:47,592 --> 00:23:49,761 he had found his way to Michigan... 384 00:23:50,595 --> 00:23:53,723 and stayed there to see if he was gonna be chased or not, 385 00:23:53,807 --> 00:23:55,392 or how diligently. 386 00:23:55,475 --> 00:23:57,477 He was trying to paint houses 387 00:23:57,561 --> 00:24:00,689 in a local community in Michigan to earn money. 388 00:24:01,148 --> 00:24:03,859 And he stayed there for a couple of weeks. 389 00:24:04,276 --> 00:24:07,154 Someone put him on a bus, 'cause he didn't have any money, 390 00:24:07,612 --> 00:24:09,739 and paid for a trip to California. 391 00:24:09,823 --> 00:24:11,575 [bus engine rumbles] 392 00:24:11,658 --> 00:24:12,826 [bus screeches] 393 00:24:14,703 --> 00:24:19,124 Lester told Kay that when he gets to California, 394 00:24:19,666 --> 00:24:21,793 the bus was pulled over by law enforcement. 395 00:24:23,879 --> 00:24:25,464 He's sitting there thinking, 396 00:24:25,881 --> 00:24:27,090 "This is it, it's over." 397 00:24:37,893 --> 00:24:39,769 He thought he was gonna go back to jail. 398 00:24:40,687 --> 00:24:42,606 Because he's an escaped prisoner, 399 00:24:42,689 --> 00:24:44,566 there is a warrant for his arrest. 400 00:24:51,865 --> 00:24:55,619 Well, these guys were looking for illegal fruit 401 00:24:55,702 --> 00:24:57,996 being brought across state lines. 402 00:24:59,581 --> 00:25:01,541 Lester looked at 'em and smiled. 403 00:25:02,876 --> 00:25:05,837 And as they walked off the bus, he thought to himself, "Hey. 404 00:25:06,463 --> 00:25:07,756 This is it, I'm free. 405 00:25:07,839 --> 00:25:08,715 I got away." 406 00:25:11,384 --> 00:25:12,719 [disco funk music playing] 407 00:25:12,802 --> 00:25:14,262 [whooping and laughing] 408 00:25:14,346 --> 00:25:15,764 -Oh, yeah! -Yeah, Mama! 409 00:25:15,847 --> 00:25:16,848 All right, Mama! 410 00:25:16,932 --> 00:25:18,391 Get down and watch out, yeah! 411 00:25:19,267 --> 00:25:22,395 [T. Conner] Kay Banks was surprised when she answered the door. 412 00:25:22,938 --> 00:25:26,233 She told us that she didn't know he planned to escape. 413 00:25:27,484 --> 00:25:30,028 He was using an assumed name of Victor Young. 414 00:25:31,154 --> 00:25:33,156 [John] He went and got a hunting license 415 00:25:33,782 --> 00:25:35,367 to use as his ID 416 00:25:35,450 --> 00:25:37,619 because you didn't have to give a fingerprint. 417 00:25:37,702 --> 00:25:40,038 And he had it in a... his alias name. 418 00:25:41,122 --> 00:25:45,043 He's smart, he knows what it takes for him to stay out 419 00:25:45,126 --> 00:25:46,586 and he knows that he can. 420 00:25:49,214 --> 00:25:52,384 Kay told us about Lester's love of painting. 421 00:25:53,468 --> 00:25:57,931 I've seen pictures of some of the work that he did while in prison 422 00:25:58,014 --> 00:26:00,100 and he was talented. 423 00:26:00,183 --> 00:26:01,726 Um... he was just evil. 424 00:26:05,814 --> 00:26:08,733 [John] Kay Banks said that Eubanks, 425 00:26:08,817 --> 00:26:10,193 he was a real bully... 426 00:26:11,152 --> 00:26:13,321 and she was intimidated by him. 427 00:26:14,573 --> 00:26:16,366 After so much intimidation, 428 00:26:16,449 --> 00:26:19,202 she decided she's got to come up with something 429 00:26:19,286 --> 00:26:21,246 to get him out of her life. 430 00:26:22,163 --> 00:26:26,501 She says, "Hey, uh, I got a call today from the FBI or the police 431 00:26:26,585 --> 00:26:28,003 asking about you." 432 00:26:28,086 --> 00:26:29,212 That was all it took. 433 00:26:30,463 --> 00:26:33,675 And according to her, that's the last she saw of him. 434 00:26:36,970 --> 00:26:39,389 Kay provided us with information 435 00:26:39,472 --> 00:26:41,766 about a location in Gardena 436 00:26:41,850 --> 00:26:44,227 where he had worked or was working 437 00:26:44,311 --> 00:26:46,521 in the manufacturing of mattresses. 438 00:26:47,772 --> 00:26:50,317 We went to that location and checked it. 439 00:26:52,152 --> 00:26:55,280 The former owner put Victor Young there up until... 440 00:26:56,197 --> 00:26:57,782 the mid '80s. 441 00:26:57,866 --> 00:26:59,034 Eighty-five or '86. 442 00:27:05,415 --> 00:27:06,833 We worked the case, 443 00:27:06,916 --> 00:27:09,294 uh, for the better part of two years 444 00:27:09,377 --> 00:27:11,588 until somewhere in '96. 445 00:27:12,047 --> 00:27:14,466 And Eubanks is still running. 446 00:27:15,634 --> 00:27:20,388 But it just got to the point where there was no more to do. 447 00:27:33,026 --> 00:27:36,821 [Michael] I had never really heard about the murder until 2003 448 00:27:36,905 --> 00:27:39,282 when I was tasked with looking into some things. 449 00:27:42,077 --> 00:27:47,624 A superior officer down in Columbus was looking at some older escape cases, 450 00:27:47,707 --> 00:27:48,833 so I was contacted. 451 00:27:50,418 --> 00:27:52,671 Basically told, "Hey, here's the case. 452 00:27:52,754 --> 00:27:54,881 Look into this and see what you can find." 453 00:27:56,591 --> 00:28:00,679 My initial thoughts were, uh, to look at Eubanks' father, 454 00:28:00,762 --> 00:28:01,971 Mose Eubanks. 455 00:28:03,431 --> 00:28:05,600 His father was the only known close relative 456 00:28:05,684 --> 00:28:08,019 that was living in this area at the time. 457 00:28:08,812 --> 00:28:11,439 We went out there just to see if he would talk to us. 458 00:28:12,565 --> 00:28:14,734 He says, "I'll talk about anything you want, 459 00:28:14,818 --> 00:28:16,486 but I'm not gonna talk about Lester." 460 00:28:18,697 --> 00:28:21,866 He went on to explain how he was frequently in the prisons 461 00:28:21,950 --> 00:28:23,868 trying to help inmates to, uh... 462 00:28:23,952 --> 00:28:26,246 turn their life around and that type of thing. 463 00:28:28,665 --> 00:28:30,125 And he says, "Well, you know, 464 00:28:30,208 --> 00:28:33,795 there's nothing I can... nothing anyone can do to bring that girl back." 465 00:28:33,878 --> 00:28:36,631 And, uh, I simply ask him the question, I'm like, 466 00:28:36,715 --> 00:28:41,052 "Well, do you think that justice was done in this case with your... with your son?" 467 00:28:41,136 --> 00:28:42,595 And he specifically... 468 00:28:42,679 --> 00:28:44,180 He looked at me and he says, 469 00:28:44,264 --> 00:28:47,058 "People change and go on and start new lives." 470 00:28:47,142 --> 00:28:49,436 And he says, "And I pray for Lester every day. 471 00:28:49,519 --> 00:28:51,563 That's all I'm gonna say about Lester." 472 00:28:54,315 --> 00:28:56,109 We had a bit more conversation, 473 00:28:56,192 --> 00:28:58,528 then my partner and I, we looked at each other, 474 00:28:58,611 --> 00:29:01,197 and we said, "He knows exactly where Lester's at." 475 00:29:04,868 --> 00:29:07,912 A while later, a detective with Mansfield Police Department 476 00:29:07,996 --> 00:29:12,125 talked to an informant that had told him that that same summer, 477 00:29:12,208 --> 00:29:14,627 she had been out to Mose's house. 478 00:29:15,920 --> 00:29:18,047 Well, the lady said, "When we were there, 479 00:29:18,131 --> 00:29:20,508 the phone rang and Mose excused himself 480 00:29:20,592 --> 00:29:22,635 and actually went into another room." 481 00:29:22,719 --> 00:29:23,970 And when he came back, 482 00:29:24,512 --> 00:29:26,264 he had told the lady that... 483 00:29:27,015 --> 00:29:29,559 he was on the phone with his son in Alabama 484 00:29:29,642 --> 00:29:31,644 who was taking a break from painting a house. 485 00:29:34,939 --> 00:29:37,817 At that time, I'd already tracked down all of the siblings 486 00:29:37,901 --> 00:29:40,320 and, uh, there was none in Alabama at the time. 487 00:29:41,529 --> 00:29:44,032 So, that kinda piqued my interest. 488 00:29:45,533 --> 00:29:49,871 I ended up getting a, uh... a subpoena to get his... Mose's phone records. 489 00:29:50,538 --> 00:29:53,583 And, uh, lo and behold, uh... 490 00:29:53,666 --> 00:29:56,294 there were several calls during that time frame... 491 00:29:56,961 --> 00:30:02,050 that were coming and going to a center for troubled youth. 492 00:30:03,968 --> 00:30:05,553 And there was a Black male 493 00:30:05,637 --> 00:30:08,306 that was near that, you know, description of Lester, 494 00:30:08,973 --> 00:30:12,435 uh, height and... and age, working at this place. 495 00:30:13,520 --> 00:30:16,564 This guy in question did not have a driver's license. 496 00:30:16,648 --> 00:30:17,482 He didn't drive. 497 00:30:18,024 --> 00:30:20,485 Uh, and the social security number was coming back 498 00:30:20,568 --> 00:30:22,654 as a false social security number, too, 499 00:30:23,029 --> 00:30:26,157 so that kind of triggered me thinking, "It might be Lester." 500 00:30:28,618 --> 00:30:29,452 Unfortunately, 501 00:30:29,536 --> 00:30:32,038 the person in question that they were talking about 502 00:30:32,121 --> 00:30:33,623 had actually left there 503 00:30:34,165 --> 00:30:38,086 a couple months prior to... to us kind of digging into it. 504 00:30:39,379 --> 00:30:41,339 I... I remember thinking to myself, 505 00:30:41,422 --> 00:30:43,633 if it was him, if it was Lester, 506 00:30:43,716 --> 00:30:46,052 we were able to... to get pretty close. 507 00:30:46,135 --> 00:30:48,054 But at the same token... 508 00:30:49,347 --> 00:30:51,558 you know, here we are, all these years later. 509 00:30:55,520 --> 00:30:58,857 [Dale] Mose Eubanks was a supposed man of the cloth, 510 00:30:59,399 --> 00:31:00,900 and he was willing to... 511 00:31:01,818 --> 00:31:03,194 forgive and forget. 512 00:31:03,820 --> 00:31:08,449 He was willing to forgive his son for this brutal murder 513 00:31:08,533 --> 00:31:11,953 and he was willing to forget about Mary Ellen Deener, the... 514 00:31:13,580 --> 00:31:15,206 the poor child that he murdered. 515 00:31:18,334 --> 00:31:19,335 It's just tragic. 516 00:31:19,836 --> 00:31:21,963 He got to live his life and she didn't. 517 00:31:23,882 --> 00:31:26,259 [Myrtle] He'd never asked for forgiveness. 518 00:31:26,342 --> 00:31:27,760 He could've asked in court. 519 00:31:27,844 --> 00:31:30,597 And he could've had his dad ask my mom, 520 00:31:30,680 --> 00:31:32,015 "Please forgive him." 521 00:31:32,932 --> 00:31:36,519 Nobody has even said anything to my family... 522 00:31:37,645 --> 00:31:38,771 from that family. 523 00:31:43,192 --> 00:31:45,737 [Dale] I've been a police officer for 40 years. 524 00:31:46,487 --> 00:31:47,363 And... 525 00:31:47,447 --> 00:31:53,286 this is the biggest miscarriage of justice that I've ever seen. 526 00:31:53,369 --> 00:31:55,163 Uh, I just can't forget about it. 527 00:31:55,914 --> 00:31:57,165 I won't forget about it. 528 00:31:59,375 --> 00:32:01,336 [John] This guy needs to be captured. 529 00:32:02,086 --> 00:32:04,255 He needs to be apprehended 530 00:32:04,339 --> 00:32:07,926 and pay for this heinous crime that he committed. 531 00:32:08,801 --> 00:32:11,471 But law enforcement can't do it by themselves. 532 00:32:11,638 --> 00:32:14,182 We have to get the, the... [sighs] 533 00:32:14,265 --> 00:32:16,976 ...the profile out for people to see. 534 00:32:18,311 --> 00:32:22,065 [David] Marshals Service, we fight for those who can't fight for themselves. 535 00:32:22,148 --> 00:32:25,234 Mary Ellen Deener cannot fight for herself. 536 00:32:26,736 --> 00:32:31,115 In July of 2018, I started to push forward 537 00:32:31,616 --> 00:32:34,744 with, uh, Lester Eubanks being put on the 15 Most Wanted. 538 00:32:35,787 --> 00:32:37,580 These are the type of cases that... 539 00:32:38,039 --> 00:32:40,500 They're... they're alleged to be the uncatchables. 540 00:32:41,167 --> 00:32:42,460 You make that list, 541 00:32:42,543 --> 00:32:45,463 that means you are the worst of the worst. 542 00:32:46,881 --> 00:32:50,301 Lester Eubanks has friends and associates throughout many states. 543 00:32:50,385 --> 00:32:51,552 Florida, 544 00:32:51,636 --> 00:32:52,720 Texas, 545 00:32:52,804 --> 00:32:53,972 Alabama, 546 00:32:54,055 --> 00:32:55,640 California and Washington. 547 00:32:56,391 --> 00:32:58,476 Someone's gonna identify him, 548 00:32:58,559 --> 00:33:00,436 someone's gonna bring him to justice. 549 00:33:01,479 --> 00:33:04,941 Lester's got a huge scar on his right arm. 550 00:33:05,024 --> 00:33:06,359 It's probably an inch, 551 00:33:06,442 --> 00:33:08,736 and it wraps all the way around his right arm, 552 00:33:08,820 --> 00:33:10,113 and it's pretty thick. 553 00:33:10,738 --> 00:33:12,448 And it's pretty identifiable. 554 00:33:13,783 --> 00:33:16,619 The other thing is he was an extremely... 555 00:33:16,995 --> 00:33:18,621 um, talented painter. 556 00:33:18,705 --> 00:33:20,123 And I still think today 557 00:33:20,206 --> 00:33:24,544 that might be one of the things that could help identify who he is. 558 00:33:27,880 --> 00:33:33,344 The United States Marshals Service is offering a reward for $25,000 559 00:33:33,886 --> 00:33:37,056 for any information that leads to the arrest. 560 00:33:37,140 --> 00:33:38,933 And I would be more than happy 561 00:33:39,475 --> 00:33:41,477 to provide that person with that money. 562 00:33:45,189 --> 00:33:47,483 [Myrtle] It's important that Lester is caught 563 00:33:47,567 --> 00:33:50,862 because he was given a life sentence. 564 00:33:51,946 --> 00:33:53,740 He took my sister's life. 565 00:33:55,575 --> 00:33:57,994 She didn't get an extension. 566 00:34:00,538 --> 00:34:01,664 Her life is over. 567 00:34:03,624 --> 00:34:06,210 And the law said that's what should happen with him. 568 00:34:07,754 --> 00:34:10,631 Living, but still not free. 569 00:34:12,884 --> 00:34:13,885 I want him caught. 570 00:34:21,309 --> 00:34:25,730 [suspenseful main theme playing]