An interview with escapee Charles Victor Thompson AN INTERVIEW WITH ESCAPEE CHARLES VICTOR THOMPSON

From the inside ...how he got out

The death row inmate who last month bluffed his way out of the Harris County Jail offers a glimpse at just how easy it was

LIVINGSTON - Harris County jailers found civilian clothes smuggled into convicted killer Charles Victor Thompson's cell four days after his arrival, but a sergeant assured him the incident would not be reported, the death row inmate said Wednesday.

Those clothes were confiscated. But Thompson wore another set of clothes — also hidden in his cell — when he bluffed his way out of the jail Nov. 3 during a daring escape that led to a national manhunt before he was captured almost four days later in Shreveport, La.

"The day you're sentenced to death, (escaping) is on your mind, regularly. You know you're going to die," said Thompson, 35, making his first public comments since the escape.

Thompson was sentenced to die in 1999 for the slayings of his former girlfriend, Denise Hayslip, 39, of Tomball, and Darren Keith Cain, 30, of Spring. He was brought to Houston for a new sentencing trial after he won an appeal. The second jury reaffirmed the death sentence.

Thompson said he had no intention of hurting his victims' families.

"I don't wish those people any harm," Thompson said. "I deeply regret what I did. I live with it every day."

After the first set of clothes was found, Sgt. James Watson promised Thompson that the district attorney's office wouldn't learn of the discovery before his resentencing and that the matter would be considered a contraband violation, the condemned man Wednesday told the Houston Chronicle and KHOU (Channel 11).

He said the second outfit, which he wore on his last court appearance, was in a legal binder in his cell for a week with other items he used in his escape. Thompson said he took advantage of guards' lackadaisical behavior and lapses in security and supervision when he escaped.

"The guards are lazy — they don't want to have to handle you and cuff you," said Thompson, who now is at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice's Polunsky Unit.

Lt. John Martin, a spokesman for the Harris County Sheriff's Office, disputes the claim that nothing was done after the clothes were discovered. Martin insists the department contacted the district attorney's office but said that charges were not filed, because the mere discovery of civilian clothes would not sustain an escape attempt charge.

"The incident was essentially the basis for the disciplinary action with the supervisors," Martin said of the department's actions, which included firing a 12-year veteran. "They should've been more cautious in their handling of the inmate."

Personnel fallout

Assistant District Attorney Joe Owmby confirms that the DA's office was informed about the incident, but he declined to elaborate, citing the ongoing investigation of deputies' actions.

Martin said: "We conducted our investigation, and we tried to verify everything he told us. After our investigation, the sheriff announced the disciplinary action taken, so we're pretty much through discussing the Thompson escape."

Thompson walked out of the jail after slipping out of his handcuffs and changing into civilian clothes in a room reserved for lawyers to meet with their clients.

After an internal investigation, the department fired Deputy John Thurman for failing to properly restrain Thompson and failing to lock the visitors' booth. Thurman is appealing. Seven others were disciplined with unpaid leaves and letters of reprimand, while Watson retired.

Thompson, wearing white prison garb, spoke wistfully about his time on the lam, when his "adventure" aboard a boxcar took him through East Texas and into Louisiana.

"I was pretty dirty and happy," he said of his train ride. "The scenery was nice, and it was nice to be free."

Thompson said he could count on jail deputies not bothering to check his legal binder, which inmates are allowed to keep. In it, though, he kept the civilian clothes, a handcuff key and a death row prison identification.

Sheriff Tommy Thomas had said that Thompson told investigators he smuggled the key into the jail from death row.

Thompson, however, said Wednesday that he managed to get the key at the jail. He would not reveal who gave it to him but said it wasn't a deputy.

"I'll take that to my grave," he said.

Martin would not address the origin of the key.

After he changed out of his prison clothes, Thompson said, he was virtually unchallenged while he presented himself as a state investigator "on a mission." He made his way to the first floor, where a guard asked him four or five questions. He answered calmly as he flashed his inmate badge and said he was a state investigator.

The guards, he said, told him, "I've never seen one of those badges before."

As he bluffed his way out the front door, Thompson said, he reminded himself: "Don't run. Walk."

Once outside, Thompson said, he expected a swarm of deputies to surround him. He said he tried to steal a car from a woman but gave up when she made too much noise.

Beginning of the end

He ultimately hopped on side of an eastbound freight train and rode to East Texas while holding onto a ladder. During a stop somewhere in East Texas, he spotted an open boxcar and jumped inside.

In Shreveport, he stole a bicycle and rode to a liquor store, where he bought schnapps and a six-pack of beer, he said. He tried to call friends, whom he did not identify, overseas from a pay phone outside the store so he could arrange for a wire transfer of money. He intended to travel to Canada, he said. . He was arrested when he later returned to the phone.

"I think my second bite at the apple was my retrial," he said. "I think my fate is determined. ... But, I'm a prisoner of hope."

rosanna.ruiz@chron.com