A hole dug with crude tools. Bedsheets tied into a 200-foot rope. A prisoner wrapped in duct tape.
As new details emerge about last week?s attempted escape from the Jessup Correctional Institution, prison investigators are calling the failed prison break one of the most brazen in recent history.
Correctional officers caught Rico Marzano, 40, as he tried to climb a fence at the maximum-security prison at about 5 a.m. on Jan. 16.
But the lengths Marzano went to get that far amazed investigators.
After placing a dummy in his bed, Marzano pried his dorm?s window open and dug under the first perimeter fence outside the A unit, according to prison sources.
Then, with his arms and legs wrapped in duct tape to try to avoid being cut by razor wire, he used the bedsheets, a makeshift grappling hook and several handmade tools to try to scale a second fence.
“It?s astounding how far he got,” said a source with firsthand knowledge of the escape attempt. “This guy was definitely very prepared.”
Prison spokesman Mark Vernarelli said the thwarted escape shows just how many layers of security the institution has in place.
“The razor wire makes it almost impossible to escape,” Vernarelli said. “Even if someone were able to get out through a herculean, super effort, there are still armed perimeter patrols.”
Prison officials said they?re most concerned with learning whether Marzano had help from a correctional officer. Officers are supposed to conduct nightly cell checks, sources said.
“If it seems that any action of the staff at JCI contributed to his ability to get out of the facility, there will be disciplinary action taken,” said Rick Binetti, another prison spokesman.
Marzano is serving four life sentences for murders committed in Baltimore County in 1987, court records show. Marzano will likely be charged with attempting to escape, Vernarelli said.
Maryland prison historian Wallace Shugg said Marzano?s attempt reminded him of Joseph “Tunnel Joe” Holmes? famous escape on Feb. 19, 1951.
“That man tunneled 70 feet. He dug through 10 inches of concrete,” Shugg said.
“He really wanted to get out. He was the only person ever to tunnel his way out of the [Maryland] Penitentiary.”
Even though Marzano?s attempt pales in comparison to Holmes? efforts, Shugg said he still learned something from the incident.
“I guess there?s a new use for duct tape.”
