Two Convicted Murderers Mistakenly freed

(CNN) A statewide review was ordered
Thursday of Florida's prison records to
determine whether anyone has filed forged
documents like the ones used in an
elaborate escape.
Charles Walker and Joseph Jenkins, both 34,
are considered "escapees" by authorities
after investigators discovered forged
motions to reduce their respective
sentences and forged court orders granting
the request, according to authorities.
A "vigorous and thorough review" will be
conducted of other such prison releases to
ensure no others have been freed with
falsified documents, Department of
Corrections Secretary Michael Crews said.
Both motions bore the forged signatures of
the Orlando-area state attorney or the
assistant state attorney, according to a
statement released on behalf of Ninth
Circuit State Attorney Jeffrey L. Ashton.
The judge's order granting the release of
Jenkins and Walker bore the forged
signature of Judge Belvin Perry, who gained
national attention while presiding over the
Casey Anthony trial. Ashton served as the
case's chief prosecutor.
Perry told CNN he wasn't entirely surprised
by the alleged ruse.
"People, particularly people with criminal
minds, come up with ingenious ways to
beat the system," said Perry. "They have
nothing but time on their hands to think of
things."
The orders to release the two inmates were
both filed with the Orange County Clerk's
office, Ashton said. The documents, which
contained the county seal among its
markings, appeared legitimate, he said.
Ashton, meanwhile, ordered a review of
records in an e-mail to his prosecutors to
determine whether anyone else filed
"similar forged documents or other
suspicious activity."
Walker and Jenkins, both serving life
without the possibility of parole sentences
for murder, were released from the
Franklin Correctional Institution in the
Panhandle community of Carrabelle, Crews
said.
Jenkins went free on September 27, and
Walker was released on October 8,
authorities said.
It is unclear whether the two men -- both
former residents of Orlando knew each
other, and the Orange County Sheriff's
Office worries that at least one of them may
have returned to the area.
Jenkins was convicted in the slaying of
Roscoe Pugh Jr. some 15 years ago. The
victim's son saw his father gunned down
during a home invasion robbery.
"Our lives would be totally different, I've
said that since I was 9 years old," Roscoe
Pugh III told CNN on Thursday. "... I said
my life would have been different if I
wouldn't have saw it. I saw it."
His mother, Crystal, said of Jenkins, "... To
know he's free on the streets is frightening,
is terrifying."
Law enforcement learned of the prison
escapes on Tuesday after a family member
of Jenkins' victim contacted the State
Attorney's Office to ask about the convict's
release, Ashton said in the statement.
"They committed violent crimes," Orange
County Sheriff's Capt. Angelo Nieves told
CNN. "The best thing for them to do is to
turn themselves in."
The discovery of the forgeries comes as
Florida is prosecuting another inmate,
Jeffrey Forbes, for an allegedly similar
scheme.
Forbes is accused of forgery and attempted
escape after a police detective who initially
helped convict the man discovered he was
due to be released despite being sentenced
to life in prison for the attempted first
degree murder of a law enforcement
officer, according to Ashton's statement.
The investigation revealed someone had
forged Ashton's name on a bogus court
order reducing the sentence and a circuit
court judge's name on the order reducing
Forbes' life sentence, the statement said.
"It is now clear that the use of forged court
documents to obtain release from prison is
an ongoing threat which all law
enforcement, prosecutors, judges, court
clerks and prison officials must address
and stop," it said.