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This episode picks up where our last episode left off.
If you haven't heard the first part yet, we recommend going back and listening to that first. I actually happened to be on vacation in Florida when the detective from Sacramento Police Department called me and he said, Hey, Sky, he escaped. I said, ha ha, right, uh-huh, what's going on? How you doing? He goes, no, Manchester escaped prison.
On June 15, 2004, Jeffrey Manchester, who had been serving a 45-year sentence for armed robberies at two McDonald's restaurants, escaped from a North Carolina prison. I said, you have got to be kidding me. He said, nope, nope. He busted out. He got out somehow. Sky Pauley was a special agent for the California Department of Justice. He'd been assigned to investigate a series of robberies that had taken place across California and later eight other states.
They were known as the rooftop robberies, and he believed Jeffrey Manchester was behind all of them. Was I surprised that he escaped? Not really. I was not surprised because of the way he was able to get away with so many armed robberies. He had virtually nothing to lose, and he had the skills and abilities. It was pretty interesting, and I got to give him kudos for that.
Katherine Scheimreif is a former sergeant for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department. You know, when things like this happen, you have to realize it's usually human error. And we're humans. We make mistakes. Jeffrey Manchester was described as a model prisoner during the four years he was in prison. He started working in the prison's metal shop, where he and more than 50 other inmates worked on building things like prison beds, lockers, and jungle gyms.
Trucks would occasionally bring supplies into the metal shop. On the day of his escape, prison officials believed that Jeffrey Manchester climbed up underneath a truck and clung to the undercarriage in what one reporter described as a spider-like style. He was able to fasten a board underneath the truck that supported him enough so that he could ride out of the prison, you know, undetected. Now, you have...
You know, different things in place. You take a mirror and you look underneath the truck and you have people watching and people counting and supposed to be paying attention. But he was able to observe the prison officials' behaviors and when and at what point they let their guard down and that error, that human error, came forward. And so he was able to just ride out the truck. The truck left around 3 p.m.,
Prison guards noticed that Jeffrey Manchester was missing during a routine check around 3.30. An official told reporters that once the truck was parked outside the gates, Jeffrey Manchester ran off on foot. It was the first time that anyone had managed to escape from Brown Creek Correctional. Do you remember hearing that he had escaped from prison? Oh my lord, yes.
Mervat Fayyad and her co-workers had been held up by Jeffrey Manchester while he robbed a McDonald's in Belmont, North Carolina, four years earlier. She'd identified him to police and testified about the robbery. She'd also described the robbery to a reporter, saying that Jeffrey Manchester was, quote, really polite. After his escape from prison, a police officer came by the McDonald's where she was working at the time.
The sheriff officer came in and said, I would like to let you know something, that he escaped from jail, but we will have officers for the next few days. Just keep an eye on you guys to make sure. But I just want you to know, just in case he's going to come back for retaliation or anything, that you know he's there. Were you worried?
I was worried, but at the same time, I'm like, I didn't say anything bad about him. If there was anyone that said something good about him, it was me, that he was nice. But I just, it never crossed my mind that he would ever come back to do something. Because knowing that he's from California, I thought he would just go somewhere else. I kind of figured he'd be on the beach with a margarita, but... I'm Phoebe Judge. This is Criminal. We'll be right back.
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Start Ritual or add Essential for Women 18 Plus to your subscription today. That's ritual.com slash criminal for 25% off. In the days after Jeffrey Manchester escaped from prison in North Carolina, police in Sacramento, California warned that the so-called roof man might be headed back to the state. His ex-wife and children still live there. But in reality, Jeffrey Manchester didn't go very far at all.
In 2004, there was a Toys R Us located in Charlotte off of Route 74, a busy four-lane highway. Forty miles away, the same road runs right by Brown Creek Correctional. It's one of the first locations that you, general area that you come to when you come to Charlotte, when coming from Brown Creek. And so he goes into the store like a patron and starts walking around.
like anybody would. And so nobody really paid him attention. It's not like, you know, you kind of think, well, he's going to be nervous or he's going to, you know, portray different body language that shows that he's doing something wrong. But now he just acted like a regular guy, which is what you really should do. And it's kind of like when you're undercover, you just kind of breathe normal, you walk normal, you act normal, or else people are going to sense that something's wrong.
At some point, Jeffrey Manchester decided that when the store closed for the day, he wasn't going to leave. There was everything he needed there. There was a hiding spot and...
He took advantage of it. Maybe he's just like, this is going to be so much better than sleeping on the street or on a bench, park bench, where somebody's going to detect you. This has actually got heat and water and electricity and, you know, everything you need. How was he able to hide out in the store? Where was he sleeping?
Well, so there was a bike display in the back of the store. And so he hid behind the bike display. And he set up a mattress and he got him a little blankie and he got him, you know, something to eat. And so he just stayed back there. He slept during the day.
and was out at night. There was stuff that he would steal from the store, and he would go out on the street to different places and pawn them to get money. And was he eating things from this? Is there food in a Toys R Us? Oh, yeah, there's baby food. There's baby food and stuff like that. And candy. Yeah, candy, lots of candy. Jeffrey Manchester lived out of the Toys R Us for several months. At night, he would race remote-control cars on the roof and ride bikes around the store.
How did he escape security cameras? Because he was able to go into the office. He was able to sign on and manipulate that system. He literally read the handbook on it and started turning cameras on and off as he saw fit. And...
Then, interestingly enough, he started getting into the employees, the scheduling. And so if he had employees that he didn't like, he jacked their schedule up when they worked and when they didn't work. And I'm kind of laughing about this because you got to see humor in it.
But he found different ways to occupy his mind. So the Toys R Us would close 5 o'clock, whatever time. Lights would go off, doors would be locked, and then this guy would have free reign. Candy and security cameras and riding bikes up and down the aisles. Yeah, exactly. Skateboards. Yeah, you got to make the best of your time. As the holiday season got closer and more and more shoppers were in the store, Jeffrey Manchester decided to move.
But he didn't go far. He went to the store next door, which used to be a Circuit City. So they actually shared a wall. So as you're facing the building, the Toys R Us was on the right. And then on the left, it was the Circuit City. Now, the Circuit City was vacant and had been, they'd been trying to sell it for a while. So there's absolutely nothing in there. And again, it was perfect as well. It had power. It had air. You know, it had everything that you need for comfort.
Underneath the stairwell, he built a small room to live in. He painted the walls, put up posters and a toy basketball hoop, and had a DVD player. His bed was made up with Spider-Man sheets, and he had toys and gadgets around. And he had his little camera system where he had taken baby monitors from the Toys R Us and had set up different lenses around.
looking into the Toys R Us so he could see the comings and goings of everybody. So he, again, if he had to go over there, he wouldn't alert anybody. Jeffrey Manchester built a passageway between the Circuit City and the Toys R Us. It was underneath some shelving in the Toys R Us back storage area. He would move some sheetrock in and out of place in order to get through.
And it was enough for him to get through. And I think he made it big enough so he could get a bicycle through, pull a bicycle through there as well. He also fashioned himself a way to get in and out of the Circuit City as well through the roof. So there was also a trap door, if you will, in the roof that he constructed. So he'd get in and out that way too, if he couldn't go through the Toys R Us. All during this time were...
Were the police on the lookout for him? Oh, yes, because the alarm in the circus city kept going off all the time. And police officers on the street, that's nothing that they enjoy more than going to the same alarm call over and over again. Obviously, there's something wrong. And it's not like you can't not go. And so they kept having to go over there and trying to figure out what the heck is going on without being able to go into the building. Because just because the alarm's going off doesn't mean you can go in, if that makes sense.
Jeffrey Manchester started to venture out more and more. In October of 2004, he started attending Crossroads Presbyterian Church. It was a short walk from the Circuit City. He told the pastor there that his name was John. People in church are very unsuspecting. They're welcoming. They want new members. And so they're not going to be suspicious of him. It's a perfect place.
He went to Bible study on Wednesday nights. He started volunteering in the church's outreach program for families in need, often bringing by toys. In November, he went to a singles lunch at the church, where he met a woman in the middle of a divorce after a 20-year marriage. She's a mom, kind-hearted, giving, kind-hearted.
and just like him, was probably in need of companionship. And so they struck up a relationship through the church. And again, wouldn't you just feel so protected? Hey, I met this guy at church. He's got to be a good guy. And then he convinces her that he's a government agent. Jeffrey Manchester told her that he couldn't say exactly what he did for the government, but that he lived in a government building. He described it as a, quote, sterile environment.
And she has no reason to doubt him, and I don't blame her a bit. I really don't. I really don't. You know, she saw whatever goodness in him. He was good to her children, I assume. He was showing up at church with toys for the kids, albeit they were stolen. And so, you know, she invited him into her home, into her life, into the kids' life. They'd go to movies and concerts, and Jeffrey Manchester needed more money
He'd been selling stolen items from the Toys R Us, but it wasn't enough. He had this image he had to upkeep, whether it's clothes or, you know, clean hair, clean shaven. So he needed money. So he goes to a pawn shop in Matthews, which is an adjoining town, and he goes through the roof of the pawn shop and he steals, it's either three or four guns.
A few days after Thanksgiving, as employees came in to open the Toys R Us, Jeffrey Manchester surprised them. He took money from the registers and the safe. Police said he was wearing a black Lion King hat. Workers told police he had exited the store through a back door. So he pushes the back door, which sets off the alarm. So everybody's thinking, oh, he went out the back door, right?
Which, in actuality, he just went over to the Circuit City and laid there for a while. Probably went down, took a nap or something along those lines while the police come in and try to figure out what happened. And did the police have any idea about who might have robbed the store? Oh, at that time, no. No clue whatsoever. Didn't know, just thought it was a regular robbery. In a city this size, you have a lot of violent crime, unfortunately, and that includes armed robberies.
In the following weeks, Jeffrey Manchester went to his church's Christmas party, dressed as the Easter Bunny. He reportedly gave the pastor Seinfeld DVDs. And on Christmas Day, he gave his girlfriend a pair of diamond earrings. Early the next morning, he decided to rob the Toys R Us again. He came into the store wearing a black hooded sweatshirt and a bulletproof vest.
This time, in addition to several employees who are opening the store, there is an off-duty sheriff's deputy there who is working a second job as a security guard. Jeffrey Manchester ordered everyone to get onto the ground, including the sheriff's deputy. And said he was going to kill her and got her down on the ground and struggled to get her weapon out of her holster. And we are trained, you do not give up your gun for anything. Do not give up your gun, do not give up your gun.
For whatever reason, and I do not blame her, she gave up her weapon. And as he took her gun from her, everything went sideways for him. The employees started to run. He realized, oh, I am so screwed right now because they're going to call the police. So he makes his way to the back, but he forgets to trip the door alarm at the back. And he just goes in his little hidey hole and goes over to the Circuit City.
The police get there and they tell them right away, he's in the, he's got to be in here. He ran towards the back and we didn't hear the back door alarm go off, so he's in here. Police started searching the Toys R Us. They noticed a sheetrock board against the wall under a shelf in the storage area and a single screw that was holding it in place. When they undid the screw, the door fell and they found the secret passageway leading to the Circuit City. Another door behind it was held shut with a bungee cord.
Police also found about $7,000 worth of toys stuffed into the ceiling tiles. But they didn't find Jeffrey Manchester or his living space, which was well hidden. So a couple of my detectives came to me and said, hey, Sarge, this guy is out and about in East Charlotte, and he held a sheriff's deputy at gunpoint and took her gun. We'd like to find him.
And I said, absolutely, let's move on it. Taking a gun from a law enforcement officer and holding her hostage, yeah, that's something that definitely sets off a bell in my head. So things started rolling after that pretty quickly. At the time, Katherine Scheimreif was leading a violent crimes task force for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg police.
Were you kind of working in a situation where in the movies you'd be the type of people who are not wearing uniforms and kind of driving unmarked cars? And this is kind of like the Wild West people in my mind. Well, yeah. Yeah, that's pretty good. That's a good analogy. Yes, we wore plain clothes, blue jeans, black.
Cowboy boots, T-shirts, whatever, long hair, and not entirely clean shaven. Not for me, of course, but my men. And then we would drive the undercover cars. I think I drove Dodge Durango or a Camaro or a Mustang or something along those lines that would blend in for surveillance. And again, the covert operations. We were doing drug deals. We were doing gun deals, etc.
You know, taking down these high-profile offenders, you really have to be on your game because it's incredibly dangerous. You have to have, you know, that advanced skill set. It was a constant thing. It was very, very intense. Katherine Scheimreif says she hadn't heard about Jeffrey Manchester's escape from prison. That's not really something that we would have been told about. I know that sounds strange, but...
But Charlotte's an enormous city. There's a million plus people. There's a lot of crime, you know, violent crime. It's a busy place. That's not really something that would stick out. And at that point in time, I believe Department of Corrections, who runs the prisons, and the State Bureau of Investigation, they're the ones that's more in their lane, if you will. But when he started committing robberies here...
and held the deputy at gunpoint, that's when it becomes my problem. A week later, a police officer named Fred Allen went into the vacant Circuit City again. He noticed that when he turned the lights on, one area of the building stayed dark. And then he noticed a board of sheetrock covering the wall, like the one they had found in the Toys R Us, covering the secret passageway. When he pushed it, he found Jeffrey Manchester's living space, but no one was there.
I actually went in there, and, you know, I was impressed, basically, because he was very neat and methodical. Inside, police found baby food jars, posters of Superman and a Van Gogh print, and a map of local bus routes. They also found Star Wars toys, the movies Spider-Man 2 and Matchstick Men, and a fire extinguisher. Police also found a fingerprint inside the space and matched it to Jeffrey Manchester's.
They decided to put out a wanted poster and told the media that prison escapee Jeffrey Manchester had been seen in the area. The next day, Jeffrey Manchester lit a building on fire. We'll be right back. ♪
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A dentist's office was on fire, and when firefighters put it out, they discovered the fire had been started on purpose. Jeffrey Manchester had been a patient there. The way I understand it, because all the candy, he got some teeth issues, went to the dentist, he got treatment for his cavities, and then he also got some whitening trays, and the whitening trays had the dentist's office name on them.
And that was left in the little room where he had been staying. And I can only suspect in his mind, he's thinking, oh my gosh, they've got the name of the dentist and they're going to go read my dental records and realize that it's me, that I'm here. So let me go burn it down. And so he proceeds to burn the dentist office down. In the meantime, two members of Jeffrey Manchester's church saw the wanted poster that police had released of him and contacted police.
Some people showed up at the local police station and said, hey, we know this guy. And his name is not Jeffrey Manchester. It's John Zorin because we know him from church. And he's dating somebody. Police went to talk with Jeffrey Manchester's girlfriend. They found her at work. And when they showed her a photo of Jeffrey Manchester, she said...
That's John. Well, she was in shock, and she was... You have to put yourself in her place, and you have to be very sensitive to that. And it's an emotional time. It's probably the most shocking news she'll receive in her entire lifetime. And you have to be sensitive to that and try to keep things calm. His girlfriend later told a reporter, "'I was numb. I was hysterical. They'd been dating for almost two months.'"
Catherine says it wasn't until police showed her John's picture on the America's Most Wanted site that she believed them. And it was that moment where she's like, oh, okay, okay, yeah, I'll definitely help you. It happened to be her 40th birthday. The police asked her to call Jeffrey Manchester and invite him to come over that evening to celebrate. When you're undercover, you gotta act normal. You gotta talk normal. It's gotta be like a regular conversation or else he's gonna know something's up.
And she was able to play into that and keep her senses about her, which is not easy to do in that kind of an emotional time at all. That evening, police stationed themselves around her apartment. I'm in the parking lot. I'm in an undercover vehicle. And I'm listening on the radio as everything's going down. And I get a call from one of my detectives. Hey, Sarge, we're following him. He just did a U-turn on Independence.
And so at that time, you're like, okay, well, first thing that goes through your mind is we've been made. And I said something to the effect of, I told you guys to keep a loose tail. What's going on? The officers kept following him and watched as he pulled into a grocery store parking lot. He walked into the store and walked out a few minutes later with a bouquet of flowers. So he gets his flowers. He gets back in the car. I breathe a huge sigh of relief. And then he starts heading back to the apartment and
He parks his car. He gets out real quickly, looks around a little bit, head's kind of on a swivel, which is normal. And then he hurtles over some shrubbery, and he's at the front door. And at that time, the call's made for people to move in. The police surrounded him and put him in handcuffs. I remember he wouldn't make eye contact with me, and he just looked away, like maybe disappointment. He just realized it's over. ♪
After his arrest, Jeffrey Manchester reportedly called his mother. He told her, "Mom, I kind of lost focus." He also talked to his girlfriend. She said he apologized. She told a reporter, "I can't say anything bad about him." Did he ever explain why he'd done what he did? So he said in certain ways that it was for the money. I don't believe that. I think it was for the chase. I think it was for the game. I think it was for the rush.
Jeffrey Manchester is 53 now. He's currently in central prison in Raleigh. His projected release date is 2036. He's tried to escape twice since he was recaptured, in 2009 and again in 2017. I mean, it worked for him in the past. Why not? He's just thinking, how do I get out of here? When do I get out of here? And let's get this show going again.
Criminal is created by Lauren Spohr and me. Nadia Wilson is our senior producer. Katie Bishop is our supervising producer. Our producers are Susanna Robertson, Jackie Sajico, Lily Clark, Lena Sillison, and Megan Kinane. Our show is mixed and engineered by Veronica Simonetti. This episode was mixed by Michael Rayfield. Julian Alexander makes original illustrations for each episode of Criminal. You can see them at thisiscriminal.com.
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To learn more, go to thisiscriminal.com slash plus. We're on Facebook and Twitter at Criminal Show and Instagram at criminal underscore podcast. We're also on YouTube at youtube.com slash criminal podcast. Criminal is part of the Vox Media Podcast Network. Discover more great shows at podcast.voxmedia.com. I'm Phoebe Judge. This is Criminal.