Buzz
The phrase “Freedom or death” is often used to express how intensely we value our right to determine our own fate. We take solace in making our own decisions and moving through life as we please, to the point where death might seem a better option than losing our freedom. Yet, when confined in a prison as a convict, a POW in a detention camp, or a slave under the control of a master, all those freedoms are stripped away. The very notion of captivity seems to clash with the human instinct for autonomy.
Nevertheless, some individuals, despite having tasted life in captivity, choose to return to such conditions, almost paradoxically defying the natural human impulse. These are ten instances of people who, after escaping imprisonment, made the decision to return to it voluntarily.
10. An 81-Year-Old Seeks the Familiar in Prison Again
Robert Francis Krebs spent over three decades in prison for embezzling funds as a bank teller in Chicago, committing bank robberies in Florida, and for theft and armed robbery. At the time of his arrest and sentencing, Ronald Reagan was president and the Commodore 64 had not yet been introduced. He completed his sentence in 2017 and was released.
Just six months after his release, Krebs found himself robbing a credit union in Tucson, Arizona. During his Florida robbery in the 1980s, Krebs wore a wig and stuffed cotton in his cheeks to disguise his appearance, even applying varnish to his fingertips to avoid leaving fingerprints. However, during the 2017 Tucson robbery, he didn’t wear a mask, stating that he “kind of wanted to get caught.” He explained that his $800-a-month Social Security check wasn’t enough to support him, so he intentionally broke the law again, reasoning that there’s no need to earn a living in prison.
Krebs has entered a plea of not guilty for the Tucson robbery.
9. A Texas Man Seeks the Comfort of a Home-Cooked Meal
In 2018, an inmate in Beaumont, Texas, managed to escape from his detention center and made a break for a nearby ranch. Upon reaching this private property, 25-year-old Joshua Hansen made a fortunate find—a duffel bag full of several bottles of alcohol, tobacco, and “a large amount of home-cooked food.” He seized the picnic for himself, but instead of fleeing for safety or finding a place to hide, he turned around and headed straight back to his prison.
The reason behind his motivations remains unclear, but he was caught on his return journey to the very facility he had just escaped from, only adding an additional escape charge to his criminal record. Mr. Hansen is just one of many would-be escapees. A nearby rancher reported dealing with more than one criminal fugitive on his property.
8. The King of France Couldn’t Afford His Own Ransom
During the Battle of Poitiers in 1356, John II, king of France, faced off against Edward, the Black Prince of England, only to suffer a humiliating defeat and be captured by the English army. While in captivity, John was treated with great respect. He enjoyed royal comforts, including allowances to purchase horses, pets, and clothing. He even employed an astrologer and kept a court band on hand. Meanwhile, his country struggled to raise enough funds to defend itself.
Eventually, France and England reached an agreement with the Treaty of Bretigny, which set King John’s ransom at 3,000,000 crowns. He was granted permission to return to France to raise the money, but had to leave his son, Louis of Anjou, behind in England as a collateral hostage. Louis received the same royal treatment as his father, but he chose to use this opportunity to escape. With no hostage left in England to uphold the agreement and unable to raise the 3,000,000 crowns, King John, in frustration, voluntarily returned to imprisonment in England, where he passed away soon after.
7. Escaped Only To Visit the Dentist
In 2013, a 51-year-old Swedish man broke out of his low-security facility in Vanersborg, Southwest Sweden, after complaining of a toothache. He explained, “My whole face was swollen. I just couldn’t stand it any more.” When he failed to convince the guards to give him dental care, he took matters into his own hands. The pain became unbearable, and he escaped just two days before his scheduled release. He found a dentist and had the troublesome tooth extracted.
Though he wore an electronic tracking device as part of his prison sentence, authorities couldn’t track him down after his escape. However, this proved unnecessary. After receiving dental treatment, he called the police and turned himself in. He was transported back to his detention center, given a warning, and had a single day added to his sentence to account for the time he spent on the run.
6. Woman Rescued From Terrorists
Boko Haram, also known as the Islamic State in West Africa, is a militant Islamist group operating in Nigeria. The name Boko Haram, in the Hausa language, translates to “Western education is forbidden.” The group also goes by the name Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati Wal-Jihad, which means “People Committed to the Propagation of the Prophet’s Teachings and Jihad.” Boko Haram has claimed responsibility for numerous deadly attacks and the abduction of hundreds of young girls. In 2013, the US designated them as a terrorist organization.
Among the many kidnapped girls and women, 25-year-old Aisha Yerima was freed after spending four years in captivity with Boko Haram. During her time with the group, Aisha married one of their commanders, who lavished her with gifts and serenaded her with love songs. Despite this, she was still forcibly taken into this life. Upon her release, Aisha underwent a de-radicalization program led by psychologist Fatima Akilu, the executive director of the Neem Foundation.
Following the program, Aisha remarked, “I now realize that everything Boko Haram told us was a lie. Now, when I hear their messages on the radio, I just laugh.”
However, less than five months after being reunited with her family, Aisha returned to a Boko Haram hideout to resume the life she had known with them. While she was free, she proudly boasted about her many slaves, the influence she had over the commander who was her husband, and the respect she received from the other leaders of the group.
Dr. Akilu commented on the situation, saying, “These were women who, for the most part, had never worked, had no influence, and no voice within their communities. Suddenly, they found themselves in control of 30 to 100 women who were entirely at their command. When they return to society, it’s difficult to know what to replace that with, as many of them are coming back to communities where they won’t have that kind of power.”
5. Escapes for Love, then Returns to Prison
In 2016, Jaye L. Thomas, 37, was serving time in a minimum-security facility in Southeast Atlanta. Along with other inmates, he managed to sneak in contraband such as cell phones, which aided in further illicit dealings. Using his cell phone, Mr. Thomas arranged meetings with two women he had been flirting with from prison. While the women couldn’t visit him, Thomas was able to make his way to them. The facility’s poor security allowed him to escape by squeezing through a hole in the chain-link fence.
Once outside, he met the women to collect more contraband and engage in sexual encounters. This routine became so familiar that he escaped three times, each time sneaking back into prison with even more luxury items. His repeated escapes were finally uncovered when he was caught with the illicit goods. It's unclear whether it was the lobster, steak, Mexican takeout, alcohol, cell phones, barbecue sauce, frozen shrimp, garlic mashed potatoes, scotch whiskey, cigarettes, rib-eye steaks, clams, or sushi that tipped off the authorities.
4. Setting Fire to a House to Return to Prison
Randall Lee Church, a Texas man, was arrested for a fatal stabbing at the age of 18, serving 26 years in prison. The stabbing occurred during a drunken argument over $97, and Church claimed it was an act of self-defense. As his release from prison approached in 2011, Church looked forward to freedom. However, other inmates warned him that he would face challenges once outside, but he shrugged them off as merely envious.
Upon his release, Church quickly realized the inmates had been right. “It was so overwhelming,” he admitted. He was embarrassed by simple tasks, such as using computers, cell phones, or the Internet. He recalled how strange it felt to walk into a store like Walmart, only to see parents shielding their children from him, as if he were a threat.
Eventually, the overwhelming reality of the outside world became too much for Church to bear. He decided to set fire to an abandoned house on a property he was staying at, which belonged to relatives of a friend he had made in prison. Initially, he kept his role in the fire a secret: “I didn’t tell anyone it was me. It was my way back to prison if I wanted it.” He later reflected, saying, “I know it was wrong, and I’m sorry for it now.”
Three days later, he went to a restaurant, ordered a hamburger, fries, and two chocolate shakes. He had no intention of paying for the meal. Instead, he requested the server to call the police, admitting to committing a crime, and simply waited there to be taken back to the only home he knew.
3. British Officer Keeps His Promise
During World War I, Captain Robert Campbell, a British officer, was captured by the German army and imprisoned at a POW camp in Magdeburg, Germany. While in captivity, he received heartbreaking news: his mother was dying. Driven by love, he sent an unusual letter directly to the German emperor, requesting to be freed temporarily to visit his mother. Despite the oddity of the request, the response was even more surprising—the Kaiser agreed. Campbell was granted permission to leave the camp with the condition that he would return after visiting her.
Captain Campbell made his way home through the Netherlands. True to his word, he returned to the German camp after spending a week with his mother. Once back, he resumed his role as a prisoner of war and, without hesitation, began plotting his next escape attempt.
2. Free American Slaves ‘Willingly’ Return to Be With Their Families
Slavery in the United States was an abhorrent institution, to put it mildly. While slaves could potentially purchase their freedom, this process took decades of saving. Even once freed, they were vulnerable to being re-enslaved for minor offenses like 'immorality' or 'idleness.' There were also laws that forced free slaves to leave the state within a year, and since it took so long to earn enough to buy their freedom, many who managed to buy their freedom were forced to part from their families.
For some, the pain of separation from their loved ones was unbearable. These men chose to return to slavery just to be with their families, preferring the harshness of slavery to the isolation of freedom. In one case from the 1830s, a man who bought his freedom and was exiled to Ohio couldn't bear life apart from his wife. He returned to Virginia, stating that he would rather be a slave with his wife than live in freedom without her.
1. Marcus Atilius Regulus Returns To The Enemy To Spite Them
Marcus Atilius Regulus was a prominent general in the First Punic War between Rome and Carthage. He led the Roman forces to victory against the Carthaginian army and, in a bold move, demanded their unconditional surrender. This insulted the Carthaginians so deeply that they intensified their efforts in the war, eventually capturing Regulus.
After Regulus was captured, the Carthaginians eventually sought peace, offering to release him on parole to return to Rome and negotiate a settlement. Regulus agreed, but upon his return to Rome, he rejected the peace proposals and instead encouraged his fellow Romans to refuse any offers from Carthage. True to his word, he returned to Carthage to honor the terms of his parole, despite the protests of his own people. His captors, however, were far from pleased with his decision, and it is said that he met a cruel death, possibly through torture. (There is some debate surrounding the exact details of his death.)
