John Warren Parsons (born February 11, 1971) is an American criminal from

Chillicothe, Ohio Chillicothe ( ) is a city in Ross County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. The population was 22,059 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located along the Scioto River 45 miles (72 km) south of Columbus, Ohio, Columbus, ...

. He escaped from prison and was caught on October 19, 2006. He was wanted for an unlawful flight to avoid prosecution, escape, aggravated murder, aggravated robbery, weapons under disability, tampering with evidence and grand theft.

Murder

Parsons was facing capital charges for the April 21, 2005, murder of Chillicothe Police Officer Larry R. Cox following a gas station robbery. On that evening, Chillicothe police responded to a report of a car being stolen from a restaurant. Just 15 minutes later, chased by a Chillicothe police officer, the suspect bailed out of the car and took off running. At around 6 pm, as he walked from his parents' house to his own, off-duty Officer Larry Cox also took up the foot chase, and confronted the robber in an alleyway near Chestnut and North High streets. Cox was shot and killed in the alley. Several clues led investigators to John Parsons, whom police arrested July 10, 2005, and charged with the killing. He pleaded guilty and was given

life in prison Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment under which the convicted individual is to remain incarcerated for the rest of their natural life (or until pardoned or commuted to a fixed term). Crimes that result in life imprisonment are co ...

Escape

Parsons escaped from the Ross County jail on Saturday, July 29, 2006. He asked his mother for help in escaping, but she was arrested before plans could be made. Parsons made a rope from bed-sheets, newspaper and toilet paper, which he hid behind a brick in the wall of his cell. He used toothpaste and green and blue

Jolly Rancher Jolly Rancher is an American brand of sweet hard candy, gummies, jelly beans, lollipops, and sour bites, and a line of soda put out by Elizabeth Beverage Company in 2004. Originally created in Colorado in the 1950s, the Jolly Rancher brand h ...

s to match the paint on the wall to disguise the broken mortar around the loose brick, which Parsons had carved out with a piece of metal from an air vent in his jail cell. As a fugitive, he was twice featured on the

Fox Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...

television show ''

America's Most Wanted ''America's Most Wanted'' (often abbreviated as ''AMW'') is an American television program whose first run was produced by 20th Television, and second run is under the Fox Entertainment#Fox Alternative Entertainment, Fox Alternative Entertain ...

''. He appeared for a third time on that program on September 30, 2006, when he became the 484th fugitive listed on the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list. After his escape there were numerous reported sightings of Parsons in heavily wooded areas near Chillicothe.

National Geographic Channel National Geographic (formerly National Geographic Channel; abbreviated and trademarked as Nat Geo or Nat Geo TV) is an American pay television network and flagship channel owned by the National Geographic Global Networks unit of Disney Enter ...

transmitted the history of the escape in episode 6 of the

documentary A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

show '' Breakout''.

Captured

On October 19, 2006, Parsons was arrested without incident by members of the Ross County Tactical Assault Team at approximately 12:20 pm at a small shack near the Chillicothe city limits. A number of law enforcement tactical units converged on the location and planned the arrest to avoid injury to any law enforcement personnel or to Parsons. After being booked into the Ross County jail, Parsons was transferred to the Pickaway Correctional Institution in

Orient The Orient is a term referring to the East in relation to Europe, traditionally comprising anything belonging to the Eastern world. It is the antonym of the term ''Occident'', which refers to the Western world. In English, it is largely a meto ...

, southwest of

Columbus Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to: * Christopher Columbus (1451–1506), the Italian explorer * Columbus, Ohio, the capital city of the U.S. state of Ohio * Columbus, Georgia, a city i ...

. Parsons, who led local, state and national law enforcement on a three-month chase after his escape, stood before Judge Jon Corzine in Ross County Common Pleas Court shortly after 3 pm and pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse committed with the necessary Intention (criminal law), intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisd ...

and other charges. He was sentenced to life in prison without parole. He was involved in telling the story of the escape with the

. As of January 2020, Parsons is incarcerated at the Toledo Correctional Institution.

References

External links

''America's Most Wanted''

{{DEFAULTSORT:Parsons, John 1971 births American escapees American people convicted of murdering police officers American prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment Criminals from Ohio Escapees from Ohio detention Fugitives Living people People convicted of murder by Ohio People from Chillicothe, Ohio Place of birth missing (living people) Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by Ohio