Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 46:17 — 63.6MB)
Willie Nelson sings about riding in the wide-open spaces with lyrics titled “Don’t Fence Me In”.
“Don’t Fence Me In” was the ballad of Texas inmate Dennis Wayne Hope.
Hope bragged that there wasn’t a prison in the state of Texas that could hold him.
The convicted armed robber went as far as to imitate the prisoner played by Paul Newman in Hollywood’s Cool Hank Luke.
Hope purchased a Jaguar for his girlfriend with money stolen during robberies in Dallas, Texas.
While on the run, Hope sent imprisoned convicts letters about life on the outside.
Hope impersonated armored car guards with fake ID cards and uniforms. He picked up tens of thousands of dollars in cash deposits.
During one getaway Hope calmly strolled past a police officer parked in a patrol car at the entrance to the grocery store he had just robbed.
During a television interview with investigative reporter Robert Riggs, Hope demonstrated how he could use the plastic refill of a ballpoint pen to unlock handcuffs.
This episode called “Don’t Fence Me In” chronicles Hope’s prison escapes and the fugitive hunters who get on this trail.
Slickest criminal around
Dude has been in a 6×9 isolation cell since 1994. I got one phone call in 2013 when his mother died. I think Texas has figured out a way to hold him.
he was caught and got an 80 year sentence how is he slick?
Murderers and serial killers aren’t treated this harshly! THIS is WRONG! Inhumane!
I have to agree that it is very harsh. I plan to try to interview Dennis to update what has happened to him.
Hi, I talk to him on the phone everyday. He is in general population now. We have been together over 5 years.
He is my love
This man was no fool. He was pretty smart by finding weaknesses in prison and figured out how to escape. He figured out how to get loose by using a spring out of a ballpoint pen. Robs the same grocery stores that put him in prison while traveling back and forth between Dallas, TX and Memphis, TN. But The Texas Dept. Of Criminal Justice were gonna bring him back and put him back in prison and never gave up. But to think it all started when he impersonated an armored car guard is beyond description. It was just amazing how he pulled off all those robberies, gets caught, escaped multiple times, gets caught again, and placed in solitary since the mid-90s. The story of Dennis Wayne Hope was worth looking at.