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As Massachusetts Jailbreaks Go, This One Is Intriguing, Insidious

Author adam12
(Photo by John Mottern/Getty Images)

When you think of famous crimes in the Commonwealth you don’t usually think of Massachusetts jailbreaks. You might think of the Boston Strangler or Whitey Bulger or even Lizzie Borden.

But thanks to a local journalist, you’ll probably be thinking about this Boston-area breakout for quite some time. Recently, Nate Homan published a long read on an infamous West African warlord’s Bay State jailbreak. And it’s a story you likely haven’t heard.

Homan, in his own words, is “a South Shore-born punk rock amateur boxer who graduated from Emerson College and has written for the Boston Phoenix, Metro Boston/NYC/ Philly, Front Page Detectives, DigBoston, and the Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism.”

Massachusetts Jailbreaks: World History, Locally

Charles Taylor served at the President of Liberia for six years, from August of 1997 until August of 2003. He resigned amid international pressures to step down during the the Second Liberian Civil War. He is a convicted war criminal. An evil, violent man.

Back in 1985, he was an inmate at the Plymouth County House of Correction in Plymouth, MA. As Homan details, on the night of September 15, Taylor and a crew of four hacksawed their way out of the laundry room of the minimum-security ward. They were out.

Taylor’s four fellow co-conspirators were caught. Taylor was not. The Bentley College graduate eluded the law–including INTERPOL–fleeing to West Africa, beginning his bloody conquest. To this day, he’s never been charged with escaping from Plymouth County House of Correction.

Massachusetts Jailbreaks: The Story You Don’t Know

Homan does an outstanding, detailed job of outlining Taylor’s connection to Massachusetts, his crimes here, and the aftermath of the jailbreak. Read it all here, and then visit BINJ here to learn more about the essential journalistic work they’re doing and to donate.

Adam 12 is the Program Director of Boston's ROCK 92.9, heard weekdays from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. He's been flexing his encyclopedic rock knowledge in New England for over 2 decades, both on-air and online, at WBCN, WFNX, Boston.com, and indie617. At ROCK 92.9, he keeps you in the know on the big stories from the Boston music scene and writes about great places to eat, drink (beer), and to spend time outdoors in and around Boston.

10 Reasons May 14 is a Big Day in Rock in Boston and Beyond

  • 10) Magic Dick

    Born on May 14, 1945, Richard Salwitz is better known by his stage name, Magic Dick. The New London, CT native attended WPI, where he met John Geils and Danny Klein. The three would found the J. Geils Band in 1965, and Magic Dick would become a maestro on the harmonica.

  • 9) David Byrne

    Born in Scotland, raised in Canada, and eventually settling in the States, David Byrne is one of the great talents of the last half-century. Founder of Talking Heads, winner of a Grammy, and Oscar, a Tony, and a Golden Globe. The man is one award away from EGOT.

  • 8) C.C. DeVille

    Flash forward to 1962, and we have the first of two May 14th birthdays. Bruce Anthony Johnson was born on that day in Bay Ridge. He would go on to study music theory at NYU, quit, move to L.A., and join Poison with the stage name C.C. DeVille. He wrote the riff to their first big hit.

  • 7) Ian Astbury

    Another 5/14/62 birthday, Ian Robert Astbury is best known as the lead singer of British rock band The Cult. I’m fascinated by the fact that he and C.C. share a birthday, as I always think of The Cult as a bridge between hair metal bands like Poison and the big alt-rock bands of the early ’90s.

  • 6) Mike Inez

    Michael Allen Inez was born in 1966. As a kid, he played saxophone and guitar. Eventually, he switched to bass. Good move on his part, as he ended up being Ozzy Osbourne‘s bass player in the early ’90s, then replacing Mike Starr on bass in Alice In Chains in 1993.

  • 5) 'Little Queen'

    Heart released their third album, Little Queen, on May 14, 1977. That’s the one with the cover that looks like it was shot at a Ren Faire. It’s also the one that has one of the greatest album-opening tracks of the ’70s and maybe all-time.

  • 4) Van Halen at the Orpheum

    May 14, 1979. Van Halen headlines the second of two sold-out shows at the Orpheum Theatre in Boston. I wrote a bit about the gig here, but the best part is that there’s decent footage of the show on YouTube.

  • 3) 'On Through the Night'

    On the 14th of May, 1980, English rock band Def Leppard made their debut with On Through the Night. The album has more of a heavy metal sound than the hair metal sound the group would become famous for by the end of the decade.

  • 2) 'Combat Rock'

    The Clash‘s fifth studio effort–released on 5th May 1982–Combat Rock had a more commercial sound than their previous releases. And that pissed some fans off. No matter: thanks to MTV, it was my intro to the band and I love it.

  • 1) 'Minutes to Midnight'

    We round out our list with an album that dropped on May 14, 2007. Minutes to Midnight is the third full-length album from Linkin Park. It was co-produced by Mike Shinoda and Rick Rubin.

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