Page 5 - James Slagle News Today

But the main thing to do is face the situation, accept what it is, and try to find a reasonable, honest, positive way to get through that situation and come out improved on the other side. >> one inmate who confided in slagle over the years is stephen hughley. hughley was sentenced to life for killing his mother and given a death sentence for murdering a prison counselor. slagle knows him as something other than a cold-blooded killer. >> i discovered a side to steve, maybe no one else ever saw i...

90-year sentence for armed robbery and criminal intent to commit murder. >> this is a song called "snow-covered crime," a song i wrote years ago, and every year, i changed the amount of years its been since ive been in prison. ♪ its been 18 long years ♪ in this old cold prison ♪ sometimes i feel so all alone ♪ ♪ sweet mountain of home ♪ so far away ♪ im lonesome and blue >> one of the oldest inmates in brushy mountains permanent population is james slagle. slagle is serving a 318-y...

Time here at brushy mountain. i decided, jim, youve got to become something else. and so i looked into me and saw the ugliness. i saw the hatred, the violence, the misery. and i said im going to be something else. i am going to become a thinking man. by the way, thats hard to do. but i spent years reading, studying, looking within myself. im one of the most fortunate men that ever lived. >> slagle runs the library and provides legal help to other inmates. >> where they made the error on your tim...

Become something else. and so i looked into me and saw the ugliness. i saw the hatred, the violence, the misery. and i said im going to be something else. i am going to become a thinking man. by the way, thats hard to do. but i spent years reading, studying, looking within myself. im one of the most fortunate men that ever lived. >> slagle runs the library and provides legal help to other inmates. >> where they made the error on your time, your two sentences are running concurrently, which means...

Mountain. the most famous escape was made by james earl ray nine years after he killed martin luther king, jr. he had been an escapee from missouri when assassinated king. >> the main thing he was interested in was escaping. when i first met him i was interested in escaping, too. we got into a couple of plots together that never worked out. we did get a hole cut but it was discovered before we had a chance to use it. we didnt get locked up over it. they found it and tightened the security in tha...

Leader martin luther king jr. ray had been an escapee from missouri state penitentiary when he assassinated king. >> the main thing he was interested in was escaping. now, when i first met him, i was interested in escaping too. we got into a couple of plots together that never worked out. one we were going to go through the roof of the old auditorium where they showed movies. we did get the hole cut but it was discovered before we had a chance to use it. we didnt get caught, we didnt get locked ...

>> this is a song i wrote a few years ago. every year i change the amount of years its been since ive been in prison. ♪ its been 18 long years ♪ in this old cold prison sometimes i feel so all alone ♪ sweet mountain of home ♪ ♪ so far away ♪ im lonesome and blue ♪ thats all i can say >> one of the oldest inmates in brushy mountains permanent population is james slagle. slagle is serving a 318-year sentence for murder and has been here longer than any other inmate. >> ive been in th...

My answer. it may not fit you, because youre not me. but the main thing to do is face the situation, accept what it is, and try to find a reasonable, honest, positive way to get through that situation and come out improved on the other side. >> one inmate who confided in slagle over the years is stephen hughley. hughley was sentenced to life for killing his mother and given a death sentence for murdering a prison counselor. slagle knows him as something other than a cold-blooded killer. >> i dis...

You got the bluff on one side and its surrounded by mountains the last stop because the road ends at brushy mountain. and theres -- theres nowhere else to go. >> but that didnt stop the prisons most notorious inmate from attempting to escape. in 1977, nine years after he killed civil rights leader martin luther king jr., james earl ray went over the wall. during our shoot at brushy mountain, we met an inmate who was not only there, but tried to talk ray out of it. >> i told him, i said, james, y...

But slagle feared that rays high profile would lead them to being captured soon after the escape. >> i said, james, youve got no pickup, no car. i said as soon as your foot touches down and they know its you, there will be a million cops in this valley and no ones going to get away. its a futile effort and i dont believe in wasting my energy, so i just sat and watched it happen. okay. thats the corner where james and doug and spider monkey and the others went over. the fence was not here at that...