New York inmate planned to escape prison buried in sawdust

Publish date: 2024-06-21
Gordon 'Woody' Mower, who is serving life in prison for killing his parents two decades ago, said he planned the escape from Auburn Correctional Facility in upstate New York two years ago 

Gordon 'Woody' Mower, who is serving life in prison for killing his parents two decades ago, said he planned the escape from Auburn Correctional Facility in upstate New York two years ago 

An inmate nicknamed 'Woody' hatched a plan to escape a maximum-security prison in New York by hiding in a box buried in tons of sawdust. 

Gordon 'Woody' Mower, who is serving life in prison for killing his parents two decades ago, said he planned the escape from Auburn Correctional Facility in upstate New York two years ago.

The 40-year-old told The Post-Standard of Syracuse in an interview from behind bars that he and another inmate had practiced the plan about 50 times. 

It involved burying him alive in a bottomless coffin-like box in a big mound of sawdust from the prison's wood shop, which was hauled away periodically by a local farmer.

He said a bobcat loader was used to shift the sawdust into the farmer's trailer. Inmates practiced using the bobcat to scoop up Mower and carry him around in the box to see if he could survive.

Mower said during some practice runs, the box collapsed under the sawdust's weight and he was knocked unconscious several times. 

His fellow inmates had to drag him out and revive him. 

Mower (pictured above in 1996) is serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole for shooting dead his parents in New York when he was 18 

Mower (pictured above in 1996) is serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole for shooting dead his parents in New York when he was 18 

'It was the scariest time of my life,' Mower said. 'I was banged up - bruised and banged up. Smashed up by the Bobcat.' 

Mower said he had initially planned to escape in the summer of 2014 when Barack Obama visited the prison.

But he said his alleged accomplice, Larry Utter, said they needed more time. Utter has denied any involvement in the escape plan.

RELATED ARTICLES

Share this article

Share

Mower said the plot failed in 2015 when another inmate tipped off guards. 

He was found guilty of attempting to escape and spent 564 days in solitary confinement. 

Mower is now at Elmira Correctional Facility. He is serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole for shooting dead his parents in New York when he was 18. 

Mower said the plot to escape the prison (above) failed in 2015 when another inmate tipped off guards. He was found guilty of attempting to escape

Mower said the plot to escape the prison (above) failed in 2015 when another inmate tipped off guards. He was found guilty of attempting to escape

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7pa3IpbCmmZmhe6S7ja6iaKaVrMBwrdGtoJyklWKBdoOScG9tZ3mjuqLAxGanpZmeo7KlecSsmpqolWK9s7XSqKVmmp%2BteqPB0aKcnWWjlsSlwdKtZaGsnaE%3D