Francisco Rios Balderrama
DOB 12/09/1969
316656
Eduardo Armanda Quiroz
DOB 28/08/1968
Parklea Prison was designed to hold one prisoner in each cell. Prison overcrowding soon put paid to that very sound concept. Francisco Rios Balderrama (DOB 12.9.69 - min no. 316657) and Eduardo Armando Quiroz (DOB 28.8.68 - min no. 316656) were placed in the same cell and for some very obscure reason they both gained employment in the gaol’s metal shop.
On 11th September 2001, Michael Kay was rostered Gatekeeper at Parklea Prison, a very responsible and demanding position. He was by now a Senior Correctional Officer, and Gatekeeper was his regular duty. His yearly “Staff Assessments” stated he was highly proficient in carrying out his duties.
Working with Mr Kay in the main gate area were First Class Correctional Officer Bradley Helm, and Probationary Correctional Officer Donna Louise Hogan.
At 10.26 hours, without warning, the two desperate criminals Balderrama and Quiroz put their well thought out escape plan into practice. They had been observing Mr Simpson, the metal shop overseer and Mr Brown the truck driver, delivering metal to the metal shop for months to familiarise themselves with their customary routine and knew exactly when to strike. The two prisoners hijacked the heavy truck and hurriedly revved the truck, gaining maximum acceleration and speed, and crashed through gate number 3. Mr Kay witnessed the truck crashing through the gate at high speed, yet recognised at once that the driver was not Mr Brown.
Mr Kay told me, “I can tell you that escape was horrendous; it was lucky nobody was killed, the sudden noise, speed and violence of it affected everyone in the gate with me. The whole building shuddered and light fittings fell from the ceiling; it was like an earthquake but faster. Officer Helm was so affected he could not move or talk for a while afterwards. I suffered flashbacks and relived it doing the ‘what if’ thing over and over”.
He also told me, “All I can add to the reports is on the way back in the car with Governor Campbell, just as we were parking the car, Mr Woodham rang Mr Campbell’s mobile”. Mr Woodham at that stage was the Commissioner of Corrective Services. “It was hands free. Mr Campbell, (who had not yet seen the damage to the main gate), told Woodham that some inmates had escaped by smashing through the main gate in a truck. I could hear all this conversation and Mr Woodham then said, “Fucking bullshit, the officers left the gate open”. My adrenaline was still through the roof, and I yelled out, ‘Tell the fat fuck to come out here and see for himself’. Mr Campbell nearly fainted.
In my view, Mr Woodham’s response, upon hearing of the escape, immediately accused Prison Officers, in his overzealous manner, of neglect of their duty. Once again, he was wrong.
Gate 3 – View from inside the gaol facing towards the main gateway
Without doubt, this was the most daring and successful escape in Australian criminal history. To find out more and how these two desperate prisoners were re-captured, along with some splendid photographs taken at the time of the escape, read my latest eBook, Australia’s Best Prison Stories.
This I believe.
Peter T. Egge
