Prisoner Dresses Drag To Escape His Fate
When one is stuck behind prison bars for murder, and all seems lost, perhaps there is a lot of quiet time to concoct the perfect plan to escape his fate. Francisco Herrera Augusta, 55, was sure he had done just that. In order to regain this freedom, the gang leader would just need to get his hands on a few articles of woman’s clothing and temporarily change his identity. Should be easy enough given his small stature. At least, so he thought. But, it turns out, disguising his voice would be harder than his body.
On Wednesday, May 10th, prison guards noticed a woman, dressed in a long skirt and a blonde wig “walking funny” and “speaking in a man’s voice”, heading toward the doors right after family visiting hours. They stopped the strange woman who identified herself as Jacinta Elvira Arauio, a visitor who had left her identity card with the guards as she entered the prison earlier that day. “She” had already managed to pass through several security measures on the way out. But, despite Francisco’s elaborate efforts, complete with fake breasts, make up, high heels and painted toenails, the guards were not convinced this awkward individual was the same woman. It was all in the manly tone of his voice after being asked for his identity card number. He “spoke with a hoarse, male voice,” prison spokesperson Bayron Sauceda said. A guard asked the prisoner to remove his dark sunglasses in order to verify the supposed identity, and a man’s face stared back at him. “The make up couldn’t hide the fact that he was a man,” said Sauceda.
Augusta had met his fate in 2015 after being locked up on murder and firearms charges. He can now add an escape attempt to that list. Officials stated he may be transferred to the feared El Pozo jail in Santa Barbara for his efforts, notoriously referred to as Honduras’ most dangerous prison.
(Photo Credit: RAW TV)
Perhaps the most interesting part of the story is that this isn’t the first time a male prisoner south of the border has tried to escape by dressing drag. Augusta may have been taking notes from Dwight Worker, an American man thrown into the Mexican “Black Palace”, one of the country’s toughest, for drug offenses, who managed to escape by dressing drag years later. “I was tortured, electro-shocked and stabbed four times while there,” Worker said in an interview, “I didn’t know how not to fight back. There’s so much degradation going on that it’s impossible not to defend yourself.”
Worker fell in love behind bars, too, and became bound and determined to start a new life far away from prison walls. He walked away in women’s clothing, and Mexican officials never asked for his extradition. “It’s not illegal to escape from a prison in Mexico, unless you cause damage to the state or to a person,” Worker said. “However, it was foolish, because if the guards had captured me, they would have … how do I put this? Treated me as if I was a woman before killing me.” Worker’s story was later featured on National Geographic’s “Locked Up Abroad”. Unfortunately for Augusta, Worker was a prettier woman. The Honduras man will not enjoy the same fate.
Sources:
Dwight Worker Escaped A Mexican Prison Dressed As A Woman (VIDEO)
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