“It's a great day for law enforcement to catch all six without a shot fired,” said FBI agent Philip Thomas.

The capture of the convicts on February 1 came two days after they escaped a maximum-security prison by using a broom handle to lift an electric fence.

Authorities stumbled onto the group, which included three murderers, along a country road about 50 miles west of Nashville and 165 miles from the prison.

“We just partied, drank and got high - just had a good time,'' convicted burglar James McClain said after his arrest.

McClain said the group planned to go to Memphis before driving to Canada. They stopped in the unincorporated community of Bucksnort, west of Dickson, to eat, clean themselves and rest.

Authorities said they stumbled on the escaped inmates purely by luck.

Just after midnight on January 31, two sheriff's deputies, looking for someone who had stolen a street sign, came upon a car parked near a creek. Deputy Darrell Groves said the fugitives, who had apparently been washing themselves in the creek, “scattered like a bunch of deer'' into the woods.

The deputies learned the car had been stolen near the Alabama prison. Inside they found a shotgun, an empty pistol holder, money and several makeshift knives.

The deputies called for help and caught the first three inmates at around 6 a.m. on February 1.

Two more convicts were found within an hour. One of them, Jack Allred, was suffering from the cold weather when he was captured.

“He was about a frozen Popsicle,'' said police officer Paul Egli, whose tracking dog led his team to the fugitive. “I think he was ready to go home.''

Gary Scott eluded authorities for another 61/2 hours before two residents spotted him crouching under a bridge.

The captured inmates were arraigned in federal court. They were charged with unlawful flight to avoid confinement. Their next hearing was set for February 6, and they will be held in Nashville at least until then.

“My guess is that they will be looked after real close,'' said Joseph Avery of the U.S. Marshals office.

Prison commissioner Mike Haley has blamed the escape on a manpower shortage and faulty security, including an alarm system that didn't go off.

Scott, Murphy and Borden were serving life sentences for murder; Gamble and Allred had been jailed for robbery.