|
|
| Puzzle-Loving Deputy Cracks Crime Code |
| By ABC News |
| Published: 11/19/2001 |
|
It took four years for imprisoned convict Robert Heike to devise the code for 'Operation Chisel.' It took four St. Lucie County, Fla., Jail detention deputies an hour and a half to crack it and thwart the jailbreak Heike was allegedly planning. Police say Heike tried to send a friend a coded letter from the St. Lucie County Jail, where he was being held on charges including high-speed fleeing in a car, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and resisting an officer. The one-page note had a series of squiggles and symbols that Heike had devised in the hopes of avoiding detection by authorities, who routinely screen outgoing mail from inmates. In the July 6 letter, Heike told a friend to help him escape in case his court date didn't go well, authorities say. Under the name 'Operation Chisel,' he instructed the man to put street clothes, a blanket and a wire cutter in a bag and to throw it over a jail fence at midnight on a specified night. He didn't count on having his note examined by detention deputies Debra Wesley, Thomas Carlile, Francisco Delrosario and Rochelle Parrish, who were on duty the night Heike sent his instructions. Wesley, a puzzle fanatic, made short work of Heike's code. 'Debra Wesley ever since she was a child has been puzzle freak,' Sheriff Ken Mascara explained. 'She led the brigade in deciphering it.' First she guessed correctly that the letter began with the recipient's name, and matched it to the name on the outside of the envelope. She also noticed the note contained a date, with the month written in code and the day left as an English numeral. That was enough to crack the whole thing. In the morning they confronted Heike, who was shocked to see his letter complete with an English translation. 'He admitted that he'd spent four years on this code,' Mascara said. 'He couldn't believe they deciphered it an hour and a half.' The four deputies received commendations from the Sheriff's Department last week. |
advertise
|
privacy policy
|
add URL
|
about us
|
terms/disclaimer
|
contact us
|
join our team
|
help
Comments:
No comments have been posted for this article.
Login to let us know what you think