Robert Garrow

Landing himself in a less secure facility due to his false claims of paralysis, Garrow escaped from Fishkill on September 8, 1978. He was in possession of a .32 caliber pistol he had obtained from his son, who concealed the weapon inside a bucket of chicken he brought to his father during a visit. Garrow then spurred another search after he was discovered missing from his cell. The false claims about his paralysis kept the guards unsuspecting, as he scaled a fifteen-foot-high (4.6 m) fence to escape the prison grounds. He waited in a nearby wooded area, remaining concealed in the brush and leaves until the search widened and he could continue running. However, Garrow was spotted by guards a few days later, a few hundred yards away from the prison walls. Garrow shot at his pursuers, wounding Correction Officer Dominic Arena in the leg, but was shot three times and killed by Correction Officer Frank Lago.

Garrow was treated at CVPH Medical Center in Plattsburgh, New York, where doctors disbelieved his claims of paralysis. He sued the State of New York for $10 million, alleging that the state's doctors had been negligent in treating the gunshot wound, leading to his alleged paralysis. He was moved to a medium security prison in exchange for dropping the lawsuit, and was later found to be feigning his paralysis. Garrow pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, but the jury rejected his plea and found him guilty of second-degree murder, sentencing him to a term of 25 years to life in prison. Garrow began his sentence at Clinton Correctional Facility (maximum security) in Dannemora on July 2, 1974. Due to his alleged paralysis, however, he repeatedly requested transfer to the Elderly and Handicapped Unit (minimum security) within the medium-security Fishkill Correctional Facility. In September, 1977, a death threat against Garrow prompted his transfer to Auburn Correctional Facility (maximum security). It was not until early 1978 that he was transferred back to Fishkill.

In July 1973, Garrow murdered four people, including a young woman whom he kidnapped and repeatedly raped before killing, and a high school-aged camper in the Adirondacks a few days later. Three witnesses escaped and sought police, spurring a twelve-day statewide manhunt that was, at the time, the largest in New York State history. Road blocks were set up at intersections throughout Adirondack Park requiring motorists to open vehicle trunks for law enforcement to thoroughly search. Motorists were warned not to stop for anyone on foot near the roads for fear that Garrow might have tried to pose as a hitchhiker. He was cornered in the woods 60 miles (100 km) north of the murder scene, and was shot in the foot, arm, and back by Environmental Conservation Officer Hilary J. LeBlanc. He survived, alleging that he was partially paralyzed.

Garrow returned to New York in 1957, where he married and fathered a son. His life did not improve, however; he was fired from a series of menial jobs, including from a fast food restaurant he burglarized, and was involved in an abusive relationship with a man he later described as a sadist. Garrow was arrested for rape in 1961 and spent seven years in prison. Soon after he was released, he committed a series of rapes, and many of his victims were children. He was arrested for the rape of two prepubescent girls, but jumped bail and became a fugitive.

Robert Francis Garrow Sr. (March 4, 1936 – September 11, 1978) was an American serial rapist and later spree killer who was active in New York in the early 1970s. After committing several rapes, Garrow went on an 18-day killing spree and stabbed four people to death before being apprehended. His criminal trial, known as the Buried Bodies Case, became an important case in legal ethics after his attorneys refused to disclose the location of the bodies of two of his victims, citing attorney–client privilege. Garrow was later shot dead while escaping from prison in 1978.