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(284) NBC Interview w/prisoner 3
escape. I was taken to a bathroom with a guard and at the point he
unhandcuffed me. I was free, free in a sense as free as I could possibly
get–there were doors, but I was thinking of running out of them, but
I still had second thoughts about escaping so I asked to see a counselor
again and talked about the possibility. I had gone back, thinking maybe
I wouldn’t guit. I decided to quit at that time. Then I was told again
that I could escape if I want. I was told this time I could escape, so
I went back to the thing. I felt like a prisoner. Talked with another
prisoner. He came in and said that we couldn’t quit, there was no way
we could get out. I told him that I was told the same thing, and at that
point, I don’t know, I just, there’s no way I can describe how I felt
I just felt totally helpless, more helpless than I’ve ever felt before–
at any other time. From that point on I realized there was only two
choices I had. One was to work for parole, and one was to escape,
and I felt that I would work towards the parole and at least try the
parole first, then if I couldn’t get parole I would definitely escape
because I was thinking of different possibilities and stuff. The next
day we lost the first prisoner that was one of my cellmates. He was gone
from the experiment. Another prisoner was brought in. I started to get
to know him. I was thinking, I sort of explained to him, what the
situation was as far as I saw it. Told him that he couldn’t guit at
any time. He seemed very rebellious, then I told him it didn’t seem
like it was the best thing to do at the time, you know, if we wanted to
escape we should play along with them so that we can get them at their
weakest spot, and it turned out, I think it came out the next day or the
day after that he turned out to be an informer, was just in to find out
our escape plans. Various things we’d planned, one guy was going to
tell people on the outside to come back and break us out–they were going