NOTE: The original article was published Jan. 23, 2001 in The Gazette. Donald Newbury on Wednesday evening would be the third member of the “Texas 7” to be executed since they were hunted down in Colorado.

To read more about the planned execution, click here. 

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One of the wildest manhunts in recent U.S. history ended at 3:45 a.m. Wednesday in Colorado Springs after two suspected cop killers gave a bizarre TV interview and then walked out of a Holiday Inn, shirtless, into the freezing darkness.     The peaceful surrender of rapist Patrick Murphy, his black hair dyed blond, and robber Donald Newbury, his complex torso tattoos looking wicked in the TV lights, capped a five-week, Jesse James-like saga that captivated people worldwide.     The last two fugitives, armed with 10 handguns and two sawed-off shotguns, ended a 51/2-hour standoff after one of them, Newbury, told television viewers worldwide the Texas prison system “is as corrupt as we are.” The men had agreed to surrender without violence if they could each make a five-minute statement to a local TV anchorman.     Police, alerted by a desk clerk, surrounded the hotel off Garden of the Gods Road about 10:30 p.m. after learning the men had checked in Monday. The hotel is just hundreds of feet from a restaurant where police found the men’s abandoned van Tuesday morning.     Murphy and Newbury were the last of seven killers, rapists and robbers on the loose after a daring escape from a south Texas prison on Dec. 13. Four of the gang, including the ringleader, kidnapper George Rivas, murderers Michael Rodriguez and Joseph Garcia and child abuser Randy Halprin were captured Monday in or near the motor home they had been living in near Woodland Park. A fifth fugitive, rapist Larry Harper, killed himself on Monday when cornered inside the motor home by FBI agents.     Dubbed the Texas Seven, the gang had been the subject of an intense manhunt that stretched from Texas to New York to Mississippi. The seven are suspected of shooting a rookie policeman in Irving, Texas, 11 times and then driving over his body during the robbery of a sporting goods store on Christmas Eve – a crime at least one of the fugitives has admitted the gang committed.     The two fugitives caught early Wednesday were advised of their rights – including the right to fight extradition to Texas – in a hearing before County Court Judge Barney Iuppa at the Metro Jail in downtown Colorado Springs.     In separate advisements, Murphy and Newbury sat across the table from Iuppa in plastic chairs. Both wore orange jumpsuits and ankle shackles. They were handcuffed to a belt around their waist. The men listened intently; neither showed emotion.     Neither Trent Novak, Murphy’s lawyer, nor Phil Tate, who represents Newbury, would say whether they advised their clients to fight extradition.     Rivas’ attorney, Deb Grohs, says her client has not decided whether he will waive extradition in a hearing today in Cripple Creek.     She said Rivas has strong incentive to fight extradition because he’ll face a capital murder charge and the possibility of the death penalty if he’s returned to Texas. “If they’re trying to give you the death penalty, make them work for it,” she said.     Prosecutor Dave Gilbert said all six have cooperated with authorities since being recaptured, so they may not fight extradition.     Gilbert said it’s rare for someone to successfully avoid extradition from Colorado.     Teller County Sheriff Frank Fehn on Wednesday morning visited the county jail in Divide where the four fugitives captured in Woodland Park are being held.     He said he gave them a warning about their behavior during their upcoming court appearances: “If you behave and if you act like a man, we will treat you that way. If you attempt anything else, we will use restraints that will give you some discomfort.”     Fehn said those restraints would carry an electrical charge that the sheriff could unleash by pushing the button on a remote control.     Although the legal case against the men will sooner or later shift to Texas, there are still unanswered questions about the men’s stay in the Pikes Peak region. In particular, investigators will be probing whether they had any involvement in the slaying of a teen and his grandparents in Guffey, a small town in Park County not far from Woodland Park. They died Jan. 1 – the day after the Texas Seven arrived in Woodland Park.     No matter how that case is resolved, the men’s getaway to Colorado will not be forgotten soon. The men, traveling in two cars filled with 60 stolen firearms, landed in the state Dec. 26 by chance as they escaped a snowstorm in Texas.     They spent six days in Pueblo, eventually donating one of their cars – the Honda they are accused of using to run over the policeman – to a local church. Soon after, they made their way to Colorado Springs, where they bought two vehicles and the motor home with some of the $70,000 they allegedly netted in the Texas sporting goods store robbery.     While passing themselves off as vacationing Christians, they drank in local bars, reportedly patronized escort services and warned a young snowboarder in the RV park not to hurt himself.     The men’s bizarre getaway to Colorado left a lasting impression on many, including Rudy Kabasta, 32, who moved to the Coachlight RV Park near Woodland Park seven months ago to get his two daughters away from crime in the Denver area.     “Who would have thought we would have been neighbors of the ‘Magnificent Seven?'” she said.     – Gazette staff writers Becca Blond, Bill Hethcock and Pam Zubeck contributed to this story. 

The Coachlight Motel & R. V. Park took advantage of its notoriety in summer 2001 after some of the prison escapees known as the Texas Seven were captured there earlier that year. Manager Don Silvester restocked t-shirts with the phrase “Escape to the Rock Photo by Gazette file photo