U.S. & World

N.J. 'Thank You Note' Prison Guard Kills Himself

Escaped Prisoners Remain At Large

ELIZABETH, N.J. (CBS News) ― A guard who was named in a playful thank-you note left by two jail inmates when they chiseled their way out of their cells has committed suicide, his lawyer said Wednesday. The note was singed with a smiley face.

Rudolph Zurick, 40, was found dead at his New Jersey home, said attorney Michael J. Mitzner. Zurick had not been charged in the Dec. 15 break from the Union County Jail and had been cooperating with the investigation, Mitzner said.

"Everything I understand, he did nothing wrong," said Mitzner, who spoke to Zurick on Monday. "It's hard to know what goes through someone's head."

Mitzner did not have Zurick's cause of death. Officials did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment.

Zurick had been scheduled to be interviewed Wednesday about the daring escape by inmates Otis Blunt, 32, and Jose Espinosa, 20. Both remained at large Wednesday.

The two used photos of bikini-clad women to hide holes they dug through the cinderblock walls of their adjoining cells in a high-security unit, authorities said. They jumped onto a lower roof, then made it over a 25-foot-high fence topped with razor wire.

The inmates' thank-you note thanked Zurick for the tools they used - a thick piece of wire and a 10-pound steel water shut-off wheel.

"You're a real pal! Happy Holidays," said the note, which also included a drawing of a hand with an upraised middle finger.

"There was no way he gave them any help," Mitzner said. "He was the one who had noticed they were missing."

Blunt was awaiting trial for robbery and weapons offenses. Espinosa was awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty to manslaughter in a 2005 drive-by shooting.

Authorities are reviewing security measures and have barred inmates from putting pictures cut from magazines on their cell walls.

In a statement, Union County Prosecutor Theodore J. Romankow said the death is being investigated by Middlesex County authorities.

"This is not a time for speculation, but a time for mourning," Romankow said. He declined further comment.

Officials in Middlesex County did not immediately return messages seeking comment.

Union County Police, overseen by the county prosecutor's office, are still investigating how the two men were able to escape from the unit considered most secure at the jail in Elizabeth. It was the first escape since the jail opened in 1986.

Authorities, however, already plan to install more surveillance cameras and razor wire, and add patrols.

Held in adjoining cells, Espinosa and Blunt used at least two improvised tools -- a thick metal wire like those used to bind chain link fences to poles, and a 10-pound steel water shut-off wheel -- to remove cinderblocks from the wall, Romankow has said.

The shut-off wheel was used to crush the cinderblocks so they could be hidden in the cells, Romankow said. The inmates also laid out pillows and sheets to make it look like they were sleeping under blankets, he said.

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