LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — New details are coming to light about how a convicted murderer escaped from prison in Sept. 2022.
On Thursday, the Nevada Department of Corrections Office of the Inspector General released their findings on the incident.
Porfirio Duarte-Herrera was serving a life sentence for murder with a deadly weapon. Authorities said he and an accomplice, identified as Omar Denvers, placed a pipe bomb on a car in the parking lot at the Luxor in 2007, which killed Willebaldo Antonio. Prosecutors said the bombing was a "revenge killing" due to Antonio dating Denvers' ex-girlfriend.
Duarte-Herrera escaped from Southern Desert Correctional Center in Indian Springs on Sept. 23, 2022.
According to the Inspector General's report, Duarte-Herrera told detectives he decided to escape after his appeal was denied and also because he knew the towers at the prison were not operational and had not been manned for the previous three years. He added that he would not have attempted to escape if the towers had been operational, "specifically stating not wanting to be shot". Duarte-Herrera also told investigators there are "too many inmates for the limited amount of guards/officers per unit" and that there's about one guard or officer for every 200 inmates.
Duarte-Herrera was able to "erode or cut the metal to allow the window slat to break from the frame". The report states investigators found a device that "was some sort of transducer or voltage reducer" that was used along with a substance in a bottle of Suave lotion. The report states research shows lotions are "incredible electrical conductors due to the lanolin and other chemical make-up of the lotion."
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During his interview, Duarte-Herrera told investigators he had read chemical books and engineering books when he was on an interstate compact in Arizona years earlier and that he "became familiar with how to engineer things."
The report states Duarte-Herrea used cardboard and towels to create a "dummy" to represent him in bed. When he got back from dinner, he told investigators he stayed outside and hid behind a pony wall for about five hours. He added it took him about four minutes to climb the three prison fences, one without barbed wire and two with barbed wire, and that he used leather gloves that prison yard labor inmates would use so he wouldn't injure his hands.
After escaping, the report states he tried to reach out to family members and friends for help but that most of them refused. One woman agreed to help him but the report states Duarte-Herrera told her that he had finished his sentence, was discharged from prison, and that "he had been walking for a long time." She gave him a ride to Nellis and Bonanza as well as cash.
Duarte-Herrera told detectives when he got to the area, he cleaned himself up at a creek and rested. The report states he paid $120 for an identification card at a swap meet, spent $40 on clothes from Goodwill near Stewart and Nellis, and bought a bus ticket for $101 from Las Vegas Shuttles. He told investigators his plan was to travel by bus to Tijuana, Mexico and ultimately head back to Nicaragua to be with his family.
According to NDOC officials, Duarte-Herrera escaped on Sept. 23 but corrections facility staff didn't realize it until Sept. 27 when they noticed he was missing during a headcount. That's when a manhunt began. At the time, Las Vegas police were offering a $30,000 reward for information on his disappearance.
When Duarte-Herrera went to check in at the shuttle company on Wednesday night for the trip to Tijuana, manager Gabriel Delgadilo said the dispatcher recognized Duarte-Herrera because police had given them a flier with his description. Delgadilo said he checked the surveillance camera from home and called 911. Police arrived and took Duarte-Herrera into custody.
The incident led to then-governor Steve Sisolak asking then-DOC director Charles Daniels to resign. Deputy director William Gittere was then appointed to serve as acting director. At the time, six officers with the NDOC were also placed on administrative leave.
As for Duarte-Herrera, court records show he is now facing an escape charge for the incident. Court records state he's scheduled to be back in court on Nov. 2.
