MOON ONCE PLOTTED TO FLEE OSCEOLA JAIL

Martin Moon, an Iowa prison escapee captured Thursday in Illinois,
cleverly planned an escape from the Clarke County Jail five years
ago, but his bid was foiled, Sheriff Mark Addison said.

Moon was held in the old county jail in Osceola from December 1999 to
June 2000 while awaiting trial on murder charges. He was a quiet,
studious inmate who didn't draw attention to himself, Addison said.

Moon had his girlfriend send him a care package with saw blades
hidden inside the foam soles of a pair of slippers, the sheriff said.
He then cut into a lock in the jail's day room and stopped cutting
when it could be broken with a good kick. Moon camouflaged the vacant
space on the lock by filling it in with toothpaste.

The escape was averted when a fellow inmate informed jailers, Addison
said. Authorities found civilian clothes stuffed into a vent in
Moon's cell, and they discovered $300 in cash taped on his body.

Moon's girlfriend, Kimberly Mitchell, was arrested in Chattanooga,
Tenn., where she lived, and was charged with assisting with the
escape attempt, Addison said. But she fled after posting bond, and
authorities haven't seen her since.

Addison said he hopes Iowa authorities investigate the possibility
Mitchell may have helped Moon's escape Monday night from penitentiary
at Fort Madison.

Addison said he was intrigued by the details of the Fort Madison
escape, particularly how Moon and another inmate climbed atop the
roofs of prison buildings before they scaled a prison wall. "It
reminds me of the movie 'Escape from Alcatraz' with Clint Eastwood," he said.