Crime Central

The top destination for all things history.

HISTORYCHANNEL

Watch over 2 000 of HISTORY’s most fascinating documentaries and series  anytime  commercial-free.

HISTORY VAULT

Looking at the many prison escapes of James Earl Ray, who assassinated Martin Luther King Jr., including his escape from Brushy Mountain State Prison, Tennessee.

History's Greatest Escapes With Morgan Freeman

Assassin's Flight

Timothy Vail and Timothy Morgan are murderers incarcerated at Elmira State Prison in Elmira, N.Y.; Vail wants to escape, so he engages Morgan in his plan to dig through the ceiling and flee from prison.

Fleeing Hellmira

HM Maze prison was a notorious lock up for IRA prisoners in Northern Ireland; a small ring of IRA prisoners secretly planned what they hoped would be a massive prison break.

Belfast Breakout

The story of the escape of more than 70 men from Stalag Luft Three, a German prisoner of war camp; only three eventually survived.

Escaping Hitler

Six men, led by the mastermind, Nuno Pontes, escaped Pittsburgh State Penitentiary by tunneling to freedom under the prison wall; they made it as far as Texas before being caught and returned to prison.

Conquering the Wall

The most notorious and murderous drug cartel kingpins in modern history.

El Chapo

Stuck in prison on life sentences, two men used engineering smarts and psychological manipulation of several prison employees to escape Dannemora Prison; Richard Matt and David Sweat executed one of the most involved escapes from an American prison.

North Country Breakout

Four men conspire to break out of one of the most notorious prisons in American history; three of them break out using a makeshift raft and vanish.

Alcatraz

Interviews and re-creations bring some of history's daring jailbreaks to life, detailing every step of the way, including the inmates' plans and the manhunts that followed.

S1 E6 | Belfast Breakout

E8 | Assassin's Flight

E7 | Fleeing Hellmira

E6 | Belfast Breakout

E5 | Escaping Hitler

E4 | Conquering the Wall

E3 | El Chapo

E2 | North Country Breakout

E1 | Alcatraz