Former Officer Convicted Of Murder & Rape Walks Right Out Of Prison In Disguise

A manhunt continues today for Grant Hardin, aka the "Devil in the Ozarks." Hardin had been a police officer in several departments before becoming chief of police of a small town in Arkansas. He was eventually convicted of murder of a city employee. When he was sent to the Arkansas Corrections facility, they made him a trustee in the kitchen. He used that position and some street clothes and his experience both in law enforcement and as a former corrections officer himself to simply walk out of the prison.

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*This transcript was generated by a third-party transcription software company, so please excuse any typos.

A manhunt continues today for Grant Hardin. Grant Hardin was the subject of the documentary Devil in the Ozarks. Hardin had been a police officer in several departments before becoming chief of police of a small town in Arkansas. He was eventually convicted of murder of a city employee. When they processed him and got his DNA, they realized that he was also the subject of a 1997 rape of an elementary school teacher in a different place in Arkansas. In that case, 250 people were in a gymnasium for a church service. While they were there, a teacher was alone in her office doing work. When she went to the employee restroom, a man had a gun kidnapped her and raped her. That man turned out to be Mr. Hardin. He continued for many years, almost 20 years after that, to have a career in law enforcement arising to the Chief of Police and the constable in a county.

When he was sent to the Arkansas Corrections facility, for some reason, they made him a trustee in the kitchen. He used that position and some street clothes and his experience both in law enforcement and as a former corrections officer himself to simply walk out of the prison. The manhunt continues. The FBI is offering a $20,000 reward for any information which may lead to his capture. The United States Marshal Service is also offering an award for any information that leads to his capture. We have to ask ourselves, how is this allowed to happen and what supervision should we have over law enforcement? This man was in a uniform carrying a gun with the authority of the state of Arkansas and the city and cities throughout for many years. Previous employers had fired him. Other law enforcement agencies had fired him. Chief Richard Watson of Fayetteville Police Department said, that Hardin fell short of average probationary officers with a tendency to not accept constructive criticism along with indecisiveness under stressful situations. That was from 1991. He worked for the Huntsville Department after that.

And then in 93 to 96, Eureka Springs Police Department, former Chief Earl Hyatt said, Harden was using excessive force during arrests and making poor decisions on the job. The next record we have is from 2008 to 2012, when he was elected constable for the Benton County Township. He briefly served as the chief of police of a small town on the border with Missouri. He only served in that capacity for four months before he was asked to resign. A person like this should not be allowed to migrate from department to department, creating these problems. They knew in the nineties that this man was not fit to serve, and yet he continued for almost 30 years to serve in some law enforcement capacity or another, including after he raped a teacher while Sunday school services were happening. I find this case particularly heinous, as a former prosecutor myself, I am excited that they got him a 50 year sentence, but I have to question the wisdom of the Arkansas Department of Corrections for making this man, this monster, this devil a trustee in their department. He obviously used that position to help his escape. Officers are searching caves and campgrounds and remote areas throughout the Ozarks looking for his capture.