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was sentenced to life in prison for attempted murder and kidnapping. He headed back to the South Dakota State Penitentiary -- this time for good.
• Then Rodney got to talking with a fellow inmate named Eric Robert about a goal they shared: to escape -- or die trying.
• The plan was months in the making. The inmates figured they would corner a solitary guard -- any guard would do -- and beat him with a pipe before covering his face with plastic wrap.
• Once the guard was dead, Robert would put on the dead man's uniform and push a box with Berget inside as the prison gates opened for a daily delivery. The

two would slip through the walls unnoticed.
• On the morning of April 12, 2011, the timing seemed perfect. Ronald "R.J." Johnson was alone in a part of the prison where inmates work on upholstery, signs, custom furniture and other projects. Johnson wasn't supposed to be working that day -- it was his 63rd birthday. But he agreed to come in because of a scheduling change.

(Continued on page 21)