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tv   Dateline  MSNBC  July 29, 2023 2:00am-3:00am PDT

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soul. >> a soul, lost at sea. who found her way home. >> i'm craig melville and this is dateline. >> that must be a pit in your stomach when you hear that your inmate is gone. >> yes, he's a very, very dangerous person. >> you said a prisoner had escaped and toby was missing. we assumed that he took her prisoner to be used as a hostage. >> they were concerned for toby 's safety. >> we found out that she had taken a large sum of cash and two firearms were missing from the house. >> you think could she be involved in something like this? >> she had children, a husband, it seemed like it was a white picket fence type life. >> there was absolutely no way toby could be involved in this.
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>> you see this truck -- >> my gut feeling was telling me it was them. >> i said this is our guy. >> this sounds like one of those fast and furious car chases. >> i was terrified that they were going to get killed. >> very wild story. >> so many twists and turns. >> nerve wracking. >> shocking. >> it is unbelievable. >> hello and welcome to dateline. when convicted killer john manard escape from prison authorities feared he would go to any lengths to evade capture, then a horrifying discovery, prison volunteer toby young was missing. a wife and mother now at the mercy of this desperate man. but, was toby in danger or was
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she in on the plan, here is andrea canning with break out. >> it was a cold february night along this isolated stretch of a tennessee highway when u.s. marshal tony crawford and dozens of state troopers finally spotted the woman they had been searching for. >> i was just trying to see inside of the truck, i could see the top of her head. >> she was sitting in the passenger seat terrified. a 48-year-old beloved mother of two, a cancer survivor and community volunteer. back home in kansas her tight-knit family desperately wanted her home safe. >> we were all fearful for her life, and justifiably so. as crawford drove along side the trucking knew that if he wanted to get to her he had to stop him, the man at the wheel. a convicted killer armed and dangerous who wasn't going down without a fight.
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he is taking you on a wild ride. >> yes, it was. that was the wild this chase i had ever been. >> and a -- that blurred felines between duty and desire, a story about breaking out of prisons, both real and imagined. this wasn't just the top of the town, this was the top of the nation. >> yes it was, it was just unreal. >> the saga started almost two weeks earlier when the alarms sounded and warden david mchugh learned that an inmate had escape from the lansing correctional. >> it was very scary, and then right away was like who is gone? where are they going? >> soon, the warden had a name, john maynard, 27 years old sentenced to life for a carjacking gone wrong. >> at the time that he committed his crime he was only 17. >> reporter lauren fox wrote about maynard for the kansas
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city newspaper. >> the carjacking turned fatal someone shot the driver who was in his car and so john maynard was a convicted murderer for his involvement in that crime. >> if he's capable of participating in a robbery that turns into murder he is very capable of murdering again, assault and battery he is a very dangerous person. >> is your first thought, he could kill somebody out there? >> oh, yes, very possible. >> he put police in the area on high alert and warned the locals in the tiny prison town along the kansas missouri border that a criminal was on the loose. >> we have a huge whistle and would blow that several times and so all the local communities know when you hear that, somebody is on the run. it's just an alert, be aware -- lock your doors, take all the precautions. >> as police increased patrols in the surrounding towns, tourism investigators got to work trying to figure out how
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maynard had escaped. >> right away you start the whole search of all the interior of the perimeter, you look for breaches in defense you look for breaches in the gates or anything like that. >> they also traced every vehicle that left the prison that day and discovered that one vehicle hadn't been searched. a van. >> we had to search inside the van, underneath the van, on top of the van you put seismic sensors on it and it will discover the heartbeat of a mouse. there is a mouse in the vehicle. >> but this time they didn't. >> they didn't do it. they didn't follow procedures. >> the van belonged to safe harbor, and nationally heralded prison program that taught inmates how to train straight dogs for adoption. several dogs had been picked up from the prison, john maynard it turned out was one of the dog handlers, investigators interrogated every inmate who had helped load the dogs into the van. >> they drill down and drill down and talk to all of the folks until you finally get somebody who is willing to talk. >> where does that lead you?
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>> where that lead was that we were very sure that he had left inside the dog crate. there were other inmates who knew that because he had to get into the dog rate and had to have someone fast enough shot from the outside and loaded into the van. >> there were fewer guards at the prison on sundays and only two prisoner counts, the weather may have helped maynard too. >> the day of the escape was very cold, people didn't want to be outside. they were ready to get the dogs in the van and get them out of there. what they didn't know, of course, is that john was in one of the dog crates. >> and that, investigators believed, instantly put the driver of the van in harm's way. the founder of safe harbor, a woman named toby young. she was one of the most popular and trusted volunteers at the prison. and perhaps the reason the guards let their guard down. are you thinking toby's life could be in danger? >> oh, absolutely. we figured that he is in for murder in the first place and i
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just had visions, as they get away from here driving away he pops out of the box and takes her literally hostage and then how long before he is done with the hostage? it just gives you chills, fear of what could happen. >> toby young set out to help prison inmates, now she may be the victim of one. coming up -- her family desperate. >> people were trying to call our cell phones and there were no answers, we were fearing for the worst. >> and police on the highest alert. >> when you throw a firearm into the mix it does up the ante a considerable amount, knowing that he had two fire arms and of course the question on everybody's mind is is he willing to use it? >> when dateline continues. (whaaat?) i just cleaned those. try dawn platinum. it removes 99% of grease and food residue. that's why dawn is trusted to save wildlife affected by oil.
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horrified, not only had a dangerous criminal escaped his maximum security prison, but he was possibly holding a hostage. toby young, the leader of the prison successful dog training program. a woman so beloved, the inmates even gave her an enduring nickname. the dog lady. >> she seemed like a model volunteer? >> absolutely. good background, great career, strategic planning. her husband is on the fire department. good family.
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>> now, he had to break the terrible news to toby's family. her brother could barely comprehend it. >> you have to pinch yourself to say this is real, this is really happening. >> were you trying to reach out to her was everyone in the family trying to call her? >> people were trying to call her cell phone and there was no answer. and we were just fearing for the worse. >> toby siblings got together at their parents place, there were lots of them. toby was the oldest of seven children. >> was toby somebody that you all looked up to? was she the kind of sister who set an example? >> she was, she did set an example. she set an example that was very hard for the other kids to reach. >> she led a model life as adult too. while working full-time, toby graduated summa cum laude with a bachelors degree in business administration. and rose through the ranks to become a manager at sprint.
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but she was most proud of our two says that she raised with her firefighter husband, patrick. they work together to build this beautiful home. >> she met pat in high school, and they dated freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior year. and then they married a few years after that. >> this was really the definition of high school sweethearts. did they seem like a happy family? >> yeah, they seemed like the ideal, perfect family. >> toby also had her fair share of hardships, tom said. she struggled to find a job after sprint unexpectedly downside and laid her off. then she was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. after she recovered, and her kids went off to college, toby took stock. she decided to dedicate herself to serving others by establishing safe harbor. do you think that is a testament to her personality? that kind of gentle soul? >> exactly. and she loved taking care of animals, and she loved taking care of people and this dog program gave her a release and gave her a reason to carry on.
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>> did it give her that extra kick in her step when she found this calling? >> oh yes, definitely. gave her a purpose and seemed to complete her. >> but now, on that cold february day, it seemed like toby could lose it all. especially after her husband called law enforcement with some alarming news. >> during that conversation with her husband, we found out that she had taken a large sum of cash and two fire arms were missing from the house. >> ray stewart, a member of the fugitive task force hunting, it theorize that the inmates had forced her to drive to the house to get the weapons. if so, he had just turned from dangerous to armed and dangerous. >> when you throw a firearm into the mix, that does up the game a considerable amount. no one knew that he had two fire arms, and of course the question everyone's mind was is he willing to use them? >> and now that john had money
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as well, was toby expendable? her husband feared the worst. >> of course these types of situations you can never guarantee what will happen in the end. i just told them, hopefully everything will turn out all right. and hopefully, they'll bring back safe. >> they -- few hours after they escape. an off-duty prison employee who was unaware that he had escaped, saw him at a nearby walmart. and wondered what a sentenced to life was doing in the store. by the time he realized what was going on, and called for backup. maynard had disappeared. so close. >> are you consumed by this 24/7? >> oh yeah. i just, hanging out there in the office listening for the phone, looking at the radio. listening for everybody. reports are coming in from the investigators and just praying let this be one of the tips that gets us there. >> the department of corrections officers and u.s. marshals were searching for maynard and toby. others were trying to find out if anyone outside of the prison
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was helping him avoid capture. so they went to his family and friends and found no evidence that any of them were involved. next, they turn their attention to the prison staff. could one of their own have helped maynard? >> we know it happens. i could even hazard a guess. in 30 years, how many staff that we disciplined or let go because of overly familiar relationships. it's a number. quite a number. >> but as far as they could tell, no staff member had helped him escape. and left one person whose actions they couldn't get an account for, toby. >> you trusted her? >> yeah. sure did. if he only knew. >> coming up! investigators take a hard look at toby young. >> i think everything about kobe's life up
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to that point had lead people to believe that she was safe and trustworthy. >> and then a critical discovery at a storage unit. and the break that will change everything! >> all these pieces of the puzzle started to come together and we're telling a story? >> absolutely. >> when dateline continues! ovements called td, tardive dyskinesia. td can be caused by some mental health meds. and it's unlikely to improve without treatment. i felt like my movements were in the spotlight. ingrezza is a prescription medicine to treat adults with td movements. ingrezza is different. it's the simple, once-daily treatment proven to reduce td that's #1 prescribed. people taking ingrezza can stay on their current dose of most mental health meds. ingrezza 80 mg is proven to reduce td movements in 7 out of 10 people. don't take ingrezza if you're allergic to any of its ingredients. ingrezza may cause serious side effects, including sleepiness. don't drive, operate heavy machinery, or do other dangerous activities until you know how ingrezza affects you.
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for john manard, investigators concluded that no one close to him had helped him escape. but then the investigators worth their salt had to check out toby. she somehow involved? >> she is the kind of person who never broke any law, any rules. she was the ultimate rule follower. >> michael is an author and journalist who were out about the prison break for the atlantic magazine. >> i think everything about her life up to that point had lead people to believe that she was safe and trustworthy. >> but the closer that they looked, the more investigators were forced to confront the most astonishing possibility. that this rule follower, was a rule breaker. shortly after the escape, investigators made several rather curious discoveries. the prison administrative officer told them that staff
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had noticed toby and manard we're spending a lot of time together. >> some of the staff had talked to my s.o. and said they seem to be a little too close. and i know that they talk to her about that. you have to be very careful about those appearances. >> but everything was under the microscope now. including this. in addition to the cash that her husband reported missing. she had emptied her retirement account to the tune of $40,000. she also went on his shopping spree at walmart, target, and a cabelas sporting goods store. >> so there's security footage of her at walmart buying men's clothing. and a lot of snacks that a teenager might want. like twizlers, chocolate covered donuts. they see her at the sports goods store by men's clothing. >> more than that, camping and survival gear and masks. and that is when investigators asked her husband about those purchases.
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told them that the family didn't have any trips planned. and she hadn't bought them any new clothes lately. >> the clothing that she was buying was not for the husband. >> there were other items that clearly weren't for the husband. black hair dye, and an electric razor that she bought at target. and two burner phones she brought at walmart. the next day, police got their biggest break yet. they learned that she had rented a storage unit on the outskirts of town a week before the escape. >> they discovered her van inside the storage unit, tire tracks leading away from the unit. >> investigators believe that those tracks were from the getaway vehicle. an suv or a truck. >> finding this really changed the investigation in a really significant way. >> investigators now wondered, instead of being manard hostage. could toby be his accomplish? they found the answer in her cell phone bill. there were hundreds of calls to an unknown number. they trace it to a phone that they believe toby's smuggled into prison for manard. >> this was the first major line that she crossed. she brought him a phone and they talk for something like 12,000 minutes over the next
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couple of weeks. something like 200 hours. and they text messaged all the time. there was one morning where toby's husband found the phone that she had and it received text messages to something like good morning, i love you. >> investigators added the secret phone calls and text to a long list of evidence against toby. the dimmer housewife was looking more like a desperate housewife. >> all of these pieces of the pretzel started to come together and we're telling a story? >> absolutely. >> a story of a forbidden romance? >> right. >> toby is not really the kind of person that you're thinking, she is the one that would have and relationship with an inmate. the married mom. who started the dog program. >> i mean, how much more of a loving, caring person can you have? it's almost unfathomable. >> are you feeling some anger that she did this to you? >> i'm betrayed. and i'm misled.
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a violation of trust. >> but the wardens still believe that toby's life could be in danger. >> the inmates will be manipulating you. and even if her view of it was, we have a very romantic relationship. we're having this great future together. if we just get away with this. many many times, it's not reciprocal. >> toby might have trusted this man, but, i know that you sure did not. >> nope. sure did not. >> coming up! three states away. >> my gut feeling was telling me it was. them. >> something exciting, leads to a wild chase. >> started following the play. mark two units on the ground, but also helicopters. >> when dateline continues! me before dawn powerwash. soaking, scrubbing... that's life. was life. now, powerwash gives me the power of an overnight soak in minutes.
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temperatures have been over 110 degrees for 29 days straight. 180 million people are under heat alerts nationwide, with dangerous conditions developing in the midwest and mid-atlantic states. former president trump's codefendant, carlos deliver, is expected to be arraigned into miami court on monday. he is alleged to help trump delete security footage shot -- now back to dateline. no >> welcome back to dateline. i'm craig melvin. killer john manard was on the loose and officials suspected prisoner volunteer toby dorr helped him escape. as improbable as it seem, text messages revealed that they were having an affair. but investigators feared that
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manard could be using toby. and she was in danger. now, the race was on and police were about to get a crucial tip. back to andrea canning with breakout! >> toby young had turned from a woman who had never committed a crime, to an apparent criminal on the run. investigators issued a warrant for her arrest, the warrant called the family to deliver the news. >> we were shocked thinking that they have to be wrong. they have to be wrong and that this can't be right. >> this is not the toby that i know? >> exactly. there is no way. i was filled with questions on why she would do something like this. i had no idea but i knew that she was my sister and that i loved her. >> it is one thing for her brother to support her as this is unfolding. it's another thing for her husband because this is up a
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betrayal. it's looking more and more like a betrayal. >> pat was devastated just like the rest of the young family. they were absolutely devastated. and i cannot blame them. >> what does pat tell their sons? about what mom has done? >> it was very hard on the sons. it was extremely hard on them. they could not understand it, that was their mom. >> it did not take long before this intriguing local story. >> a mother of two adult boys. a wife of 30 years. >> blew up international news. >> no one close to toby young says they know why she would suddenly throwaway her past and future. >> we have international attention on this one. it was making the european newscast all over the world. virtually. the killer and the dog lady. >> despite the suspicion that toby had fallen in love with john manard. the family believed he had manipulated her.
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that she was the victim. >> she had always been a loving mom. i don't think that they thought that she would willingly leave her two adult sons without telling them where she was going. >> and we just simply do not have any idea why or how this happened. >> the family decided to hold a press conference. >> we were just trying to plead with her to give herself up, we were still fearful for her life and we wanted for her to turn herself in. >> but the days ticked by and no one had heard from toby. the national manhunt involving dozens of agents had hit an impasse. >> at any point did you start to think we're not going to catch them? >> it certainly crossed our mind. you go over time and there's very, very few times across history that they don't eventually get caught. it's very rare. >> sure enough, investigators got a promising lead. calls traced to her cell phone led them to a used car dealership on the outskirts of kansas city. the salesman remembered a woman
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who vaguely resemble toby thought by ring a truck around the time of the escape. but her hair color was different, and her name was molly rose. investigators believed that was toby incognito. >> so we learned that she had purchased are used chevy silverado pick up truck. we also had information that she actually had the registration, and she wanted it sent to a specific address in tennessee. >> the address was a lakeside cabin in rural tennessee. more than 600 miles away. >> it's a pretty remote location. so not a lot of activity, it is the off-season. and so, we knew there was not probably gonna be a lot of people there. so, it was a great place to hide. >> the fugitive task force blanketed the area. and a swat team headed to the cabin. meanwhile, u.s. marshal jason -- was cruising the parking lot of a nearby mall. keeping an eye out for toby and manard. suddenly, he spotted a white silverado.
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>> it appeared to be driving like it wasn't from around there. they put the blinkers on in such a fashion, and they would hit their brake lights. it was obvious that they were lost. my gut feeling was telling me that it was them. >> marshall followed the truck on to interstate, and called for backup. >> we further we proceeded north, the more unit started following the play. not only marks on the ground, as well as vehicles, but the district of tennasee, but these guys had helicopters. >> this operation keeps picking up steam? >> quickly. >> police dash cam video captured the unfolding high-speed chase. marshall's colleague, tony crawford, assumes the lead position. and when everyone was in place, they drove alongside the truck to get a closer look. >> and i saw the face, and the best i could remember is they had a smirk on their face. little funny grin on his face, and looking at me from the truck. >> he recognized john manard but was toby with him? and there, riding shotgun, yes, she was. and this is toby.
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>> coming up! >> he was walking straight at me. and he stuck out his hand, and he said. i want to be your next dog handler! >> an extraordinary conversation. toby young opens up at about it all. from how things started with john manard. >> this is something i've been craving forever. >> to the moment that she realized that she might have made a horrifying mistake. >> i thought, i don't know who this person is! >> when dateline continues!
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sitting alongside an escaped, convicted murder. in a truck barreling down a tennessee highway. >> just then, a police car sped up from around us, and cut in front of us. and slammed on the brakes. and john said, they are trying to kill us! he floored it and he took off. >> as john manard drove even faster with dozens of state troopers in pursuit, toby wondered what had brought her to this moment. why has she made the fateful decision to help him break out of prison? >> when i pulled up that day, i was kind of sick to my stomach. and part of me was excited. about what was going to happen. and part of me was wishing that it had never gotten this far. >> it's hard to really even imagine the excited part. you are about to blow up your life! >> yes, but i felt like my life needed to be blown up. in some way. it didn't make sense. but, i don't think love very
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often make sense. >> you heard it right, toby says that this is a love story. she says that she first noticed john manard about a year and a half earlier as she was walking across the prison yard. >> he was walking straight at me, and he stuck out his hand and said hi, i'm john. i wanted to be your next dog handler! >> he soon joined her program. nothing happened between them, until about a year later. when manard came to toby's rescue. she was being threatened by an inmate who had cornered her. >> i was terrified. and then i saw john manard swaggering up. from behind this inmates that was accosting me. and i felt this sense of relief, because i thought, oh, now here comes somebody that will help me. >> toby started spending more time around manard who was 20 years younger. >> we would have these really deep conversations about life and the world.
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and this was something i had been craving forever. and somebody to just have conversations with. >> and then, around six weeks before the escape, they crossed the line. >> we were just setting up for a dog event and he just leaned over and kissed me. it was like, i was on cloud nine. it just made it, like, unquenchable. >> there would be no more kisses after that. but toby had fallen hard for manard. >> when people start falling in love, they change. there is a big smile on their face. was your husband thinking, what is going on with toby? >> i do think he noticed a difference. but he couldn't put his finger on it. and then at one point, he said to me, if i didn't know better, i would think yet you are having an affair. >> toby said that by that point, what had seemed like the perfect marriage was really a dead end one. and their relationship had been in a slow decline for 20 years. ever since they tragically lost their daughter, shortly after birth. >> we never really dealt with
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losing emily. and, you know, we just buried it. and moved on. and i think when you have something burried that is so significant, it is just a wound that does not heal. >> despite their growing divide, toby and her husband quietly went about living their white picket fence life. she focused on raising her sons, became an avid soccer mom, and like so many women, was the glue that held her family together. and she never felt appreciated. >> i was just invisible because i was trying to be a good person. and, i knew i was invisible to my husband. and, it just felt like, everyone knew that they could depend on me to do something so they just quit even regarding me at all. >> then, she lost her job. and battled cancer. at the time, her grown kids had
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moved out of the house, toby says that the pressure and sudden. >> i would be driving somewhere, and i would think. oh, i could just pull over and into the front of that semi truck. and just be done. and, i would find myself thinking, where did that come from? what is it that you think you need to get away from? >> the answer, she realized, was her marriage. so when manard suggested that toby help him escape so they could be together. she couldn't help but think, what if? >> is a part of you wondering, there is a chance that i am being manipulated right now, and i am just a way for him to escape? >> i did not think that at all. i thought that he was madly in love with me and i knew that i was crazy in love with him. and i remember thinking, if this escape works or even if it does not work. i am not going to have to say in this marriage anymore. >> but toby, you can get divorced! >> i know! >> you don't need to break an inmate out and run away with this person to escape a bad marriage! >> i do know that. >> so many women, i'm sure, have had that feeling of, i
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just want to get away from it all. but, you do realize that this is nuts! >> it is crazy, it is totally nuts. >> but that's the path that i chose. >> about a month before d-day, she and manard came up with a plan. he would lose weight. 25 pounds to be exact. so he could fit into a cardboard box that could fit into one of toby's dog crates. then, toby rented a storage unit. emptied her bank accounts, disguised herself as molly rose to buy the getaway truck. then silently bid farewell to her old life, and each of her sons. >> i think as a mom, that's the hardest part for me. is that, i couldn't say goodbye to my children. >> it was definitely the hardest part. and, i don't know how i thought that that would work. >> on that sunday, toby nervously drove the safe harbor van to the prison.
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after the dogs, and the dog crate were loaded into the van, she drove back out past the guards, pass the barbed wire. fearing what would happen next. and hoping a little that it would not. >> and i did say, john are you in there? and he did not answer. and i thought, oh thank god. he is not in there. and i'll just go to a dog adoption. and we don't have to do this thing. and then i heard this laugh. and i thought, oh crap, he is in there. and i pulled over, and i just stopped. and then he popped his arm out of the box that was in the crate. and said drive! toby drive! >> they traveled at night. mostly on backcountry roads. but then, just 15 minutes from their hideaway. they got lost and toby saw a sign of manard she had never seen before. >> he said, you know, i don't know why i brought you along if you could not figure out directions. and he was upset, and he was
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mad, and driving the truck really fast. and swerving. >> were you scared? >> i was scared of that moment. i was really scared because i thought, i don't know who this person is. >> by the time that they arrived at the cabin that they had rented, he was back to the charming, caring man that she had given up her life or. and here, for the first time. there were no guards or prisoners to keep them apart. >> so what was it like? finally being able to be with a man that you are in love with? >> it was beautiful. and it was wonderful. and it was probably the best part of our relationship. was the intimate part of our relationship. >> that you are finally able to share a bed together? >> yes. >> i felt so loved and i felt so treasured. and i felt so worthy, and, at that moment i thought, it was all worth it! >> everything you done. you said goodbye to your family, your children, your mom and dad. possibly that you could go to prison. >> that moment it felt like, this is why i did it.
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>> they passed the days playing cards and board games. and romantic dinners by candlelight, they made plans to make identities and start a new life. perhaps in boston. but it wasn't meant to be. they made a mistake in their plan. a big one. remember, toby had given the car dealer her hideaway address in tennessee. >> this is the definition of almost a dumb criminal. no offense. >> that's right, it turns out i wasn't a very good criminal i think. >> and apparently not that good at hiding either. in disguise, they snuck into town from time to time. to eat at a steakhouse, buy a guitar for maynard. and then finally, to see a movie and buy a gps at the mall. the same mall where u.s. marshall, jason lamb, spotted their truck. >> the first thing i notice is there is a police car blocking the entrance ramp to the highway. and i said, wow, there must be some wreck up ahead or something. and john said, oh baby. this is for us. this is all for us. >> john manard realizes that
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his freedom is under attack. the question is, how far will he go to fight for it? >> coming up! a white ride could turn deadly. >> he had left, and shot across the median. and we all turned across the median. >> everything was like in slow motion. and i couldn't hear anything. it was this weird kind of vortex that i was in. >> and then, what toby has to say now to those that she hurt. >> so many people feel betrayed by you. >> when dateline continues! check. psych! and i'm about to steal this game from you just like i stole kelly carter in high school. you got no game dude, that's a foul! and now you're ready to settle the score. game over. and if you don't have the right home insurance coverage, well, you could end up paying for all this yourself. so get allstate, and be better protected from mayhem,
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she was crazy in love with convict john manard, together they escape to a lakeside cabin, where she said they celebrated with romantic dinners by candlelight. but the honeymoon was over, and now they were hurdling down a dark highway with police in pursuit. here's andrea canning with the conclusion of breakout. >> the chase was on. reality in the form of dozens of police cars and two helicopters was in hot pursuit of toby and about to bring her two-week odyssey with john manard, to a sudden and possibly deadly conclusion. >> everything was like slow
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motion. i couldn't hear anything. it was this weird kind of vortex i was in. i couldn't hear anything, and there are sirens everywhere. i looked over at john and he was talking, but i couldn't hear him. >> he cut left and shot across the median. and then we all turned, and everybody went across the median. >> he passed a semi truck on the shoulder but the wheels went off into the grass. when he came back on the pavement he lost control of the truck. >> that's the truck on dash cam video, swerving off the road. now they were heading towards a three at 100 miles per hour. >> i was praying the whole time, please god, just let me die when we hit that tree because i can't deal with all of this. >> but they didn't crash. saplings slowed their momentum
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and they glided to a halt. >> john said, i have to get out of the car or they are going to shoot. i love you, and then he got out of the car and i could yell officers, put up your hands. >> all your worst fears are being realized. >> yes, i was a criminal and i was being treated like a criminal. >> and, like a celebrity, her two weeks on the run had made toby infamous. >> was it just love that brought you and john this far? >> i don't wanna talk about that right now. >> okay. >> i will at some point. but i don't want to right now. >> john manard got ten years tapped onto his life sentence. he has always insisted he never force toby to help him escape. >> john didn't like that the media portrayed him as this manipulating scumbag. >> she received a letter from john manard with his side of the story. >> he said he loved kobe and that if you had manipulated her there would've been no reason to stay with her after the escape.
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>> back at the prison in kansas warden breathed a sigh of relief. but he still felt betrayed. >> toby left a wake of just battered emotions. >> excellent way to put it. it was, you know, do you even understand the depth of the harm and the trauma and the emotional hurt you put on people with this. >> so many people feel betrayed by you. >> yes, they do. i mean, i betrayed so many people's trust and love. i let the people down who cared about the dog program, i let the people down who worked at the prison, i like my family down. >> did you speak with your husband after the arrest? >> i talk to him once. >> he said that i had ruined his life in his life was over. >> we reached out to toby's ex husband who didn't respond. he exchanged emails with a journalist and said he never took toby for granted and i was supported her. >> i don't think toby's husband
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knew anything was bad with the marriage, i didn't think he thought it was better neglectful and anyway. >> toby pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting and escape and smuggling a cell phone into prison. she and her husband divorced the day before she was just receiving her sentence. the 27 months she spent behind bars were tough, she said she was placed on suicide watch three times. >> i was so broken and so -- i didn't know how i was going to make it through all of this. >> every now and then she got a love letter from john manard. >> one of them was like oh, i wish i could write in on my white horse and rescue you from that prison they are keeping you in. you know -- >> wasn't a fairytale over, at this point? >> yes. and finally i got to the point where i was like, you know, i am done with this. >> when she got out, toby wanted desperately to repair the relationship with her two sons. but that proved impossible. her older son kept his distance. just a year after her release,
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her youngest son died of cancer. >> when i went to visit him in the hospital i told him that i always loved him. i never stopped loving him. he said i know, mom. i know you love me. and i asked him if i could give him a hug and he said no. >> i mean, when you hear story like that. it wasn't worth it. >> no. >> toby says she has written many letters to the people she heard asking them to forgive her. not many have responded. one did. ward and david mchugh. >> hello, dave. >> hello, toby. how are you? >> i'm good. i didn't think i would meet you here again. >> i know. >> toby wanted to apologize in person so we asked the now former warden if you would meet with her, socially distance due to the pandemic at the place where it all happened. he said yes. >> i want to tell you, you know, that honor is something that is
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very respected and earned, and not given likely. and i know how much trust you put into me. and i betrayed that. >> i did. >> and i am so, so sorry about that. >> i appreciate hearing it, and if this moment is kind of what brings a little additional ability to put it all behind, then it is worth it. i wonder about the other people, because forgiveness is about contrition. i hope that some way can be made up to them, to some degree as well. >> yes, i would like that. >> looking back, do you blame john manard for this? >> i don't blame john manard, because if i blame john manard for this, that would make me a victim. and i am not a victim. >> toby decided to see john manard one last time, hoping that would help her finally come to terms with her mistake. so ten years after their world
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when romance, she sat across from him in a prison visiting room. >> it was really, really good because it was truly closure, you know? it was just got to be able to sit down and fill in the blanks and then walk away. >> today, toby has remarried, happily, this time, she says. and she developed a series of work books that she hoped can guide formerly incarcerated women to productive lives after prison. she called the series unleashed. >> i want to share my story to help women unleash themselves. we have these emotional prisons that we built ourselves, and we have the key to unlock them and be free of them. >> what is the lesson here for women who feel trapped, like you did? >> if you ignore the need to make a change, and till you become desperate, then you make the wrong kind of change. acknowledge you need to change something and move forward and do it and a healthy way. if i had had the insight and
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strength to do that 15 years ago, i could have picked a healthier way to change my life. >> that's all for this edition of dateline. i'm craig melvin. thank you for watching. yor wa >> good morning and welcome to morning joe weekend, i hope you're having a good saturday let's dive into the week stories. years after rudy giuliani accused georgia election workers ruby freeman and shaye moss of fraud during the 2020 election, he is conceding his statements were false. this came in a court filing, part of a defamation lawsuit freeman and moss filed against giuliani in 2021 the case accuses giuliani, at the time you will remember was representing former president trump of publicizing a heavily edited video he

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