Prison Break

the dead shall walk the earth. An ominous statement, to be sure. But while there's no risk of zombies coming to eat our brains anytime soon, at least I hope not. There was one incident almost a hundred years ago when the dead did rise from the grave, and nobody had any idea what sort of event it would lead to today. Her name was Emma Crawford and she was born in Massachusetts on March eighteen sixty three. Emma had a passion for music, which her mother had fostered in her at

a very early age. From the time she was three, Emma would sit at the piano and listen to her mother to play Beethoven, sonatas. Over time, she picked up a few things from her mother, leading to an almost prodigy like talent. By the time she was twelve, Emma started giving others piano lessons and performing recitals for her neighbors, impressing them with her masterful technique. Her skills even earned her an invitation to perform in Boston with other famous

musicians of the time. Sadly, Emma was not well though. She'd been sick from the age of seven with tuberculosis, and her mother had tried everything to help her, so in eight nine, the two of them traveled to Manito Springs, Colorado, home of mineral springs that were thought to have healing qualities to cure her condition. They rented a house there

and Emma fell in love with the area. Ah the mountain, air and the sunshine boosted her spirits, and she was often spotted climbing the nearby Red Mountain, and her spirits weren't the only thing that were boosted. The Crawfords believed that they were in tune with the ghosts and they were being protected by Native Americans from the other side in their day to day lives. On one of her excursions up the mountain, Emma felt summoned to the top

by a Native American spirit. She told her mother of her intention to ascend the mountain and meet him, to which she was told no. Mrs Crawford felt it was too dangerous with her illness, but Emma refused to listen. One day, while her mother was given a piano lesson, Emma snuck out of the house and climbed Red Mountain all by herself, and she made it too, marking her success at the top by tying her scarf to a

small pine tree at its peak. It was at that moment that she decided that she would be buried underneath that tree upon her death, and Emma passed away in two years after her move there to Colorado. Following a small funeral service at her home, as per her last request, her coffin was carried up Red Mountain to the tree where she had tied her scarf. She was buried beneath its branches, her grave side marked with rocks. Some years later, construction began a top Red Mountain and Emma's grave was

moved to another location. It was placed within some loose gravel and a solid block of concrete was laid on top. Unfortunately, though, that wasn't enough to keep her remains in place. Two major storms swept through the area, unearthing her coffin, which slid down the mountain like an Olympic luge. In August of two small boys playing at the bottom of the mountain found her skull, the only part of her that was left. They took it to the police, along with

the name plate from her coffin. Today, Emma Crawford now rests in an unmarked grave, but her memory lives on in a very unique way. You see in the Manitude Chamber of Commerce started what would become an annual Halloween tradition called the Emma Crawford Coffin Race to honor the late pianist and nature lover and her historic ride down Red Mountain. Folks gather in Manitou Springs in homemade coffins

decorated based on the themes of their costumes. When the race begins, for runners push the coffin down the streets while another person, the Emma of the group, sits inside the first coffin over the finish line wins. It's a morbidly hilarious way to remember a woman who lived life to the fullest and didn't let anyone keep her down, not even her grave. Yoshi Shira Tory was born in Japan in h seven, and as an adult, he bounced from job to job until he realized that having a

job wasn't really for him, even with a family to support. Instead, he began a new career as a professional gambler. But if you think that's the most interesting twist in his life, you'd be wrong. In the mid nineteen thirties, Shira Tory's life took a drastic turn when he robbed someone who accidentally died during the incident. He was convicted and sent to prison, where he spent three years. Now, he wasn't sentenced to only three years behind bars. That's just how

long it took for him to break out. You see, Shira Tory was highly observant, watching the guards each day and memorizing their routines, and when the time was right, he placed a few pillows under his blanket to make the guards think he was asleep. Then he pried off a loose wire that him and wrapped around his bathing buckets and used it to pick the lock on his cell door. From there he was able to climb up

and escape the prison through a broken skylight. He managed to evade the police for three whole days, but was eventually recaptured and sentenced to life in prison for his stunt. They transferred him to Akita Prison, which was better equipped to handle someone like him. There, he was placed in a specifically designed cell that was thought to be escaped proof. It was small, only big enough for one person and at a time, and had smooth copper walls that rose

high above him. Embedded in the ceiling was a single, tiny skylight covered with bars to let in the fresh air. To make matters worse, Shiratry had no bed and no blanket, and the guards kept him handcuffed the entire time. Even when he was alone in his cell with six years to himself, though, he had a lot of time to think and observe, which is how he noticed that the frame around the bars over the skylight was made of wood. As before, Shiratory came into possession of some wire, which

he used to unlock his handcuffs each night. Then, by stretching his arms out, he would climb the walls to the top of the cell, where he would pour miso soup his meal that day into the wooden frame, and he did this for over eight months, slowly warping the wood. Once the frame was loose enough, Shiratory waited for a night when the weather was stormy, allowing the thunder and lightning to hide the sounds of his movement, and just like that, he slipped out through the skylight and escaped

once again. This time, he managed to stay away for three whole months, but something compelled him to come out of hiding. It was his treatment at Akata prison. The guards had abused him and tortured him daily. Only one person, the head guard, Kobayashi, had treated him kindly, So Shiratry

went to Kobayashi's home and explained the whole situation. He would have stayed in prison had it not been for his poor treatment by the other guards, and he wanted to speak with someone about having those guards punished for their behavior. Unfortunately, he never got a chance. Kobayashi called the police after Shiratory excused himself to use the restroom. They were already there by the time he emerged. Shiratry was given another three years for escaping and transferred to

yet another facility. Aba Shiri Prison. Now this one was considered inescapable. No one had ever pulled it off. It was located in the far north among the mountains and heavily guarded, and just like at Akata Prison, Shira Torri was tormented there. He was cuffed around his ankles and wrists at all times with his hands behind his back. The cuffs couldn't be taken off by anyone except two skilled blacksmiths, a process that took at least two hours

to complete. But despite his limitations, the ingenious escape artist quickly got to work on getting out. Shira Tory was served miso soup each day through an opening in his cell door. He would squirt the soup onto the joints of his cuffs, as well as around the metal meal slot. After a year, his shackles had weakened enough for the salt content to eat away at the metal and he was finally able to get his hands and legs free.

Then he dislocated his shoulders and squeezed through the meal window before fleeing to the roof and away from the prison. The guards didn't spend much time looking for him either, since the temperatures were frigid and he was alone in the wilderness. They just assumed that he would get eaten by something bigger than him pretty soon, but as always, shia Tori survived. He lived in a cave for two years, subsisting on whatever vegetation and small animals he could find.

By the time he left that cave in nineteen forty five, everyone had forgotten about his escape and Japan had surrendered to the Allies. World War two was over, and shira Tori headed home to find his family. Hungry and desperate, he wandered onto a farm and he stole a tomato. The farm's owner caught him and attacked him with his plow, which shira Toriy wrestled away and used against the farmer,

killing him. Shiratry plained self defense, but he was sent to jail for a fourth time, given the death penalty, and assigned to a cell watched over by a team of six guards at all times. And just as before, the cell walls were smooth and the ceiling was too high to reach. In addition, the windows and the meal slot were too small for him to squeeze through. The only thing he was given was a mattress to sleep on,

since he was being watched seven. The guards didn't bother leaving cuffs on him when he was in his cell, but perhaps they should have. One night, they peeked in on Shira Toriri only to find his cell empty, but he hadn't gone through the windows or the skylight. The guards lifted up his mattress to find that their prisoner had dug a tunnel beneath it using the bowls that

they had served his soup in Shiratory. Disappeared for a year until one fateful day when a police officer sat down next to him in a park and offered him a cigarette. Shia Torri wanted to believe that not all police officers were cruel, and so he turned himself in yet again, claiming that he didn't hate prison, he just hated the abuse that he suffered while inside. The officer arrested him and presented him to the court, which took

his death sentence away. He was transferred to Tokyo Prison, where he spent the next sixteen years confined without incident, and after he was released in nineteen sixty one, Shiratry reconnected with his family and he never went back to jail. It's curious I think that the man who was so good at escaping finally found a way to stay right where he was. I hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour

of the Cabinet of cur Piosities. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn more about the show by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. The show was created by me Aaron Mankey in partnership with how Stuff Works. I make another award winning show called Lore, which is a podcast, book series, and television show, and you can learn all about it over at the World of Lore dot com. And until next time, stay curious. Yeah,