From the start, the duo capitalized on apparently critical flaws in Daggett County jail security. During their Sept. 23 escape, a lone guard was supervising inmates, and they made it out of the jail after slipping through an unsecured back door and over a fence short on razor wire that has now contributed to two escapes in as many years.
After weeks of planning, investigators said, they took off Sunday wearing at least two layers of clothes - their orange jail jumpsuits covered with gray sweat suits - and had oatmeal, dried fruit and beef jerky stuffed in their pockets.
Once they escaped, they apparently navigated a valley at the foothills of a mountain range straddling the Wyoming-Utah line, hiding out in the "black timber" wilderness or vacant cabins for a week, according to Deputy Michael Wingert of the U.S. Marshals Service in Utah.
The duo didn't appear to have any help - although they got some unforeseen assistance from a 27-year-old Vernal man who single-handedly redirected the police search effort from the foothills where they were eventually caught to an area 30 miles north of Vernal. The man admitted he made up a sighting of the men, but only after searchers abandoned their search near Manila for a full day and another morning.
Investigators have not yet spoken with Gallegos or Diaz about the escape, but Wingert said it appears the pair entered an abandoned trailer nearby through an unlocked door to watch 79-year-old Bill Johnson's movements, Wingert said. They apparently slept in the abandoned trailer one night - U.S. marshals who searched the cabin looking for the murderers just two days before noticed sheets in a different place - and broke into Johnson's camper trailer when he left for a party Saturday afternoon, Wingert said.
After tying up Johnson, they had a knife, three guns, camping gear they stole from Johnson, a wallet and a car, Wingert said. Police believe the duo had broken into at least one home previously because they left behind a rope and a walking stick in Johnson's trailer, Wingert said. Investigators also found wood chips in a leather carrying case that the duo apparently planned to use as kindling to start fires, he said.
Police are still working on piecing together the men's movements from the time they jumped off the Daggett County jail's roof about 2:30 p.m. on Sept. 23, Wingert said. They believe the men walked across the state road in front of the jail and followed a valley at the foothills of the Phil Pico mountain range, hunkering down in the woods during the day and walking at night, Wingert said.
Gallegos was an experienced outdoor survivalist, Wingert said, and Diaz had crossed the Mexico-U.S. border twice already, making him familiar with living off the land.
The killers are among some 1,500 inmates behind bars at county facilities to assist the overcrowded Utah state prison. Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. last week called for a "full review" of the county jail system following their escape.
rrizzo@sltrib.com
