It all started for Ruth Dhorm when her husband stormed a courtroom and took the Judge and three jurors hostage in an ill-fated attempt to negotiate the freedom of their two sons, on trial for armed robbery. It didn't end well. He and the Judge were fatally wounded in the ensuing shootout.
Investigators turned their sights on Ruth when they learned that she purchased the weapons used in the attack. She went on the run. She was tracked down two hours later after she accidentally trapped herself in an attic while trying to elude authorities.
Ruth was sent to a federal prison in Leavenworth, KS. In prison, she was accused of hatching a scheme to blow up the prison, land a helicopter in the confusion and spring herself. She made the critical blunder of buying phoney explosives from an FBI informant. Later, she cut through a heavy screen in a prison window and escaped in her pyjamas.
She started a new life for herself on the run. She worked tirelessly for several local AIDS charities. She lost a tight battle for a seat on the Fairfax County School Board. She and her lover, a part-time skydiving instructor and porn star, videotaped themselves having sex in a plane before jumping out in tandem and continuing the act midair. He was fired.
They kidnapped a construction heiress and demanded a $500,000 random. While they held their hostage, their house was raided for cockfighting. The heiress was released, seven children were taken into protective custody, and 100 roosters were seized. Ruth, shot up with performance-enhancing drugs used to bolster the fighting potential of the birds, fought her way out.
Ruth remained on the loose for 23 years before finally surrendering. In the end, she was deported to her native Honduras.
