RICHMOND, Va. -- Linwood and James Briley, a pair of brothers believed the leaders of six inmates who fled a death row cellblock, led a gang that terrorized Richmond with a series of murders, rapes and robberies in the 1970s.
Linwood, 30, and James, 28, were sentenced to death for their part in 11 murders tied to their gang. Linwood was convicted in six killings, James in seven -- some of which they both were named.
Another brother, Anthony, is serving several life sentences for murder at another prison and was not involved in Thursday night's escape from the maximum security Mecklenburg Correctional Center at Boydton, Va.
The three brothers, whose lifestyle included keeping a boa constrictor and piranha as pets, were described by prosecutors as young toughs who wanted no witnesses to their crimes.
'Somebody hasn't done their job,' said prosecutor Aubrey Davis on learning of the Brileys escape. 'Certainly in those cases where inmates are dangerous to society there's only one thing that the individuals can do -- and that's kill again in order to carry out their escape. And I'm afraid of that.'
Bertha Briley, ther brothers' mother, would not answer questions. 'We don't have anything to say about that, OK,' she said.
Linwood Briley was sentenced to death in September 1979 for the murder of Richmond disc jockey Johnny 'Johnny G' Gallaher. He is scheduled to be executed in August. He also was serving seven life terms.
No execution date has been scheduled for James Briley, sentenced to death for the robbery and murders of Judy Barton, a 23-year-old pregnant woman, and her 5-year-old son, Harvey.
Police also linked the Brileys to the slayings of Mary Wilfong, a private nurse; Charles Garner, 59, and Blanche Page 75, of Richmond; Mary Gowen, 76, who was raped and fatally shot while returning home after baby-sitting; Christopher Phillips, 17, who was crushed to death with a rock; Michael McDuffie, shot to death in Henrico County in 1979, and Thomas Saunders, shot to death in Richmond.
An accomplice, Duncan Meekins, was given a life sentence for killing Harvey Wilkerson, 26, father of Ms. Barton's son.
Meekins testified he was standing by a door when he heard a shot and saw James Briley standing over Ms. Barton on the floor. A bloody sheet covered her.
'James was standing up. He said, 'You gotta get one. You gotta get one.' So I stuck a pistol to a pillow, put it to the man's head and fired.''
'Somewhere down the line,' assistant prosecutor Warren Von Schuch said, 'there's something in (the Brileys) that infuriates them about weakness in other people.'
Von Schuch called the pets a symbol of the violent lifestyles the brothers led. Sometimes they would feed the snake by holding the tails of the mice down, making the rodents helpless as the reptile approached.
'There was a degree of toughness,' he said. 'You had the pets - a boa constrictor, the piranhas. You rape a man's wife in front of him ... they were just tough people. They were opposed to having weaknesses of any sort.'
Motives for the killings were not clear. But prosecutors suspected Linwood Briley, who served time for a break-in, had vowed he would never return behind bars and wanted to leave no witnesses to his crimes.
One informer told police the Brileys wanted to earn a reputation as killers so they could become professional hit men.
