Man escapes prison TWICE after his wife sends faxes ordering his release

By Richard Hartley-parkinson
Updated: 16:29, 2 April 2011

To break out of a modern prison is one thing, but to do it twice is quite something.

That's exactly what 57-year-old Jose Carlos Serna did, and each time he escaped from custody by the same method.

His wife sent a fax to court officials, ordering that they release him, and they did what she commanded each time.

Jose Carlos Serna: He was found hiding in a carved out sofa

In December he was in a cell at Arganda del Rey courthouse awaiting trial when officers received a fax purportedly from a regional court. It was followed by a phone call from someone claiming to be a court official, corroborating the release order.

Officers did try to verify the order, but their calls went unanswered. When they received a second call, confirming Serena's release, he was freed and put into a waiting taxi.

Both of the calls were from his wife, Gema Maria Serna, who police tracked down to a house in the northern suburb of San Lorenzo del Escorial.

Last time Serna used the trick on police he escaped from Valdermoro jail.

He was in prison after he headed a gang that kidnapped a Spanish businessman in 2008, holding him captive in the Portuguese beach resort of the Algarve.

Since his last escape Serna had rented several houses, including the heavy fortified suburban home where he was arrested.

Police said he had equipped the house with reinforced window protection and a secret entrance that could not be easily detected or approached. He had also hired a number of men to drive him around while pretending to be an Italian university professor.

Officers broke into the house through a skylight to find him after he hid in a hollowed out sofa.

Alcatraz: One of the most notorious prisons in the world - it closed in 1963

Top 10 prison breaks

John Dillinger - Lima, Ohio
He hot two guards using smuggled guards in 1933. In 1934 he escaped again, this time from Lake County Jail, he made a fake gun out of a bar of soap and used it to force his way out. He escaped in the Sheriff's brand new car.

Frank Morris and Clarence and John Anglin - Alcatraz
Chipped the concrete in their cells around a vent shaft. They went down a chimney to the beach and built a raft to get across the sea.

Billy Hayes - Sagmilicar, Turkey
Hid in a concrete bin, swam to the harbour and stole a dinghy. From there he went to Greece and travelled across the world to the U.S.

Giacomo Casanova - Leads prison
Smuggled a metal spike into his cell and tunnelled through his ceiling before getting onto the roof and using ladders and ropes they made it to the ground floor. They made it to a gondola and into the network of rivers.

Pascal Payet - Luynes Prison

The murderer escaped in 2001 when a friend turned up with a hijacked helicopter. He returned two years later to pick up three other prisoners. They were all rearrested. In 2007 another helicopter picked Payet up and he's never been seen again.

John Gerard - Tower of London
A Catholic in times when it was banned he was sentenced to death. Accomplices rowed a boat into the Tower's moat and threw a rope to him. He climbed down and was smuggled out of England.

Dieter Dengler - jungle prison camp
With six others he escaped from hand and foot restraints to get a guard's weapon. They killed the guards and escaped into the jungle. He is the only American soldier to escape from a prison camp in the Vietnam war.

IRA members - Maze Prison
In 1983 35 inmates escaped after taking control by force. They used smuggled handguns, wounded several guards, stole their uniforms, hijacked a car, took control of a guard post and hopped the fence.

109 union soldiers - Virginia's Libby Prison
Tunnelled through the basement to a nearby vacant piece of land. It took 17 days to reach a nearby tobacco shed. 48 were recaptured, two drowned in a nearby river and 59 made it to safety.

Allied Soldiers - Stalag Luft III
76 allied soldiers got out through tunnels, called Tom, Dick and Harry, 30ft below the prison surfacing in a nearby forest. Their exploits were covered in the film, The Great Escape. All but three were recaptured.

Stalag Luft III: 76 Allied soldiers escaped through three tunnels known as Tom, Dick and Harry