his two alias "Jefferson Davis" and "Jeff Rhodes" he falsely gave his age as 30, and his place of birth as Alabama. His only truthful statement was when he stated his occupation as "thief". Panzram was disciplined several times while at Salem, including 61 days in solitary confinement, before escaping on September 18, 1917. After two shootouts, in which he attempted to shoot Chief Deputy Sheriff Joseph Frum, he was recaptured and returned to the prison. On May 12, 1918, he escaped again by sawing through the bars of his cell, and caught a freight train heading east. He began going by the name "John O'Leary" and shaved off his mustache to change his appearance. Panzram would never return to the Northwest. Panzram allegedly ended up in New York City and got a Seaman Identification card; and sailed on the steamship James S. Whitney to Panama. There he tried to steal a small boat with the help of a drunken sailor, who killed everyone on board and was arrested. Still free, Panzram travelled to Peru to work in a copper mine. After that, he traveled to Chile, Port Arthur, Texas, London, Edinburgh, Paris, and Hamburg. Murder spree In 1920, Panzram committed a robbery in Newport, Rhode Island. On September 16 of that year he burglarized the William H. Taft Mansion in New Haven, Connecticut, a residence of William Howard Taft, by that time a former President. Panzram specifically targeted the mansion out of animus he had been holding against Taft since his incarceration at Fort Leavenworth. He stole a large amount of jewelry and bonds, as well as Taft's Colt M1911 .45-caliber handgun. Using Taft's stolen money, Panzram bought a small sailing yacht, the Akista, and embarked on an eight-year long murder spree which spanned several countries and involved multiple victims. Sailing south to New York City, for three months Panzram lured sailors away from port bars onto the yacht, made them drunk before raping them, and then murdered the men with Taft's stolen pistol, subsequently dumping their bodies near Execution Rocks Light in Long Island Sound. In this manner Panzram claimed to have killed ten men. The sailor murders ended only after Akista ran aground and sank near Atlantic City, New Jersey, during which his last two potential victims escaped to parts unknown. On October 26, Panzram was arrested in Stamford, Connecticut, for burglary and possession of a loaded