him in a stolen vehicle. Hatcher was sentenced to five years in the Missouri State Penitentiary for the attempted abduction and auto theft under the Habitual Criminal Act. While Hatcher was waiting to be transported to prison, he unsuccessfully attempted to break out of the Buchanan County Jail. When Hatcher arrived at the Missouri State Penitentiary, he claimed to be the most notorious criminal in northwest Missouri since Jesse James. On July 2, 1961, a 26-year-old inmate named Jerry Tharrington was found raped and stabbed to death on the floor of the prison kitchen loading dock. He had been repeatedly stabbed in the back. Hatcher was the only individual missing from the kitchen crew at the time of the murder. He was sent to solitary confinement for Tharrington's murder, but there was not enough evidence to convict him in court. While in solitary confinement for the murder, Hatcher wrote a note claiming that he needed psychiatric treatment; however, the prison psychologist felt that it was simply a scheme to get out of solitary and possibly out of prison early. Treatment was refused, and Hatcher was returned to the general population. His sentence was reduced to three‑quarters the original time, and he was released on August 24, 1963. 1969–1977 Hatcher confessed to abducting a 12‑year‑old named William Freeman in Antioch, California on August 27, 1969. He claimed he had told the boy to come with him, took him to a creek, and strangled him. On August 29, 1969, six‑year‑old Gilbert Martinez was reported missing in San Francisco. According to the six‑year‑old girl with whom he was playing, Martinez walked away with a man who offered him ice cream. He was found by a man walking his dog as the boy was being beaten and sexually assaulted. Police arrived and arrested the assailant, who identified himself as Albert Ralph Price, although he carried identification with the name Hobert Prater. Martinez survived the assault, and Federal Bureau of Investigation records later identified the man as Charles R. Hatcher. Still going by the name Albert Price, Hatcher was charged with assault with attempt to commit sodomy and kidnapping. He was ordered to undergo competency evaluations to determine his competence to stand trial. A complete psychological evaluation was ordered when Hatcher was unresponsive during the preliminary evaluations. During this time, he claimed to hear voices, and faked delusions and suicide attempts to avoid prison. In