Here's information about when this notorious couple married, and more.
8/10/05: On a tip from a cab driver who dropped them off at an America's Best Value Inn in Columbus, Ohio, George Hyatte and Jennifer Forsyth Hyatte were arrested without incident. Jennifer had a gunshot wound in one of her legs from the gunfire from their prison escape.
The two will be returned to Tennessee on warrants for first degree murder of Guard Wayne Morgan. Wayne Morgan, 56, was married with two children. He had worked for the Tennessee Department of Corrections for 28 years.
George Carlton Hyatte was born on June 30, 1971.
Jennifer Lyn Forsyth is reportedly from Salt Lake City, Utah and was 31 years old at the time of the escape.
George and Jennifer met while he was in prison and she was a prison nurse.
Ages at Wedding:
George was 33, Jennifer was 31.On November 30, 2004, George and Jennifer applied to the prison chaplain for permission to marry. They were married in one of the visitor rooms on May 21, 2005 at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution.
It appears though that Jennifer's decree of divorce from Gordon R. Taylor wasn't recorded until May 23, 2004.
Source: Knox News
Children:
Jennifer had three children with Eli, two boys and a girl. The eldest child is now 12. The children are spending the summer with their father.George, none.
Jennifer, two.
- She married Gordon R. Taylor in Dyer County on May 28, 200? Taylor, a truck driver from Dyersburg, filed for divorce on September 14, 2004.
- Eli Gourdin and Jennifer met while they attended West Jordan High School together. Married in the fall of 1992, Eli and Jennifer divorced seven years later in 2000. Eli, and his current wife Katie, live in Smithfield, Utah.
Education:
George dropped out of school.
Occupations:
In May, 2004, she was hired by Northwest Community Services Agency, a state contractor providing health care to inmates at the Northwest Correctional Complex in Tiptonville, Tennessee.She was fired in August, 2004, for sneaking food to an inmate and for having an inappropriate relationship with Hyatte.
George has a long, violent criminal record with a history of escapes in 1990, 1991, 1998, and 2002. In the court system by the time he was nine years old for truacy and unruly behavior, George dropped out of school, had charges for burglary, theft, armed robbery, striking an officer, and had been in a treatment program for alcohol and drug abuse. At 21, a presentencing report described him as a repeat offender with little work history and "a tendency toward violence."
Source: Signs on San Diego
After Jennifer was fired, George was transferred to Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville.
Incarcerated at Brushy Mountain Correctional Complex, George's current sentence for assault and robbery convictions was set to end on July 26, 2036. He was in Kingston at the courthouse for a hearing to plead guilty in an armed robbery charge. Jennifer was also at the courthouse for the hearing. He had been handcuffed and shackled at the feet at the time of his escape from custody.
Jennifer has no known criminal history.
Tennessee Department of Corrections Visitation Policy:
Although Jennifer was not given approval to visit George after they were married, they were still allowed to get married."Current or former employees of TDOC, TRICOR... shall not be approved unless they are immediate family members of inmate.
If the person's separation from TDOC service was due to a violation of state law, e.g., trafficking in contraband whether or not prosecution occurred, visitation requests will not be considered from at least a minimal period of 24 months up to 48 months, pending on the severity of the violation.
If the person's separation from TDOC service was the result of a violation of TDOC Policy #305.03, Employee/Offender Relationships, visitation requests will not be considered for 24 months from the date of the marriage.
Source: Tennessee Department of Corrections
