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MASSACHUSETTS — John Pierpont Morgan Jr.s’ crime spree began in the summer of 1973, when a group of male inmates at a Salem, Massachusetts jail escaped after holding two correctional guards at knife-point and demanding the keys to the front door.

After stealing a prison matron’s vehicle parked outside, they headed west.

Their first stop: Madison, Wisconsin, where they stole a bank card in an armed robbery. That card was used by Morgan, 37, one week later in Dubuque, Iowa, where he rented yet another getaway vehicle.

This time, they drove north to Nisswa, Minnesota, about 15 miles north of Brainerd.

In an attempt to lay low, they rented a cabin on Roy Lake — a 25-hour drive from the Salem prison.

Their efforts to go undetected were compromised, though, when Morgan and his crew shot two of their fellow fugitives on Aug. 17, 1973, leaving their bodies alongside a rural road not far from the hideaway cabin.

Within weeks, the partially decomposed bodies of John Estrella and Patricia Hamilton were discovered. Both had been shot in the head.

Image courtesy of Ancestry.com / Original image appeared in a 1973 edition of the Massachusetts Daily Item

A tip led authorities to the cabin on Roy Lake, where they arrested Morgan and his friend, John Beck, for the murders of Estrella and Hamilton.

Morgan and Beck were taken to the Wadena County Jail, where Morgan once again escaped. He fled to a nearby farmhouse, where he and a fellow inmate held a family of six hostage for 33 hours in saga that captivated the nation -– and halted his months-long crime spree.

At roughly 6:20 a.m. on Aug. 3, 1973, Morgan joined a group of men with a plan.

They rushed the cell block gate door at Essex County Jail in Salem, using homemade knife-like weapons to threaten guards to hand over the keys, according to then-Essex County Sheriff Roger Wells.

They cut the telephone wires to prevent the guards from calling for help.

Then, they stole a vehicle belonging to a female prison matron who had arrived to work just minutes earlier.

An article in a 1973 edition of the Massachusetts Daily Item states one of the individuals who escaped was later charged with assault and battery related to the woman who owned the vehicle, insinuating the car was taken by force.

Five men were involved in the jailbreak. However, William A. Rowe, 19, didn’t make it far. He was apprehended by authorities the evening after the escape.

The other three — Edward Vasey, John Coveney, Estrella and Morgan — headed west. Yet before they left the area, they picked up Estrella’s girlfriend: Hamilton.

A nationwide manhunt was on.

The first known stop for the fugitives was Madison, Wisconsin, where a bank card was stolen during an armed robbery.

That same card was used by Morgan, a week after the robbery, at a rental car location in Dubuque, Iowa. The new car allowed the fugitives to ditch the otherwise recognizable car stolen from the jail.

While in Dubuque, they also reunited with Regina Delverde, who they had been with in Salem after their escape, according to court documents.

With a new member of the group and a vehicular disguise, they headed north to Nisswa, Minnesota.

They rented a hideout cabin on Roy Lake on Aug. 17, 1973, where they were joined by Morgan’s friend, John Beck.

On the evening of their arrival, Morgan and Beck visited a nearby bar, where they concocted a plan to kill Hamilton. She had gotten on their nerves, according to court documents related to Delverde’s testimony.

Photo courtesy of Newspapers.com / Original image appeared in a 1973 edition of the Boston Globe

Yet the two knew that Estrella wouldn’t be complicit in the murder of his girlfriend. So, they planned to kill him, too.

And, they did.

After returning from the bar, Morgan told the crew authorities could be closing in.

They got into the car and took off. Morgan and Beck drove them to a nearby location, where they pushed Hamilton and Estrella out of the vehicle before shooting them in the head and throwing their bodies in a wooded ditch.

When they returned to the cabin, they burned their clothes to get rid of the evidence. Those who weren’t privy to the plot weren’t happy.

While Morgan and Beck went out on the boat the following day, Delverde and Coveney took off in one of the vehicles.

Morgan and Beck — the masterminds and executors in the plan to kill Hamilton and Estrella — were left to face the consequences that were right around the corner.

One week later, the partially decomposed bodies were discovered — and a tip led authorities to Morgan and Beck.

Both were taken to the Wadena County Jail and charged with two counts of first-degree murder. Just months later — on Nov. 5, 1973 — Morgan escaped after shooting a guard with a pistol that had allegedly been smuggled to him through a female visitor.

Morgan escaped alongside William Lee Winans, 18, of Fergus Falls. The warning was sent throughout the area: Two men, considered armed and dangerous, were on the loose.

Photo courtesy of Newspapers.com / Original image appeared in a 1973 edition of the Boston Globe

The Weigscheid family of rural Wadena County learned first-hand that the warnings were warranted when, at around 6 p.m. on Nov. 8, 1973, Morgan and Winans forcibly entered their home with two rifles and a pistol. One hour later, the home was surrounded by 60 law enforcement officers, according to a 1974 article in Good Housekeeping Magazine.

Throughout the 33-hour hostage situation at the Weigscheid family home, nestled among 160 acres, Morgan and Winan were communicating with law enforcement, attempting to work out a deal. At one point, Morgan requests a small airplane pick him and Winan up to fly them to a remote area.

Image courtesy of Newspapers.com / Original image appeared in a 1973 edition of the Boston Globe

By around 1:20 p.m. on the second day, Morgan agrees with law enforcement to allow the three youngest Weigscheids — the three young children — to be set free. It was a move officers told Morgan would look favorable to him in court.

Elmer and Joyce Weigscheid, along with their 15-year-old son Eddie, remained under the grip of Morgan.

Just before sunrise on the third day, they had a chance to escape: Morgan and Winans had fallen asleep.

The escape came at 4:15 a.m., when the parents and their 15-year-old son grabbed the fugitives’ weapons and fled to safety, according to New York Times archives.

Hours later, Morgan and Winans surrendered.

In the end, Morgan pleaded guilty to one charge of kidnapping and was sentenced to 20 years in prison. A few years later, a tip provided by his hostage was used to convict him on two counts of first-degree murder.

He later stood trial for two counts of first-degree murder for the deaths of Estrella and Hamilton.

After deliberating for more than nine hours, he was found guilty on both counts. He was sentenced to life in prison.

The eyewitness testimony provided by Delverde was critical to the prosecution’s case, along with testimony given by Elmer.

According to court documents, Elmer said Morgan said Estrella and Hamilton "were a couple of young punks playing in the wrong league," and that “it was either them or us."

Beck faced two counts of first-degree murder, too. His case went to trial, and he was acquitted.

Coveney, 19, who also told authorities he witnessed Morgan shoot Estrella and Hamilton, was found in Boston on Sept. 3 and turned over to Essex authorities.

Edward Vasey, 20, surrendered in September when he called Essex County Sheriff Roger Wells from New Jersey to confess to his whereabouts. Vassey was in jail on one charge of assault with the intent to kill.