George Wilder

George Wilder is a prison escaper and New Zealand folk hero. Wilder escaped from prison three times in the 1960s, and his escapades captured the attention of the public.

First escape Wilder was in New Plymouth Prison on 17 May 1962. Part way through a four-year sentence for shopbreaking and theft related to his favourite Jaguar cars, he scaled the high wall that day and was not recaptured until 21 July. During those 65 days, he captured the attention of the New Zealand public when newspapers began reporting several hair-raising escapes from the dozens of police tasked with his capture.

The stories of Wilder's escapades, included "wild drives through police barricades, evading large search parties, escaping a police dog by swimming across a river, and getaways by dinghy and horse - all with no hint of violence". went immediately to number 1 in the charts and stayed there for some ten weeks.

Third escape Restored to life in prison, Wilder made one more attempt at freedom but this, his final escape, was short-lived. In 1965 he escaped with two other prisoners, armed with a sawn-off shotgun. They kidnapped a prison warder at gunpoint and holed up in a house in Mount Eden. After three hours, the trio surrendered to the Armed Offenders Squad and Wilder went back into custody, where he remained until he was paroled in 1969. However, he got into trouble for allegedly stealing rifles and escaped by rowing across the Firth of Thames. He was eventually captured and returned to prison to serve out the remainder of his sentence, which had been extended by his escapes.

On 20 June 1969, Wilder was finally released from prison and moved to the Wairarapa coast. Since then he has kept a low profile and refused all attempts by the media to contact him. He was reportedly still living in 2015.