On Halloween of 1936, 56-year-old Howard Law of Chicago stepped out to buy his wife a box of candy to celebrate the day.

While he was gone, police showed up at the couple’s door to arrest him. It turns out that Howard Law had broken the law. His real name was Howard Fulger and he had tunneled out of the Jackson, Michigan penitentiary way back in 1919. At the time of his escape, he had completed two years of a 10 to 20-year sentence for rape.

During their 17-year marriage, he was able to keep his past hidden from his wife, so the news came as a terrible shock to her. He knew that he had to go back and told his wife to go live with her brother.