Relentless Rodney Berget | World’s Most Evil Prisoners | Forensic Files

[ominous music] NARRATOR: The United States of America holds some of the world's most depraved criminals
in its prisons. One of them was Rodney Berget. - I would call him Satan himself, honestly.
DR. LINA HAJI: His crimes were horrific. He traumatized so many lives. NARRATOR: Berget launched a night of terror
with an attack on a former friend. - He started shooting through the door. MARTY JACKLEY: Having shot two people,
he grabbed a store clerk that was very young, sexually abused her, led law enforcement
on a high-speed chase. NARRATOR: Behind bars, Berget was lethal, teaming up with another inmate
for a savage escape attempt. - The box bursts open at the top and out comes Berget.
MARTY JACKLEY: They began hitting him with a two-foot metal pipe and put the shrink wrap
around his head. - He was still breathing. DR. LINA HAJI: What they did to Officer Johnson,
it's so heinous. TONI SCHAFER: The day that Dad was killed, that was the start of the destruction of our family.
BEATRICE MIRANDA: His eyes are like, black. There was no color to him at all. TONI SCHAFER: I think he had nothing good in him.
He chose to be evil. [theme music] NARRATOR: Holding around 740 inmates, South Dakota State Penitentiary dates back to 1881.
MATTHEW FREEBURG: Originally a federal territorial prison, it's older than the state.
The old prison looks a lot like anything you would see from the movies, like, imposing
looking brick walls, towers. [tense music] You're in there with murderers. You're in there with rapists.
You're in there with abusers. KRISTI EATON: It's where the most heinous criminals
go in the state, where the people who are on death row, who are spending life in prison
will spend their time. NARRATOR: One of the most notorious inmates to make it to South Dakota's death row was Rodney Berget.
JESSE JOHNSON: People like Berget have no regard for human life, that they will risk everything they can to try to get freedom.
MATTHEW FREEBURG: There were certain inmates that you would get told to look out for.
Berget was one of the most dangerous. He was always planning. KRISTI EATON: From a young age, Rodney Berget caused pain
and suffering to many people. And the pain and suffering is still alive right now.
[intriguing music] NARRATOR: Rodney Scott Berget was born May 15, 1962, in Aberdeen, South Dakota.
He was the second youngest of Rosemary and Bedford's six children. KRISTI EATON: My name is Kristi Eaton,
and I was an Associated Press reporter in South Dakota when this case originally occurred.
Rodney grew up in a poverty-stricken household. It was not a welcoming household,
from the court documents that I was able to obtain. His parents fought often. His dad was a disciplinarian, and so they ended
up divorcing in the 1970s. NARRATOR: With their father largely absent from their lives, one of Berget's older brothers, Roger,
started going off the rails and committed burglaries and larceny as a teen. DR. LINA HAJI: When we are evaluating children,
one of the biggest risk factors that plays into how they're going to develop is their socioeconomic status, which is this kind
of survival of the fittest. I'm either going to end up being a drug dealer or a drug addict.
I'm either going to be a predator or I'm going to be a prey. Berget's brother was older, and so maybe he
looked at him as a father figure or a mentor. That can be a very good thing. But if those siblings are leaning on each other
without parental guidance and proper nurturance, it can end up leading into the two brothers
going off to commit crimes. NARRATOR: This is exactly what happened. KRISTI EATON: Rodney started getting involved
in criminality as a teen. It was grand theft and larceny, that kind of started the spiraling down.
NARRATOR: After numerous run-ins with the law, teenage Rodney Berget was sent to one
of South Dakota's state training schools for juvenile offenders. - Back in the 70s, I don't think it was understood very
well that juveniles needed a lot more rehabilitation than, say, adult offenders.
[intriguing music] It's likely that these juvenile training schools may have been punitive in nature.
He's around other young criminals and he could be learning the tricks of the trade.
I suspect that these juvenile training schools were not helping him and, in fact, were probably
helping him become worse. NARRATOR: Berget escaped the juvenile facility twice. Whilst on the run, he would commit
grand theft and burglary. So at the age of 15, Berget was sent to an adult prison.
The more secure, South Dakota State Penitentiary. DR. LINA HAJI: He's in and out of juvenile detention
facilities, and then he ultimately ends up in adult prison. And for him, it's really like going from middle school
to high school to college. This was likely the path that he knew he was going to take from a very early age.
It was normal for him. NARRATOR: But being in an adult prison was still no deterrent for Berget.
He escaped twice, and in 1984 was given a further 12 years on his sentence for grand theft and escape.
[intriguing music] NARRATOR: Berget had been held within the walls of South Dakota penitentiary for 10 years.
When age 25, he attempted another escape. KRISTI EATON: Rodney and several other prisoners
put lotion all over their bodies and escaped through an air vent. NARRATOR: The vent led to an auto body shop at the prison.
MARTY JACKLEY: They had utilized and obtained tools that they were able to cut prison bars
to escape. NARRATOR: The gang were heading towards freedom. - There was immediate attention to it, whenever
you have six inmates escaping. KRISTI EATON: It was one of the largest escapes in South Dakota State history.
NARRATOR: Berget and the five other inmates spent a month on the run before they were found.
MARTY JACKLEY: Law enforcement had done an excellent job in rounding up all six of them
at various stages. NARRATOR: Berget was immediately returned to South Dakota penitentiary.
He was given 10 years in prison for the escape and a further seven for a burglary he committed while on the run.
DR. LINA HAJI: Berget has never really had the mind frame of having anything to lose.
He had so many escapes from prison, and anybody who escapes from prison is somebody who's thinking about short term gratification.
He's never displayed the ability to think about long-term consequences. [ominous music]
NARRATOR: Berget's older brother and mentor, Roger, had fared no better in his life.
MARTY JACKLEY: His brother had a similar history with respect to in and out of the system.
They involved things like burglary. NARRATOR: His crimes escalated when in 1985, he murdered a man
in order to steal his car. Sent to death row, he was eventually executed 13 years later at the age of 39.
At the time, Rodney Berget was still languishing in South Dakota State Penitentiary.
DR. LINA HAJI: That had to have been devastating for Berget. This was his sidekick, his mentor from a very early age.
I mean, that has to be horrific no matter what kind of human you are. [suspenseful music]
NARRATOR: Four years after his brother's death, 39-year-old Rodney Berget was released on parole.
He had spent just over 24 years in prison. He returned to his family. KRISTI EATON: I think he was close to his family.
He was trying to start anew. He had his first birthday party ever that his sister
and brother-in-law threw him. And so I think it was a time where his family came, rallied
behind him and were expecting to see a change in his behavior. NARRATOR: Berget was also making friends.
One of them was 32-year-old Beatrice Miranda, who he had met in a bar. BEATRICE MIRANDA: He was really nice.
He was polite and very respectful. And so that's why I thought, oh, I could be his friend.
He was living in Sioux Falls at the time, and he asked if I wanted to go visit down there.
We had a good time out there. It was really nice. NARRATOR: Over the following months of their friendship,
Berget began to reveal a more disturbing side to his character. BEATRICE MIRANDA: He would just get angry out of nowhere,
just sitting there watching TV, and all of a sudden he would just burst, like, you know, what happened?
[chuckles] I would just sit there and just-- I didn't know what he was capable of.
And then he would just pace back and forth. I was trying to find a reason to get back home somehow.
[tense music] NARRATOR: Beatrice persuaded Berget to drive her back to her hometown.
BEATRICE MIRANDA: We came on the pretense that I just wanted to visit my sister.
We got here. I was like, I'm not going back with you. And, oh my gosh, that was something else.
I mean, he made a big scene outside my sister's place. And my sister had to go out there and tell him to leave.
So I thought that was-- that was it. I wouldn't hear from him ever again. [ominous music]
NARRATOR: A week passed, and with no contact from Berget. Beatrice believe he was now gone from her life.
At the time, Beatrice was living with her five children, their ages ranging from five to 16 years old.
Then, out of nowhere, Berget turned up at her home. BEATRICE MIRANDA: One day I was at work
and my kids were at the apartment and they said he was in my house. By the time I got to the house, he was already gone.
And so that's when I called the police and let them know what was going on. NARRATOR: The very next night, Beatrice was at home
with her family as well as her friend and housemate, Brian Horstmann. Beatrice had just put her youngest children to bed
when the peace was shattered. - I just started kicking. NARRATOR: Outside with Berget, trying to force
his way into the house. - Really good sturdy steel door so he couldn't do it. He could feel the whole porch shaking and Brian jumps up.
NARRATOR: Brian headed to the door to find Berget with a gun. [gunshot] He shot at him through the door's window.
Brian collapsed to the floor. Beatrice ran to the bedroom where she had a gun. BEATRICE MIRANDA: By the time I turned around with the gun,
he was already out my bedroom doorway. So I just started shooting, and I don't know what happened,
but I just remember, like, getting up off the floor. NARRATOR: When Beatrice fired, the gun's recoil
had struck her in the head, knocking her over. She had only grazed Berget, but it was enough to have
frightened him off. Berget fled the house. - I saw Brian in the kitchen on the floor,
and my kids were all like, trying to help him. They were so scared. That was the worst thing I've ever been through in my life.
NARRATOR: Brian had been shot in the stomach. Beatrice's kids dialed 911. Then Beatrice suddenly felt a pain in her back.
BEATRICE MIRANDA: I asked my son, what is that? It's burning, you know. I had my son check and he goes, oh my god, you know,
you've been shot. NARRATOR: Beatrice and Brian were rushed to the hospital, whilst Berget headed back
across state in a stolen car. MARTY JACKLEY: He traveled from Lawrence County to Sturgis
to a gas station. [dramatic music] He took the store clerk against her will. BEATRICE MIRANDA: Held her at gunpoint.
He raped her in the bathroom, and then forced her in the car with him and took her.
NARRATOR: A customer at the gas station entered the empty shop and found it suspicious nobody was around.
BEATRICE MIRANDA: They called the cops. He looked at the cameras and they spotted the outback.
NARRATOR: Police patrol units were alerted to Berget's stolen vehicle. - It was a high-speed pursuit.
[siren wailing] It went over 100 miles to Midland, South Dakota. NARRATOR: A Highway Patrol trooper
managed to get a hold of brigette's vehicle and deploy spike strips, puncturing three of his tires
and slowing him dramatically. The kidnapped store clerk took her chance. BEATRICE MIRANDA: She jumped out of the car
while he was driving. MARTY JACKLEY: Law enforcement was able to protect and remove
the clerk from the situation. NARRATOR: Berget came to a halt in a field and a police standoff followed.
[tense music] - He sat there with a gun to his head. MARTY JACKLEY: We had an eight-hour standoff with him.
- But finally he gave up. KRISTI EATON: Ultimately, Rodney did surrender peacefully, but many lives were changed
because of that incident. - There's a part of me that thinks this wasn't his first sexual assault. He was so brazen.
If you look at the pattern of behavior, it makes sense for somebody like Berget.
He was obsessed with this woman. She rejected him. He then shoots her roommate because he was in the way,
and now he's mad. Because we have to remember that sexual assault is not driven by sexual desire.
It's driven by anger, rage and power and control. I'm not in control. I didn't get what I wanted, so I'm going to take
that out on somebody else. NARRATOR: At the hospital, there was good news for Beatrice and her roommate
Brian, who had been wounded in Berget's attack. BEATRICE MIRANDA: When the doctors saw me,
thank God it was only a ricochet bullet because it was right on my spine. They were like, you're going to be fine.
Brian spent about a week or so in the hospital. I honestly thought that he wasn't
going to make it because he had lost a lot of blood. I think it was like the second day
when I knew he was going to be OK. I felt so guilty, you know. I brought that there.
And to this day, I still feel bad because he didn't have to go through that. NARRATOR: After his rampage, Rodney Berget
cut a deal with prosecutors. If he pleaded guilty to attempted murder and kidnapping, they would drop the five other charges,
which included one count of attempted murder, first-degree burglary and rape. On December 2, 2003, he was sentenced to life in prison.
BEATRICE MIRANDA: I was so relieved, but yet, you know, I was still hesitant because I knew he-- he had
escaped from there already. So I was-- yeah, I was glad, but I didn't know how long he was going to be in there.
[somber music] I always was afraid that he was going to come back after me because I knew he was going to escape.
I knew he was. NARRATOR: Rodney Berget was back inside South Dakota State Penitentiary.
Former corrections corporal Matt Freeburg was there at the time, and aware of this inmate's reputation.
[dynamic music] MATTHEW FREEBURG: Berget's name had been brought up as one of the ones that previously
had successfully escaped. He definitely had kind of that inmate appearance to him.
He had kind of a ratty ponytail. Berget was about average height. His build was, I would say, on the smaller side.
Like, if you did stop long enough and look them in the eyes, they did just have this evil look,
maybe a hollow look. He didn't speak a whole lot. [ominous music] NARRATOR: In 2006, a new inmate arrived
at South Dakota State Penitentiary. Eric Robert was starting an 80-year sentence
for impersonating a police officer in the attempted rape and murder of an 18-year-old girl.
Eric Robert was aware of Berget's escape attempts and immediately latched on to him.
KRISTI EATON: I believe it was a friendship of necessity because Eric Robert wanted out by any means necessary,
and Rodney Berget was his way of reaching that goal. MATTHEW FREEBURG: That attitude on his end and Berget having
previously escaped, you know, thinking, you know, we can do this again, probably helped
them forge their partnership. NARRATOR: Berget and Robert started devising an escape plan.
It was going to take time, maybe years, to execute, but they were in it for the long haul.
The first thing they needed were prison jobs so they could move around the facility.
- Inmates can have all sorts of jobs in prison. They help keep the prison and the prison grounds clean.
There are landscaping jobs. There are trades within the prison, such as making license plates or making prison uniforms.
And the reason it's beneficial for inmates is, number one, it keeps them busy. And number two, there's a selfish need
that's met on behalf of the prison because it's free or very cheap labor. Also, there's some evidence when inmates
are being kept busy, the violence in the prison tends to go down, which makes sense.
NARRATOR: But Berget and Robert wouldn't be allowed jobs until they proved they were less of a security risk.
MATTHEW FREEBURG: Behaving yourself and trying to have a clean record for months, maybe even years,
however long it took. NARRATOR: After five years of good behavior, Berget and Robert were trusted enough to be given jobs
in the prison laundry system. MATTHEW FREEBURG: And they got the job they wanted,
which gave them almost unlimited access to scout around. They can go to everybody's cell anywhere in the facility
to grab their laundry bags, get down routines and times, and what happens at what time.
NARRATOR: Berget and Robert moved to the next stage of their escape plan. Robert had previously impersonated a police officer.
He was now aiming to impersonate a correctional officer, in a bid to break out of the prison grounds.
MATTHEW FREEBURG: So contrary to Berget, inmate Robert looked very clean shaven.
He didn't have any visible tattoos. Very much could look the part of a person in uniform
if he wanted to. KRISTI EATON: The two inmates knew they needed to get the uniform of a guard any way possible.
NARRATOR: One officer who worked at the state penitentiary was 62-year-old Ronald Johnson.
He had dedicated nearly 24 years of his life to the job. - At work, they gave him the nickname of RJ.
[piano music] I am Lynette Kaye Johnson and I am his wife. We have been married 46 years.
NARRATOR: Ronald met Lynette in the spring of 1977, when they went on a date after being
set up by a mutual friend. [emotional music] LYNETTE KAYE JOHNSON: We had both been divorced.
Didn't really trust guys at the time. That didn't go so well, the first night. So I thought, well, I don't have
nothing to worry about there. But guess what. He was on the phone the next day and we were apart-- after that, together ever.
- My dad was calm, quiet, invested in his family. He was the dad that was always there, The papa
that was always there. - He was kind of a man of few words when it came to a lot of situations.
But he enjoyed his job just because he liked being around people. LYNETTE JOHNSON: And Ron on respected some of those inmates
there, most of them. And he would always say, oh, they're nice. I said, yeah, built that big house up on the hill just
for all the nice people to be. [intriguing music] TONI SCHAFER: I was like, yuck, why would you want
to work at the penitentiary? And I just was like, no, that's where the bad guys go.
And he'd say, they might have had just one bad day, you know. It's just a good guy who had a bad day, and now here he is.
JESSE JOHNSON: He always gave everybody a chance, no matter what they did in life.
And I wouldn't say forgave them, but understood their situation. MATTHEW FREEBURG: Ronald RJ Johnson, everybody
loved working with him. One of the rare guys that even the inmates had a lot of respect for.
NARRATOR: But not Robert and Berget. RJ would be seen as a disposable tool and their ticket to freedom.
Ronald Johnson arrived at the prison to start a day shift. He was originally meant to have the day off
as it was his 63rd birthday. TONI SCHAFER: They had somebody call in sick, and they called in the morning and asked him to come in,
and he said yes. LYNETTE JOHNSON: He'd always kissed me goodbye. And then I gave him a big hug and gave him another kiss.
And I said, happy birthday. And he goes, yeah, yeah, yeah. And he'd, you know, always stick
his tongue out and like, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, ignore my birthday. And, um-- and he went out to work.
NARRATOR: For Berget and Robert, today would be their escape day. On the pretense of doing laundry duties,
Rodney Berget and Eric Robert headed to a back room in the prison workshop. They met a fellow inmate to retrieve a couple
of items they had pre-ordered. MARTY JACKLEY: In the weeks before the actual event,
they had contacted Nordman, another lifer. They had obtained from Nordman the pipe and the shrink wrap.
NARRATOR: Berget and Robert were now armed and ready to execute their escape plan.
Step one, to obtain a corrections officer's uniform. They hid in a workshop and laid in wait for an officer
to come through. That officer was Ronald Johnson. - He was just simply doing the job of a correctional officer.
He was doing his rounds. And they jumped him. NARRATOR: Berget started savagely beating Ronald over the head with a lead pipe.
MARTY JACKLEY: It was horrific, but he never stopped fighting. The defensive wounds that he had on his hands,
he was doing everything he could to try to survive that attack. NARRATOR: Ronald Johnson was overwhelmed.
Robert and Berget continued their barbaric assault, covering his head with the plastic wrap.
MARTY JACKLEY: They utilized the plastic wrap for two reasons. One, to muffle sounds so that they wouldn't be discovered,
and the other is a suffocation method that they had every intent to commit that murder.
They needed the uniform. So as he tried to fight back with shrink wrap around his head, and they kept hitting him with that pipe.
DR. LINA HAJI: What they did to Officer Johnson, it's so heinous, really horrific
and completely unnecessary. MARTY JACKLEY: Once they had brought RJ Johnson down,
they removed his uniform. Robert put on his uniform to try to look like a correction officer.
NARRATOR: They left Ronald's brown officer's shirt behind as it had too much blood on it.
MARTY JACKLEY: They then took a cart with a box. Berget hid in the box because they only had one uniform,
and Robert then pushed the cart out and they headed straight to get to the outside of the prison.
NARRATOR: Corrections corporal Matt Freeburg was also on duty that day. Matt was at the prison gates checking a food truck
that was entering the prison. [ominous music] MATTHEW FREEBURG: As soon as it clears,
here comes an officer pushing a flat cart with a box on it. And so it's like, all right, you know,
just leave the gate open and we'll wait and we'll go out together. And the tower officer closes the inner gate.
NARRATOR: Matt doesn't recognize the officer in front of him. And before he signals the outer gate to be opened for them,
he notices they haven't followed procedure. MATTHEW FREEBURG: I look at the officer and I said,
you didn't swipe your badge. He says he forgot it at home. That's not uncommon. You know, people leave stuff at home all the time.
[suspenseful music] As we're talking, I'm kind of looking at him up and down. He's got uniform pants, uniform jacket and a white t-shirt.
I cannot see his brown officer's shirt. And so I'm like, where's your uniform shirt at?
And he's like, oh, it's on there. It's under my jacket. It's there. Don't worry about it.
And I try and push his coat aside to see if that brown shirt is on there. He takes-- he moves back and he's just like,
it's under there. Don't worry about it, I told you. And it's like, OK, you're really ballsy for a new person
to somebody who outranks you. NARRATOR: With suspicions raised, Matt contacted the control tower
to request verification of the mystery officer, when something else caught his attention.
MATTHEW FREEBURG: I hear some noise, and I look over at the cart, and the box is moving.
It's starting to shake. Bursts open at the top and out comes Berget. While I'm looking at him come out,
I get struck across the face from Robert. And so we start to fight Berget, and he still had RJ's radio, and
he proceeds to strike me multiple times in the back of the head. [tense music] NARRATOR: During the struggle, Robert made a break for it
and started climbing the outer gate. But offices in the tower had already called
a code red over the radio. MATTHEW FREEBURG: Once Robert was up on the fence and it was just me and Berget, I had taken the upper hand
and I had gotten on top of him, and I basically the cavalry had arrived now. I get picked up and lifted off of this guy.
But then Robert jumps off the fence, and Robert and Berget looked at each other and they shook hands.
And then they basically gave up. MARTY JACKLEY: They were very close to getting out.
I certainly believe that if you look at their criminal history, these individuals had no regard for people and human life.
I believe if they would have crossed a civilian in the process of furthering the escape,
that they would have done harm to that individual. I credit the excellent work of Freeburg
and the correction officers to foil their escape attempt. MATTHEW FREEBURG: Most of my injuries
were facial bruising and abrasions. You're just kind of thinking during this whole time trying
to process this, how close did you come potentially to being severely hurt or killed?
NARRATOR: In the aftermath of the confrontation at the gate came a chilling realization.
MATTHEW FREEBURG: This uniform came from someone. Someone was wearing it that isn't wearing it anymore,
and we got to go find who that uniform belonged to. NARRATOR: A search of the prison
brought the grim discovery of Ronald Johnson lying motionless. - RJ Johnson's skull was fractured in three places,
and parts of his brain were exposed. He was hurt so badly. NARRATOR: Remarkably, Ronald Johnson
was still clinging by a thread to life and was rushed to the hospital. As fate would have it, his daughter
Toni, an anesthesia nurse, was working there at the time. TONI SCHAFER: As the trauma bay door from the ambulance,
opened and he was coming in and I'm like, that's my dad. [emotional music] He had a towel over his head and there
was nothing on the monitors. And his color I knew was off. And when I put my left hand on his arm, I knew it was cold.
And one of my coworkers said, Toni, I'm going to take over. And I said-- I go, Dad, you're going to be fine.
I told him he'd be fine when I knew he wasn't. NARRATOR: Toni called her brother,
who was driving to work. JESSE JOHNSON: I had gotten a phone call from my sister,
and my sister said dad was in an accident, got in a fight at work. She didn't know much more information,
but it didn't sound good. At that time, I turned around and started coming towards Sioux Falls.
NARRATOR: It was going to take Jesse over two hours to get to the hospital. Meanwhile, RJ's wife, Lynette, had just arrived.
A short time later, they were given the news they didn't want to hear. TONI SCHAFER: The physician came in, Dr. Perry walked in
and he said, Toni, I'm so sorry. And then my mom was standing there. And she hit me and said, on the chest-- and she said,
you need to get in there and fix this. You need to fix him. LYNETTE JOHNSON: They came and they told us.
I was so angry and I just needed to get back there. He was laying on the table. They had a towel over his head and I thought he was cold.
That's why they had that towel on his head. I didn't realize that he didn't have the back of his head.
I didn't know that. TONI SCHAFER: She laid on his belly and was looking for his hands, and
they told her she couldn't touch him because he was a crime scene. And when they said that, I just remember thinking,
how can you make him a crime scene? Like, I don't get that. Like, she wants to hold her husband just one more time.
JESSE JOHNSON: About 20 minutes into the drive, my mom had called and said, Dad has passed.
You don't need to speed. You don't have to get here right away. Just drive safe.
And at that point, you know, like, the guilt of, like, living in Yankton, so far away from--
because we got to spend weekends together, but not necessarily time during the week--
kind of came over me. I went from a day from working to getting a phone call that changed my whole life.
NARRATOR: In the following days, the family and the outside world learned the full details of what
had happened at the South Dakota State Penitentiary. - When I found out that inmates did this,
there wasn't an inmate in that building that didn't like Ron. [ominous music] KRISTI EATON: I've covered some horrible crimes before,
but this one was definitely one of the worst I had heard about. JESSE JOHNSON: Robert and Berget
have no regard for human life, and the fact that they were cowards with a pipe, and took two of them to do what they did,
as a man you could probably take care of him yourself. MARTY JACKLEY: I was a lead prosecutor on both the Berget
and the Robert cases. NARRATOR: South Dakota attorney General Marty Jackley wanted to pursue the death penalty
for both Robert and Berget. MARTY JACKLEY: The evidence showed they had every intention to murder that correction officer
in a very inhumane way. It was horrific. But the evidence showed he never stopped fighting.
The defensive wounds that he had on his hands. He was doing everything he could to try to survive that attack.
Berget and Robert both were serving life sentences. In my mind, they were not going to stop harming people
and that the only way to protect other inmates, correction officers, and medical staff
at the prison was a capital sentence. NARRATOR: In two separate hearings, both Eric Robert and Rodney Berget pleaded
guilty to first-degree murder. Both were sentenced to death. KRISTI EATON: Eric Robert wanted to get out of prison
or die trying, and he ended up not appealing the death sentence, not appealing his conviction.
So he was put to death fairly quickly by most standards. NARRATOR: On October 15, 2012, a year
and a half after Ronald Johnson's murder, Robert was executed by lethal injection.
In contrast, Rodney Berget continually appealed his death sentence. TONI SCHAFER: He never apologized.
He was trying to draw out the process. It's just his evil ways, I feel, to continue to torture us.
I never believed in the death penalty. I was always outspoken about it, but I figure I want the inmate to get what they don't want.
Eric Robert, he wanted to die. I wanted him to have to sit there for the rest of his life.
I wanted Berget to be put to death. Some people don't have a soul. NARRATOR: Rodney Berget eventually
decided to withdraw his appeal against his death sentence, and on October 29, 2018, he was executed by lethal injection.
Ronald Johnson's family were there to witness it. MARTY JACKLEY: Berget just sat there,
very cold, very emotionless. - He was just looking at the ceiling, basically. - Even right before he takes his last breath,
he does not express remorse. He does not say sorry. He does not apologize. I don't think Berget was capable of remorse.
TONI SCHAFER: He said he loved a few people. And then he went to sleep. He just snored and it was done.
- Clean, painless. I wish Ron could have had that death. BEATRICE MIRANDA: When he was sentenced to death,
I was ecstatic. I was really ecstatic because then I didn't have to worry about, you know, hiding behind my curtains
and in my locked doors. I should have killed them. Ron would still be alive. NARRATOR: RJ's horrific death had
a massive impact on both staff and inmates at the prison. MARTY JACKLEY: There is a building at the prison named
after RJ, and I think that's the legacy, I hope, he's remembered for. His family and the impact he had, not just
on other correctional officers, but the inmates that cared for him. NARRATOR: April 12, each year, Ronald Johnson's family
celebrate his birthday and commemorate the day he died. LYNETTE JOHNSON: I light a candle.
The hour from 10:00 to 11:00. And then I go up to the cemetery, and I let balloons off here, and
then I let balloons off there. TONI SCHAFER: But mom and dad, their relationship
was something special. Not many people get to have, but everybody wants it. But Berget, I think he had nothing good in him
to look forward to. DR. LINA HAJI: Berget his crimes were horrific. He traumatized and disrupted so many lives.
In a nutshell, I would say that Berget is absolutely an evil human being. [clicking]
[theme music]

After shooting two people, Rodney Berget kidnaps and sexually assaults a gas station clerk. Prison struggles to contain him: an escape expert, his final attempt involves the sadistic murder of a corrections officer.

World’s Most Evil Prisoners is a chilling exploration of the terrifying offenders sentenced to a lifetime behind bars. Locked away, yet still driven by their twisted desires, these inmates delve into acts of torture, abduction, and homicide. Prepare to confront the criminals from the darkest facets of humanity.

For More FilmRise Check Out Our Other Channels: FilmRise Television: https://www.youtube.com/⁨@FilmRiseTelevision⁩ FilmRise Movies: https://www.youtube.com/@FilmRiseMovies Highway to Heaven - Full Episodes: https://www.youtube.com/@HighwaytoHeavenFullEpisodes

Brief Summary

Rodney Berget's violent crimes and escape attempts lead to the murder of Officer Ronald Johnson and lasting trauma for victims' families.

Key points

Rodney Berget: A Life of Crime. Rodney Berget's life is marked by violence and crime, leading to a notorious reputation.
The Escape Attempts. Berget's repeated attempts to escape prison showcase his relentless pursuit of freedom.
The Attack on Beatrice Miranda. A shocking incident where Berget attacked Beatrice Miranda and her friend, Brian.
Berget's Sentencing. After a violent rampage, Berget was sentenced to life in prison, raising concerns about his future.
The Escape Attempt. Rodney Berget and Eric Robert plan their escape from prison, leading to a violent confrontation.
A Chilling Discovery. After the escape attempt, officers discover the grim fate of Ronald Johnson.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

He chose to be evil.

Describing Rodney Berget's character and choices.

1:27WatchFeb 4, 2026

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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