Vincent Cifelli lay inside the hospital unit of the Rhode Island State Prison on Nov. 3, 1942. The 38-year-old New Yorker was serving time for forgery and had been attacked in the prison yard on Oct. 21 by two other inmates.

Cifelli was receiving medical treatment for the knife wounds he’d suffered when he developed an embolism and took his last breath that autumn morning. Victor Burkevitch and Nicholas Rapone, who had been slapped with charges of murderous assault, would now be facing a charge of murder.

It was believed the trio of men had known each other outside of prison and that the assault was the result of some previously unresolved issue. The two defendants both pleaded not guilty to the murder charge and were held without bail to stand trial.

Rapone was a 27-year-old from Monticello Street in Pawtucket while 28-year-old Burkevitch resided on Argonne Street in Johnston with his mother, Mary (Turevich), and his stepfather, Alex Markrush. His father, Joseph, had died when Victor was just 4 years old.

Mary and Joseph Burkevitch had come to America from Poland and settled in Rhode Island. Victor was born in Providence on March 6, 1914. By the time he became involved in the death of Cifelli, he had already established a criminal history.

Eleven years earlier, on July 1, 1931, he had been sentenced to the Rhode Island State Prison after being convicted of robbery. He was to serve a five-year sentence, but on June 22, 1934, he escaped from the facility.

Notices went out for law enforcement to be on the lookout for Burkevitch, describing him as standing 5 feet, 4 inches in height, weighing 140 pounds and having brown eyes.

Two months later, on the night of Aug. 23, 1934, he was arrested after committing a burglary at the Richfield Service Station in Seaford, Long Island. He got away with a total of $8, which was never recovered.

While Burkevitch was about to be transferred to his arraignment, he managed to escape again, slipping out of his handcuffs and vacating the building.

Another search began. It was learned that after fleeing Rhode Island, he had gone on to Allendale, New Jersey, where he’d gained employment as a farmhand on the farm of Edward Brandt in exchange for a regular payment of $1.50 along with room and board. He’d moved on to New York and was now on the loose again.

The successful escapee was soon located at the Hotel Providence in New York City. On Sept. 25, he was sentenced to the infamous maximum-security prison, Sing Sing, in Ossining, New York, where he was to serve the next 10 years. He would be eligible for parole on May 3, 1941.

Before that time arrived, he had been transferred to Clinton Prison in Dannemora, New York, the largest maximum-security prison in the country. Now, in 1942, he was back in Rhode Island, in prison once again, having graduated from robbery to charges of murder.

The trail seems to run cold after that. Burkevitch might have had more time added to his sentence. He might have lived out the next several years behind bars. Or the expert jailbreaker may have gained a final freedom.

Kelly Sullivan is a Rhode Island columnist, lecturer and author.