Could Einstein be captured in the jail without knowing it was a trap? What happened next

Editor's note from The Tennessean, part of the Paste BN Network: This story has been updated to more accurately describe the 37 mm launcher found as part of the investigation.

This is the third of a four-part series detailing the chase to catch the man who infiltrated a jail under construction in Nashville.

The plan to catch Einstein fell apart almost immediately.

Whoever saw him was supposed to keep Einstein OUT of the new, as-yet-unopened $200 million jail facility.

That's not what happened.

Not even close.

At 1:07 p.m. on Jan. 4, 2020, Einstein walked straight into the new jail's lobby.

Security supervisor Cory Witkus recognized the masked man from the screen grabs that had been shown in the secret meeting. Since Lt. Thomas Conrad had noticed the two missing keys on Dec. 30, the Davidson County Sheriff's staff had reviewed thousands of hours of security camera footage. They had pictures of the masked man.

But they didn't know his identity, his motive or his intent. They didn't know about his cache of weapons.

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He had been given the nickname "Einstein" in prison years earlier. He was now 50 years old, had a respected reputation in Nashville and nationally and he had been using the email address Stein919@gmail.com for years.

"Hey, what's going on?" Witkus asked Einstein, trying to stay calm. "What are you here for?"

"I'm here to work," said Einstein, who was carrying a black cooler and a bucket of paint supplies (and bolt cutters, with which he could have cut keys off the rings hanging on the control room wall.)

Witkus didn't call or alert anyone. He was going to handle this one alone.

"Where are you headed?" Witkus asked.

"Inside the building," Einstein said.

Witkus forced a smile, and tried to be cordial.

This is where the plan to trap him broke down. Witkus thought, in that moment, it would be wrong to take him outside, where he could run and potentially get away.

So he took Einstein inside the new jail building.

"Come with me. I'll get you in, and we'll get you to work," Witkus said.

Then Witkus started walking deeper into the building − which he was not supposed to do − hoping Einstein would follow.

He did.

Witkus walked the masked man to a bank of elevators. Einstein followed him inside.

No one else in the jail knew this was happening.

Witkus pressed the button that would take them down one floor to the parking garage. Once in the parking garage, Witkus led Einstein to the loading dock where deliveries of food and supplies are dropped off every day.

In order to get supplies into the jail from the loading dock, vendors need to pass through a small room that Witkus called a "sally port."

With Einstein standing behind him, Witkus pressed the button to signal for the guards inside to open the sally port door.

"It popped open. I held the door for him, and he walked in," Witkus said.

Witkus watched Einstein go into the sally port, and "the door shut on its own weight."

The door had a little window so Witkus could see Einstein inside.

The room's other door was also locked.

There was no way out.

Einstein was trapped.

Handcuffed in front

Witkus radioed to the control room telling the guards to back away from the buzzer system. He did not want them accidentally bumping into a button that would open that sally port door, or any door inside the jail.

"I didn't want there to be a mistake," Witkus said.

When Witkus didn't follow him into the room and the door shut, Einstein knew he was trapped. He began knocking on the door.

Einstein yelled, "I'm here to work."

Then Einstein did the strangest thing. He took a piece of paper from his pocket, put it in his mouth, chewed it and swallowed. Investigators believe it was a map of the inside of the jail.

Conrad and several jail guards joined Witkus at the sally port door.

Conrad watched Einstein approach the door, kneel and slide a business card-sized paper under it.

Conrad picked up the paper.

"It said, you cannot handcuff me from the rear. I have a rotator cuff injury," Conrad said. "Who carries that? Who carries something like that on him?"

Einstein did.

An identity revealed

When Metro Nashville Police arrived to make the arrest, Witkus opened the sally port door.

It had been about 30 minutes.

Conrad stepped inside with Einstein. He was joined by Chief of Corrections Tony Wilkes, who, along with Sheriff Daron Hall, had been meeting for years with the group of stakeholders to discuss the other jail contract.

Conrad asked Einstein to take off his mask.

Einstein refused.

Then Conrad took it upon himself to pull Einstein's mask off his face.

Wilkes couldn't believe what he saw.

"Alex?" Wilkes asked.

"You know this cat?" Conrad asked Wilkes.

"Yes," Wilkes said. "He's Alex freakin' Friedmann."

Einstein was Alex Friedmann, the intellectual guy who had been working with the sheriff for years on the jail contract. This is the same Alex Friedmann who had worked on the Bernie Sanders presidential campaign, and whose uncle is Ben Bernanke, the former chair of the U.S. Federal Reserve under two presidents.

He is also the same Alex Friedmann who got in a gun fight in The Coin Purse in Nashville in 1987, and stole baseball cards from a Kroger in 1991.

Friedmann had been free from prison for 20 years.

The sheriff found out later that, at least once, Friedmann had met with the oversight committee and then gone out to his car, changed into fake painter's clothes and went straight into the jail.

On Jan. 4, 2020, Friedmann was charged with burglary, possession of burglary tools and tampering with evidence (the swallowing of the paper).

The Tennessean, part of the Paste BN Network, reached out to Friedmann by mail. He chose not to comment.

When he was booked at the Hill Detention Center, Friedmann made seven phone calls to his wife, Alice.

A transcript of one call read:

Alice: "Is this one of those things with the jail project?"

Friedmann: "I'd rather not get into that on the phone."

Alice, eventually, would write a letter on Alex's behalf. From court files, the Tennessean obtained a copy of the letter. Here are parts of what she wrote:

"Alex and I have been together for many years, and I'd like to tell you about what I've seen through the time we've been together," she wrote. "He's worked tirelessly towards goals of human rights. He has provided support for those who are accused, who often have no idea how the legal process works or the know-how to help themselves.

"He's spoken before the legislature to offer insight into what works and what could be improved where issues exist. He's used his perspective as someone who has been both incarcerated and free to help others understand.

"He received the 'Long Haul Award' in recognition of his selfless dedication and leadership as a citizen activist on behalf of the people of Tennessee.

"Personally, he's the most thoughtful person I've ever known and has always been gently accepting of my own idiosyncrasies.

"He's often come up with creative ways to make life better for me/us. For example, one evening we had a special occasion. Although we wanted to celebrate, almost all the restaurants were closed ... except for Sonic. Not to be deterred, he promptly gathered a dark red tablecloth, some wine glasses and candles, and we had a lovely moonlight picnic at the tables there. It was a night to remember.

"He'd never had a dog before, and he was a little wary when I wanted to bring home a puppy from the pound named Rusty. I watched them meet, and before I knew it, he and Rusty bonded and began playing ball and peek-a-boo together."

She ended the letter by signing it:

"Humbly, Alice N. Friedmann."

In this version, Alex Friedmann was all romantic red tablecloths and Rusty the puppy. No mention of the guns or the flare and smoke launcher, which, to be fair, she may not have known about.

Alex Friedmann's bail was set at $32,500. He hired Grumpy's Bail Bonds to handle his case. Grumpy's is owned by former Miss Tennessee (1992) Leah Hulan. She calls herself "The Bond Girl."

Friedmann spent about seven hours in jail before Grumpy's bonded him out.

Looking for the Grand Master

Remember the keys Friedmann took? One was marked K for kitchen, and one was marked GM for general movement.

Sheriff Daron Hall believes Friedmann had made a mistake. He thinks Friedmann thought the GM key was the "Grand Master," which would have opened every door inside the jail.

"He knew he had the wrong one," Hall said. 

That's why Hall believes he came back on Jan. 4 with bolt cutters − to get the Grand Master.

After Friedmann's release on bond, Hall had a decision to make. A convicted felon was free with, investigators believed, keys that would work inside the jail.

"We will never open the doors until we know it is safe," Hall told his staff.

Friedmann was booked on Jan. 4, 2020. On that day, he was just a guy who stole some keys.

Hall was about to find out this whole situation was actually so much worse than it sounded.

What the sheriff didn't know was Einstein had been doing additional work inside the jail.

Read part 4: Einstein gives shocking explanation for breaking into new downtown Nashville jail

Chasing Einstein: Explore the series

Part 1: Two keys to an under-construction jail in Nashville went missing. Would it lead to havoc?

Part 2: A razor in his shoe. A makeshift ice pick. Nashville criminal 'learned his trade in jail'

Part 3: Could Einstein be captured in the jail without knowing it was a trap? What happened next

Part 4: Einstein gives shocking explanation for breaking into new downtown Nashville jail