In 1977, Boden was granted a credit card by American Express five years into his life sentence, which he used while out on a day pass from prison in Laval while eating lunch with his social worker in the Kon Tiki restaurant at the Mount Royal Hotel in downtown Montreal. He went to use the washroom and escaped through the bathroom window. He was recaptured several days later at a bar on Mackay Street in downtown Montreal. Three prison guards were disciplined, and American Express conducted an internal investigation to find out how a prisoner serving a life sentence for murder managed to get a credit card.