A video taken inside Lanesboro in 2012 and obtained by the Observer shows Wall meeting with gang members just minutes before those inmates, armed with homemade weapons, became involved in a. Special Agent in Charge John A. But only one shank was recovered. [8], In April 2013, 23 policemen involved in the massacre were sentenced to 156 years in prison each for the killing of 13 inmates. Although the UN urged Brazil to bring justice to those most affected by the slaughter in September 2016, the court declared the trial on Carandiru massacre null. / CBS/AP. A federal lawsuit, filed last month by five former Lanesboro inmates, alleges that corrections officers helped gang members wage attacks against other inmates. Statewide, correctional officers received more than $12 million in overtime in 2015, the Observer found. Testimony from former unit manager Jeffery Wall came during the second day of a civil trial examining whether Walls supervisor, the top official at Lanesboro Correctional Institution, ignored serious problems and allowed Wall to maintain a violent, contraband-driven fiefdom.. Some of the DVDs showed fights between inmates, Bridges said. Then shelter shared desperate plea, What to Watch Friday: Dateline and 20/20 update Murdaugh murder trial coverage, Mail carrier cant believe his eyes after seeing NC lottery win. English said he had gathered evidence about another prison sergeant who worked for Wall and who he suspected was bringing drugs into the prison. U.S. Attorney's Office, Western District of North Carolina, FBI Arrests Corrections Officer For Smuggling A Controlled Substance At Lanesboro Correctional Institution, Former Catawba County Director Of Utilities Is Sentenced To Prison For Accepting Bribes, Former Catawba County Director Of Utilities Pleads Guilty To Wire Fraud Conspiracy For Accepting Bribes, North Carolina State Legislator Pleads Guilty To Making A False Statement To A Bank. B.S. Seconds later, Ortiz grabs a shank from his waistband and also begins slashing Cook. Heres a look at incidents at Lanesboro Correctional Institution since its opening in 2004: January 2009 - Inmate Bill Rayburn alleged he was repeatedly pepper-sprayed by correctional officers twice while he was naked after he requested medical help. He died helping me, Cook wrote in a letter to the Observer. The case was brought before the inter-American Commission by The Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL), the Teotnio Vilela Commission for Human Rights, and Human Rights Watch, and in 2000, eight years after the massacre, they condemned Brazil for it. The suits also contend that Wall facilitated attacks on two other inmates the same year Turner was killed. Where, she wondered, were the shanks used to attack Cook and Turner? His name has not been released. An officer at the gate house said Wall was upset and had a gun visible in his car, which violates prison policy. In 2014, a Lanesboro officer was paid $29,800 but made another $35,600 in overtime. State officials say they are working to improve conditions at Lanesboro. The prison has a staff complement of 403 employees including correctional officers, administrators, food service, medical, dental and maintenance workers. Parsons declined to talk with the Observer about that and other allegations. Suite 1650 Polkton Police Chief Matthew Norris said he recovered the one shank in Walls desk drawer soon after the 2012 fight. Finding people who are willing to work as prison officers isn't easy. We encourage you to perform your own independent Murder probe exposes more problems at Lanesboro prison, Former SC governor, Trump ally Nikki Haley coming to Myrtle Beach as she runs for president, Fort Mill just named its top teachers and staff members for 2023. "All it would take is for five or ten guys to decide we're going to take over the prison. This story was originally published December 4, 2014, 6:58 PM. In Lanesboro, as in many other prisons, gangs often battle for control over drugs and cellphones a lucrative trade for both inmates and corrupt officers. Guards allegedly opened Copyright 2012 WBTV. Others believe that it was somehow connected to his job. According to the indictment, between August and September 2018, while employed at LCI as a correctional officer, Blyther accepted a bribe to smuggle a controlled substance into the LCI on behalf of an inmate housed at the facility. Channel 9 has investigated Lanesboro, a maximum-security prison, for years. Staff researcher Maria David and David Raynor of The (Raleigh) News & Observer contributed. A prison officer and two inmates were injured during a fight at Lanesboro Correctional Institution Thursday morning, state prison officials said. The two inmates meet in the office with Wall, other administrators and members of the United Blood Nation gang, off and on, for 17 minutes. Real-time updates and all local stories you want right in the palm of your hand. Those officers must cover two shifts and a number of them are off, sick or on vacation at any given time so only a fraction of the total staff was likely available to work the day shift on April 26. ANSON COUNTY, N.C. One inmate is dead after an incident at Lanesboro Correctional Center in Anson County. Soon, the three convicted inmates all reported gang members were waiting at the door that would allow them into E pod, an adjacent unit. He acknowledged that he had heard complaints about Wall from officers at the prison, but they had no concrete evidence.. Wynn alleges that Parsons was willfully and deliberately indifferent to his safety, in violation of his Constitutional right to protection from cruel and unusual punishment. The four staff members at the Lanesboro. He stares into the office for a few moments before walking away. Authorities believe all three of the convicted inmates had homemade knives, commonly known as shanks. If Cooks DNA had turned up on any of the shanks in Walls office, that could have helped tie them to the attack. Phillip Boney, a former Lanesboro officer, told the Observer that right after the fight, he saw Wall put a shank inside an unlocked wooden podium near the cell block. All three are serving their sentences at other prisons. But some experts interviewed by the Observer said that's a possibility. in Justice Studies and M.S. In 2014, a Lanesboro officer was paid $29,800 but made another $35,600 in overtime. But in his first public comments about the hidden weapons, Wall said Lanesboros top administrator at the time Lawrence Parsons was unaware that he kept the weapons in his ceiling. She and her colleagues in the Charlotte SBI office were frequently called to investigate crimes there, including officers charged with bringing drugs to inmates. Since the beginning of 2016, more than 30 stabbings occurred. The man turns and looks directly into the room. In my opinion, it didnt seem logical to hide them in the ceiling, she said. ANSON COUNTY, NC (WBTV) - One inmate is dead andanother injured after an incident at a state prison in Anson County. Follow Press TV on Telegram: http://t.me . In a cell block inside one of the states most dangerous prisons, an inmate stabs a rival gang member over and over, 13 times. Your morale goes down," she said. Turner, 35, a convicted murderer nicknamed Thug Life, has served most of his 21-year prison sentence. It is a close custody facility, which is the equivalent of maximum security. Roberts, one of Vazquezs attorneys, said he was surprised to see how freely inmates at Lanesboro were allowed to roam the prison. The Anson County Sheriff's Office says one inmate is dead and another was stabbed. Walls dismissal letter, obtained by The Observer, states that he had hidden bloody weapons in the ceiling of his old office. Officers said excessive overtime work can leave them burned out and exhausted. Searches found numerous cellphones, improvised weapons and marijuana. Bridges said she hasnt watched all of the DVDs found in Walls ceiling, but has turned them over to the FBI. Tony Underwood, who headed the Charlotte areas SBI office at the time, said hes still troubled by what investigators learned about Walls relationship with inmates. His friend may be next. RT @PresstvExtra: At least 40 people have been killed in flooding and landslides in Brazil's So Paulo state, officials say. They visited the office for about 15 minutes. But Harkins said the numbers provided by North Carolina suggest Bertie was "severely understaffed.". In 2017, The New York Times published an article captioned "Brazils Deadly Prison System". A former high-ranking administrator accused of fostering violence at one of North Carolinas most dangerous prisons acknowledged in federal court Tuesday that he kept homemade weapons such as shanks hidden in the ceiling of his prison office. In a court filing, he said he never facilitated attacks. Three correctional officers were assaulted late last week at the same state prison where an officer was killed two years ago. Relatives of those killed and human rights activists have both demanded and appealed for justice. Surveillance videos and shanks hidden in the ceiling of a prison managers office raised questions about whether prison officials helped plan the attack or allowed it to happen. A video taken inside Lanesboro in 2012 and obtained by the Observer shows Wall meeting with gang members just minutes before those inmates, armed with homemade weapons, became involved in a fight that killed inmate Wesley Turner. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. In such situations inmates will sometimes send associates to threaten the officers, or even assault them. He ran over and subdued the prisoner. The. Ortiz, the inmate charged in that stabbing, said his weapon was a plastic toilet bowl cleaner with a sharpened end. The father was eventually rescued relatively unharmed, but the incident was a reminder of how an incident originating inside a jail or prison can quickly turn into a dangerous situation on the outside. Wall, who joined the prison system in 1995, was fired in August 2013 for willful violation of written rules and creating conditions that increased the chance of death or serious bodily injury, his dismissal letter states. It was shocking to see the place wasnt being supervised with more of the restrictions that youd expect in a prison, she said. But it was sometimes hard for prison officers to find those shanks, Parsons said. In a court filing, Wall denied the federal lawsuit claims, saying he never facilitated attacks or gave gang members preferential treatment. Ballistic evidence indicated that 515 bullets were found in the prisoners. If (prison officials) cant answer that question, why cant they?. MMA Junkie says that police officer Henrique Otavio Oliveira Velozo is a suspect. Wall told Bridges that he was asking about rumors of a planned attack on him. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Ronald Covington, a former captain at Lanesboro, testified that Wall appeared to be close to a gang-affiliated inmate. "When you don't have adequate staff to manage the inmates, and there's an incident, unfortunately people can get hurt and sometimes people even die," Webster said. Furthermore, gunshot wounds were mainly found in the face, head, throat and chest. "If you had more staff, then you might have been looking at hurt staff instead of dead staff" (on the day Callahan died), Harkins said. It's as simple as that.". Often, observers say, officers let inmates visit and congregate in administrative offices. Ortiz is scheduled to get out in 2019. Once in a lifetime, After years of negotiations, GOP leaders reach a breakthrough on Medicaid expansion, Alex Murdaughs attorneys say theyll appeal double-murder conviction, 16-year-old Raleigh teen charged with murder in Robeson County killing, The evidence was clear: Murdaugh juror reveals quick deliberation in SC murder trial, Day 29: Murdaugh sentenced to life, attorneys say theyll appeal to US Supreme Court if needed, What were the deciding factors in the Murdaugh guilty verdict? Ortiz later told investigators his weapon was a plastic toilet bowl cleaner with a sharpened end. Turner was scheduled to get out of prison this year, too. The three continue to cause trouble: Since Turners death, theyve been written up for about 50 infractions, including weapon possession, setting fires and assaulting staff. The slain officer, Bias Easley, worked at the Lanesboro Correctional Institute, which is located near Wadesboro. By Ames Alexander, Gavin Off and Elizabeth Leland. Starting in November 2013, more than 800 inmates at the prison were put on lockdown for several months after an attack injured a corrections officer. Hodges was sentenced to two years in federal prison. They entered their dogs in fights and watched them die. Jeremy Smith, who also represented Vazquez, formed the same opinion: Our theory is that, at best, the corrections officers knew (the attack) was going to happen and did nothing to stop it, he told the Observer. The state Department of Public Safety says an inmate at Bertie. There, Ortiz and Zelaya-Sorto attacked and seriously injured inmate Christopher Cook. The father of two was shot and killed in front of his Charlotte, North Carolina home, and police are currently investigating whether or not the murder was somehow connected to his profession or incidences which may have occurred in the correctional facility where he is employed. Whether corrections officers helped facilitate any of what occurred that day, we dont know, said Tony Underwood, the special agent in charge of the nine-county SBI district that includes Anson and Mecklenburg counties. 34/00, Case No. He was scheduled to stay in jail until 2017. At 11:49 a.m., less than half an hour before the fatal fight begins, Wall walks into an office with an inmate. Multiple attempts to reach Wall and Peguese including visits to their last known addresses in Anson County were unsuccessful. Acree said thetwo correctional officersassaulted with a broom handlewere treated by prison medical staff. Angela Smith, who worked as an officer at Tabor Correctional Institution from 2010 to 2014, said she was often asked to work overtime because the prison was so understaffed. Surveillance video from that day offers a look behind the prisons walls: Inmates mill about in a hallway, some high-fiving, others hugging or bumping fists, as if they are high-school students changing classes. Its clearly not a place where theyre learning to go the straight and narrow, he said. And, he said, they would even go so far as to tie dental floss around forbidden items, flush them down the toilet before a cell search and later use the dental floss to retrieve them. Its the few who dont who make problems for everybody.. Wesley Turner has come to defend Cook, his friend. Inmates often hid contraband in body cavities, Parsons said. They are now suing the facility. Reporters interviewed Cook in March, two days after he was released from prison. The winner, from Charlotte, took her prize as a $600,000 lump sum, officials said. In an 11-week period in early 2016, more than 15 staff members left Lanesboro under suspicion of wrongdoing, Mitchell said. The inmate was always in his office, and that was kind of unusual, Covington said. State figures show that in April, when Callahan died, roughly one of every five correctional officer positions at the eastern North Carolina prison was vacant. At Bertie, Callahan was responding to a fire set inside a trash can on the evening of April 26 when an inmate beat her to death with the fire extinguisher she'd brought to douse the flames, state officials say. One prisoner alleges that Wall ran a violent, contraband-driven fiefdom.. At least 12 dead after winter storm slams South, Midwest, The Saturday Six: Dental device controversy, scientist's bug find and more, Indonesia fuel depot fire kills 18; more than a dozen missing, 3 children killed, 2 others wounded at Texas home, Man charged for alleged involvement in 2 transformer explosions, Nikki Haley slams potential GOP contenders, and Trump and George W. 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