The shank didnt belong there. News anchor Fred Shropshire is leaving Charlotte station WCNC. Bridges, 46, a North Carolina State graduate and former Concord police officer, was familiar with Lanesboro. Then they returned to D pod, the unit where they lived. The inmate who spent time with Wall Joseph Sanderlin was involved in at least two attacks at Lanesboro, Wynns attorneys say. Wall, now 45, wouldnt talk to the Observer. An investigation by The Charlotte Observer, NC woman who beat 1 in 3.35 million odds shows up to claim her lottery jackpot, Mail carrier cant believe his eyes after seeing NC lottery win. In 2012, an inmate filed a federal lawsuit alleging that Lanesboro corrections officers cracked his skull with a baton and then destroyed a surveillance video that showed the assault. The state has recently made offers to about 400 officer candidates, so the vacancy rate will likely drop, Guice said. A spokesman for the N.C. Department of Corrections says two inmates were taken to the hospital. Soon afterward, a corrections officer allowed the inmates into the pod where the murder took place. Real-time updates and all local stories you want right in the palm of your hand. [21] [16] The group is believed to be responsible for the death of Jos Ismael Pedrosa, the director of the prison at the time. About 60 inmates were also near Callahan when she was attacked on April 26, Jernigan said. 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. Wall had been assigned to another prison while the Turner investigation was underway. The slain officer, Bias Easley, worked at the Lanesboro Correctional Institute, which is located near Wadesboro. 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. B.S. [9] Prison video shows Wall making a keep your mouth shut gesture stretching his arms wide and then folding them so his hands covered his mouth to the office where Vazquez had been taken, Roberts and Smith said. September 2012 - The stabbing death of inmate Wesley Turner spurred an SBI investigation and led to three felony convictions. Bridges said she doesnt buy that explanation. Authorities say prison Sgt. Dawe, whose group shares research to help correctional officers, said that prison leaders who operate without sufficient staff "roll the dice with people's lives.". October 2016 - Former correctional officer Scarlette Hodges pleaded guilty to smuggling drugs, tobacco and other contraband to at least one inmate. 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. Have a question about Government Services? Parsons, now retired, testified Tuesday that during his time at Lanesboro, he took a number of steps to reduce violence and keep weapons out of the hands of inmates. At least eight Lanesboro officers were caught bringing in drugs, cellphones and tobacco from early 2013 to early 2017, according to law enforcement records. The dismissal letter, signed by Lanesboros acting administrator at the time, called Walls statement a clear threat of injury or harm to staff.. Turner reportedly belonged to the same gang as Cook and was trying to go to his defense. By Ames Alexander, Gavin Off and Elizabeth Leland. Correctional officers face significant dangers in their careers both inside and outside of prisons to which they are assigned. One of those officers fell and hurt her knee when she went to Callahan's defense, Jernigan said. Prison leaders say they have begun assigning new officers "career readiness coaches," who provide pointers on dealing with inmates, keeping themselves safe and attaining career goals. Hes a rookie at Lanesboro who is new to that job, still learning who to let in and who to keep out. They have nothing to worry about, Wall told the officer, according to the document, because if I wanted to get anyone, I could get them touched from the outside.. Ortiz was sentenced to 37 to 57 months. Accessed March 29, 2018. None of the officers convicted have served their sentences. 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. [22][23] The court judged that the massacre was an act of self-defense and that there was a lack of evidence to link the individual officers to the individual killings. In interviews with investigators, officer Kearry Hinson said he picked up one of the weapons used in the fight and gave it to Wall. Bias Easley was a corrections officer at the Lanesboro Correctional Institute, near Wadesboro. It's odd that (the gang members) are meeting with Wall minutes before the attack, Smith said. Its the few who dont who make problems for everybody.. The first to enter is Julio Zelaya-Sorto, convicted of shooting and killing a man at a Greensboro nightclub. A lawyer for the killer said in a court hearing that he believes prison officials either sanctioned the September 2012 attack or looked the other way. State officials say they are working to improve conditions at Lanesboro. research before making any education decisions. Located in Polkton, about 45 miles east of Charlotte, Lanesboro has repeatedly drawn scrutiny after violence, contraband smuggling and allegations of improper conduct by corrections officers. Contact an Observer reporter: Ames Alexander | 704-358-5060 | aalexander@charlotteobserver.com, Gavin Off | 704-358-6038 | goff@charlotteobserver.com. The four staff members at the Lanesboro. "I think if I hadn't gotten over there in time, (Mosley) probably would have cut her throat," McCoy said. Polkton is 45 miles southeast of Charlotte. Friends and family described Juan Ortiz-Castillo as very jealous of his wife, according to police. "They might have had enough officers to subdue that inmate before he got that fire extinguisher from the sergeant," said Robert Webster, a former captain at two North Carolina maximum-security prisons. They pepper-spray and beat Vazquez with batons to stop him from stabbing Turner. There are no national standards for minimum staffing at prisons, experts say. But minutes later, they are walking through a prison hallway with weapons, headed for a fight. A third inmate involved in the altercation that day Julio Alberto Zelaya-Sorto pleaded guilty last month to assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill. The Anson County Sheriff's Office says one inmate is dead and another was stabbed. He was found dead in his cell the following morning, a victim of coronary artery disease. That explanation didnt make sense to Bridges. For the past nine years, Sapper has served as the operations manager for the Coastal Region, overseeing 12 prisons in eastern North Carolina. At Polk Correctional Institution, north of Durham, two or three officers are routinely put in charge of monitoring more than 200 inmates in the chow hall, said Sierra Gravitte, an officer who this month resigned from the prison after four years on the job. 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. Officers found Dwyer dead at 10:15. Dustin Bettis, a former inmate who did time in Lanesboro, told the Observer he saw Wall give a pocket knife to one inmate and a cellphone to another. Then he covers his mouth. In 2014, a Lanesboro officer was paid $29,800 but made another $35,600 in overtime. "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. In a cell block inside one of the states most dangerous prisons, an inmate stabs a rival gang member over and over, 13 times. Next is Joel Sour Ortiz, who is in prison for armed robbery and shooting a motorist in the head during a road-rage attack on Raleighs beltline. POLKTON, N.C. -- Authorities in North Carolina say two supervisors were stabbed and two correctional officers were assaulted with a broom handle in an attack at a state prison. Since the beginning of 2016, more than 30 stabbings occurred. The weapons were found nearly a year and a half after the deadly fight, and forensic tests did not tie any of them to the attacks on Turner and Cook. Officials say the men used a homemade shank as a weapon. Cary man becomes 27th North Carolinian charged in Capitol riot. "And this time it came up snake eyes," he said. 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. Relatives of those killed and human rights activists have both demanded and appealed for justice. [12] Guimares, who was also a member of the So Paulo state legislature, was assassinated in September 2006. Our theory is that, at best, the corrections officers knew (the attack) was going to happen and did nothing to stop it, Smith said. Wesley Turnerwas stabbed to death and taken to Anson Community Hospital where he was pronounced dead, according to the N.C. Department of Public Safety. He died helping me, Cook wrote in a letter to the Observer. Western North Carolina Designed to hold 1,400 inmates, the prison has a staff of about 500. Roberts said that if prison is supposed to be a place where inmates learn to live law-abiding lives, Lanesboro appears to be falling short. The suits also contend that Wall facilitated attacks on two other inmates the same year Turner was killed. David Mitchell, a Harley-riding former Navy officer brought in to run the prison in 2014, was attacked three times in his first eight months once stabbed in the neck by an inmate wielding a dagger fashioned from melted plastic. No prison officials have been criminally charged. [17], After years of national and international pressure, the prison was demolished on 8 December 2002, the former complex having been turned into a park. Real-time updates and all local stories you want right in the palm of your hand. POLKTON, N.C. - A lieutenant and a sergeant were stabbed by inmates at Lanesboro Correctional Institution around 2 p.m. Thursday and are being treated for their injuries at local hospitals, a What happened to (the shanks)? asked SBI agent Audria Bridges, who led the investigation into Turners murder. 11.291 (IACmHR, Apr. Richard Dwyer, a prisoner at Lanesboro Correctional Institution, died Aug. 17 of an apparent suicide, a state Department of Public Safety news release said. One of those shanks was stained, possibly from blood, Bridges said. Cook said he met him in 2001, when Turner came to his aid in a fight against correctional officers. Soon afterward, he contacted a Lanesboro employee, asking her to retrieve the contraband from the ceiling of his old office, his dismissal letter states. Then Wall said, They have nothing to worry about because if I wanted to get anyone, I could get them touched from the outside, the letter states. Follow Press TV on Telegram: http://t.me . Food Service Officer (Former Employee) - Wadesboro, NC - August 31, 2019. [3] Around 2:15 P.M., the prison director, Dr Jos Ismael Pedrosa, informed the local military police Polcia Militar do Estado de So Paulo about the uprising. SBI officials say theres no proof that happened in the Turner case. In February, the FBI charged former Lanesboro officer Evangeline Hunt with smuggling in drugs and other contraband for inmates. But SBI agent Audria Bridges, who led the investigation, said she was troubled to learn that inmates at the prison roamed freely in areas they should not have been in.. A typical day working at Lanesboro Correctional Institute was a stressful and dangerous job. Vazquez, 32, had already been serving an eight- to 10-year sentence for second-degree murder. Main Office: Now two NC men face prison. 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. Attorneys for Vazquez said their client never told them what led to the fight. Some facts related to events surrounding the murder of inmate Wesley Turner are drawn from prison surveillance video obtained by the Observer. ", NC prison was understaffed when Sgt. Heres the list, Former Panthers site entrance, large home lots near Lake Wylie among Rock Hill plans, Death investigation after man found shot to death in Chester County, sheriff says, Man charged with DUI after 3-year-old child dies in Fort Mill car crash, police say, Powerful storm system across the East will impact the Rock Hill regions weather, Alex Murdaugh sentenced to life in prison for murders of wife, son in June 2021, Alex Murdaughs attorneys say theyll appeal double-murder conviction, When is spring bike week 2023 happening in Myrtle Beach? It is a close custody facility, which is the equivalent of maximum security. October 04, 1992. The murder, which occurred on Thursday June 5 in the hours before Easley and his father planned to watch the first game of the NBA finals together, left his family devastated. Located in Polkton, about 45 miles east of Charlotte, Lanesboro has repeatedly drawn. Thats Wall in the white shirt and tie entering the hallway on the video. Roberts, one of Vazquezs attorneys, said he was surprised to see how freely inmates at Lanesboro were allowed to roam the prison. Statewide, about 16 percent of officer positions are vacant. The incident was reported around1:30 p.m. at theLanesboro Correctional Institution in Polkton. Multiple attempts to reach Wall and Peguese including visits to their last known addresses in Anson County were unsuccessful. Guice, the prison leader, acknowledged that the state faces significant staffing challenges. A prison with 1,000 inmates should have a total of at least 300 to 350 officers, he said. If the officer knew an assault was going to take place, would he have opened the door? Bridges asked. 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. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. He stares into the office for a few moments before walking away. Why would someone working in a prison give someone who is suspected of being involved in a murder a be quiet sign? Roberts said in an interview with the Observer. Some of the DVDs showed fights between inmates, Bridges said. Officers said excessive overtime work can leave them burned out and exhausted. Wall was eventually fired in 2013, after Parsons had left Lanesboro and after the homemade shanks were found hidden in the ceiling of Walls office. His friend may be next. Blyther is charged with use of interstate facility to facilitate bribery, which carries a maximum prison term of five years and a $250,000 fine; extortion under color of official right, which carries a maximum prison term of 20 years and a $250,000 fine; and possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance, which carries a maximum prison term of 10 years and a $250,000 fine. "We've got a lot of folks who are not staying with us.". (Parsons) told me I couldnt say anything about another sergeant bringing in marijuana, Wilburn testified. We encourage you to perform your own independent The Carandiru massacre (Portuguese: Massacre do Carandiru, Portuguese:[msaki du kdiu]) occurred on Friday, 2 October 1992, in Carandiru Penitentiary in So Paulo, Brazil, when military police stormed the penitentiary following a prison riot. As soon as the inmates entered D pod, Ortiz and Sorto attacked Cook, surveillance video shows. For months, Bridges tried to make sense of what she saw at the murder scene and on surveillance video. Wall told Bridges that he was asking about rumors of a planned attack on him. The confrontation began at about 8:30 a.m., when an inmate assaulted another inmate at the prison in Anson County, according to a statement from N.C. Director of Prisons Kenneth Lassiter. To investigators and the killers lawyers, his meaning seems clear: The man making that gesture isnt another inmate. It did not appear to be a normal prison relationship that a correctional officer should have with inmates, Underwood said. SBI agents who investigated the killing said in interviews this week that they have no proof that corrections officers were trying to help the assailants. Inmate Donny Mosley, who is serving time for second-degree murder and robbery with a dangerous weapon, had slashed her face and neck with a razor-like weapon. The massacre, which left 111 prisoners dead, is considered by many people to be a major human rights violation. State Bureau of Investigation agents say they are examining possible wrongdoing by former Lanesboro officers and cannot discuss the assertions by Vazquezs lawyers. Cook, the target of the 2012 attack, was released from prison in March. 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. Bush, Duo of 81-year-old women plan to see the world in 80 days, Tom Sizemore, actor known for "Saving Private Ryan" and "Heat," dies at 61, Alex Murdaugh trial: What to know about the double murder case, Colombia wants to deport "cocaine hippos" to stop them from multiplying, Alex Murdaugh found guilty of murders of wife and son. [2] The conflict consisted of 2,069 prisoners against 15 guards, resulting in the guards quickly losing control of the prisoners. Assistant U.S. Attorney Dana Washington, of the U.S. Attorneys Office in Charlotte, is in charge of the prosecution. For instance, they noted, he failed to tell prison officers after his attacker assaulted him the first time. All three of the Latino inmates had sharp weapons. Experts say such corruption jeopardizes prison workers, wastes taxpayer dollars and endangers the public. Learn how and when to remove this template message, "111 Killed When Police Storm Brazilian Prison During Inmate Riot", "Carandiru v. Brasil, Report, Report No. Turner, who lived in D pod with the other three inmates, went through the door behind them. They contended those numbers constitute "sensitive public security information.". November 2014 - Five former Lanesboro inmates filed a federal lawsuit alleging that officers at the Anson County prison repeatedly helped gang-affiliated inmates get weapons and wage attacks. Prisoners were reported attacking each other with knives and pipes. 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. Bridges said forensic tests did not conclusively tie any of the weapons in Walls office to the attack on Turner. It was shocking to see the place wasnt being supervised with more of the restrictions that youd expect in a prison, she said. Bridges said she doesnt believe that. Angela Smith, who worked as. This sprawling complex of concrete and barbed wire in Anson County holds 1,800 inmates, including more than 350 men convicted of murder and 150 convicted of rape. At other prisons of comparable size, officers told the Observer, it's common for about 50 or 60 officers to work the day shift. On Dec. 28, a guard at Brown Creek Correctional Institution, a medium-security prison located adjacent to Lanesboro, was accused of trying to smuggle marijuana and painkillers into the facility to give to an inmate there. Alex Murdaugh sentenced to life in prison for murders of wife, son in June 2021. State corrections officials identified the inmate killed as Wesley Eugene Turner, 35, who had been in prison since 1996 for multiple offenses, including second-degree murder. The incident was reported around 1:30 p.m. at the Lanesboro Correctional Institution in Polkton. An officer at the gate house said Wall was upset and had a gun visible in his car, which violates prison policy. Channel 9 has investigated Lanesboro, a maximum-security prison, for years. Prison officials investigated the murder, but refused to provide the Observer their report. He said hes haunted by Turners murder and has branded the letters of his best friends nickname into his right side. Corrections officers flocked to the scene after the stabbings, but only one shank was recovered. [1], The incident was started by a prisoner revolt. According to charges contained in the federal indictment, Blyther worked as a correctional officer at the Lanesboro Correctional Institution (LCI), since renamed Anson Correctional Institution, a state prison located in Polkton, North Carolina. 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. All three of the convicted inmates have been transferred to other state prisons. They were planning to go to that unit to settle a dispute with Cook, who belonged to a different gang. Later, investigators found bloody weapons hidden in the ceiling of Walls old office. And with Wall's signal after the fact, telling (Vazquez) essentially to be quiet, I don't know what other inference you can draw from it.. Turner, 35, had also been serving time for second-degree murder and was scheduled for release in 2017. This story was originally published July 17, 2018, 8:17 PM. All rights reserved. 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. A video taken inside Lanesboro Correctional Institution shows prison officials gesturing to suspects in an inmate's 2012 murder to keep their mouths shut after the killing, lawyers who. The officer said Wall asked her to go into his old office and retrieve a bag of shanks from the ceiling. The officer opens the door for an inmate, and the three gang members follow him into a cell block where they dont belong. Inmates involved in the fight told investigators that one of the shanks was a real long knife, another resembled a razor, and the third was a plastic toilet bowl brush sharpened at one end. Moments earlier, the video shows former prison sergeant Jonathan Peguese making the identical gesture toward the office where one of the other suspects was held, the lawyers said. CHARLOTTE, N.C. A federal grand jury sitting in Charlotte has indicted Erice Lemond Blyther, 46, of Hoffman, N.C., for smuggling a controlled substance at Lanesboro Correctional Institution while employed as a correctional officer.