Friends and family described Juan Ortiz-Castillo as very jealous of his wife, according to police. I believe its not a coincidence that they are in that office within minutes of carrying out that hit, Bridges told an Observer reporter. About 45 miles from Charlotte, just beyond a grove of trees, Lanesboro Correctional Institution houses some of the states most violent criminals. [15] The surviving gang members joined forces with other prisoners to provide protection against the police. Contact SAP - Penitentiary Administration of So Paulo (Secretaria da Administrao Penitenciria), Brazil, Corrections in So Paulo, So Paulo Brazil. October 2014 - Prison administrator David Mitchell was stabbed in the neck by an inmate wielding a plastic shank. Experts said that better staffing at the prison likely would have meant more eyes and ears on what inmates were doing, faster response times and more officers on the scene. Guice, the prison leader, acknowledged that the state faces significant staffing challenges. First published on September 29, 2016 / 6:08 PM. Roy Cooper has asked him to review the circumstances "to ensure this doesn't happen again.". Another officer suffered serious cuts to his face last month after he was assaulted by an inmate with a bladed weapon. Asheville:(828) 271-4661. His name has not been released. The shank didnt belong there. Later, an officer delivered other personal property to Wall, who had been waiting in front of the prison gatehouse. But Vazquez stabbed and killed Turner using another improvised weapon, a sharpened metal plate. Lo's lawyer confirmed to Brazilian news outlet G1 on Sunday that Lo was killed Saturday at a concert in So Paulo. I would like to see the truth be told about what happens at Lanesboro. They were among five inmates formerly held at Lanesboro Correctional Institution, about 45 miles (70 kilometers) east of Charlotte, who said they were stabbed by gang members who operated openly in a prison wing overseen by Jeffrey Wall. Department spokesman Keith Acree said the two are being treated for their injuries at local hospitals. Soon afterward, Vazquez attacked and killed Turner. Richard Dwyer, a prisoner at Lanesboro Correctional Institution, died Aug. 17 of an apparent suicide, a state Department of Public Safety news release said. ) or https:// means youve safely connected to the .gov website. Follow Press TV on Telegram: http://t.me . The officer noticed a gun in Walls vehicle, the letter states. Prison leaders plan to examine many factors, including staffing patterns, Guice said. Staff researcher Maria David and editor Rogelio Aranda contributed. Why would you keep them there, with the risk of them getting into the hands of an inmate? she asked. His dismissal letter states that he helped create conditions that increased the chance of death or serious bodily injury to employees, inmates or the public. Located in Polkton, about 45 miles east of Charlotte, Lanesboro has repeatedly drawn. Inmates at this prison are kept under close watch and have committed very serious crimes. 1992 military police killing of prisoners in Brazil, Act in memoriam of 111 prisoners dead in the incident. They entered their dogs in fights and watched them die. The N.C. Department of Public Safety has declined the Observers requests for copies of the video, citing ongoing investigative reviews.. One prisoner alleges that Wall ran a violent, contraband-driven fiefdom.. He stretches his arms high. Officers and staff have orchestrated illegal smuggling operations, beaten shackled inmates and engaged in sex with prisoners. Officers said excessive overtime work can leave them burned out and exhausted. From a common area, Cook can see Zelaya-Sorto and Ortiz the prisoners who have just met with Wall. In interviews with investigators, officer Kearry Hinson said he picked up one of the weapons used in the fight and gave it to Wall. This morning, Turner had warned Cook that Latino gang members planned to create trouble between the Bloods and the Folks. "We've got a lot of folks who are not staying with us.". 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. Daniel Roberts, one of the lawyers, said at a sentencing hearing that the footage suggests prison officials may have sanctioned the attack or looked the other way. You're tired. Walls dismissal letter, obtained by The Observer, states that he had hidden bloody weapons in the ceiling of his old office. The settlement was reached after the trio and two other state prisoners, Orlando Harshaw and Stacey Wynn, sued Lanesboro Correctional Institution Superintendent Lawrence Parsons and other prison officials for allowing and facilitating attacks by gang members in a part of the prison run by Unit Supervisor Jeffrey E. Wall. Wesley Turner has come to defend Cook, his friend. Several days after the incident police still had not arrested a suspect or determined a motive for the murder. 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. Real-time updates and all local stories you want right in the palm of your hand. It is a close custody facility, which is the equivalent of maximum security. Around 1:30 P.M., two groups got into a fight after a game of football; the fight quickly escalated into a prison riot that lasted three hours. Assistant U.S. Attorney Dana Washington, of the U.S. Attorneys Office in Charlotte, is in charge of the prosecution. 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. 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. Turner walks over to Cook and they stand shoulder to shoulder, braced for an attack. Often, exhausted prison officers fall asleep on the job, too. In October, the prisons top administrator, David Mitchell, was injured after he was stabbed in the neck by an inmate wielding a plastic shank. Officers and prisoners say he had a reputation for doing favors for gang members. He ran over and subdued the prisoner. Its the few who dont who make problems for everybody.. But minutes later, they are walking through a prison hallway with weapons, headed for a fight. The crackdown has reduced assaults, a DPS spokesman said. Forensic tests did not tie any of the shanks in Walls ceiling to the attacks on Turner, according to Bridges, the SBI agent. Bridges, 46, a North Carolina State graduate and former Concord police officer, was familiar with Lanesboro. Ortiz and Vazquez didnt respond to the Observers requests for information about the case. "And this time it came up snake eyes," he said. 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. April 2009 - Inmate Prentiss Quick complained of chest pains and requested medical help, but no one at the prison got him to a nurse or a doctor, a correctional officer and an inmate said. In 2014, a Lanesboro officer was paid $29,800 but made another $35,600 in overtime. Many of those videos were labeled with the words use of force a term that describes the force used by law enforcement officers to control unruly people. 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.. I characterize the lack of supervision there as, quite frankly, shocking, Roberts said. ", "The inmates literally say, 'You all are understaffed, so if we wanted to, we could overtake this prison.' Had there been more, he said, one female officer might never have been assaulted. Gregorio Cortez Vazquez, who was accused of stabbing Turner, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder Wednesday in Anson County Superior Court and was sentenced to up to 16 years. [5] No policemen were injured. The disclosures raise new questions about the role that corrections officers have played in violence at the high-security prison in Anson County. 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. Acree said thetwo correctional officersassaulted with a broom handlewere treated by prison medical staff. When Callahan was attacked, two other officers were nearby, according to Anthony Jernigan, who heads the State Bureau of Investigation office that covers northeastern North Carolina. The four staff members at the Lanesboro. Police are asking anyone with information related to the Easley murder to contact them immediately. [16] The group is believed to be responsible for the death of Jos Ismael Pedrosa, the director of the prison at the time. Alex Murdaugh sentenced to life in prison for murders of wife, son in June 2021, Get ready to change your clocks. The officer said Wall asked her to go into his old office and retrieve a bag of shanks from the ceiling. For instance, they noted, he failed to tell prison officers after his attacker assaulted him the first time. In 2014, a Lanesboro officer was paid $29,800 but made another $35,600 in overtime. As alleged in the indictment, as a correctional officer, Blythers duties included the supervision of inmates, and ensuring safe, secure and orderly prison operations. And they say pay increases approved by the legislature in 2015 will also help with recruiting. Prison leaders say that when staff vacancies at a prison rise, they make adjustments, such as moving prisoners, reducing inmate programs and sending fewer staff members to special training. In 2014, Vazquez pleaded guilty to second-degree murder for killing Turner. The. Main Office: 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. I didnt have enough cooperation to connect the dots, she said. About 60 inmates were also near Callahan when she was attacked on April 26, Jernigan said. [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. "When your shift starts at 5:30 a.m. and you work 12 hours and you get told you're held over till 9 (p.m.) you're not alert. It's odd that (the gang members) are meeting with Wall minutes before the attack, Smith said. In February, the FBI charged former Lanesboro officer Evangeline Hunt with smuggling in drugs and other contraband for inmates. In court documents, Parsons has denied that. But some experts interviewed by the Observer said that's a possibility. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. Lock He was sentenced to 32 to 48 months. ANSON COUNTY, NC (WBTV) - Three inmates from the Lanesboro Correctional Institute in Polkton have been indicted by an Anson County Grand Jury for the September 28, 2012 murder of a fellow inmate, and an assault on a second inmate. State officials say they are working to improve conditions at Lanesboro. To investigators and the killers lawyers, his meaning seems clear: The man making that gesture isnt another inmate. Roberts, one of Vazquezs attorneys, said he was surprised to see how freely inmates at Lanesboro were allowed to roam the prison. Cook said he met him in 2001, when Turner came to his aid in a fight against correctional officers. RT @PresstvExtra: At least 40 people have been killed in flooding and landslides in Brazil's So Paulo state, officials say. A correctional officer in the state of North Carolina was recently murdered, just one month before his wedding. A video taken inside Lanesboro Correctional Institution shows prison officials gesturing to suspects in an inmates 2012 murder to keep their mouths shut after the killing, lawyers who represented one of the suspects said. Turner, according to the NCDPS, was serving time in the prison for the chargesof second degree murder, conspiracy murder first degree, and an attempted prison escape. Bridges also questioned why Wall met with two gang members minutes before they attacked Cook. Prison officials refused to allow reporters to interview Cook in prison, citing mental health concerns and a policy that does not allow media interviews with inmates in solitary confinement. David Guice, the state's chief deputy secretary for adult correction and juvenile justice, said he does not yet know whether better staffing at Bertie would have made any difference the day that Callahan was killed. January 2013 - A former Lanesboro correctional officer began sending letters to state officials, describing several incidents in which some prison officials appeared to collude with gang members. It's as simple as that.". 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. Staff researcher Maria David and David Raynor of The (Raleigh) News & Observer contributed. Now two NC men face prison. B.S. Its time, Cook wrote, to expose why Turner died. Wall told Bridges that he was asking about rumors of a planned attack on him. WINDSOR, NC (Ames Alexander and Gavin Off/The Charlotte Observer) - Bertie Correctional Institution was understaffed the month that Sgt. They visited the office for about 15 minutes. A federal lawsuit, filed last month by five former Lanesboro inmates, alleges that corrections officers helped gang members wage attacks against other inmates. It's unclear whether better staffing would have saved Callahan's life. Real-time updates and all local stories you want right in the palm of your hand. If the officer knew an assault was going to take place, would he have opened the door? Bridges asked. Hodges was sentenced to two years in federal prison. Vazquez repeatedly stabs Turner with a shank. In an email to the Observer, state prison leaders said they have no evidence to support that conversations and gestures with inmates seen in the surveillance video are anything other than normal discussions with the inmate population.. For almost two years, an Observer reporter exchanged letters with inmate Christopher Cook, who described what led to the attack that killed Turner. Zelaya-Sorto pulls out a shank a handmade knife from inside his jumpsuit and lunges at Cook. Later that afternoon, Wall arrived at the Lanesboro parking lot, according to a prison document. Other former Lanesboro inmates also say that corrections officers have made a dangerous environment more so. All charges in the indictment are allegations. The prison has a staff complement of 403 employees including correctional officers, administrators, food service, medical, dental and maintenance workers. One of Brazil's most notorious gangs, the Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC), is said to have formed in 1993 as a response to the event. Parsons testified that it was easy for inmates to make weapons, from broom handles, batteries and even toothbrushes. A veteran SC attorney weighs in, Alex Murdaugh murder trial jury begins deliberations same day 1 juror is removed. The military was given full command of the prison when arriving about 2:30 P.M..[4] Though the director wanted to negotiate with the prisoners by a megaphone, he was held back by his staff since the police almost crushed him. His friend may be next. Just out of view, in the lower right-hand corner of the video, a second fight erupts. In a court filing, Wall denied the federal lawsuit claims, saying he never facilitated attacks or gave gang members preferential treatment. Reporters interviewed Cook in March, two days after he was released from prison. 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. 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. Less than an hour after the fight, SBI agent Audria Bridges began investigating the murder. [7], The country was in major shock from the massacre. The pay is low an average of the about $35,000 annually at maximum-security prisons and the work is dangerous and demanding. 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? New documents, interviews and a lawsuit paint a picture of a place where some officers seemed to collaborate with gang-affiliated inmates and gave them free rein to roam. Willis, G. D. (2002). An officer in a control room opened the door for them. The facility was a detention center, not a penitentiary, meaning that the inmates had not yet been tried or convicted. February 2017 - Former officer Evangeline Hunt was charged with smuggling in drugs and other contraband for inmates. One Polk officer made $29,800 in salary in 2015. Corrections officers recovered another improvised weapon at the scene a sharpened metal plate, which may have come from a prison door. Ortiz was sentenced to 37 to 57 months. / CBS/AP. The facility houses medium- and close-security inmates. But, Cook said, Turner usually kept to himself. Soon afterward, the suspects were escorted into offices where they received medical treatment. Prison surveillance video doesnt capture that meeting, so its unclear what they discussed. Then he counted the rings, Is red tide present at your favorite Florida beach? By Ames Alexander - aalexander@charlotteobserver.com. On the video, Cook, 41, is the tall inmate gesturing to other prisoners. 111 Killed When Police Storm Brazilian Prison During Inmate Riot. The New York Times. Furthermore, gunshot wounds were mainly found in the face, head, throat and chest. He said the injuries he suffered in the 2011 attack have made it impossible for him to lift much weight above his head or work some prison jobs. On the morning of Sept. 28, 2012, the day that Turner was stabbed to death, there were rumors of potential violence. Experts say such corruption jeopardizes prison workers, wastes taxpayer dollars and endangers the public. The control booth officer sees the fight, picks up a radio and makes a call. 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. The Observer repeatedly tried to reach Wall to discuss the Turner murder and the lawsuit allegations. 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.. 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. In such situations inmates will sometimes send associates to threaten the officers, or even assault them. "It's so dangerous," Gravitte said. Strong of the FBIs Charlotte Field Office, joins U.S. Attorney Murray in making the announcement. The inmate was always in his office, and that was kind of unusual, Covington said. A prison system veteran who earned about $41,000 a year, Wall was one of Lanesboros four unit managers, overseeing a block with nearly 300 inmates. A spokesman for the N.C. Department of Corrections says two inmates were taken to the hospital. All three of the Latino inmates had sharp weapons. At least eight Lanesboro officers were caught bringing in drugs, cellphones and tobacco from early 2013 to early 2017, according to law enforcement records. research before making any education decisions. Authorities believe all three of the convicted inmates had homemade knives, commonly known as shanks. 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. It was especially heartbreaking for me to see you go in the media from being a grieving father who lost a wife and a son to being the person indicted and convicted of killing them, Judge Clifton Newman said to Alex Murdaugh Friday. He was scheduled to stay in jail until 2017. The suits also contend that Wall facilitated attacks on two other inmates the same year Turner was killed. ANSON COUNTY, N.C. One inmate is dead after an incident at Lanesboro Correctional Center in Anson County. Nikki Haley will be at Horry-Georgetown Technical College on March 13, a month after she launched her White House bid. A fellow prisoner, Joel Corto Ortiz, pleaded guilty to felony assault with a deadly weapon for stabbing Christopher Cook, another inmate who was seriously injured in the fight. The North Carolina . At no time did (I) knowingly or willingly allow any inmate to attack any inmate, he wrote. 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. Human rights groups such as Human Rights Watch have also documented statistics of police violence and acquittals in Brazil. Wynn said he did not want to be branded as a prison snitch, a label that can get inmates hurt. Some facts related to events surrounding the murder of inmate Wesley Turner are drawn from prison surveillance video obtained by the Observer. One inmate warned Lanesboro prison officials that Latino gang members were armed with homemade knives and planning an attack. 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. He said hes haunted by Turners murder and has branded the letters of his best friends nickname into his right side. Officers said excessive overtime work can leave them burned out and exhausted. 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. The first to enter is Julio Zelaya-Sorto, convicted of shooting and killing a man at a Greensboro nightclub. 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. That was one of three times inmates attacked Mitchell. For months, Bridges tried to make sense of what she saw at the murder scene and on surveillance video. A lock ( Bias Easley was a corrections officer at the Lanesboro Correctional Institute, near Wadesboro. Inmates within the LCI were prohibited from possessing controlled substances and are permitted to use controlled substances only when prescribed by a medical professional and under the direct supervision of LCI staff. Wesley Turner, a former inmate at Lanesboro Correctional Institution, was stabbed to death in a 2012 prison fight. He reportedly belonged to Cooks gang and planned to go to his defense. Palmetto man sentenced to life in prison after stabbing wife to death, faking intruder, He found a clam on a Florida beach to make some chowder. The North Carolina Department of Public Safety says a lieutenant and a sergeant were stabbed by inmates at Lanesboro Correctional Institution in Polkton around 2 p.m. Thursday. Vazquez, 32, had already been serving an eight- to 10-year sentence for second-degree murder. 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. Official websites use .gov State prison leaders say they are holding many hiring events and partnering with schools and military bases to fill jobs. [25] Since the massacre, Brazil's federal government has passed new legislation to reform the prison system, all of which has yet to be enforced.[26]. The officer who opened the door for the three convicted inmates told SBI agents he did so because he thought the prisoners were returning to their unit following a meal. The defendant is innocent until proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt in a court of law. In 2014, a Lanesboro officer was paid $29,800 but made another $35,600 in overtime. McCoy heard the officer curse and saw her struggling with an inmate. Bridges said she doesnt believe that. Officers said excessive overtime work can leave them burned out and exhausted. Real-time updates and all local stories you want right in the palm of your hand. Bertie now houses about 935 inmates. How serious Parsons was about keeping contraband out of the prison remains unclear. 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. The fatal fight broke out roughly five minutes after the inmates left the office. ANSONCOUNTY, N.C. -- A N.C. inmate has filed a federal lawsuit alleging that corrections officers at an Anson County prison cracked his skull with a baton . Copyright 2012 WBTV. 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. John Sapper is appointed as the new administrator at Bertie Correctional Institution in Windsor. Said Gary Harkins, former research and information director for ACOIN: "People can get killed when you don't have enough staff. Turner, 35, had also been serving time for second-degree murder and was scheduled for release in 2017. MMA Junkie says that police officer Henrique Otavio Oliveira Velozo is a suspect. He pleads with two other inmates to lend him a weapon. The first inmates arrived in January 2004. Hands among the dead were found in front of the face or behind the head suggesting defensive positions. None of the officers convicted have served their sentences. Seconds later, Ortiz grabs a shank from his waistband and also begins slashing Cook. There are no national standards for minimum staffing at prisons, experts say. ". In a statement to the Observer, N.C. Secretary of Public Safety Frank Perry wrote: Management changes have been made at Lanesboro, but many other initiatives are in the works that include increasing staff, providing additional staff training and partnering with outside law enforcement and investigative agencies.. September 2012 - The stabbing death of inmate Wesley Turner spurred an SBI investigation and led to three felony convictions. Often, observers say, officers let inmates visit and congregate in administrative offices. But while North Carolina typically hires about 1,800 to 2,000 prison officers per year, it usually loses about that many as well. Attorneys for the state quizzed Wynn why he didnt take steps that might have allowed him to avoid the attack. The massacre also received attention from the BBC with several articles in the last several years dealing with the vigils and the trials. Others believe that it was somehow connected to his job. They contended those numbers constitute "sensitive public security information.". The FBI investigated the case. A North Carolina inmate has been sentenced to at least 12 more years in prison for the gang-related murder of a fellow inmate, a case that has exposed further problems at Lanesboro Correctional Institution. Cook, the target of the 2012 attack, was released from prison in March. 34/00, Case No. Wall had been assigned to another prison while the Turner investigation was underway. In July 2013, 10 months after the attack, Bridges was at Lanesboro interviewing an inmate when she got a tip. Turner was scheduled to get out of prison this year, too. What happened to (the shanks)? asked SBI agent Audria Bridges, who led the investigation into Turners murder. [11] On 16 February 2006, a Brazilian court voided Guimares' conviction because of mistrial claims; the court accepted his argument that he was only "following orders".