In 2012, an inmate at Lanesboro Correctional Institution was killed during a gang fight. Bridges also questioned why Wall met with two gang members minutes before they attacked Cook. 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. RT @PresstvExtra: At least 40 people have been killed in flooding and landslides in Brazil's So Paulo state, officials say. The massacre also received attention from the BBC with several articles in the last several years dealing with the vigils and the trials. ", NC prison was understaffed when Sgt. September 2012 - The stabbing death of inmate Wesley Turner spurred an SBI investigation and led to three felony convictions. 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. Others believe that it was somehow connected to his job. The crackdown has reduced assaults, a DPS spokesman said. For the past nine years, Sapper has served as the operations manager for the Coastal Region, overseeing 12 prisons in eastern North Carolina. Opened in the town of Polkton in 2004, the state-run prison has for years been plagued by stabbings, smuggled contraband and allegations of wrongdoing by corrections officers. Wall and another prison manager walk down the hallway minutes later, then stop outside the office. Hes a rookie at Lanesboro who is new to that job, still learning who to let in and who to keep out. Since the beginning of 2016, more than 30 stabbings occurred. Designed to hold 1,400 inmates, the prison has a staff of about 500. According to Bridges, Wall told authorities he kept the shanks in his office because he was planning to put them in a display that would be used to train other officers. English said he had gathered evidence about another prison sergeant who worked for Wall and who he suspected was bringing drugs into the prison. Asked to explain the shanks in his ceiling, Wall told his bosses he was planning to put them in a display case to train new staff members. In a court filing, Wall denied the federal lawsuit claims, saying he never facilitated attacks or gave gang members preferential treatment. For almost two years, an Observer reporter exchanged letters with inmate Christopher Cook, who described what led to the attack that killed Turner. 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. In a recorded phone conversation, Hunt told a friend she knew a bunch of corrupt officers, according to an FBI affidavit. The slain officer, Bias Easley, worked at the Lanesboro Correctional Institute, which is located near Wadesboro. Subsequent searches found numerous cellphones, improvised weapons and marijuana. 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. Bridges said she doesnt believe that. Authorities believe all three of the convicted inmates had homemade knives, commonly known as shanks. In 2014, a Lanesboro officer was paid $29,800 but made another $35,600 in overtime. He did not respond. Soon, the three convicted inmates all reported gang members were waiting at the door that would allow them into E pod, an adjacent unit. Now comes the gesture. At the time, she was responding to a fire that had been set inside the. Bridges, 46, a North Carolina State graduate and former Concord police officer, was familiar with Lanesboro. Alex Murdaugh sentenced to life in prison for murders of wife, son in June 2021. 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. But Daniel Roberts, one of the attorneys, told a judge at a court hearing that the videos and other evidence suggest prison officials either sanctioned the attack or looked the other way. 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. October 2016 - Former correctional officer Scarlette Hodges pleaded guilty to smuggling drugs, tobacco and other contraband to at least one inmate. Hes a manager at Lanesboro Correctional Institution. 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. All charges in the indictment are allegations. 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.. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. In an 11-week period in early 2016, more than 15 staff members left Lanesboro under suspicion of wrongdoing, Mitchell said. Roy Cooper has asked him to review the circumstances "to ensure this doesn't happen again.". Bridges said she doesnt buy that explanation. ANSON COUNTY, NC (WBTV) - Five former prisoners of Lanesboro Correctional in Anson County say guards at the prison helped gang-affiliated inmates get weapons and wage attacks. About 60 inmates were also near Callahan when she was attacked on April 26, Jernigan said. Attorneys for the state quizzed Wynn why he didnt take steps that might have allowed him to avoid the attack. First published on September 29, 2016 / 6:08 PM. Id like to see the truth be told about what really does go on in here.. [24] Consequently, the prosecutor is initiating an appeal and the process remains ongoing. Main Office: They have a very difficult job Most of them do it the right way. A search warrant affidavit filed earlier this year said that homemade knives were found in the ceiling above the office of Jeffery Wall, a former manager over the prison unit where Turner was killed. The facility was a detention center, not a penitentiary, meaning that the inmates had not yet been tried or convicted. Wynn said he did not want to be branded as a prison snitch, a label that can get inmates hurt. Driver arrested after video shows him nearly hitting students at their school bus stop. Our site does not feature every educational option available on the market. Walls dismissal letter, obtained by The Observer, states that he had hidden bloody weapons in the ceiling of his old office. The officer said Wall asked her to go into his old office and retrieve a bag of shanks from the ceiling. Its the few who dont who make problems for everybody.. They pepper-spray and beat Vazquez with batons to stop him from stabbing Turner. 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. 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. Located in Polkton, about 45 miles east of Charlotte, Lanesboro has repeatedly drawn. Following the attack, more than 800 inmates were put on lockdown for several months. Officers sprint in behind Wall, cornering the three attackers. But by that time, the officer was already bleeding profusely. But Vazquez stabbed and killed Turner using another improvised weapon, a sharpened metal plate. Wesley Turner has come to defend Cook, his friend. Human rights groups such as Human Rights Watch have also documented statistics of police violence and acquittals in Brazil. Inmates at this prison are kept under close watch and have committed very serious crimes. Wall was transferred to work at a different prison while under investigation in July 2013. December 2010 - Thirteen inmates assaulted staff members in various attacks, state records show. One of those officers fell and hurt her knee when she went to Callahan's defense, Jernigan said. But while North Carolina typically hires about 1,800 to 2,000 prison officers per year, it usually loses about that many as well. 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. A correctional officer in the state of North Carolina was recently murdered, just one month before his wedding. Surveillance video shows two of the attackers meeting with a unit manager shortly before the attack.. Alex Murdaugh sentenced to life in prison for murders of wife, son in June 2021, Get ready to change your clocks. The four staff members at the Lanesboro. [13] Although not entirely certain, his death was likely the result of his role in the massacre. The. All three belonged to gangs. Correctional officers were also prohibited from accepting gifts from inmates, performing favors for inmates, or providing inmates with narcotic drugs or any other item forbidden by LCI rules. Bertie now houses about 935 inmates. 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. A prison officer and two inmates were injured during a fight at Lanesboro Correctional Institution Thursday morning, state prison officials said. 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. Bias Easley was a corrections officer at the Lanesboro Correctional Institute, near Wadesboro. Roberts, one of Vazquezs attorneys, said he was surprised to see how freely inmates at Lanesboro were allowed to roam the prison. He joined the Folk Nation at age 16, was convicted of damaging property soon afterward, and later committed armed robbery, kidnapping and more than a dozen other crimes. One Polk officer made $29,800 in salary in 2015. 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. If Cooks DNA had turned up on any of the shanks in Walls office, that could have helped tie them to the attack. The confrontation began at about 8:30 a.m., when an inmate assaulted another inmate at . An investigation by The Charlotte Observer last year found that state prison policies and management failures allow corruption and violence to thrive. But local law enforcement officials are optimistic about changes at Lanesboro. 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. Bertie isn't the only state prison with staffing problems. ANSON COUNTY, N.C. One inmate is dead after an incident at Lanesboro Correctional Center in Anson County. This morning, Turner had warned Cook that Latino gang members planned to create trouble between the Bloods and the Folks. [20] In April 2014, 15 additional policemen were sentenced to 48 years. Heres how SBI officials say the early afternoon fight unfolded: Shortly before the attack, two of the convicted inmates visited the office of an assistant unit manager. Corrections officers recovered another improvised weapon at the scene a sharpened metal plate, which may have come from a prison door. But after investigating for more than a year, the SBI closed the case. [9] Two other inmates involved in the gang-related fight that day Julio Alberto Zelaya-Sorto and Joel Corto Ortiz also pleaded guilty to felonies and had up to four and five years, respectively, added to their prison sentences. [15] The surviving gang members joined forces with other prisoners to provide protection against the police. One of those shanks was stained, possibly from blood, Bridges said. Corrections officers flocked to the scene after the stabbings, but only one shank was recovered. Several days after the incident police still had not arrested a suspect or determined a motive for the murder. Many of the large maximum-security prisons such as Bertie and Lanesboro are located in rural areas, where recruiting can be difficult. 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. 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. He said hes haunted by Turners murder and has branded the letters of his best friends nickname into his right side. ", "The inmates literally say, 'You all are understaffed, so if we wanted to, we could overtake this prison.' And they say pay increases approved by the legislature in 2015 will also help with recruiting. Wynn alleges that another inmate stabbed him in the chest with a weapon resembling a filet knife, then threw a chair at him. His friend may be next. Wall, now 45, wouldnt talk to the Observer. [10] He was in charge of the special police unit ROTA that is known for having an aggressive approach to civil disturbance. Both inmates are members of MS-13, a powerful Latino gang. Early on the morning of Nov. 15, 2013, Lanesboro had just four officers in the chow hall to oversee the 100 inmates who were there for breakfast, McCoy said. Wall turns and looks directly into the room where Vazquez waits. Here are his plans. The staffing shortages also put officers in danger, Smith said. Some family members believe that the murder may have been connected to an incident that occurred at a convenience store earlier in the week. Hours after the murder, video also shows Wall gesturing to the killer. Where, she wondered, were the shanks used to attack Cook and Turner? [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". Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. He said three inmates believed to be involved in the assault have been identified and are being questioned. Authorities say prison Sgt. Jurors deliberated for about half an hour before convicting Mikel. 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. He stretches his arms wide above his head, then lowers them and covers his mouth with both hands. It is a close custody facility, which is the equivalent of maximum security. Angela Smith, who worked as. In January, police and prosecutors teamed up with the prisons new administrator, John Herring, to begin criminally charging inmates caught with weapons. The Anson County Sheriff's Office says one inmate is dead and another was stabbed. Ten months later, significant amounts of contraband including video recordings and three bloody shanks were found in the ceiling above Walls office, according to his dismissal letter. Lanesboro Correctional Institution is a state men's prison in Polkton, North Carolina, first opened in January, 2004 and operated by the North Carolina Department of Public Safety Adult Corrections.As one of the state's four largest prisons, the official capacity is 1,800 prisoners. Now two NC men face prison. Ballistic evidence indicated that 515 bullets were found in the prisoners. "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. The dismissal letter, signed by Lanesboros acting administrator at the time, called Walls statement a clear threat of injury or harm to staff.. 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. "I think if I hadn't gotten over there in time, (Mosley) probably would have cut her throat," McCoy said. SBI officials say theres no proof that happened in the Turner case. Bridges said that, in her opinion, Walls meeting with the Latino gang members was connected in some way with the subsequent fight. "We've got a lot of folks who are not staying with us.". [14] 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. The prison is named for the nearby community of Lanesboro. [12] Guimares, who was also a member of the So Paulo state legislature, was assassinated in September 2006. Walls testimony was brief and he did not elaborate on the hidden weapons.