Murders of prison inmates in Sterling, Colorado, spur state review

This post covers death of David Guerrero-Estrada, no names for others mentioned.

January 2010 Colorado:

Department of Corrections officials will meet in Sterling today to try to understand why four inmates have been killed at the prison there in the past two years.

DOC executive director Tom Clements said he is meeting with Sterling Correctional Facility warden Kevin Milyard to be debriefed on each of the cases.

"We're looking at cell assignment protocols," Clements said. "We want to see if there are any common denominators. It's got my attention."

The focus is on Sterling because all other prisons in DOC have a total of just three murders in roughly the same time frame. .... ....

Three of the four inmates killed there in the past 21 months were behind bars for either sex offenses or crimes against children. ....

Sanguinetti said DOC regularly takes measures to protect threatened sex offenders or child abusers or killers, including segregating them from the general population. ...

In another case, Jaime Rodriguez, 29, has been charged with first-degree murder in the Jan. 13, 2010, beating death of David Guerrero-Estrada in his cell. Guerrero-Estrada was convicted in 2007 of attempted sexual assault of a child and sentenced to three years in prison.

Rodriguez has been found mentally incompetent and is being evaluated and treated at the Colorado Mental Health Institute at Pueblo. ..Source.. by Kirk Mitchell

Murders of prison inmates in Sterling, Colorado, spur state review

This covers death of Mark Frederick Hanson

November 2011 Colorado:

Department of Corrections officials will meet in Sterling today to try to understand why four inmates have been killed at the prison there in the past two years.

DOC executive director Tom Clements said he is meeting with Sterling Correctional Facility warden Kevin Milyard to be debriefed on each of the cases.

"We're looking at cell assignment protocols," Clements said. "We want to see if there are any common denominators. It's got my attention."

The focus is on Sterling because all other prisons in DOC have a total of just three murders in roughly the same time frame. .... ....

Five days earlier, convicted sex offender Mark Frederick Hanson, who was serving a two-year prison term for repeatedly failing to register as a sex offender, also was beaten to death at Sterling. Three of the four inmates killed there in the past 21 months were behind bars for either sex offenses or crimes against children. ....

Sanguinetti said DOC regularly takes measures to protect threatened sex offenders or child abusers or killers, including segregating them from the general population.

She said the inmates suspected of killing White and Hanson, who was murdered Nov. 25, are in segregation. The two were held in different sections of the prison, Sanguinetti said.

Hanson was in prison after three convictions for failing to register as a sex offender. ..Source.. by Kirk Mitchell

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Murders of prison inmates in Sterling, Colo., spur state review

12-15-2011:

Department of Corrections officials will meet in Sterling today to try to understand why four inmates have been killed at the prison there in the past two years.

DOC executive director Tom Clements said he is meeting with Sterling Correctional Facility warden Kevin Milyard to be debriefed on each of the cases.

"We're looking at cell assignment protocols," Clements said. "We want to see if there are any common denominators. It's got my attention."

The focus is on Sterling because all other prisons in DOC have a total of just three murders in roughly the same time frame.

The most recent Sterling case was Lyle Brent White, a convicted child killer who had told his sister he feared for his life before he was beaten to death.

"He's been threatened ever since he's been in there," said White's sister Elizabeth. "This totally could have been prevented."

An inmate who beat White to death Dec. 1 at Sterling told investigators the "cho-mo" — or child molester — got what he deserved, his sister said.

White had not been convicted of a sex crime but was behind bars for the murder of an 11-year-old boy.

Five days earlier, convicted sex offender Mark Frederick Hanson, who was serving a two-year prison term for repeatedly failing to register as a sex offender, also was beaten to death at Sterling. Three of the four inmates killed there in the past 21 months were behind bars for either sex offenses or crimes against children.

The rash of prison murders is extraordinary in a county that will go years without a single homicide, Logan County District Attorney Robert Watson said.

Watson said that errors in prison classifications or placements may have contributed to the deaths.

DOC spokeswoman Kath erine Sanguinetti said Sterling has more than 2,500 convicted felons, or more than 10 percent of the state's prisoners, and violent confrontations do occur.

"Unfortunately, no matter how hard we try to protect them, sometimes this kind of thing happens," she said.

White's sister said investigators contacted family members a day after he was killed, asking whether he told them about any threats. He had, she said, adding that he had repeatedly been taunted about being a child killer.

White was convicted of killing 11-year-old Centennial Elementary School fifth-grader Antonio Davalos, then throwing the boy's body into a trash bin in Littleton.

Initially, DOC officials moved him out of state, including a stint in Idaho, because his crime made him a target. But he was returned to Colorado several years ago, White's sister said. Despite his repeated reports to staff that he was threatened, White remained in general-population cell blocks, where other inmates learned his background.

Sanguinetti said DOC regularly takes measures to protect threatened sex offenders or child abusers or killers, including segregating them from the general population.

She said the inmates suspected of killing White and Hanson, who was murdered Nov. 25, are in segregation. The two were held in different sections of the prison, Sanguinetti said.

Hanson was in prison after three convictions for failing to register as a sex offender.

In another case, Jaime Rodriguez, 29, has been charged with first-degree murder in the Jan. 13, 2010, beating death of David Guerrero-Estrada in his cell. Guerrero-Estrada was convicted in 2007 of attempted sexual assault of a child and sentenced to three years in prison.

Rodriguez has been found mentally incompetent and is being evaluated and treated at the Colorado Mental Health Institute at Pueblo.

Two Sterling inmates are suspected in the murder of habitual burglar Cleveland Flood, 38, who was beaten to death in February 2010. Watson said charges could be filed next month. He declined to name the suspects. ..Source.. by Kirk Mitchell

Sex, lies, and dead inmate cover up at Warren Correctional Institution?

11-12-2010 Ohio:

They say if you live by the sword, you die by the sword. But a metaphorical expression is certainly the last phrase that the grieving family of Steven Roger Smith, Jr. wants to hear. They held his funeral service on Wednesday November 10th, 2010.

Smith had been incarcerated since 2007. He was serving an 18-year sentence for manslaughter and tampering with evidence which also included a gun specification. Rumors resurfaced at Smith's funeral that he was wrongly convicted of the murder.

Smith was found dead on Halloween Day. The preliminary ruling of his death is suicide according to Warren Correctional Institution's public information officer, Julia Walburn.

Walburn stated that the incident is still under investigation by the institution and Ohio Safety Highway patrol.

Bradley Shaw from OSHP Public Affairs Unit provided an Initial Incident Report that states "The victim inmate was found hanging from a bed sheet that was tied to his cell window railing."

Found hanging - took his own life - is what family and friends of Smith were told by prison officials. Later they would learn the horrifying news from inmates who were incarcerated with Smith, and staffers who did not want to be identified, that Smith was murdered.

Allegedly, Smith (African American), was in the institution's kitchen engaged in a sex act with a correctional officer (Caucasian), to whom he'd been involved in a relationship. Another source claims that he was not involved with the staffer, and that he was masturbating in front of her. Source claims that Smith had several disciplinary write-ups for masturbating in front of female staffers.

As punishment, Smith was placed in the hole and allegedly his meal was sprayed with pepper spray.

Sources state that the correctional officer's boyfriend (also correctional officer), became angry after learning about the incident in the kitchen. They say the correctional officer with the assistance of others attacked Smith, hanged him, then planted a bible with pictures of Smith’s loved ones to make it look like a suicide.

If you live by the sword...

Members of Miami Baptist church were Smith was a member didn't know the Steven that lived by the sword. Many of them spoke fondly of him. They remembered a polite young man that taught Sunday school, was a member of the choir, and praise danced. A former Choir Director at the church, sang a soul stirring song, that she originally performed at Smith's private high school graduation ceremony that took place at the church.

Smith may have been laid to rest, but the family and friends of Smith won't rest until they have answers. ..Source.. Franki Butler-Kidd

WV- Murder Trial Set for WV Man Accused of Killing Fellow Inmate

10-31-2009 West Virginia:

A man accused of killing a fellow inmate at the Preston County Jail in 2005 will stand trial next year.

Leonard Wotring III has pleaded not guilty in the first-degree murder of Timothy Daft, of Independence, who had been in the Kingwood jail on charges of sexually abusing a toddler.

Wotring was indicted last week, and his trial is set for January 12.

He is now an inmate at the Mount Olive Correctional Center, serving 3 to 15 years for the attempted murder of his grandfather.

Daft's family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit, claiming Daft was attacked by Wotring and other inmates. It claims then-Sheriff Ron Crites knew about the attack and did nothing, then concealed information from Daft's family.

The death was initially labeled a suicide. ..Source.. by WSHV.com

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Inmate indicted in jail hanging: Wotring charged with murder for '05 Preston crime

The last of three 2005 hangings that occurred in the Preston County Jail was not a suicide.

Timothy Daft, of Independence, was found hanging in a cell at the jail Aug. 3, 2005, and died at Ruby Memorial Hospital the next day. At the time, his death was ruled a suicide.

But Tuesday, a Preston County grand jury indicted Leonard Earl Wotring III, 25, for first degree murder in Daft's death.

"Mr. Wotring was charged with the murder of another inmate while both were incarcerated in the Preston County Jail," Preston County Prosecuting Attorney Mel Snyder said. "Timothy Daft's death at the time appeared to be a suicide, but evidence discovered later has now shown it to be a murder."

Wotring is serving time for attempted murder in the first degree. A resident of Terra Alta at the time, he entered his grandfather's bedroom, pointed a rifle at him and fired twice, according to the criminal complaint from November 2004.

In October 2005, he was sentenced to serve not less than three nor more than 15 years in prison. He was eligible for parole in August. That parole was denied, according to Snyder.

A correctional officer making rounds at the jail found Daft, who had been hanged with a pillowcase. He had been incarcerated in lieu of $50,000 bond, accused of sexually abusing a toddler.

An attorney representing Daft's brother, Russell Stuyvesant, filed a wrongful death suit against the Preston County Commission in October 2007. But Preston Circuit Court Judge Lawrance Miller ruled that a two-year statute of limitations had passed when the suit was filed. Stuyvesant's attorney appealed that decision to the West Virginia Supreme Court. The court upheld Miller's ruling. Daft's was the last of three hangings that occurred in the course of three weeks at the Preston County Jail. The jail was closed Aug. 5, 2005, when the Tygart Valley Regional Jail opened. ..Source.. by Michelle Wolford

ME- In Maine, Prison Crowding Leaves Grisly Legacy

This is one case where I have pieced together bits of articles that reference what happened to this man back in 1991-1992:

2-21-1992 Maine:

1992 Maine:

It's business as usual in the Maine state prison system these days - too many inmates, no money for new cells, no money for programs. Were Larry Richardson still there, he'd recognize it all too well.

Richardson was serving eight years for child molestation at the Maine State Prison when his body was found against the bars of his cell, hanging by a twisted sheet. He had been tortured for four nights by his cellmate, who pounded out one of his teeth against a toilet bowl and kicked him in the groin until the bruises reached from Richardson's thighs to his waistline.

Prisoners up and down a dark corridor orchestrated Richardson's punishment, but although they shouted and sang and acted out ... ..Source.. by Sharon LaFraniere


See the article copied from below quote:

The old state prison building in Thomaston was the scene of some high-profile crimes, including the slaying of inmate Larry L. Richardson in 1990. Richardson was convicted of child molestation and was “unspeakably tortured” and finally murdered by his cellmate after a three-day “kangaroo court” conducted by inmates, according to a 1993 report from the Maine Attorney General’s Office.

Police: Child molester’s death ruled a homicide

6-10-2009 Maine:

WARREN, Maine — Just four days after his April 16 transfer to the Maine State Prison in Warren, Sheldon Weinstein suffered the blunt force injuries that would kill him.

On Wednesday morning, the Maine State Police said Weinstein’s April 24 death was a homicide.

Weinstein, 64, of New Hartford, N.Y., was serving a two-year sentence for gross sexual assault on a child in Berwick. Details of his death were scanty, and police said the investigation is continuing.

“These things unfold, and they don’t always unfold immediately,” Lt. Gary Wright of the Maine State Police said Wednesday.

After an autopsy conducted on April 26, the state medical examiner’s office confirmed Wednesday that the cause of death was blunt force trauma.

Wright said authorities had interviewed corrections officers, staff and other inmates. No one has yet been charged with the crime, and Wright said it isn’t the policy of the state police to discuss suspects, the weapon or the circumstances around the blunt force assault.

“We’re not concerned that it’s anything outside the facility,” he said. “We’re getting a pretty good grip on things.”

Three employees of the Maine State Prison were placed on administrative leave after the April 20 incident, said Denise Lord, associate commissioner of the Department Of Corrections.

“The decision to place employees on administrative leave [is] a result of a personnel investigation, not as a result of the Maine State Police homicide investigation,” Lord said.

Weinstein, who once owned a condominium at Samoset Resort in Rockport, was arrested last summer in New Hartford. He confessed to the sexual assault and was extradited to Maine, according to Berwick police Capt. Jerry Locke.

Locke said Wednesday that Weinstein sexually assaulted the child, a young girl, approximately between Jan. 1, 2000 and Dec. 31, 2004.

Weinstein pleaded guilty last fall to a Class A felony charge of gross sexual assault on a victim under the age of 16, according to the New Hampshire newspaper Foster’s Daily Democrat. He was sentenced on Oct. 24 at York County Superior Court to eight years in prison with all but two years suspended. He also was sentenced to four years probation once he was released from the Maine state prison system. He initially served time at the Maine Correctional Center in Windham but later was transferred to the maximum-security facility in Warren.

According to Lord, the number of prisoner assaults at the Maine State Prison has been declining. She said she is “fairly certain” that Weinstein’s slaying is the first homicide at the Maine State Prison’s new facility in Warren. The old state prison building in Thomaston was the scene of some high-profile crimes, including the slaying of inmate Larry L. Richardson in 1990. Richardson was convicted of child molestation and was “unspeakably tortured” and finally murdered by his cellmate after a three-day “kangaroo court” conducted by inmates, according to a 1993 report from the Maine Attorney General’s Office.

“Overall, it’s a relatively safe facility,” Lord said of the prison in Warren.

In accordance with department policy, officials have reviewed the incident that led to Weinstein’s death in case there were “lapses in practice or protocols,” Lord said.

“We do have a responsibility for prisoners who either believe, or ask, to be placed in what we call protective custody — a housing assignment that assures their safety,” she said. “Our policy is to afford protective custody to all prisoners who need it.”

Efforts to reach a Weinstein family spokesman or locate an obituary were unsuccessful. ..Source.. by Abigail Curtis

Sex offender killed in Granite prison

5-4-2007 Oklahoma:

An inmate at the Oklahoma State Reformatory in Granite was found dead in his cell Tuesday evening. Donald Sullivan was serving 600 years for sex crimes.

Greg Brooks, spokesman for the prison, would not comment on how Sullivan died, but said Sullivan had multiple wounds.

Brooks said Sullivan was found by a staff member around 6:45pm Tuesday, around the time when all the cell doors are open just prior to the evening head count.

Sullivan did share a cell, but so far, the prison isn't saying anything about a suspect.

The prison was put on lockdown after Sullivan's body was discovered, and remained locked down as of Thursday evening. ..more.. by KSWO TV