#haunted prisons

[runawayandhide]

There were so many orbs in this room

[myhauntedsalem]

New Mexico State Penitentiary

The New Mexico State Penitentiary is notorious for its violent history, including the 1980 riot. Due to overcrowding and an abusive staff, the history of this prison is covered with blood and violence. Today you will not see the conditions that led to so much upheaval but there is a chance some say you could see New Mexico State Penitentiary ghosts.

The prison was first opened in 1885, after construction was completed. The design of the penitentiary was based on the same blueprints used for other prisons, such as Sing Sing. In 1903, NM became the first of the western states to employee prisoners in highway construction. By 1922, the prison was overcrowded. The convicts began rioting due to the poor food and excessive force by the correctional officers. When they refused to go back to their cells, the guards opened fire. By the end of the riot, one inmate was dead and five others were injured. In the following investigation, the officers and guards were blamed for the riot due to lack of experience.

This wouldn’t be the very last of the rioting. In fact, it would only get worse.

In July 1922, the prisoners rioted again. They claimed that they were tired of the excessive force used by the correctional officers and decided to hold Deputy Warden R. Tahash and several guards hostage. In the resulting fight, two inmates ended up dead and many others were wounded. This riot ended to the abandoning of the original building. A new facility was constructed in 1956. It would come to be called the main unit of the prison.

Unfortunately, there would be yet another riot in the main unit. This would become one of the deadliest and worst prison riots in the US. In 1980, the inmates rioted over a two-day period. Twelve hostages were held hostage by some prisoners who managed to escape from their cell blocks. By the time the rioting was over with, some 33 inmates were killed. Some of the inmates deaths were rather violent, as they involved a blow torch.

The main unit would remain open for another 18 years before it was finally closed. It was shut down for good in 1998. Today, it’s referred to as The Old Pen. It has remained empty since except for the occasional New Mexico State Police and National Guard training. It was also the location for the remake of the film The Longest Yard.

Since it has such a violent past, it’s no surprise that the prison is allegedly haunted now. Some of the paranormal activity claimed is an apparition of a man in green convict apparel walking through the hallways, icy cold spots in random places throughout the prison, loud disembodied voices and cells doors opening and closing on their own.

[lovelywitchbones]

Recently took a trip to The Ohio state reformatory.

[hometoursandotherstuff]

The haunted Karosta Prison in Latvia hasn’t changed since Tsarist Russia brutalized prisoners who went afoul of the Communist party.

For about $14 you can take a tour, but the staff says don’t blame them if you hear chains, see doors slam on their own, and if you’re really unlucky, actually see the ghost of a prisoner, skeleton thin, just staring at you. 

Your briefing.

The tour begins. They’re right- it hasn’t changed. 

Here are beds & linens ready for those brave souls who choose to spend the night, although I wouldn’t advise it- this isn’t even a 1 star hotel.

You get to sleep on a dirty floor with a scratchy blanket, prison-striped pajamas, a towel, and a cup of coffee. You’re supposed to be experiencing the misery the prisoners went thru.

Even the snack bar leaves a lot to be desired. Oh, and you can also book it for a wedding, although it takes a “special” bride to want to get married in a Communist prison, and I’m half Russian descent.

https://www.uniqhotels.com

[myhauntedsalem]

The Haunting of Al Capone

At the height of the Prohibition era an incident of gangland violence stands out above all the rest—the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre. These murders that took place in February of 1929 where especially brutal—even for the time. This bloody violence in Chicago resulted in two distinct hauntings. One at the location where the murders took place and one that plagued the man responsible, Al Capone at the end of his life.

In the 1920s violent gang shootings in Chicago were not uncommon as warring fractions battled for control of the cities various lucrative bootlegging, speakeasy, gambling and prostitution operations. Alphonse Capone, a rising gangster who ruled Chicago’s south side and George “Bugs” Moran who controlled the north side where two of the most powerful gangland leaders in 1929. Capone, ever ambitious, decided to hit Moran where it hurt so he could eliminate his only competition.

Moran operated out of a garage, S-M-C Cartage Company on North Clark Street. Capone who had this garage under surveillance for weeks arranged for a man, who Moran trusted, to call and tell him to expect a shipment of bootlegged whiskey on the morning of February 14. On this date, seven of Moran’s men where inside the garage as what appeared to be a police car drove up. Five men, three in uniforms and two in plains clothes got out of this car and entered the garage. Ironically, Moran who was late that morning spotted this “police” car and he and one of his men ducked inside a nearby coffee shop.

Meanwhile, in the garage the fake cops had informed Moran’s men that they were there for a raid. They ordered these seven to stand facing a wall and to place their hands above their heads. These men thinking they were caught did as they were told. Capone’s thugs then pulled out Thompson machine guns and shotguns and brutally shot them in the head, chest and stomach, killing them.

The bullets they used had been brushed with garlic—a superstition that it was said ensured death. These fake officers then led out their two buddies dressed in plain clothes at gunpoint in order to make it look like they had made arrests. They got in their car and drove off unchallenged. A passerby discovered the slaughtered men inside when he heard a German shepherd owned by one of the murdered men, crying pitifully inside. One man was found barely alive—he had fourteen bullets in him. He was rushed to the hospital where he refused to say who had shot him. He died shortly afterward.

At the time of the massacre Capone was in Florida. Both he and Moran accused each other of the killings. The identities of Capone’s five hit men have never been definitely established. No charges were ever filed against Capone for this massacre. This violence did succeed in breaking apart Moran’s north side operations. But ironically Capone was never to reap the rewards of this power grab for these brutal murders caused a major public outcry. Federal agents headed by Elliot Ness—the Untouchables—were brought in to crack down on crime in Chicago.

The bloodstained garage where the massacre occurred was torn down in 1967 for an urban renewal project. Before the building was torn down countless witnesses heard screams, sobbing, and moaning sounds coming from inside. Today what remains of the site is a grassy area with five trees. It is said that dogs that pass by the area whine, bark and snarl at something unseen.

Capone and one of his men were arrested in Philadelphia in 1929. They were charged with carrying concealed weapons. Capone was sentenced to one year in prison. When he was released he returned to Chicago but he found the city now was much less tolerant of crime. In 1934 he was nabbed for tax evasion and sent to Alcatraz prison. Finding himself beaten by guards and evading threats on his life from fellow prisoners he spent most of his time in isolation. It is said he played a banjo his wife sent him and wept for all that he had lost.

Suffering from the advanced stages of syphilis his guards reported that they heard him pleading with someone in his cell. It appears that the ghost of James Clark, one of the men killed in the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre was haunting him. He claimed that Clark would not let him alone. He was often found in his cell babbling and crying about this ghost that tormented him. At the time he was released one of his mobster compatriots stated Capone was, “nuttier than a fruitcake”. In 1947 Capone died of a brain hemorrhage caused by syphilis.

[myhauntedsalem]

Essex County Penitentiary Hauntings

Known as either the Essex County Penitentiary or the Newark Street Jail, is the oldest public building in Essex County, New Jersey, and its state of disrepair and neglect stands as a testament to that fact. It was built in 1837 on the new Morris Canal to replace an older jail/courthouse that burned to the ground 2 years prior. In a cost-cutting move, it was decided that the new jail would stand separate from the courthouse and that it would hold offenders from both the county and the city of Newark.

While the original jail was built in a pastoral campus-like setting, with the inmates encouraged to stay active, the Newark Street Jail was a stark box-like structure built for housing, not rehabilitation.

It has seen a few renovations over the years. In the 1890s 112 new cells were added to the complex, and the total of cells just before the building was left to rot stood at 300. It served as Essex County’s main jail until 1970, when a new jail was constructed. It then became home to the Essex County Narcotics Bureau for a short while. After they relocated, the building was abandoned.

Essex County Penitentiary was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1991, but no effort has been made to repair or even preserve the property.

So far as paranormal activity is concerned, the Essex County Penitentiary is a hotbed of action, as can be expected of a facility of such an age and purpose. There are uneasy feelings, cold spots, shadow figures, and disembodied footsteps, and such reports are common for those brave enough to explore the derelict structure.

Former security guards tell the story of an “Old Man Brown” who still watches over the cell blocks. It is believed that this is the spirit of a former Warden. There are many places where people get the feeling that they are not alone in small spaces, or that they are being watched, and these instances are usually attributed to the ghost of Old Man Brown.

Perhaps concurrent with this haunting, people can often hear phantom footsteps close to the old Warden’s quarters, which was always patrolled regularly by guards.

Perhaps the most flamboyant story about Essex County Penitentiary is that about the inmate in the Central Hall who managed to commit suicide by lighting himself on fire. How the man managed to pull this off is still a mystery, but the fire had consumed 90% of his body. There is still a charred mark on the concrete outside the cell in the shape of a man in the fetal position, which is typical in burning deaths.

The spirit that is said to haunt this section of the jail seems to be angry and violent, as this is where abusive EVP’s have been captured and pushes and hair-pulling have occurred.

There have also been reports of phantom sounds that resemble heavy machinery that have been heard in the area of the prison that served as the workshop.

The Essex County Penitentiary has grown in esteem since it was featured in a televised investigation on the SyFy series “Ghost Hunters”, but it is still a perilous place to visit because of the disrepair and the fact that as an abandoned structure, it has become a gathering place for vagrants and small-time criminals.

[myhauntedsalem]

The Birdman of Alcatraz

Robert Stroud’s life story was first told in a book in 1955 and then in a movie starring Burt Lancaster in 1962 both entitled “Birdman of Alcatraz.” Both portrayed his life story while he served time for murder first at Leavenworth and then later at Alcatraz. Both portrayed him as a ‘kindly’ reformed prisoner who spent years studying bird diseases and how to cure them. But as usual this Hollywood glossy version reflected only small parts of the real truth.

Robert Stroud was far from a ‘model’ prisoner.

In 1909 Stroud shot and killed a man in Juneau, Alaska. Stroud pimped for a prostitute who was cheated by a “john”. This “john” had paid her $2.00 instead of the expected $10.00. Stroud angry, because he didn’t get his usual cut, went to this man’s residence and shot him five times and then took his wallet. He was tried and convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to serve twelve years at McNeil Island prison in Washington State.

Two years later at McNeil Island he stabbed a fellow inmate for being a ‘snitch’. He was tried for assault and six months were tacked on to his sentence. During this time he also viciously attacked a prison hospital orderly. This man had reported him for using intimidation and threats in an attempt to procure narcotics. In 1912 he was transferred to the U.S. Penitentiary at Leavenworth, Kansas—due partially to his ceaseless threats to other inmates.

At Leavenworth, in the spring of 1916 Stroud refused to give a guard his “number’’ which was a minor infraction. The next day a long awaited visit with his brother was cancelled because of this infraction. Stroud during the noon meal that same day in the prison mess hall asked this guard if he had reported him. When the guard refused to respond, Stroud pulled out a concealed knife and stabbed and killed him in front of hundreds of other inmates.

For this crime, he was convicted of first-degree murder. He was to be hanged in 1918. But his mother who had moved to Kansas to be close to him, desperately pleaded for his life. In 1920 President Woodrow Wilson commuted his death sentence to life in prison. The Leavenworth warden because of Stroud’s unpredictable and violent outbursts ordered that he be permanently placed in a segregation unit.

Stroud was an enigma because he had an IQ of 134, but he ate with his fingers, hunched over like an animal. His horrible personal hygiene presented a problem for fellow inmates and prison officials alike. It wasn’t until 1934 that he was formally diagnosed as a psychopath.

While at Leavenworth, he found an injured sparrow in the yard; he took it back to his cell and nursed it back to health. This started his interest in birds. This interest was his one and only redeeming feature.

The warden at Leavenworth used Stroud’s interest in birds to present a model of “progressive rehabilitation” to the public. Shroud played along because he had found a way to raise some money for his mother who was fighting for his release.

Over the next years he raised over 300 canaries, which he sold to visitors at the prison. Stroud’s scientific observations of the canaries he kept did later benefit the research on the canary species. He wrote two books on this subject. He also made a contribution to avian pathology. All of this endeared him to people in the field.

In contrast to this he allowed his birds to fly freely in his cell, which resulted in quite a mess, which he never cleaned up. The massive correspondence he began to receive also became a burden for the prison for each letter coming in and going out had to be screened—a full-time secretary had to be hired just for this purpose.

Prison officials finally fed up with Stroud’s bird business tried to shut him down. He had Delle Mae Jones, a bird researcher in Indiana, which he had corresponded with alert the newspapers and start a petition drive. A 50,000-signature petition was sent to the President. This worked for the prison even gave Stroud an adjourning cell for his birds and his research.

Jones became so close to Stroud; she moved to Kansas and formed a business in 1931 with him where they sold his bird medicines under the name “Stroud’s Specific.” It was widely debated at the time if these remedies were actually effective.

In 1933 Stroud discovered that there were plans to move him to Alcatraz, he knew he would no longer be permitted to keep birds. Stroud however discovered a Kansas law that forbade the transfer of prisoners if they were married in Kansas. He arranged to marry Delle Mae Jones by proxy, which infuriated the prison officials, who would not let him correspond with his new wife.

The first irony here was Stroud was a violent prisoner —this is one reason that the prison officials kept him from the general prison population.

The second irony was Stroud lost his business and birds when it was discovered that some of the equipment he had requested for his lab he had actually used to build a homemade alcohol still.

The third irony is his mother didn’t like Delle—she believed all women were bad for her son. Where once she had been a strong advocate for him, helping with legal battles etc., she now argued against her son’s application for parole, in fact, she became a major obstacle in his attempts to be released. She moved away from Leavenworth and had no further contact with him.

Stroud was transferred to Alcatraz in December of 1942. When he was transferred this note was placed upon the warden’s notebook page with his mug shot. Reason for transfer:

“In view of this man’s homicidal traits and impulsivity dangerous tendencies, he cannot be released in the general population…they feel that it would be possible to confine this man safely at Alcatraz…also wishes to call attention to need for eliminating the insanitary condition…from this man’s bird breeding activities here…Recommend transfer to Alcatraz.”

At Alcatraz, Stroud spent six years in segregation where he did have some contact with other prisoners, but as things worsened he was placed in solitary confinement in an isolated area of the hospital wing for the last eleven years he was at Alcatraz.

This double cell had no toilet so Stroud used a bedpan. One priest who visited the prison stated he went out of his way to avoid being seen as he passed Stroud’s prison door—even going as far as to duck down. He stated if Stroud spotted him he would endlessly babble on and on.

Stroud having access to the prison library began studying law. He petitioned the government stating that his long prison term amounted to “cruel and unusual punishment”.

Another contrast—Stroud was a fan of child pornography. He received many letters from people who were fans of his bird knowledge. Some of these fans were children. Prison officials confiscated a few letters from Stroud in response to these children that contained suggestive remarks.

In 1959, Stroud in poor health was transferred to the Medical Center for Federal Prisoners in Springfield, Missouri. In 1963 he died at the age of 73, the day before John F. Kennedy was assassinated.

To this day Alcatraz, a very haunted place, has one cell that is more active than all the rest—this is the double cell that Stroud lived in for eleven years in solitary confinement. Full-body apparitions are spotted in this area.

So Robert Stroud was a cold-blooded killer, but the general public because of the book and film “Birdman of Alcatraz” had a totally different picture of him. I remember seeing this film as a child myself and thinking how cruel it was they never released him. The public in general felt the same because after the release of this film, which Burt Lancaster won an Oscar for best actor, many people protested for the release of Robert Stroud.

One fellow prison inmate who heard about the public outcry for Stroud’s release stated: “They want Burt Lancaster to be set free not Robert Stroud.”

[myhauntedsalem]

Alcatraz

Stroud is not the only ghost that has been seen at Alcatraz over the years. Alcatraz first housed prisoners in the late 1850’s. These first inmates were military prisoners who were put to work building a new prison. The U.S. Army used the island until 1933 at which point the U.S. Government decided to use Alcatraz or The Rock as a maximum-security prison that could house the most incorrigible inmates.

When a prisoner was bought to The Rock they knew that life was not going to be easy. Alcatraz was structured to only provide food, clothing, shelter and medical care. All other basic needs had to be earned. Some of the incorrigibles that were sent to Alcatraz included famous criminals such as Al Capone, George “Machine-Gun” Kelly, Alvin Karpis and Arthur “Doc” Barker. Unlike other prisons the prisoners could not manipulate special privileges from the guards.

Alcatraz was known for its tough discipline. Any prisoner refusing to follow the rules risked being placed in the Strip Cell. This cell was located on the lower tier of Cell Block D. It was a steel cell, where inmates were stripped naked and given only water and bread. A mattress was placed on the floor at night and then removed every morning. The cell’s toilet was a hole in the cell floor also there was no sink in this cell. When prisoners where placed in the Strip Cell they had no contact with other inmates and their time was spent in pitch-darkness.

Other punishment cells located on D Block were known as holes, they were also located on the lower tier. In these cells prisoners were kept in isolation for nineteen days. They had a sink, toilet, one light bulb and a mattress that was removed in the morning.

Alcatraz was closed in 1963 because it was found that it would cost too much to repair the crumbling prison. In later years the Parks Service reopened parts of the island and prison for daily public tours. At this point rumors of torture began to emerge. It was felt that since Alcatraz was on an isolated island away from public view that the inmates were probably tortured and that their tortured and bitter spirits were now haunting the halls of the prison.

One area that is known to be haunted is the Utility Corridor. It is here that inmates Coy, Cretzer and Hubbard were plummeted with bullets during their attempt to escape. In 1976 a security guard making his nightly rounds reported hearing unexplained eerie clanging sounds coming from this corridor.

Another active area is Cell 14D this is one of the original hole cells. Both visitors and employees have reported feeling cold chills along with an intense presence in this cell. It was in this cell in the 1940’s that a prisoner who was locked in, screamed the whole night claiming there was a creature with glowing eyes trying to kill him. The next day the guards found this prisoner dead, he had apparently been strangled. Later that day several guards reported seeing this same inmate in line with others and then he just vanished.