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Killing of fellow inmate brings life with no parole
December 21, 2010 12:00 am
Kim Smith
Arizona Daily Star
- A prison inmate was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of release Monday for the first-degree murder of another prison inmate.
Bryon Edward Monts, 32, admitted last week that he killed Timothy Lucero, 38, at the Arizona State Prison Complex in Tucson in September 2008.
Monts agreed to a natural-life sentence rather than risk going to trial and being sentenced to death.
In Pima County Superior Court, Judge John Leonardo sentenced Monts formally Monday after giving attorneys from both sides an opportunity to speak, which they declined to do.
Monts told his family members that he loved them, and he was allowed to receive hugs from them. He couldn't reciprocate because he remained shackled.
At the time of Lucero's death, prison officials said Lucero was serving a 6 1/2-year sentence for a marijuana violation and theft of means of transportation.
Monts was serving more than 16 years on armed robbery, forgery and a variety of other felonies, online records show. Courthouse News August 17, 2009 By JAMIE ROSS
** ORIGINAL STORY **
Murdered AZ Prisoner's Family Sues ADC
PHOENIX (CN) - A dead inmate's family says he was stabbed 15 times and killed at the Tucson State Prison after the Department of Corrections refused to place him on "protective segregation status" when he refused to kill another inmate for the Aryan Brotherhood. Two prison officers allegedly took cell-phone photos of Timothy Lucero after he had been stabbed, and sent them to other corrections employees and people outside the prison.
The family says a member of the Aryan Brotherhood told Lucero to "hit" Christopher Wathen, another inmate. Lucero refused, and told Wathan of the plan to kill him, according to the complaint in Maricopa County Court. Wathan was killed, causing Lucero to worry about his own safety and to ask to be placed in protective segregation, according to the complaint.
The lawsuit filed by Lucero's parents and daughter, claims he was interviewed by Detective Preston Gamblin about his safety concerns, and that Gamblin told him he needed "to get your family off our back, or else." Lucero's sister-in-law had called about her concerns for his safety.
The Arizona Department of Corrections continued to ignore the family and Lucero's requests despite being told by Roger Nelson, chief criminal deputy of the Yuma County Attorney's Office, that Lucero needed to be transferred out of state to finish his sentence because "he was in grave danger while housed in a general population setting," his family says.
Lucero was stabbed to death on Sept. 4, 2008 by inmate Bryon Monts and other unknown inmates on the recreational field of the Cimarron Unit of the Arizona State Prison Complex in
Lucero's family demands punitive damages for recklessness, gross negligence and civil rights violations, and costs of medical expenses, including counseling services.
Man convicted in 3 killings assaulted in Prison
18 Jan 2011
WTNH.com
SUFFIELD, Conn. (AP) - A man convicted for his role in the killings of three workers at a Windsor Locks auto shop seven years ago has been assaulted in prison and hospitalized.
State Police said Tuesday that Benedetto Cipriani was assaulted by another inmate at the MacDougall-Walker prison in Suffield. He was hospitalized in serious condition at the University of Connecticut Health Center in Farmington.
Police are investigating, and gave no additional details.
The 55-year-old Cipriani was sentenced in 2009 to 200 years in prison for the 2003 slayings of Robert Stears, Barry Rossi and Lorne Stevens at B&B Automotive.
He was convicted of arranging the murder-for-hire plot because his lover, Stears' wife, would not leave Stears for him.
| Updated: Convicted Jail Rapist Accused of Raping Another Inmate |
| 26 January 2011 |
Felon serving 28-year sentence charged with raping prison inmate at knifepoint 11 times.A man already serving 28 years in prison for raping an inmate in the Otero County Jail in 2006 has been charged with sexually assaulting a fellow inmate at knifepoint 11 times, the Alamogordo Daily News reported. Joseph C. Perry, 32, an inmate at Southern New Mexico Correctional Facility, was indicted last Thursday by a Dona Ana County grand jury on 11 counts of criminal sexual penetration, 11 counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and a count of being a prisoner in possession of a deadly weapon, the Daily News said. The alleged rapes occurred between Aug. 18 and Sept. 8, 2010, the paper reported. Perry was convicted in 2007 by an Otero County jury of raping an 18-year-old inmate at the Otero County Detention Center on Sept. 2, 2006, while Perry was in the county jail on a probation violation, the Daily News said. His alleged victim at the prison south of Las Cruces is a 21-year-old Tajique man who was convicted of non-residential burglary and theft, according to the indictment. Perry, who is originally from New Jersey, had his first sexual assault conviction in Colorado in 1995, and appears to have moved to New Mexico about a decade ago, the Daily News said. His criminal background also includes convictions for dealing drugs, unlawful possession of a deadly weapon, burglary, battery, fraud and resisting arrest, the paper reported. |
Inmate who was savagely beaten sues Pa. County
February 3, 2011
Associated Press
SCRANTON, Pa. – An inmate who suffered a near-fatal beating at a northeastern Pennsylvania Prison claims in a federal lawsuit that prison officials showed "deliberate indifference" and ignored warnings about his safety.
The suit was filed Wednesday on behalf of 29-year-old Nicholas Pinto. It seeks more than $250,000 in compensatory and punitive damages from Lackawanna County.
The lawsuit says Prison Guards allowed a dangerous inmate to have access to Pinto. Attorney Patrick Rogan says Pinto suffered permanent neurological damage in last summer's attack at the county prison.
The suit notes that the prison's chaplain had warned officials before the attack that Pinto was a "likely target." Pinto was awaiting sentencing on a federal child pornography charge at the time.
The county's attorney did not immediately return a phone message Thursday.
Inmate accused of attempted strangulation
February 15, 2011
HeraldNet.com
MONROE -- A Monroe prisoner already serving 30 years for murdering his cellmate three years ago is now accused of trying to kill another inmate inside a prison laundry room.
Prosecutors recently charged Daniel Perez, 24, with attempted second-degree murder and second-degree assault for a 2009 attack at the special offender unit inside the Monroe Correctional Complex. If convicted of the new charges, it would be Perez's third "strike" and he could be sentenced to life behind bars without the possibility of parole.
Perez was sent to the Washington State Reformatory in 2005 after he was convicted of vehicular homicide, vehicular assault and theft in Pierce County. He'd been sentenced to more than six years in prison. About seven months into his sentence, Perez strangled his cellmate, Cory Garzina, with the drawstring of his prison-issued sweatpants. Garzina was found dead in the his cell.
Perez told investigators that he'd had a dream that Garzina was going to stab him so he decided "he was going to take action first," according to court documents.
A jury found Perez guilty of second-degree murder and he was sentenced to 30 years for the slaying.
After his conviction, Perez was kept alone in a cell at the special offender unit. That's where prosecutors allege he attempted to strangle another man on Aug. 19, 2009. The man was serving a nearly four-year stint for an assault conviction.
That man was allowed to work in the laundry room. He was seated at a table, reading a book when he was attacked, Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Tobin Darrow wrote.
The laundry room is considered a "blind spot," meaning that it can't been seen on the video system, according to court papers.
Cameras, however, captured Perez in an adjacent day room. The video shows him pacing back and forth along one wall. After a couple of minutes Perez is seen pulling a ligature from his pocket and stretching it between his hands as he approached the laundry room.
He was out of sight for about seven minutes before reemerging into view of the camera, Darrow wrote. The video shows him walk to the door of the day room and asked to be allowed to go back to his cell.
The man told investigators that he initially thought someone was playing a joke on him. He soon realized the attack was serious when he felt someone's knee in his back and felt the ligature across this throat.
He struggled to free himself and both men fell to the floor. The man told investigators that he saw Perez walk away just before he lost consciousness.
When confronted, Perez allegedly told correction officers God was making him do things, court papers said. Monroe police detectives were summoned to the prison and asked to photograph Perez. He asked the detective if he had a warrant, Darrow wrote.
The alleged victim was released from prison about three months later. There was some delay in filing the charges against Perez in part because the other man was being held in jail out of state.
He's still a punk. TV tough guy Lillo Brancato whaled on a fellow inmate at an upstate prison because the con wouldn't cut short a phone call to his wife, The Post has learned.Inmate stabs two others, Utah Prison officials say
February 25, 2011
DeseretNews.com
UTAH STATE PRISON — A man serving a life sentence for aggravated murder is in solitary confinement after prison officials say he stabbed two other inmates.
Utah Department of Corrections spokesman Steve Gehrke said the incident occurred Wednesday in the prison's genealogy center.
Ernest Hernandez, an inmate at the prison since 1992, used a piece of metal sharpened into a shank to stab two inmates in the upper torso, Gehrke said. One of the inmates was stabbed six times; the other was stabbed twice, he said.
The stabbing victims' injuries were not life threatening.
An internal investigation is under way to determine what led to the incident and whether criminal charges will be filed.
Iowa State Penitentiary placed under lock down following stabbing The Iowa State Penitentiary maximum security facility in Fort Madison was placed under lockdown status following a stabbing Friday morning. Jail staff says an inmate stabbed another inmate around 7:10 a.m. Friday morning. The inmate that was stabbed was first treated by staff at the penitentiary, but then taken to Fort Madison Community Hospital for further treatment. The inmate was later returned to the facility and was in stable condition. They say the injuries are not life threatening. The incident is under investigation and staff say no other inmates were involved. The names of the inmates involved will not be released. No staff were injured. Fred Scaletta, spokesman for the Department of Corrections, says the facility will most likely remain on lockdown status through the weekend.
April 1, 2011
Eric Page
kwwl.com
FORT MADISON, Iowa (KWWL) -
Utah Prisoner Wounded In Gang-Related Stabbing
April 10, 2011
Connect2utah.com
(KUTV) DRAPER –A Utah prison inmate was hospitalized after another inmate stabbed him Sunday evening.
Officials believe the incident was gang-related but aren’t releasing too many more details until an investigation is complete. The stabbing occurred in a common are of one of the housing units where inmates can mingle. Sometime after 6 p.m.
The wounded inmate was treated in the infirmary and then later transported to the University Hospital in Salt Lake. The 29-year-old man received 2-3 stab wounds to the torso but was conscious and is expected to survive.
A 23-year-old man has been taken into custody but names are not being released.