Clinton Correctional Facility is a
maximum security state
prison
A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, correc ...
for men located in the
Village of Dannemora,
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
. The prison is sometimes colloquially referred to as Dannemora (having once served as a massive insane asylum and named "Dannemora State Hospital for the Criminally Insane"), although its name is derived from its location in
Clinton County, New York
Clinton County is a county in the north-easternmost corner of the state of New York, in the United States and bordered by the Canadian province of Quebec. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 79,843. Its county seat is the ci ...
. The southern perimeter wall of the prison borders
New York State Route 374
New York State Route 374 (NY 374) is a state highway in the North Country of New York in the United States. The route follows a generally northwest to southeast progression; however, the portion of the route within Franklin County runs ...
.
Church of St. Dismas, the Good Thief, a church built by inmates, is located within the walls. The prison is sometimes referred to as New York's Little Siberia, due to the cold winters in Dannemora and the isolation of the upstate area. It is the largest maximum security prison and the third oldest prison in New York. The staff includes about a thousand officers and supervisors.
In the post-''
Furman v. Georgia
''Furman v. Georgia'', 408 U.S. 238 (1972), was a landmark criminal case in which the United States Supreme Court invalidated all then existing legal constructions for the death penalty in the United States. It was 5–4 decision, with each memb ...
'' period and prior to the 2007 repeal of the death penalty, it housed New York State's
death row
Death row, also known as condemned row, is a place in a prison that houses inmates awaiting Capital punishment, execution after being convicted of a capital crime and sentenced to death. The term is also used figuratively to describe the state of ...
for men.
History
Built in 1844, the prison originally served as a site where prisoners were used to supply labor to local mines in both Dannemora and nearby
Lyon Mountain. This enterprise was not profitable, and by 1877, mining had ended with the prisoners being put to work on other trades.
As the population grew and more prisoners were housed there, in 1887 authorities had new 60-foot- high walls built, which still stands. In 1892, the first prisoner was executed in the
electric chair
An electric chair is a device used to execute an individual by electrocution. When used, the condemned person is strapped to a specially built wooden chair and electrocuted through electrodes fastened on the head and leg. This execution method, ...
at the prison. Twenty-six men were executed between 1892 and 1913. This period also saw many prisoners cured of
tuberculosis
Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...
, due in part to the clean air in the
Adirondacks
The Adirondack Mountains (; a-də-RÄN-dak) form a massif in northeastern New York with boundaries that correspond roughly to those of Adirondack Park. They cover about 5,000 square miles (13,000 km2). The mountains form a roughly circular d ...
.
![T-B_Exhibit_LCCN2014681521](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/20/T-B_Exhibit_LCCN2014681521.jpg)
(Antibiotics were not then available to treat the frequently fatal disease.) Prisoners diagnosed with the disease were frequently transferred from other prisons.
In 1899, a mental health facility, the Dannemora State Hospital, was built on the grounds to house prisoners who became insane while serving their sentence. Such prisoners were retained in the facility if they remained insane following the completion of their sentence.
![Clinton correctional facility, Dannemora, NY, 2007](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ae/Clinton_correctional_facility%2C_Dannemora%2C_NY%2C_2007.jpg)
In 1929, Clinton Correctional was the site of a
riot
A riot is a form of civil disorder commonly characterized by a group lashing out in a violent public disturbance against authority, property, or people.
Riots typically involve destruction of property, public or private. The property targete ...
. Coupled with riots in other prisons in that year, it led to prison reform in New York State. Included was the construction of schools in the prison and the renovation or rebuilding of most of the structures within the prison walls in order to update the facilities to modern standards.
The
Church of St. Dismas, the Good Thief was built from 1939 to 1941. It was added to the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
in 1991 as a significant structure.
In the later half of the 20th century, the prison's mental institutions closed and were converted into an annex to house more prisoners.
On June 6, 2015, inmates
Richard Matt
Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'stron ...
and David Sweat, both serving sentences for murder,
escaped from the facility. Two prison employees, Joyce Mitchell and Gene Palmer, were charged with aiding the escape. During the search, on June 26, Matt was shot and killed by a
border patrol agent in the town of
Malone
Malone is an Irish surname. From the Irish "''Mael Eóin''", the name means a servant or a disciple of Saint John.
People
* Gilla Críst Ua Máel Eóin (died 1127), historian and Abbot of Clonmacnoise, Ó Maoil Eoin
* Adrian Malone (1937–2 ...
, New York. Two days later, Sweat was shot by a
New York State Trooper and subsequently captured. In the days after the escape, some prisoners reported having been beaten by guards in an attempt to obtain information as to the whereabouts and plans of the escaped inmates.
Notable inmates
* Vito Gurino, notorious
Murder, Inc.
Murder, Inc. (Murder, Incorporated) was an organized crime group, active from 1929 to 1941, that acted as the enforcement arm of the National Crime Syndicatea closely connected criminal organization that included the Italian-American Mafia, the ...
hitman, was serving an 80-year sentence when he died at the facility in 1959.
* Chanel Lewis: Serving a life sentence without parole. Convicted in the
Murder of Karina Vetrano
Karina Anne Vetrano (July 12, 1986 – August 2, 2016) was a 30-year-old American woman who was attacked, sexually assaulted, and murdered while running in Spring Creek Park in the Howard Beach neighborhood of Queens, New York City. The cas ...
.
* Antonio Rodriguez Hernandez Santiago: Bronx
Trinitarios
The Trinitarios is an Dominican American criminal organization founded by Dominicans in New York City, New York in 1993.
History
The Trinitarios were established in 1993 on Rikers Island, the New York City jail,Luis Ferré-Sadurní & Barbar ...
gang member serving 25 years to life for 1st degree murder, convicted in the
Murder of Lesandro Guzman-Feliz
The murder of Lesandro Guzman-Feliz occurred on June 20, 2018; the 15-year-old was killed by members of the Dominican-American gang Trinitarios in the Belmont neighborhood of the Bronx. The death occurred in a case of mistaken identity. Public ...
.
*
James Harris Jackson
On March 20, 2017, Timothy Caughman, a black 66-year-old man, was collecting cans for recycling in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City when James Harris Jackson, a white 28-year-old man, approached him and stabbed him mul ...
: White supremacist and perpetrator of the murder of
Timothy Caughman
On March 20, 2017, Timothy Caughman, a black 66-year-old man, was collecting cans for recycling in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City when James Harris Jackson, a white 28-year-old man, approached him and stabbed him mul ...
.
*
John Bittrolff
John Bittrolff (born July 1, 1966) is an American convicted murderer and former suspect in the Gilgo Beach serial killings case. In July 2014, he was charged with the murders of Rita Tangredi and Colleen McNamee. He is also a suspect in the murde ...
: Murderer and suspect in the Long Island serial killer case.
*
Michael Alig
Michael Alig (April 29, 1966 – December 24, 2020) was an American club promoter and convicted felon. He was one of the ringleaders of the Club Kids, a group of young New York City clubgoers who became a cultural phenomenon in the late 1980s a ...
: 10 to 20-year sentence for the murder of his drug dealer in March 1996; paroled May 2014.
*
George Appo: 19th century pickpocket and con artist. His biographer provides a description of 19th century prison conditions in New York State.
* Richard Bilello:
Lucchese crime family
The Lucchese crime family (pronounced ) is an Italian-American Mafia crime family and one of the "Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City, in the United States, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as ...
associate and convicted murderer.
*
Robert Chambers: the "preppy murderer", who served much of his sentence at Clinton Correctional Facility for the manslaughter conviction of
Jennifer Levin
Robert Emmet Chambers Jr. (born September 25, 1966) is an American criminal and convicted murderer. He was dubbed the Preppy Killer and the Central Park Strangler by the media after the August 26, 1986, strangulation death of 18-year-old Jennife ...
, as well as a later sentence for drug possession after
heroin
Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a potent opioid mainly used as a recreational drug for its euphoric effects. Medical grade diamorphine is used as a pure hydrochloride salt. Various white and brow ...
was found in his cell and new criminal charges were brought.
*
Gregory Corso
Gregory Nunzio Corso (March 26, 1930 – January 17, 2001) was an American poet and a key member of the Beat movement. He was the youngest of the inner circle of Beat Generation writers (with Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, and William S. Burrou ...
: Italian-American poet, one of the inner circle of "The Beat Generation" along with Kerouac, Ginsberg and Burroughs. Sentenced at 17, Corso served about three years for stealing a suit.
* Jesse Friedman: One of the subjects of the 2003
documentary film
A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bil ...
, ''
Capturing the Friedmans''; pleaded guilty to sodomy and sexual abuse charges related to child molestation in the 1980s.
*
Robert F. Garrow:
Serial rapist
A serial rapist is someone who commits multiple rapes, whether with multiple victims or a single victim repeatedly over a period of time. Some serial rapists target children. The terms ''sexual predator'', ''repeat rape'' and ''multiple offending ...
/murderer; served twice at Clinton Correctional: 1961–1963 for rape (transferred to
Auburn Correctional Facility
Auburn Correctional Facility is a state prison on State Street in Auburn, New York, United States. It was built on land that was once a Cayuga village. It is classified as a maximum security facility.
History
Constructed in 1816 as Auburn Pri ...
), and 1974–1977 for second-degree murder (transferred to
Auburn Correctional Facility
Auburn Correctional Facility is a state prison on State Street in Auburn, New York, United States. It was built on land that was once a Cayuga village. It is classified as a maximum security facility.
History
Constructed in 1816 as Auburn Pri ...
, followed by transfer to
Fishkill Correctional Facility
Fishkill Correctional Facility is a multi-security level prison in New York, United States. The prison is located in both the Town of Fishkill and the City of Beacon in Dutchess County. Fishkill was constructed in 1896. It began as the Matteaw ...
in 1978).
*
Paul Geidel
Paul Geidel Jr. (April 21, 1894 – May 1, 1987) was the longest-serving prison inmate in the United States whose sentence ended with his parole, a fact that earned him a place in Guinness World Records.
After being convicted of second-degre ...
: Murderer; Longest serving prisoner in American history whose sentence ended with release. transferred to
Fishkill Correctional Facility
Fishkill Correctional Facility is a multi-security level prison in New York, United States. The prison is located in both the Town of Fishkill and the City of Beacon in Dutchess County. Fishkill was constructed in 1896. It began as the Matteaw ...
in 1972.
*
Maksim Gelman
The Maksim Gelman stabbing spree was a 28-hour killing spree lasting from February 11 to 12, 2011, in New York City, New York, United States, which involved the killing of four people and the wounding of five others. Maksim Gelman was arrested and ...
: Sentenced to 200 years for murdering four people and injuring another five.
*
David Gilbert: Serving life in prison. Arrested with members of the
Black Liberation Army
The Black Liberation Army (BLA) was a far-left, black nationalist, underground Black Power revolutionary paramilitary organization that operated in the United States from 1970 to 1981. Composed of former Black Panthers (BPP) and Republic ...
and other radicals following a botched Brinks armored car robbery in 1981; paroled in 2021.
*
Julio Gonzalez: perpetrator of the 1990
Happy Land Fire in the
Bronx
The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...
which killed 87 people; died in 2016.
*
Hell Rell
Durrell Mohammad (born May 3, 1979), better known by his stage name Hell Rell, is an American rapper.
Career
In 2007, he signed with Koch Records and began working on his debut album, '' For the Hell of It''. The album reached No. 5 on both th ...
(real name Durell Mohammad): served nearly 28 months on a criminal sale of a controlled substance conviction from 2002 to 2004.
*
John Jamelske
John Thomas Jamelske (born May 9, 1935) is an American serial rapist-kidnapper who, from 1988 to his apprehension in 2003, kidnapped a series of girls and women and held them captive in a concrete bunker beneath the yard of his home in DeWitt, ...
: Mass kidnapper and serial rapist serving 18 years to life.
*
Vincent Johnson
Vincent Johnson (born January 6, 1969), is an American serial killer popularly known as The Brooklyn Strangler. He was previously a marketing photographer for ad firm, Gannett Transit, in the early 1990s.
Arrest
Between the summers of 1999 and 2 ...
, serial killer known as "Brooklyn Strangler": Serving a life sentence for the murders of five women in 1999 and 2000.
*
John Katehis
George Weber (March 23, 1961 – March 20, 2009) was an American radio personality on the ABC Radio Network doing hourly news updates. For several years he was on the WABC 77 morning show, with Curtis Sliwa and Ron Kuby in New York City. He did ...
: Found guilty of 2nd degree murder for the murder of
ABC Radio personality,
George Weber. Katehis is serving 25 years to life.
*
Marlon Legere: Serving life without parole in connection with the shooting deaths of NYPD detectives Robert Parker and Patrick Rafferty in Brooklyn.
*
Charles "Lucky" Luciano
Charles "Lucky" Luciano (, ; born Salvatore Lucania ; November 24, 1897 – January 26, 1962) was an Italian-born gangster who operated mainly in the United States. Luciano started his criminal career in the Five Points gang and was instrument ...
: One of the driving forces behind the development of Italian organized crime in the United States served 10 years of a 30- to 50-year sentence for running a prostitution ring before being deported to
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
after
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
.
*
Maino: Rapper from
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
, New York City, charged for numerous street and gunpoint crimes.
*
Richard Matt
Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'stron ...
: Murderer –
Escaped with David Sweat. Shot dead by police in June 2015 while he was still at large.
* Winston Moseley: Murderer of
Catherine Genovese on March 13, 1964, hostage taker in 1968 during that year's escape spree.
*
Ol' Dirty Bastard
Russell Tyrone Jones (November 15, 1968 – November 13, 2004), better known by his stage name Ol' Dirty Bastard (often abbreviated as ODB), was an American rapper. He was one of the founding members of the Wu-Tang Clan, a rap group primarily fr ...
(real name Russell Tyrone Jones): Served nearly 17 months on a criminal possession of a controlled substance conviction in 2001 and 2002.
*
Carl Paivio: Finnish American labor activist and anarchist, 4 to 8 years in 1919 for "criminal anarchy".
*
Carl Panzram
Charles "Carl" Panzram (June 28, 1891 – September 5, 1930) was an American serial killer, spree killer, mass murderer, rap ist, child molester, arsonist, robber, thief, and burglar. In prison confessions and in his autobiography, Panzr ...
: Serial killer, 1923–1928.
*
Daniel Pelosi
Daniel Pelosi (born August 2, 1963) is an American man who is the convicted murderer of Wall Street financier Ted Ammon, and is the widower of Generosa Ammon.
Early life
Pelosi was born in Center Moriches, New York.
Relationship
Pelosi m ...
: Convicted of murdering
Ted Ammon
Robert Theodore Ammon (August 30, 1949 – October 20, 2001) was an American financier and investment banker. Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, he was murdered in his home in 2001 by electrician Daniel Pelosi, who was convicted in 2004. Ammon and ...
and jury tampering
*
Ralph "Bucky" Phillips
Ralph James "Bucky" Phillips (born June 19, 1962) is a convicted murderer from Western New York caught on September 8, 2006, by the Pennsylvania State Police.The Associated Press. (2006"Phillips Case: Ex-fugitive "Bucky" Phillips pleads guilty ...
: Sentenced to life without parole for the shooting of three
New York State troopers
The New York State Police (NYSP) is the state police of the state of New York in the United States. It is part of the New York State Executive Department, and employs over 5,000 sworn state troopers and 711 civilian members.
History
The Stat ...
in 2006 after escaping from jail.
*
Christopher Porco: Serving 50 years to life for the 2004 ax murder of his father and attempted murder of his mother in their
Delmar, New York
Delmar is a hamlet in the Town of Bethlehem, in Albany County, New York, United States. It is a suburb of the neighboring city of Albany. The community is bisected by NY Route 443 (Delaware Avenue), a major thoroughfare, main street, and route ...
home.
*
John Resko
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Second E ...
: Author of bestseller ''Reprieve: The testament of John Resko'' (1958), the basis for the
Ben Gazzara
Biagio Anthony Gazzara (August 28, 1930 – February 3, 2012) was an American actor and director of film, stage, and television. He received numerous accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award and a Drama Desk Award, in addition to nominatio ...
/
Sammy Davis Jr.
Samuel George Davis Jr. (December 8, 1925 – May 16, 1990) was an American singer, dancer, actor, comedian, film producer and television director.
At age three, Davis began his career in vaudeville with his father Sammy Davis Sr. and the ...
movie ''
Convicts 4''.
*
Joel Rifkin
Joel David Rifkin (born January 20, 1959) is an American serial killer, who was sentenced to 203 years in prison for the murders of nine women between 1989 and 1993, though it is believed he had up to 17 victims.
Early life
Rifkin's birth pare ...
: referred to as "Joel the Ripper" by tabloids after a five-year killing spree. Murdered 17 women, and is serving 203 years to life.
*
Altemio Sanchez (also known as The Bike Path Rapist): American serial killer who murdered at least three women and raped at least 14 others in and around
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from South ...
, over a span of 25 years (1981–2006).
*
Tupac Shakur
Tupac Amaru Shakur ( ; born Lesane Parish Crooks, June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1996), also known as 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American rapper. He is widely considered one of the most influential rappers of all time. Shakur is among the Li ...
served 8 months on a sexual abuse conviction from February to October 1995 before being released on appeal.
*
Shyne
Moses Michael Levi Barrow (born Jamal Michael Barrow, best known by his stage name Shyne; November 8, 1978) is a Belizean rapper and politician. (real name Moses Michael Levi): Beginning in 2001, served a sentence of 8 to 10 years on convictions of assault, criminal weapons possession, and reckless endangerment. Released and deported back to his native
Belize
Belize (; bzj, Bileez) is a Caribbean and Central American country on the northeastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a wate ...
.
*
Bobby Shmurda
Ackquille Jean Pollard (born August 4, 1994), known professionally as Bobby Shmurda, is an American rapper. Along with Rowdy Rebel, Shmurda is considered a pioneer of Brooklyn drill music. He rose to international fame in 2014 when his song "Hot ...
(Ackquille Pollard): Rapper who made the 2014 hit "Hot N*gga". Served his sentence for gang related activity since 2016; was moved from Rikers Island to Dannemora in 2017.
*
Eric Smith: Convicted of killing and sexually assaulting a four-year-old boy at age 13.
*
Joel Steinberg: Attorney convicted for the abuse of his common law wife, Hedda Nussbaum, and the abuse murder of his six-year-old pseudo-adopted daughter.
*
Willie Sutton
William Francis Sutton Jr. (June 30, 1901 – November 2, 1980) was an American bank robber. During his forty-year robbery career he stole an estimated $2 million, and he eventually spent more than half of his adult life in prison and escape ...
: Bank robber imprisoned at Dannemora in the 1920s.
[Sutton W, Linn E: ''Where the Money Was: The Memoirs of a Bank Robber''. Viking Press (1976), p. 160. ]
*
Martin Tankleff
Martin H. Tankleff (born August 29, 1971) is an American man who was wrongly convicted of murdering his wealthy parents, Seymour and Arlene Tankleff, on September 7, 1988, when he was 17 years old. After serving more than 17 years of imprisonme ...
: Former
Belle Terre, New York
Belle Terre is a village in the Town of Brookhaven in Suffolk County, on the North Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States. The population was 792 at the 2010 census.
History
The peninsula on which the community of Belle Terre is s ...
resident freed after his conviction for killing his wealthy parents Arlene and Seymour Tankleff was overturned citing evidence that others committed the murders.
* John Taylor: Sentenced to death for
shooting seven employees of a Wendy's restaurant in Queens, New York City, killing five and seriously injuring two. Taylor was re-sentenced to life without parole.
*
Leslie Torres
Leslie Torres (born March 5, 1970) is an American spree killer who, in the period from January 1 to 8, 1988, attacked 11 people in the East Harlem neighborhood of Manhattan. Five people died from the attacks and six were left severely injured. He ...
: teenage spree killer who shot five people to death in
East Harlem
East Harlem, also known as Spanish Harlem or and historically known as Italian Harlem, is a neighborhood of Upper Manhattan, New York City, roughly encompassing the area north of the Upper East Side and bounded by 96th Street to the south, F ...
during an eight-day robbery spree in 1988. Sentenced to life imprisonment with parole after serving 60 years.
* Renato Seabra: Serving 25 years to life for the 2011 murder of
Carlos Castro.
*
Dylan Schumaker
Dylan may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* Bob Dylan (born 1941), American singer and songwriter
** ''Dylan'' (1973 album), a 1973 album by Bob Dylan
** ''Dylan'' (2007 album), a 2007 compilation album by Bob Dylan
* Dylan (musician), profess ...
: Sentenced to 25 years to life.
s seen on Court TV
S, or s, is the nineteenth Letter (alphabet), letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the English alphabet, modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is English alphab ...
For
murdering 23-month-old toddler. Reduced to 18 to life after appeal.
* Karl Karlsen: Sentenced to 15 years to life for murdering his son, in 2020 he received life without parole for murdering his wife at his California home in a fire in 1991.
See also
*
2015 Clinton Correctional Facility escape
The 2015 Clinton Correctional Facility escape was a jailbreak that took place on June 6, 2015, when two inmates, Richard Matt and David Sweat, were discovered missing during a 5:17 a.m. bed check at the maximum security Clinton Correctiona ...
*
List of New York state prisons
This is a list of state prisons in New York.
The New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision is the department of the New York State government that maintains the state prisons and parole system. There are 44 prisons ...
References
External links
New York State Prison Information Village of Dannemora
{{Authority control
Buildings and structures in Clinton County, New York
Capital punishment in New York (state)
Prisons in New York (state)
1845 establishments in New York (state)