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Speaker 1: M m A Wall Street line, shackle change, Oh someome gird,

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it's calling my name. There is no mercy and it's

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been a tentery juice as the huge stream game Wrangle three.

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Speaker 2: Come here.

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Speaker 1: By me or die inside these walls, inside the wild.

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Speaker 2: And went no girl as I'm hey everyone, welcome back

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to Bloody and Gola, a podcast one and forty two

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years in the making, the complete story of America's bloodiest prison.

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I'm Jim Chapman and this should be the first episode

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that I have recorded since the New Year. So Happy

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New Year to all of you out there listening to

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Bloody and Gola. I hope you got some good goals

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set for twenty twenty six, I'm looking forward to bringing

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you the best in prison podcast asking telling you the

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notory stories of Louisiana State Penitentiarating in Goola. And we're

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gonna add some other prisons into the mix as we

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go along, and that's sort of what we're doing today.

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And look, I will be the first to tell you

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Louisiana State Penitentiarating Gola a very dangerous place, and honestly,

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most maximum security prisons in the United States same way. Now,

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what makes them dangerous is not so much the prisons themselves,

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although that helps. It's also those who inhabit those prisons. Now,

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as you know, maximum security prisons throughout the United States,

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they don't house jaywalkers, they don't house people who receive

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speeding tickets that they hadn't paid, those sorts of things.

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These prisons are full of murderers, rapists, major drug dealers,

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the worst you can think of in society. Now, in

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maximum security prisons there is a hierarchy shot callers, if

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you will. In a place full of dangerous people, these

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shot callers are considered the most dangerous. So I got

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curious and I went down I guess kind of a

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rabbit hole of who people in the know would consider

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the most dangerous prisoner ever in a max security prison.

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And of course that's a very subjective question. Everybody's going

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to have a different opinion. But the name that would

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surface frequently in my research was an inmate by the

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name of Thomas Silverstein, who went from a teenage robber

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to becoming a high ranking member of the Aryan Brotherhood. Now,

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his path would lead to a string of murders within

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the walls of max security prisons and eventually an unheard

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of thirty five year I'm in solitary confinement in a

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supermax prison. So he's going to be our subject for today.

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And I'm going to start off by telling you a

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little bit about Thomas Silverstein's early life. Now, he was

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born Thomas Conway in Long Beach, California. This was on

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February fourth of nineteen fifty two. His mother divorced her

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first husband while she was still pregnant with Thomas, and

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she married another guy. His name was Thomas Conway, which

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young Tommy would claim as his biological father. So eventually

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she divorces Conway and then she marries a guy by

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the name of Sid Silverstein. And that's where Thomas got

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his last name Silverstein. And I know a lot of

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this information is a lot to keep up with. She's

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already married three times, right, he's very young, but it's

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important to the story. And you could already see that

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there's a a lot of instability in Thomas's early life.

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Now that being said said, Silverstein was pretty financially stable,

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and Thomas would grow up in the fifties in the

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early sixties and what you would consider a middle class

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neighborhood in Long Beach, California. Now, Thomas was not what

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you would consider a typical kid growing up. He was

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very timid, shy, kind of awkward. So he would get

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picked on a lot. He just came across as a target.

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And because his last name was Silverstein, even though that

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wasn't his birth name, kids would assume he was Jewish.

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And this was at a time in history when Jewish

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kids got picked on, and in later interviews he would

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say they would bully him relentlessly about the fact that

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he had a Jewish last name, even though he was

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not Jewish. Now, due to this bullying, he would run

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home a lot. He was scared of these bullies. He

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would freak out, run home, cry to his mom, and

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his mom, Virginia, in an effort to toughen him up,

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would tell him that he would either need to face

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down these bullies and stand up to them, or she

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was gonna whip his ass herself. And look, I don't

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think she meant anything negative with that. I think she

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was trying to toughen her son up. And that's just

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what Thomas did. He would face down the bullies and

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he would actually start fighting back and winning these fights. Now,

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this type of environment, it would harden Thomas very early

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in life. And in nineteen sixty six, at just fourteen

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years old, Thomas ends up in a reformatory, which is

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basically like a youth prison, after getting in some trouble.

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And it's not clear exactly what trouble that he had

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got into, but he ended up in a pretty harsh

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refe formatory. But one thing about youth prisons is you

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fight a lot. Even in today's day in time, you

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constantly are fighting inside juvenile lock up, right, And Thomas

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would fight nearly every single day inside of that youth prison.

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He would say later on. Now he does get released eventually,

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but it was not long before he was locked up

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yet again, and this time for armed robbery at just

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nineteen years old. And unfortunately, this time he gets sent

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to what you would call big boy prison and the

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infamous San Quentin. And this is in nineteen seventy one,

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and y'all, Sam Quintin was rough in those days. As

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a matter of fact, in the early seventies, Sam Quentin

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was dubbed as the quote war behind walls in the

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racial lines inside that prison ran really deep. But Silverstein

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would hone his his fighting skills further inside of Singing

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Quentin before being released some four years later. This is

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in nineteen seventy five, so he gets paroled, but he

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did not stay out long. In nineteen seventy five, his father,

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Thomas Conway and his cousin along with Silverstein, they pull

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off three armed robberies and they netted about eleven thousand

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dollars in these robberies combined, which that's about eighty five

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thousand dollars in today's money. But they get caught, and

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this is in nineteen seventy seven that it's off to

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prison again for Silverstein, this time to serve a fifteen

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year stint for armed robbery, and this time in an

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even more dangerous and infamous prison than Saying Quentin, as

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Silverstein is sent to the US Penitentiary in Levingworth, Kansas.

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So Levenworth will a bringing ground at this point in

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time for gangs, and this is where Silverstein will get

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a start with the AB, the Airy and Brotherhood. Now

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the AB is very notorious, a very violent white supremacist

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prison gang that has gained a lot of traction throughout

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the nation in prison, and many people don't realize, so

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it may surprise you to learn it's the oldest and

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deadliest prison gang in the United States. Now, Thomas Silverstein,

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he was already quite familiar with the AB because it

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was actually founded just ten years or so prior in

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his old stomping grounds. It's singing Quentin now. The AB

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was originally formed due to the deep segregation that exists

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in maximum security prisons, and this segregation it still exists today.

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For example, if you're a white inmate, you hang out

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with white inmates. If you're a black inmate, you hang

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out with black inmates. Latino who was hanging with latinos.

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It was like that then and it's like that now.

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You don't play cards, you don't lift weights, you don't

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even run laps with anyone outside of your race, or

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you could lose your race protection. As a matter of fact,

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you will. And most of these gangs, they actually operate

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within the prison with a lot of structure. As a

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matter of fact, the AB is known for their structure

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inside prison. They actually have a twelve man council, which

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is kind of like a border directors, and even a

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three man commission to make decisions. So the motto of

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the AB, the Areyan Brotherhood is blood in, blood out,

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which means to get accepted into the AB you have

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to commit an act of violence, many times murder, and

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to get out, well, there's really no getting out once

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you're in. Your technically in for life in membership can

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only end by death. Now with the AB, they offer

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I guess you could say a vast array of services

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criminal activity that would include drug trafficking, murder for hire,

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inmate prostitution, and a ton of other nefarious activities. And

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this would make them both very powerful and very dangerous

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within prison walls. Now, it was in Leavenworth that Thomas

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would really deepen his affiliation with the AB, and this

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would become apparent when Thomas murders a fellow inmate by

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the name of Danny Atwell. This was in nineteen eighty so,

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as the story goes, Thomas Silverstein along with an associate

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of the Arian Brotherhood named Eddie Hawk and another associate

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by the name of Charles McAvoy, they were part of

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a group that would smuggle drugs into Levenworth and Danny Atwell,

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he was an inmate that had been smuggling in marijuana

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for them to sell inside the prison. He didn't want

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to smuggle any drugs outside of that into prison. I'm

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not sure why. Maybe he was worried if he got caught,

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the sentence would be stiffer for a harder drug. But

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for whatever the reason, he just totally refused anything outside

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of marijuana they were wanting to get into, like speed

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and cocaine and all this stuff. Well, that pissed off

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the AB and Silverstein and his associates because they were

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making big money off of this. It pissed them off too.

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And according to the trial testimony, Silverstein and Hawk in particular,

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they enter at Well Sell and they just stab him

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to death with some chanks. This was on November one

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of nineteen eighty and this murder would change a lot

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of things for Silverstein. First, the murder would earn him

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the nickname quote Terrible Tommy, and it would also turn

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that fifteen year stent into life in prison when in

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nineteen eighty one he gets convicted of first degree murder

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of Danny atwell So how you like that for decision making?

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You're in there for fifteen years, I mean that's a

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short stint relatively speaking, and you commit a murder inside

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the walls to where you end up with life in

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prison just not very smart. It would also result in

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Thomas getting a reputation that would make him very feared

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even amongst the harshest inmates inside of Levenworth. So after

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killing inmate at Well, Thomas gets transferred to an even

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more dangerous prison than Levenworth in nineteen eighty one when

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he moves to the United States Prison at Marion, which

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at this point in time, y'all, this was the high

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I asked maximum security prison the Bureau of Prisons in

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the United States had. It was really the United States

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first supermax prison, even though it wasn't called that. Marion

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is located in southern Illinois and the prison was specifically

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designed to house the United States' most dangerous inmates. If

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you're curious about some people who of notable people that

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had been there, how about John Gottie, how about Nicky Barnes,

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Two very high ranking mobsters that ended up in Marion.

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So it's secure, to say the least. But as secure

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as Marion was, he could not stop Terrible Tommy from

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murdering yet again inside prison. When in nineteen eighty one,

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the same year that he got convicted in the Danny

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Atwell murder, he kills a rival gang member named Robert Chappelle,

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and he was a member of the notorious DC Blacks.

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In a little about the DC Blacks, this prison gang

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originated about five years after the AB formed, and originally,

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as you may have guessed, they were a gang consisting

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of inmates all from d C. But that kind of grew,

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it expanded and now, according to the reports I read,

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the largest black prison gang inside of prison. And they

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were also the Arian Brotherhood's primary rivals. So, as that

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story goes, Thomas Silverstein goes into Chappelle's cell, presumably while

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he's asleep, slips a wire around his neck and strangles

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him to death right there in the cell. And it's

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important to mention that Thomas he actually denies that he

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committed this murder all the way up to the day died. Now,

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I don't know, you know, obviously I wasn't. There have

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no direct knowledge. I don't know if he did or not.

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I know that he was tried for it, and I

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know he was convicted of it. But a part of

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me says, wow, this guy's not somebody who denies killing people.

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I mean, he admits to it when he kills you,

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and he denied this one. So you know, I don't

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know if there's any weight to that or all, but

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I don't know why he wouldn't accept the responsibility for

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that had he done it. So it's under some debate.

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But as I said, regardless, he gets charged with it.

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And while he's a waiting trial in that case, as

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luck would have it, the leader of the DC Blacks,

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a man by the name of Raymond Cadillac Smith, he

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gets transferred to Marion. Now, Silverstein would later claim that

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he tried to tell Cadillac Smith that he did not

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kill Chappelle and that Cadillac did not believe him, and

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it bragged to others that he was going to kill

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kill Silverstein. Now, this guy making that threat, you better

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take that serious. He was not just a member of

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the DC Blacks. He was the head shot caller, the

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leader of the gang. And the way he saw it,

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Silverstein killed one of his peeps, and he was going

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to get payback for that personally. Now, there are documents

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that say on at least two occasions Cadillac did attempt

238
00:17:30,519 --> 00:17:33,799
to get that payback that he seeked, but that those

239
00:17:34,039 --> 00:17:39,119
attempts failed. Well, Silverstein he sees the writing on the

240
00:17:39,160 --> 00:17:42,599
wall and he ascertains that he had to get Cadillac

241
00:17:42,720 --> 00:17:47,240
before Cadillac got him, right, So he hatches a plan

242
00:17:47,440 --> 00:17:50,759
with another inmate, an AB member by the name of

243
00:17:50,920 --> 00:17:56,480
Clayton Fountain, and they see that play through. So one night,

244
00:17:56,960 --> 00:18:01,359
in the shower of what's known as the Control Unit,

245
00:18:02,039 --> 00:18:07,480
they attack Cadillac. They use shanks and they stabbed Cadillac

246
00:18:08,039 --> 00:18:12,960
sixty seven times. And that wasn't all what they did

247
00:18:13,039 --> 00:18:19,240
after that even more shocking. After they kill Cadillac, they

248
00:18:19,359 --> 00:18:25,160
take his body and they drag it the entire length

249
00:18:25,599 --> 00:18:29,359
of the catwalk, the entire length of the tier, and

250
00:18:29,400 --> 00:18:34,039
they make sure to pass each inmates sell As they're

251
00:18:34,319 --> 00:18:38,240
dragging this guy who is now dead, this leader of

252
00:18:38,319 --> 00:18:43,680
the DC blacks down that tier and they pass all

253
00:18:43,720 --> 00:18:47,559
those cells in an effort to show the dominance of

254
00:18:47,640 --> 00:18:52,119
the AB. Now Silverstein, he admits to this martyr, but

255
00:18:52,240 --> 00:18:58,759
he framed it as a quote killer, be killed type situation. Regardless,

256
00:18:58,920 --> 00:19:03,400
he receives at another life sentence for that murder. So

257
00:19:03,519 --> 00:19:08,519
let's go into October second of nineteen eighty three, and

258
00:19:08,640 --> 00:19:13,160
a day that would pretty much change everything for prisons

259
00:19:13,799 --> 00:19:18,759
as we know them. Silverstein, still at Marion, was being

260
00:19:19,039 --> 00:19:23,440
escorted to the showers and he was handcuffed, and as

261
00:19:23,440 --> 00:19:27,160
he walked down the tier, another inmate by the name

262
00:19:27,200 --> 00:19:32,759
of Randy Gometz he passes Silverstein a shank through the

263
00:19:32,799 --> 00:19:37,440
bars of his cell, and while the escorts had to

264
00:19:37,480 --> 00:19:41,119
pause for whatever reason, for a second before continuing to

265
00:19:41,119 --> 00:19:45,519
go down that tier, somehow Gometz was able to use

266
00:19:45,559 --> 00:19:51,359
a headen key to unlock Silverstein's handcuffs without any of

267
00:19:51,400 --> 00:19:57,039
the correctional officers noticing. Silverstein then, in a fit of rage,

268
00:19:57,559 --> 00:20:04,359
turns on co Merle Klutz and he stabs Klutz forty

269
00:20:05,000 --> 00:20:10,759
times with that shank. Why well, Silverstein would later claim

270
00:20:11,039 --> 00:20:14,880
that Klutz would harass him a lot, and he would

271
00:20:14,880 --> 00:20:17,279
go in his cell and basically shake his cell down

272
00:20:17,319 --> 00:20:22,160
and just destroy his artwork. And apparently, Silverstein, the artwork

273
00:20:22,359 --> 00:20:26,279
was his thing. This was like his baby, and every

274
00:20:26,319 --> 00:20:28,880
time he would finish a project, Klutz would go in

275
00:20:28,920 --> 00:20:31,960
there and just destroy it. And he was pissed and

276
00:20:32,000 --> 00:20:34,400
that was, I guess, all the excuse he needed, so

277
00:20:34,480 --> 00:20:37,599
he stabbed him forty times and killed me. And what

278
00:20:37,720 --> 00:20:40,920
else is interesting is that on that same day, October

279
00:20:40,960 --> 00:20:44,759
two of nineteen eighty three, his old buddy Clayton Fountain.

280
00:20:45,359 --> 00:20:50,640
He kills another guard at that prison named Robert Hoffman,

281
00:20:50,839 --> 00:20:55,319
stabbing him twenty two times. And it was this incident

282
00:20:56,079 --> 00:21:00,480
that legend has in any way, this killing would directly

283
00:21:01,000 --> 00:21:05,359
lead to the supermax prisons as they are known as today,

284
00:21:05,839 --> 00:21:10,119
and all the safeguards, the way they're designed, all a

285
00:21:10,200 --> 00:21:17,119
reflection of this particular killing now marin itself. The prison

286
00:21:17,279 --> 00:21:22,559
it went through a twenty three year lockdown after this incident,

287
00:21:23,240 --> 00:21:26,880
and Silverstein, at this point he was labeled the most

288
00:21:27,160 --> 00:21:33,599
dangerous inmate in America with his third murder inside a prison.

289
00:21:34,279 --> 00:21:39,599
So post that murder, Silverstein gets transferred to what's known

290
00:21:39,680 --> 00:21:43,200
as United States Prison in Atlanta and he gets put

291
00:21:43,200 --> 00:21:47,240
in what's none as a side pocket cell. Now side

292
00:21:47,240 --> 00:21:53,000
pocket sell is basically timy steel boxes. That's basically what

293
00:21:53,079 --> 00:21:56,960
you're in. And they have like picture of the constant

294
00:21:57,240 --> 00:22:03,640
buzzing fluorescent lights. There's no clocks, no entertainment. The only

295
00:22:03,720 --> 00:22:07,200
book allowed in the cell is the Bible. I mean

296
00:22:07,240 --> 00:22:11,519
it's design where an inmate never knows what time it is,

297
00:22:12,000 --> 00:22:15,640
what day it is, and even how long the inmate

298
00:22:15,839 --> 00:22:18,519
may have slept. You wake up. You could have slept

299
00:22:18,519 --> 00:22:20,720
two hours, you could have slept ten hours. You'd have

300
00:22:20,759 --> 00:22:23,960
no freaking clue because you don't know whether it's daytime, nighttime,

301
00:22:24,359 --> 00:22:27,559
what time of day it is. Nothing. The goal is

302
00:22:27,599 --> 00:22:33,839
to totally disorient the inmate. Let's fast forward to nineteen

303
00:22:33,880 --> 00:22:37,960
eighty seven in the Atlanta prison rights. Now, the Atlanta

304
00:22:38,039 --> 00:22:42,279
Prison Rides were an eleven day uprising. This was at

305
00:22:42,359 --> 00:22:47,640
the US Penitentiary in Atlanta, where Silverstein was housed in Georgia,

306
00:22:48,079 --> 00:22:52,680
and it was the longest prison standoff in US history. Now,

307
00:22:52,720 --> 00:22:55,960
it was triggered because the US State Department had announced

308
00:22:56,000 --> 00:23:00,799
an agreement with Cuba to deport approximately twenty five hundred

309
00:23:01,000 --> 00:23:04,559
Cuban nationals to Cuba, and they held a riot. And

310
00:23:05,079 --> 00:23:08,039
there were actually riots all over the country, but the

311
00:23:08,119 --> 00:23:11,079
Atlanta prison riot was the worst. Well, it was during

312
00:23:11,200 --> 00:23:19,079
these riots that Silverstein actually gets released from that side

313
00:23:19,160 --> 00:23:24,119
pocket cell by other inmates, and he remained free within

314
00:23:24,240 --> 00:23:27,359
the prison for about a week before all of this

315
00:23:27,759 --> 00:23:31,319
got under control. A guard who was stuck in the

316
00:23:31,359 --> 00:23:35,519
prison actually had a run in with Silverstein while he

317
00:23:35,680 --> 00:23:39,599
was free within the walls, and by all accounts, Silverstein

318
00:23:39,680 --> 00:23:44,599
actually spared this guard's life because the guard treated him

319
00:23:44,720 --> 00:23:48,880
with some form of respect prior to the incident. Had

320
00:23:48,920 --> 00:23:52,920
he not done that, Silverstein likely would have killed him.

321
00:23:53,119 --> 00:23:58,160
So in those riots, eventually an FBI hostage rescue team

322
00:23:58,359 --> 00:24:03,359
comes in. Everything gets copaesthetic again, and then they round

323
00:24:03,440 --> 00:24:08,359
up Silverstein and they actually transfer him back to Levenworth

324
00:24:09,000 --> 00:24:14,240
where for the next eighteen years he stays locked up

325
00:24:14,759 --> 00:24:19,279
in solitary confinement. So Levenworth knew he was coming back

326
00:24:19,519 --> 00:24:22,200
and they had to prepare for that, and they actually

327
00:24:22,319 --> 00:24:26,839
construct a custom built cell for him. Not only do

328
00:24:26,960 --> 00:24:33,200
they construct one, they would name this cell Silverstein's Suite. Now,

329
00:24:33,279 --> 00:24:38,119
interactions with the staff were minimal. The delivery of his

330
00:24:38,200 --> 00:24:40,400
food is just like you would think you would see

331
00:24:40,440 --> 00:24:43,680
in a movie. Slight through the cell door, right, and

332
00:24:43,759 --> 00:24:46,920
they just passed the tray in. And his cell was

333
00:24:46,960 --> 00:24:50,680
about the size of a king sized mattress. His entire

334
00:24:50,759 --> 00:24:54,720
cell video surveillance in there twenty four hours a day,

335
00:24:54,799 --> 00:24:58,200
seven days a week. He was only allowed one phone

336
00:24:58,240 --> 00:25:02,319
call per month. In my opinion, he deserved every bit

337
00:25:02,359 --> 00:25:06,240
of it. So while Silverstein is living it up, if

338
00:25:06,240 --> 00:25:11,279
you will inside the Silverstein sweet his accomplice and buddy,

339
00:25:11,359 --> 00:25:15,160
remember Clayton Fountain. Well, he dies in two thousand and

340
00:25:15,200 --> 00:25:18,799
four in a federal prison in Missouri, and in two

341
00:25:18,880 --> 00:25:24,680
thousand and five another transfer for Silverstein when a brand

342
00:25:24,720 --> 00:25:31,240
new prison opens up called ADX Florence. This is in Colorado.

343
00:25:32,160 --> 00:25:37,400
It's known as the Alcatraz of the Rockies, and it

344
00:25:37,480 --> 00:25:42,759
is considered the world's most secure prison. Imperfect for Silverstein, right,

345
00:25:43,079 --> 00:25:47,880
practically built for him. So a little about ABX, and

346
00:25:47,960 --> 00:25:52,000
I did an episode several years ago on Bloody and

347
00:25:52,000 --> 00:25:55,799
Gola where I actually talked only about ABX Florence. Very

348
00:25:55,839 --> 00:26:01,680
interesting prison. It's designed for near total solitary confinement, and

349
00:26:01,720 --> 00:26:06,400
that's obviously to neutralize dangerous behavior. Only the worst of

350
00:26:06,480 --> 00:26:09,759
the worst in the world gets sent here. Uh, there's

351
00:26:09,799 --> 00:26:14,240
a lot of isolation. Inmates typically spend twenty three hours

352
00:26:14,279 --> 00:26:19,319
a day in a soundproof seven by twelve foot cell.

353
00:26:20,000 --> 00:26:22,559
So if you're somewhere where you can mark off seven

354
00:26:22,599 --> 00:26:26,359
feet by twelve feet, do it and imagine spending twenty

355
00:26:26,400 --> 00:26:29,519
three hours a day, seven days a week inside of

356
00:26:29,519 --> 00:26:31,839
that space for the rest of your life. That's what

357
00:26:32,519 --> 00:26:37,440
That's what ADX is. The cell features a bad a desk,

358
00:26:37,559 --> 00:26:40,240
it has a stool and all of that furniture is

359
00:26:40,319 --> 00:26:44,799
made of poured reinforced concrete, and that's to prevent people

360
00:26:44,839 --> 00:26:47,920
from making weapons. If you make, for example, a stool

361
00:26:47,960 --> 00:26:49,759
out of wood, what are they gonna do. They're gonna

362
00:26:49,759 --> 00:26:51,599
break one of the legs, sharpen it, and it's gonna

363
00:26:51,599 --> 00:26:54,640
be a pretty bad ass shank. Now, there's a limited

364
00:26:54,720 --> 00:26:56,759
view inside of that cell. As a matter of fact,

365
00:26:56,759 --> 00:26:59,039
some cells don't have any view at all, but some

366
00:26:59,279 --> 00:27:02,799
they have a window that's four inches wide and angled

367
00:27:03,200 --> 00:27:07,200
to only allow a view of the sky or the roof,

368
00:27:07,960 --> 00:27:11,519
and they do this because it prevents the inmates from

369
00:27:11,599 --> 00:27:16,920
knowing their exact location inside the complex. For recreation, the

370
00:27:17,079 --> 00:27:21,799
exercise occurs in what's known as a concrete pit. Imagine

371
00:27:21,839 --> 00:27:26,200
like an empty swimming pool, and you go in that

372
00:27:26,319 --> 00:27:30,319
pit and you basically run in a circle for exercise.

373
00:27:30,440 --> 00:27:34,000
You get an hour a day, often while shackled, and

374
00:27:34,119 --> 00:27:38,559
that's that's that twenty fourth hour of the twenty three

375
00:27:38,559 --> 00:27:41,079
hours you're in your cell. That one hour is just

376
00:27:41,119 --> 00:27:44,599
for exercise, and you're usually shackled when you're out there.

377
00:27:44,960 --> 00:27:47,000
And if you're curious about some of the people that

378
00:27:47,039 --> 00:27:51,000
are housed there, well, they are the world's most notorious

379
00:27:51,039 --> 00:27:56,440
criminals that are behind bars. How about Joaquin El Chapo Guzman,

380
00:27:57,119 --> 00:28:01,559
the former leader of the Sinaloa car Hotel, He's house there.

381
00:28:01,960 --> 00:28:07,039
The Boston marathon bomber, he's housed there. How About a

382
00:28:07,200 --> 00:28:12,160
convicted nine to eleven conspirator Massali, he is house there.

383
00:28:12,960 --> 00:28:15,920
How About Richard Reid, who is also known as the

384
00:28:16,000 --> 00:28:21,640
shoe bomber, He's house there. Several members of ISIS are

385
00:28:21,720 --> 00:28:26,079
housed there. The perpetrator of the twenty seventeen New York

386
00:28:26,279 --> 00:28:30,400
City truck attack is housed there, and even gang members

387
00:28:30,440 --> 00:28:34,119
such as the founder of the Gangster Disciples, a guy

388
00:28:34,200 --> 00:28:39,599
by the name of Larry Hoover, housed at ADX Florence.

389
00:28:39,839 --> 00:28:42,680
So if you're curious how much time, because it just

390
00:28:43,119 --> 00:28:49,640
wasn't ADX Florence that Silverstein was housed at where he

391
00:28:49,720 --> 00:28:55,519
was in solitary confinement. But of his life, thirty six

392
00:28:55,599 --> 00:28:59,000
years of that was spent in some form of solitary.

393
00:28:59,079 --> 00:29:04,839
Now that's thirteen thousand, one hundred and forty days in

394
00:29:04,880 --> 00:29:10,200
a sell smaller than a parking space. Y'all, no human contact.

395
00:29:10,640 --> 00:29:15,079
And after he killed that correctional officer, guards out of

396
00:29:15,160 --> 00:29:19,039
respect for that correctional officer. None of them would speak

397
00:29:19,079 --> 00:29:23,119
to him at all, and that'll give you kind of

398
00:29:23,119 --> 00:29:27,200
an idea of what his life was like. So all

399
00:29:27,279 --> 00:29:32,759
this goes on and eventually Thomas Silverstein files a lawsuit

400
00:29:32,799 --> 00:29:36,720
with help from some students from the University of Denver.

401
00:29:36,759 --> 00:29:40,200
Now these students from the University of Denver, what are

402
00:29:40,200 --> 00:29:42,279
they trying to do. Well, they're trying to get a

403
00:29:42,359 --> 00:29:46,359
law degree. So everything they say take with a grain

404
00:29:46,440 --> 00:29:49,759
of salt. But I'm going to cover it in detail

405
00:29:49,920 --> 00:29:55,000
because really it really does break down the life of

406
00:29:55,039 --> 00:29:58,359
this guy. And he wrote it himself. It's called a

407
00:29:58,599 --> 00:30:04,440
Declaration of Thomas Silverstein. It was accepted into the United

408
00:30:04,480 --> 00:30:08,599
States District Court for the District of Colorado, and it

409
00:30:08,759 --> 00:30:12,880
was Thomas Silverstein versus the Federal Bureau of Prisons. And

410
00:30:12,960 --> 00:30:17,920
it reads, I, Thomas Silverstein, declare, under penalty of perjury,

411
00:30:18,000 --> 00:30:20,880
that I had been held in solitary confinement for the

412
00:30:20,920 --> 00:30:24,640
past ten two hundred and twenty days, which is three

413
00:30:24,759 --> 00:30:28,000
hundred and thirty six moss or twenty eight years. I

414
00:30:28,039 --> 00:30:30,799
am fifty nine years old, and I have spent almost

415
00:30:30,839 --> 00:30:35,839
half my life in solitary confinement. Victim, right, he's a victim.

416
00:30:36,319 --> 00:30:40,200
The purpose of this declaration is to describe my experience

417
00:30:40,359 --> 00:30:44,000
during this lengthy period of solitary confinement, the nature and

418
00:30:44,079 --> 00:30:47,559
impact of the harsh conditions I have endured in spite

419
00:30:47,599 --> 00:30:51,599
of a spotless conduct record for over twenty two years. Now,

420
00:30:52,480 --> 00:30:54,359
I'm just going to interruptate there and say, you know,

421
00:30:54,519 --> 00:30:57,759
throw out the fact that I killed three people in

422
00:30:57,799 --> 00:31:01,359
prison in my lack of knowledge of about what, if anything,

423
00:31:01,400 --> 00:31:04,920
I can do less in my isolation. Nevertheless, I feel

424
00:31:04,960 --> 00:31:08,400
it would be disrespectful to say anything about my conditions

425
00:31:08,400 --> 00:31:12,240
of confinement without beginning with an apology for the actions

426
00:31:12,240 --> 00:31:15,079
that brought me here in the first place. An apology

427
00:31:15,160 --> 00:31:18,640
for the harm I have done is necessary before anything

428
00:31:18,680 --> 00:31:22,119
else can be said. Not a single one of the

429
00:31:22,319 --> 00:31:25,799
thousand days I have spent here has gone by where

430
00:31:25,839 --> 00:31:28,240
I have not regretted my actions that brought me here.

431
00:31:28,480 --> 00:31:30,519
Every day I think back in whish I had not

432
00:31:30,680 --> 00:31:34,119
killed Officer Klutz. I know that some people would continue

433
00:31:34,119 --> 00:31:36,079
to find this hard to believe, but I want it

434
00:31:36,119 --> 00:31:38,720
to be understood that this is not only because of

435
00:31:38,759 --> 00:31:41,440
my confinement that I feel this regret. I feel this

436
00:31:41,519 --> 00:31:43,839
way because I know what I did was wrong. I

437
00:31:43,880 --> 00:31:47,519
have become a person who recognizes and respects the value

438
00:31:47,680 --> 00:31:51,119
of the life of another people can and do change.

439
00:31:51,240 --> 00:31:53,880
I know I have, and I have become someone who

440
00:31:54,000 --> 00:31:57,880
is deeply sorry for having done such terrible harm to others.

441
00:31:58,359 --> 00:32:02,400
I saw the Klutz family at my sentencing hearing. Until

442
00:32:02,440 --> 00:32:05,039
that moment, I had never thought of Officer Klutz as

443
00:32:05,079 --> 00:32:07,599
having a family. As soon as I saw his children,

444
00:32:07,640 --> 00:32:11,559
I recognized I had hurt more people than just Officer Clutz.

445
00:32:11,920 --> 00:32:14,960
I wonder about his kids regularly and hope that they

446
00:32:14,960 --> 00:32:17,519
are okay and had been able to start families of

447
00:32:17,559 --> 00:32:21,440
their own. I have apologized publicly via my blog to

448
00:32:21,519 --> 00:32:25,119
Officer klutz children. I know his daughter saw my apology

449
00:32:25,200 --> 00:32:28,640
because she replied on the blog. Although I apologized, I

450
00:32:28,640 --> 00:32:31,359
would never presume to ask for their forgiveness, as what

451
00:32:31,440 --> 00:32:34,640
I did to them was unforgivable. I wish I could

452
00:32:34,720 --> 00:32:37,480
repair the damage that I have done to other people's lives.

453
00:32:37,519 --> 00:32:41,039
I also regret my actions because they harm my own children.

454
00:32:41,200 --> 00:32:44,680
They have suffered because their father was not there for them.

455
00:32:45,039 --> 00:32:48,720
There's almost nothing as difficult and as painful as knowing

456
00:32:48,799 --> 00:32:51,720
your children are suffering and knowing that you were the cause.

457
00:32:51,759 --> 00:32:54,359
And y'all, he did have children. Not a lot of

458
00:32:54,400 --> 00:32:58,279
information out there on that, but apparently he did. I

459
00:32:58,319 --> 00:33:01,480
feel guilty about this. Every when I feel pain for

460
00:33:01,559 --> 00:33:04,599
not having been there for my own children, I know

461
00:33:04,920 --> 00:33:08,200
that I also did this to Officer Clutch children. I

462
00:33:08,240 --> 00:33:11,680
am the reason they, like my own children, grew up

463
00:33:11,839 --> 00:33:14,279
without a father, and I'm sorry for that. When I

464
00:33:14,319 --> 00:33:16,240
look back on it now, it's hard for me to

465
00:33:16,359 --> 00:33:18,960
understand how I made the choices I did. There's no

466
00:33:19,279 --> 00:33:21,960
justification for my actions. I wish I could go back

467
00:33:22,000 --> 00:33:25,480
and stop myself, though I know this is impossible. I

468
00:33:25,559 --> 00:33:28,640
recognize the pain I have caused others, including my own

469
00:33:28,680 --> 00:33:31,359
family and children, and in response to that, I have

470
00:33:31,519 --> 00:33:34,960
worked to become a different man. Although I cannot repair

471
00:33:35,039 --> 00:33:38,839
the damage I caused. I am committed to nonviolence. It

472
00:33:38,960 --> 00:33:41,559
is a promise I have made myself, and one that

473
00:33:41,640 --> 00:33:44,920
I hope honors those I've hurt. It's a promise I

474
00:33:44,920 --> 00:33:48,799
have every intention of keeping. I understand that I do

475
00:33:48,880 --> 00:33:51,359
deserve to be punished for my actions, and I do

476
00:33:51,440 --> 00:33:54,960
not expect to ever be released from prison. My hope

477
00:33:55,000 --> 00:33:58,000
is simply to be allowed, like other prisoners, to earn

478
00:33:58,000 --> 00:34:02,119
the privileges that are warranted by my constant good conduct.

479
00:34:02,640 --> 00:34:04,599
I do not consider myself to be a part of

480
00:34:04,640 --> 00:34:07,000
any prison gang, nor do I want to be a

481
00:34:07,000 --> 00:34:08,960
part of any prison gang. I just want to serve

482
00:34:09,000 --> 00:34:12,400
out the remainder of my time peacefully with other mature

483
00:34:12,480 --> 00:34:16,320
guys doing their time. And then he goes into saying

484
00:34:16,400 --> 00:34:19,000
the Bureau of Prisons has singled him out and treated

485
00:34:19,079 --> 00:34:22,719
him different. He says, although the Bureau of Prisons suggest

486
00:34:22,840 --> 00:34:25,599
I am irrational to think they are singling me out,

487
00:34:26,000 --> 00:34:28,880
I do not agree. I believe that this is what

488
00:34:28,920 --> 00:34:31,679
they have been doing, and I can understand why they

489
00:34:31,679 --> 00:34:34,400
would do it. I believe I had been treated worse

490
00:34:34,559 --> 00:34:37,800
than any prisoner in the Bureau of Prison. I read

491
00:34:37,880 --> 00:34:41,400
doctor Haney's report that I am the most isolated prisoner

492
00:34:41,679 --> 00:34:45,039
he has ever seen. It sometimes seems that the Bureau

493
00:34:45,039 --> 00:34:47,960
of Prisons is trying to test me, to provoke bad

494
00:34:48,000 --> 00:34:51,639
behaviors so they can justify their treatment of me. For example,

495
00:34:51,679 --> 00:34:54,800
when mentally ill people who scream all night or placed

496
00:34:54,800 --> 00:34:57,159
in my unit, it feels like the Bureau of Prisons

497
00:34:57,239 --> 00:35:00,719
is trying to see if they can make me break me.

498
00:35:01,280 --> 00:35:04,000
I tolerate the noise, though, because I don't want to

499
00:35:04,039 --> 00:35:06,199
break the rules I want to earn my way out

500
00:35:06,199 --> 00:35:09,400
of solitary. I also believe the Bureau of Prisons has

501
00:35:09,440 --> 00:35:13,480
purposely put known informants and sell some wreck areas around

502
00:35:13,519 --> 00:35:16,119
me in order to see if they can discover any

503
00:35:16,159 --> 00:35:20,039
negative information on me. But there's nothing to know, since

504
00:35:20,079 --> 00:35:23,320
I am simply trying to follow the rules. Since I

505
00:35:23,360 --> 00:35:26,360
have had clear conduct for decades, I don't know why

506
00:35:26,480 --> 00:35:30,239
we can continue to be held in isolation, except for

507
00:35:30,320 --> 00:35:34,079
the Bureau of Prisons desire to make me suffer for decades.

508
00:35:34,239 --> 00:35:36,920
Year after year, I've tried to demonstrate I am no

509
00:35:37,079 --> 00:35:40,599
longer the man I was in Marrion. It's important to

510
00:35:40,639 --> 00:35:45,360
note he's writing this inside of the supermacs at Colorado,

511
00:35:45,519 --> 00:35:48,760
right ADX. I've done and continue to do everything I

512
00:35:48,800 --> 00:35:51,519
can think of, all that the Bureau has asked me

513
00:35:51,599 --> 00:35:54,159
to do. I've showed I have changed and should be

514
00:35:54,199 --> 00:35:57,440
given relief from my isolation. I follow the rules. I'm

515
00:35:57,480 --> 00:36:00,719
respectful and polite. I watch the program they tell me

516
00:36:00,760 --> 00:36:03,320
to see. I've tried and every way I can think

517
00:36:03,360 --> 00:36:06,119
of to demonstrate I have no intentions to ever hurt

518
00:36:06,159 --> 00:36:09,320
anyone again. In addition to the efforts I have made,

519
00:36:09,360 --> 00:36:12,760
there is another reality I hope will be considered I'm

520
00:36:12,840 --> 00:36:15,880
quickly becoming an old man. I spend most of my

521
00:36:15,960 --> 00:36:19,480
days croche items for my family and my legal counsel

522
00:36:19,639 --> 00:36:23,599
in working on my artwork. And actually, y'all, he drew

523
00:36:23,880 --> 00:36:26,760
and he was a pretty good artist, believe it or not.

524
00:36:26,920 --> 00:36:29,679
It's hard to reconcile the Guara of Prison's description to

525
00:36:29,760 --> 00:36:32,840
me as frightening and scary when the people who see

526
00:36:32,920 --> 00:36:36,119
me here know I am a man peering through by vocals,

527
00:36:36,159 --> 00:36:39,119
trying to count the number of stitches to make an affghan.

528
00:36:39,800 --> 00:36:42,679
Although I think the way some officers have treated me

529
00:36:42,719 --> 00:36:46,079
as a violation of the rules, I understand why they

530
00:36:46,119 --> 00:36:48,519
act this way. I imagine it is a way for

531
00:36:48,599 --> 00:36:51,599
them to feel loyal to Officer Klutz. Even though it

532
00:36:51,639 --> 00:36:53,960
was very painful that no one would talk to me.

533
00:36:54,079 --> 00:36:56,840
I understand why people might act that way out of

534
00:36:56,880 --> 00:36:59,519
loyalty and also out of fear. I know that some

535
00:36:59,599 --> 00:37:02,719
people have suggested that my good behavior is a ruse,

536
00:37:03,039 --> 00:37:05,199
that I have been a model prisoner for twenty two

537
00:37:05,320 --> 00:37:08,199
years because I am waiting to have my restrictions lessons

538
00:37:08,239 --> 00:37:11,320
so I can lash out violently. They also say that

539
00:37:11,400 --> 00:37:14,280
I haven't acted out because I can't that my conditions

540
00:37:14,320 --> 00:37:17,599
are so restrictive there's nothing I can do. But this

541
00:37:17,760 --> 00:37:20,559
is just not true. I could have yelled at, or

542
00:37:20,639 --> 00:37:24,239
been disrespectful to, or even spit at the officers. I

543
00:37:24,280 --> 00:37:27,800
could have disobeyed an order or withheld my food trade

544
00:37:27,880 --> 00:37:31,880
and violated communication rules. I didn't, and I don't do

545
00:37:32,239 --> 00:37:35,480
any of these things. It's hard, if not impossible, for

546
00:37:35,559 --> 00:37:38,039
me to prove what is actually in my mind and

547
00:37:38,119 --> 00:37:40,880
what is not. All I can do is askaid others

548
00:37:40,960 --> 00:37:43,760
look at my current behavior and explain that it reflects

549
00:37:43,760 --> 00:37:48,320
my intention to never act violently again. Ever, I know

550
00:37:48,440 --> 00:37:52,719
the consequences, both to myself and others that will follow,

551
00:37:52,760 --> 00:37:55,320
and more importantly, I know that this is not who

552
00:37:55,360 --> 00:37:58,079
I want to be. My actions for the past twenty

553
00:37:58,119 --> 00:38:00,760
eight years are an expression of who I am and

554
00:38:00,840 --> 00:38:03,280
who I wish to be. When they took me from

555
00:38:03,400 --> 00:38:05,559
Levenworth and put me in a van to move me

556
00:38:05,639 --> 00:38:08,760
here to ABX, I thought I might finally be getting

557
00:38:08,840 --> 00:38:12,360
out of solitary confinement. Couldn't believe he said that I

558
00:38:12,440 --> 00:38:15,320
was over fifty years old. It had been incident free

559
00:38:15,440 --> 00:38:19,119
for lust twenty years. During the ride, I imagine myself

560
00:38:19,159 --> 00:38:22,079
having a job and being able to have contact visits

561
00:38:22,119 --> 00:38:25,440
with my family. Instead, I was placed in conditions that

562
00:38:25,519 --> 00:38:28,920
were worse than those at Levenworth. At that time, I

563
00:38:29,000 --> 00:38:33,599
lost hope of ever getting out of solitary confinement. This

564
00:38:33,760 --> 00:38:36,800
lawsuit has given me a little hope that my decades

565
00:38:36,840 --> 00:38:41,039
of clear conduct may be recognized. But even now I'm

566
00:38:41,039 --> 00:38:43,239
not hoping for much. I would like to be able

567
00:38:43,280 --> 00:38:46,039
to eat a meal with someone else occasionally. I would

568
00:38:46,119 --> 00:38:48,760
like to have a visit with my family that ends

569
00:38:48,840 --> 00:38:52,039
in being able to hug my daughter goodbye and to

570
00:38:52,079 --> 00:38:54,960
shake my son's hand. I know that I have sacrificed

571
00:38:55,039 --> 00:38:58,360
most of my rights by virtue of my actions as

572
00:38:58,360 --> 00:39:01,440
a much younger man. I think that these things are

573
00:39:01,559 --> 00:39:05,199
not too much to hope for, even in my circumstances.

574
00:39:05,239 --> 00:39:07,960
And then he gets into his version of his early years.

575
00:39:08,000 --> 00:39:10,960
He says I was born on February fourth of nineteen

576
00:39:11,039 --> 00:39:13,760
fifty two. Grew up in Long Beach, California, and my

577
00:39:13,840 --> 00:39:16,480
parents separated when I was very young, and I was

578
00:39:16,519 --> 00:39:20,519
adopted by my stepfather. My parents were middle class, but

579
00:39:20,559 --> 00:39:23,559
my home was an angry and violent place. It was

580
00:39:23,719 --> 00:39:26,400
not a safe place for a child or anyone else.

581
00:39:26,840 --> 00:39:30,760
My mother became verbally abusive and physically violent When she

582
00:39:30,920 --> 00:39:33,760
was angry. She lashed out at me often and would

583
00:39:33,840 --> 00:39:36,400
hit me with anything she had in her hands at

584
00:39:36,440 --> 00:39:39,159
the time, from a belt to a lamp to a

585
00:39:39,280 --> 00:39:43,039
rolling pin. Once she threw a kitchen knife at my head.

586
00:39:43,199 --> 00:39:45,400
Not only did she hit me and my sister, but

587
00:39:45,440 --> 00:39:48,440
my mom also would hit my stepfather when she was

588
00:39:48,480 --> 00:39:52,480
angry with him. There was constant physical aggression at my home.

589
00:39:52,559 --> 00:39:55,480
My mother's lesson was the only way to be strong

590
00:39:55,639 --> 00:39:59,119
was to be violent. She believed this. Once, after I

591
00:39:59,159 --> 00:40:01,599
was beaten up by another kid and I told you

592
00:40:01,639 --> 00:40:03,960
all about this, my mother told me, if I didn't

593
00:40:04,000 --> 00:40:06,880
stand up and fight for myself the next time this happened,

594
00:40:06,880 --> 00:40:09,599
she would take a belt to me herself. When I

595
00:40:09,639 --> 00:40:12,960
got home. I was miserable at home and also very

596
00:40:12,960 --> 00:40:17,119
confused and began to run away. Eventually, these runaways ended

597
00:40:17,199 --> 00:40:21,159
up with me being placed in juvenile offender centers. These

598
00:40:21,199 --> 00:40:23,920
two turned out to be dangerous places, full of people

599
00:40:23,960 --> 00:40:27,639
who harmed those that they thought were weaker than themselves.

600
00:40:28,119 --> 00:40:31,480
There I learned the single most important survival skill was

601
00:40:31,519 --> 00:40:34,199
to stand up for myself so that people didn't think

602
00:40:34,199 --> 00:40:36,760
I was weak. And prey upon me. By the time

603
00:40:36,800 --> 00:40:39,400
I was nineteen, I had landed in seeing Quentin on

604
00:40:39,440 --> 00:40:42,360
an arm robbery charge. When I was released on parole,

605
00:40:42,480 --> 00:40:45,280
I fell back into the same behavior. After that, I

606
00:40:45,320 --> 00:40:48,800
was arrested for robbery I committed with my biological father

607
00:40:48,920 --> 00:40:52,280
and my cousin, Gerald Hoff. I was twenty three when

608
00:40:52,320 --> 00:40:55,280
I was sentenced to fifteen years for that robbery. My

609
00:40:55,440 --> 00:40:58,639
share of those proceeds was a few hundred dollars. My

610
00:40:58,760 --> 00:41:02,800
life on the outside was over forever. When I interstand Quentin,

611
00:41:02,840 --> 00:41:07,119
the prison system was unstable and there were regular race rides. However,

612
00:41:07,400 --> 00:41:09,920
was not long before I finished my state time and

613
00:41:10,039 --> 00:41:14,719
was transferred to federal custody in USP at Leavenworth. Inside

614
00:41:14,719 --> 00:41:19,519
of Levenworth, the racial lines were strictly divided. Newcomers had

615
00:41:19,559 --> 00:41:22,360
to be careful not to show any weakness or word

616
00:41:22,400 --> 00:41:25,000
would get around that guys could take advantage of them.

617
00:41:25,519 --> 00:41:28,159
Because of the violence, I believe it was necessary to

618
00:41:28,199 --> 00:41:30,960
align myself with others for my own safety. And he's

619
00:41:31,000 --> 00:41:34,559
talking about the Arian brotherhood. In November of nineteen eighty,

620
00:41:34,599 --> 00:41:37,039
I was charged with and convicted of murder of a

621
00:41:37,079 --> 00:41:40,599
fellow inmate, Danny Atwell. I am innocent of this crime,

622
00:41:40,639 --> 00:41:44,480
and the conviction was subsequently reversed. And that's something I

623
00:41:44,519 --> 00:41:48,719
didn't tell y'all about, but it was reversed on some technicalities.

624
00:41:49,159 --> 00:41:52,840
Says at the evidentiary hearing before this case was reversed,

625
00:41:52,880 --> 00:41:56,519
the main witness against me, a prisoner who had benefited

626
00:41:56,519 --> 00:41:59,840
greatly from his testimony, admitted that I had lied and

627
00:42:00,079 --> 00:42:05,840
recanted his testimony. Unfortunately, this information only came out after

628
00:42:05,920 --> 00:42:09,480
I'd been transferred to the control unit at USB Marion.

629
00:42:09,880 --> 00:42:12,639
The control unit in any prison is the most punitive

630
00:42:12,719 --> 00:42:15,800
and restrictive part of the prison. This had special meaning

631
00:42:15,920 --> 00:42:19,599
in Marion, which was the highest security, most restrictive federal

632
00:42:19,639 --> 00:42:22,960
prison at that time. It was none among inmates that

633
00:42:23,039 --> 00:42:27,719
Marian was built to replace the old Alcatraz Penitentiary. Prisoners

634
00:42:27,719 --> 00:42:30,519
from across the country who were hard to house were

635
00:42:30,559 --> 00:42:32,440
sent there, and it soon became one of the most

636
00:42:32,519 --> 00:42:36,960
violent prisons in the system. Fights, riots, and assaults of

637
00:42:37,079 --> 00:42:42,559
prisoners and staff occurred regularly. This was a significant conflict

638
00:42:42,599 --> 00:42:46,000
between the staff and the prisoners At Marion. Even the

639
00:42:46,039 --> 00:42:50,119
control unit was extremely dangerous. Prisoners were armed with hominge

640
00:42:50,199 --> 00:42:53,760
knives or had access to obtaining weapons at all times.

641
00:42:54,159 --> 00:42:57,000
It's hard to explain how it felt to feel afraid

642
00:42:57,039 --> 00:43:00,360
that you could be killed essentially at any moment. In

643
00:43:00,440 --> 00:43:04,119
their individual cells, prisoners were not safe. I feared a

644
00:43:04,239 --> 00:43:07,280
tax on my life at all times from both prisoners

645
00:43:07,360 --> 00:43:10,559
and staff. The pressure to stand up for myself and

646
00:43:10,599 --> 00:43:14,199
not allow others to perceive me as weak was immense.

647
00:43:14,639 --> 00:43:18,199
Prisoners continue to be killed, even in the solitary and

648
00:43:18,320 --> 00:43:21,960
extreme conditions. In nineteen eighty two, I was convicted in

649
00:43:22,039 --> 00:43:25,159
the death of inmate Robert Chappelle, a murder I was

650
00:43:25,320 --> 00:43:29,159
not guilty of. I plead innocent and maintain my innocence

651
00:43:29,199 --> 00:43:32,000
to this day. I never knew Chappelle and had never

652
00:43:32,079 --> 00:43:35,039
even spoken to him, and I had no responsibility for

653
00:43:35,119 --> 00:43:37,679
his death. The fact that I was alleged to have

654
00:43:37,719 --> 00:43:42,320
been responsible, however, created an additional set of dangers for

655
00:43:42,440 --> 00:43:45,639
me at Marion. After the death of Chappelle, the Bureau

656
00:43:45,679 --> 00:43:50,360
of Prisons transferred inmate Robert Cadillac Smith to Marion. Though

657
00:43:50,400 --> 00:43:53,320
I had never before heard of Cadillac Smith, I learned

658
00:43:53,320 --> 00:43:56,800
that he had been friends with Chappelle. Soon after his arrival,

659
00:43:56,920 --> 00:43:59,760
Cadillac Smith began making it known that he planned to

660
00:43:59,800 --> 00:44:03,719
call me to avenge Chappelle's death. Despite these threats, the

661
00:44:03,760 --> 00:44:07,480
Bureau of Prisons house Cadillac Smith with the three cells

662
00:44:07,480 --> 00:44:10,800
of me at Marion. Since I hadn't killed Chappelle. I

663
00:44:10,840 --> 00:44:14,280
had nothing against Cadillac Smith prior to his arrival, but

664
00:44:14,360 --> 00:44:18,159
I became very apprehensive about him once those threats began.

665
00:44:18,719 --> 00:44:21,440
I'm aware of the Bureau of Prison now claims Cadillac

666
00:44:21,519 --> 00:44:24,679
Smith was the leader of the DC Gang, but at

667
00:44:24,719 --> 00:44:27,360
the time I did not know of this or even

668
00:44:27,519 --> 00:44:30,960
hear of a gang called the DC Blacks. I only

669
00:44:31,039 --> 00:44:34,440
learned that the Bureau of Prisons claimed that Cadillac Smith

670
00:44:34,559 --> 00:44:37,239
was a leader of the DC Blacks when I read

671
00:44:37,360 --> 00:44:41,039
Pete Early's book About ten years after I was housed

672
00:44:41,039 --> 00:44:44,239
in Marion. Cadillac Smith attempted to kill me on two

673
00:44:44,320 --> 00:44:47,760
separate occasions between December of nineteen eighty one and September

674
00:44:47,800 --> 00:44:50,920
of nineteen eighty two, once with a homemade zip gun

675
00:44:51,039 --> 00:44:54,880
that thankfully failed to fire, in a second time with

676
00:44:55,000 --> 00:44:58,440
a knife. Even though Bureau of Prison officials were aware

677
00:44:58,480 --> 00:45:00,679
of his attempt to take my life and put him

678
00:45:00,679 --> 00:45:03,400
into the hole because of it, the Bureau of Prisons

679
00:45:03,480 --> 00:45:06,400
later returned him to my same unit and didn't take

680
00:45:06,519 --> 00:45:10,280
any action to make me safe. When he returned, Cadillac

681
00:45:10,320 --> 00:45:12,920
Smith continued to tell me and others that he was

682
00:45:12,960 --> 00:45:16,519
going to kill me. Believing that Cadillac Smith would not

683
00:45:16,679 --> 00:45:20,199
stop until succeeding in killing me, and seeing the Bureau

684
00:45:20,239 --> 00:45:22,760
of Prisons was not going to take any measures to

685
00:45:22,840 --> 00:45:26,599
help protect me, I killed Cadillac Smith on September twenty

686
00:45:26,599 --> 00:45:29,960
seventh of nineteen eighty two. Although at the time I

687
00:45:29,960 --> 00:45:33,639
believed I was acting in self defense. I deeply regret

688
00:45:33,679 --> 00:45:35,880
my actions. I am sorry for the pain I have

689
00:45:36,000 --> 00:45:39,480
caused the Smith family. After I killed Smith, I lived

690
00:45:39,519 --> 00:45:43,199
in constant fear of reprisals. It was in this state

691
00:45:43,239 --> 00:45:45,880
of mind and believing I was in a life threatening

692
00:45:45,960 --> 00:45:49,719
situation that on October twenty second of nineteen eighty three,

693
00:45:49,840 --> 00:45:53,480
I killed Officer Klutz. I regret my actions, and I'm

694
00:45:53,519 --> 00:45:56,760
sorry for the death of Officer Klutz. I'm also sorry

695
00:45:56,840 --> 00:45:59,400
for the pain I have caused a Klutz family. Even

696
00:45:59,440 --> 00:46:02,800
writing the declaration, I feel my words of regret or

697
00:46:02,840 --> 00:46:06,480
inadequate to explain the remorse I feel and how much

698
00:46:06,559 --> 00:46:10,480
I am sorry for this action. And that is where

699
00:46:10,639 --> 00:46:14,000
I am going to cut it off. For today, but

700
00:46:14,119 --> 00:46:18,039
we got a lot more to cover. We've got this guy,

701
00:46:18,199 --> 00:46:22,719
the most dangerous prisoner in US history in some people's opinion,

702
00:46:23,039 --> 00:46:27,039
Thomas Silverstein, terrible Tommy. We've got the rest of his

703
00:46:27,119 --> 00:46:29,880
story in his own words that I'm going to bring

704
00:46:29,960 --> 00:46:34,239
you on the next episode of Bloody Inngola. Trust me,

705
00:46:34,440 --> 00:46:37,039
it gets wild from here. As a matter of fact,

706
00:46:37,159 --> 00:46:39,039
the next subject we're going to talk about is a

707
00:46:39,239 --> 00:46:43,679
side pocketsel that I mentioned in today's episode. So thank

708
00:46:43,719 --> 00:46:46,840
you so much for listening. Check out the Patreon Patreon

709
00:46:46,920 --> 00:46:51,039
dot com slash Bloody Angola podcast for commercial, free early

710
00:46:51,079 --> 00:46:55,280
release episodes and mores And until next time for Bloody Inngola,

711
00:46:55,639 --> 00:46:58,320
a podcast one hundred and forty two years in the making,

712
00:46:58,440 --> 00:47:02,639
the complete story of America. It's Bloody's present peace.

713
00:47:18,320 --> 00:47:28,800
Speaker 1: I Wall Street, line, shackle, chain, Oh gesome, girdie, it's

714
00:47:28,920 --> 00:47:35,320
calling my name. There is no mercy, and it's been

715
00:47:35,480 --> 00:47:43,920
a century. Juice as the hill stream game, wrangled of three.

716
00:47:45,440 --> 00:47:50,599
Speaker 2: Come here behind by me to die.

717
00:47:52,239 --> 00:47:59,519
Speaker 1: Inside these walls, inside the wild, And when

718
00:48:00,519 --> 00:48:17,199
Speaker 2: Gods I'm know it's abody Angler, ohbody angle,