The Penetentiary
These pictures were taken inside maximum security Texas state penetentiaries. Thousands of prisoners are housed in these cold and sad "forgotten cities".
Lock Down
A standard procedure in prison is for officers to lock down the entire unit for 30 days whenever a major incident such as a riot , serious assault or murder occurs. Locked down 24 hours a day in their cells and allowed only 3 weekly showers, prisoners become pale due to a lack of sun light. These convicts are stripped ,handcuffed, and shackled up like animals every time they are escorted from of their cells.
Shanks
Prisoners use crude homemade weapons like this to injure or kill other prisoners or guards. Sharp as an ice pick, shanks like these are extremely deadly.
The Blue Bird
These massive armored buses known as "Blue Birds" are used to transport prisoners to penetentiaries across the state. These diesel fuel mammoths are operated by 3 armed guards.
The Yard
A Texas correctional officer monitors a yard full of prisoners.
A Depressing Job
Depressed convicts often release their anger on corrections officers, causing guards to become bitter and violent themselves.
The Hole
Problem prisoners are placed in solitary confinement ,aka "The Hole" , for 15 days. With nothing to read or write with, prisoners sometimes go insane or commit suicide.
The Hot Box
Uncomfortably hot in the summer and extremely cold in the winter, inmates are forced to serve time in these tiny 8 by 12 foot cells. Fustrated "cellies" often fight and kill eachother in these cells over petty reasons.
Stress breeds prison violence
Living in a tension filled , stressful prison environment is likely the reason some inmates resort to violence. Some of the most barbaric assaults and murders happen in U.S. prisons.
The Squad
When gang wars break out,,guards use helmets ,batons and stab-proof vests to secure the situation.
Tattooed Down
Heavily tattooed inmates is a common sight inside Texas prisons.
Shake Downs
Correctional Officers are ordered to conduct searches, also known as "Shake Downs", throughout the prison.. They are then required to strip the inmate and search their naked bodies. This dehumanizing practice not only degrades the inmate being stripped, but also the officer doing the unpleasant job.
Prison Tattoo's
Crafty prisoners break down radios and use it's wire and screws to build electrical tattoo guns powered by relay.
Gang warfare
Unlike unorganized street gangs, prison gangs operate in a paramilitary structure of soldiers, sergeants, and lieutenants. Membership into these penetentiary mafias doesn't come cheap. "Brotherhood" or "Carnalismo" is for life, aswell as the terror of perpetual warfare with rival prison gangs.
Prison Gangs
With a tension filled prison environment comes the birth of extremely violent prison gangs.
Mi Familia
Superficial street gangsters represent their "flag" with a disposable colorful rag, while the more ruthless prison gang members show honor to their "familias" with lifetime tattoo's.
Razor Sharp
Each prison unit houses over 2000 prisoners. Razor wire such as this is what protects society from mass escapes.
Guard Towers
Armed guards patrol the prison perimeter in these towers 24 hours a day.
The Penetentiary
These pictures were taken inside maximum security Texas state penetentiaries. Thousands of prisoners are housed in these cold and sad "forgotten cities".
Lock Down
A standard procedure in prison is for officers to lock down the entire unit for 30 days whenever a major incident such as a riot , serious assault or murder occurs. Locked down 24 hours a day in their cells and allowed only 3 weekly showers, prisoners become pale due to a lack of sun light. These convicts are stripped ,handcuffed, and shackled up like animals every time they are escorted from of their cells.
Shanks
Prisoners use crude homemade weapons like this to injure or kill other prisoners or guards. Sharp as an ice pick, shanks like these are extremely deadly.
The Blue Bird
These massive armored buses known as "Blue Birds" are used to transport prisoners to penetentiaries across the state. These diesel fuel mammoths are operated by 3 armed guards.
The Yard
A Texas correctional officer monitors a yard full of prisoners.
A Depressing Job
Depressed convicts often release their anger on corrections officers, causing guards to become bitter and violent themselves.
The Hole
Problem prisoners are placed in solitary confinement ,aka "The Hole" , for 15 days. With nothing to read or write with, prisoners sometimes go insane or commit suicide.
The Hot Box
Uncomfortably hot in the summer and extremely cold in the winter, inmates are forced to serve time in these tiny 8 by 12 foot cells. Fustrated "cellies" often fight and kill eachother in these cells over petty reasons.
Stress breeds prison violence
Living in a tension filled , stressful prison environment is likely the reason some inmates resort to violence. Some of the most barbaric assaults and murders happen in U.S. prisons.
Warning
The legal information and conflicting stories that we provide our viewers may contain disturbing content inappropriate to some.
THE RANDY PAYNE STORY
ConvictedArtist.com has written about prison life and the devastating results for far too many. Now we post these pictures as mute evidence of guards looking the other way in Texas prisons. It is said that a picture is worth a thousand words. In this instance, two pictures are worth thousands of tears for the young man's mother.
(WHERE WERE THE GUARDS?)
Randy Payne ... Prior to incarceration.
Beaten to death by two different gangs for not becoming sexually submissive. Where were the guards?
A Message from Randy's Mom:
RANDY KEITH PAYNE-JANUARY 21, 1971-AUGUST 12, 1994
My son's problems with the law started shortly after he graduated from high school. By the time he turned 21, he had been convicted of burglarizing two buildings and was in jail again, for breaking into a storage warehouse and stealing liquor. Randy arrived August 4, 1994, at the maximum-security Terrell Unit, a 2,250-bed prison that had been opened just nine months earlier, just outside Livingston, Texas. Young, non-violent offenders are told when they reach these violent prisons...you have to fight or pay convict gangs for protection. The currency often was sex. He wouldn't pay for protection; so, they jumped him. He was beaten for over two hours, by 20 different inmates. And the guards didn't see a thing, they claimed. They didn't see a thing til they spotted Randy's bloody body sprawled in the day room. Randy died a few days later of head injuries, in a Houston hospital. Randy got the death penalty for a non-violent offense. Within weeks after my son died, Anthony Thibodeaux, 24, who was serving an 18- robbery from Travis County, also died at the Terrell Unit--at the hands of other convicts to whom they had refused to pay protection. The fourth convict to die at Terrell was Michael McCoy, 30, a convicted car thief from Dickinson, Texas, who was beaten to death by two guards. The two guards were indicted for the murder of McCoy. They were both found guilty and sentenced to 10 years. After 99 days in prison, a small town judge paroled them both. There are so many unexplained deaths in our prison system and the majority of them are young, 18-30 years old, non-violent offenders. Why are these young men put in the same prison with violent prisoners??? We have asked this question so many times, and to this day... have not received a truthful answer. Since starting C.A.P.S., I have received hundreds of letters from these young offenders and this violence is widespread. It doesn't exist in just a few of our prisons. The only way that this will be changed, is to educate the public and elect state officials who will check into this situation and correct it. Randy and Roy both were criminals and should pay their debt to society, but not with their lives. This inhuman treatment has to stop. The violent prisoners are treated better than the non-violent ones. And prison guards should have to pay for their crimes, when they beat or rape or murder the inmates. And when they turn their heads to the violence, they should at least lose their jobs. Prison guards think they are above the law and can do anything they please and not have to pay any consequences. The only witnesses to these incidents are other inmates and no one wants to believe the testimony of an convicted prisoner.
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Prison Murders
THE RUDY DELGADO STORY
This article contains shocking photos of the massive head injuries inflicted on Rudy Delgado, a Texas inmate. He was beaten to death on May 28th 2000 in one of our American prisons, a carnage that didn't take place on a Normandy beachhead, but in a "controlled and supervised" institution.
We would like to see an even uglier picture.... a photo of the monster who did this to Rudy. And if we do see such a picture, we'll wonder how such an average-looking man could do such a thing. But inside this man, if we could glimpse it, is a most horrible entity. Much more repulsive than any alien creature you've ever seen in the movies, it can be described as violent, cruel, sadistic, murderous and a destroyer of man's body & spirit.
Question:Why was such a creature unleashed on Rudy Delgado? How in the world could this happen without anyone's knowledge in a confined space, supposedly under constant surveilance? Is it allowed or is it just taken for granted?
Answer: Ask an inmate. Fear is paramount. It's apparent that the people who run our prisons are not fearlessly human enough to jeopardize the status quo, or assume responsibility for such crimes. Taking it a step further, our countrys leaders are fearful of changing the prison system, of invoking stronger rules, pressing for more stringent hiring policies in employment of guards and supervisors. Sadly, the current movement for privatization of our prisons will all but destroy this hope, and it's a growing industry that will ultimately insulate the prisons from any human rights interdictions if we allow it to continue growing.
Now ask a person, a citizen. They'll tell you we needn't be soft on inmates, but we should be responsible for their safety if they are in our custody. No excuses, no exceptions.
So ... Read on. Read about just another guy who broke the law and was incarcerated. Must have really pissed somebody off you say ... Otherwise, why would Rudy be dead? Unrecognizably dead.
I'll tell you what ..., I am the one who is really pissed off! I didn't know him from Adam, but it happened in MY country. Under my nose ... And MY employees are getting away with murder!
Brutal Murder in Texas Prison
Wednesday, June 07, 2000
Rudy Delgado's body was misplaced by TDC for almost a week. At the family's insistence and with the help of a funeral home here in Dallas, the body was located and brought back home. Photos were taken by the horrified funeral director at the family's answer of why Rudy's casket could not be opened at his funeral. There is no explanation of how Rudy died, or at whose hands, or what was used to kill him. Please pass this along to anyone you can and the photos too.
Rudy's face was disfigured to the point of it was hard to even tell his face from the back of his head. The first photo shows that his face was ripped off his skull, only his throat is visible. His face was sewn up to attempt to make him up but they gave up. One of his eyes was not even located. He was forty years old. His family only received this letter from the chaplain who they figure is only trying to get some kind of word to them. But who is to blame? What can the family do to right this wrong? Where was the supervision? They want names and faces to come forward and help them, not hide from them
The Letter:
TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE May 28, 2000 Francis Delgado (Aunt of Rudy Delgado) Dallas, Tx Re: Rudy Delgado
Mrs. Delgado, On behalf of Warden Cooper, the administrative staff of the Barry B. Telford Unit, and the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, allow me to express our sincere condolences to you and other family members in regards to the death of your nephew, Rudy. I know that it is painful to accept and believe the news at first, but death is rarely easy to accept. We realize our life here, and in eternity, is in the hands of a just God. May the God of peace comfort you and yours during this of hour of pain. In Psalm 23 we find this Great God of heaven is our most reliable source of comfort during a time of grief. So, lean on Him, and He will carry you through. Once again, on behalf of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice and the administration of the Telford Unit, please accept our condolences. Our thoughts and prayers are with you during your time of grief. If I can be of any further assistance or per chance if I may answer any questions that may arise, please do not hesitate to contact me. May God bless and strengthen you in your time of need.
Obediently Christ's, Tom West - TDCJ 'Chaplain West' Telford Unit POB 9200 New Boston, TX 75570-9200
Letter from an inmate to Rudy's Aunt who was his guardian:
5-29-2000
Dear Mrs. Frances Delgado,
Hello there Ms. Delgado. I know you may not remember who I am, so please let me introduce myself to you. This is not very easy for me to write, but I feel like it needs to be done. I knew Rudy and I used to make sure he had food to eat when I had it and I would make sure he had hygiene items. Rudy was a good person and I enjoyed knowing him very much. He loved you all so very very much. There are things about him that you all do not know yet, but you need to know. I need to tell you that I was locked in my cell and could not do anything to help Rudy except to scream out for this other person to stop! I know and understand that this is not an easy time for you and your family over the loss of Rudy. I hope that I will get a chance to talk to you and to meet you and talk to you about some things he had to go through in here. But remember this.he always loved his family and he always spoke of going home. He wanted so badly to be able to hug his sister again. He was very grateful that yo all took flowers to his Mother and Dad's graves for him. This was a horrible and senseless tragedy - it should not have happened. I knew both Rudy and the man that killed him. I am greatly saddened by the loss of Rudy. It will take some time to heal your wounds.
God Bless Your Family, A fellow inmate at TDC living in fear here.
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June 13, 2000 - More......
I've had a lot of requests from folks who want to use the photos of Rudy Delgado on posters and signs for the PRUP 2000 rallies, link their web sites to this photo, etc. I have checked with Del Hendrixson who has contact with Rudy's family and learned that everyone is free to use and distribute this photo in any way which may help justice be served for Rudy and for the others in his situation.
According to a news story about Rudy's murder, it was witnessed by 26 prisoners and two Correctional Officers. What was done to Rudy took time to accomplish. Why wasn't it stopped by the Officers? The fact that this atrocity occurred in front of two officers who let it happen makes TDJ as much responsible for his death and mutilation as the perpetrator is.
The photos of Rudy demonstrate the dangers and horrors with which ALL our incarcerated loved ones live 24/7, and the apathy of the staff which permitted this to occur in their presence represents the level of protection they can expect if they are attacked by someone who has been made even more violent and angry by years of dehumanizing incarceration. With more than two million people incarcerated in America there are MILLIONS of us who are affected by the draconian conditions in America's prisons!
TOGETHER WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE!! Spread the word that PRUP 2000 is happening on July 15 and that EVERYONE needs to stand up and make their voices heard shouting that CONDITIONS IN OUR PENAL SYSTEMS MUST CHANGE! Let's make Rudy's death more than another senseless tragedy!
In Solidarity, Linda Tant Miller
Prison Reform Unity Project 2000 is coming 7/15/2000! STOP INMATE HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES! "To be silent in the face of injustice is to be an accomplice to evil. I will not be silent." Lori Berenson, January 2000.
To Hell & Back: 13 yrs in a Texas State Penetentiary
By: Unknown Prisoner
One night in 1994 while parked in my car with my girlfriend some punks randomly broke my car windows with bats and crow bars. I believe envy was their motive since I had never done anything to disrespect them. It was a miracle me and my girfriend were able get away without getting seriously hurt or killed but my beautiful car was left beyond repair.
Angry I ran to my friends house and borrowed his semi automatic assault rifle.
Later the next day I found myself booked in the county jail for 3 counts of attempted murder and 2 counts of aggrivated assault. I had gun down the entire group of gangsters, critically hitting one in the head. He didn't die but was left paralyzed neck down for life.
A jury found me guilty and sentenced me to 13 years confinement in TDCJ. My family was heart broken.
As the years passed my friends slowly faded out of my life, as did my girlfriend. The only people who stood by me were my family. From then on I realized that friends are only temporary while family is forever.
I was sent to one of Texas's worst state prisons, the Terrell Unit in Livingston Texas and the unit was on lock down because a prisoner had murdered his cell mate by beating him to death.
Then a prison gang declared war on a rival gang and a major slaughter errupted. I remember the first stabbing that I ever saw in prison was when this guy walked up to a dude who had stole his commissary and just started stabbing him repeatedly in the face.I remember thinking to myself "So this is what prison is really like".
Living in such a place was stressful. I remember having to watch my back every where I went. I would sit back in the shadows and study the guards and convicts. Nobody really knew me, I was a silent presence. Thats the way to go when surrounded in a world of insane people. Yes prison is insane.
Prison is only as dangerous as you make it . If you keep out of peoples buisness you'll be alright. You might get into some fights every now and then. Besides, a good old fashion broken nose won't kill you. That sure beats getting shanked because you disrespected a prison gang, or killed at the hands of brutal guards.
Talking about guards, I never disrespected them. In fact many were good human beings. But I did get jumped by 3 guards because I refused to obey a direct order. I learned a lesson and realized that I had put myself in that situation for being in prison in the first place.
Rape, yes lets talk about that ugly word.
Rape happens in prison but very rarely. I remember some bullies were trying to rape a young 19 year old kid. Nobody tried to help the kid out and it took me alot of thinking before I decided to step up and get those fools off him. Many people thought I was stupid for doing that. In prison people just don't play hero unless they want to die.
.
I once saw a guy throw feces all over the face of another prisoner for nothing.
Prison is a very racsist environment. Everyones a racsist in the penetentiary.. Whites are racsist, Mexicans are racsist, Blacks are racsist. The prison gangs are all based on race. Prison sucks.
I've seen murders too. . It was nothing like you'd imagine in the movies where murder looks so easy. Witnessing a real murder is actually alot more unpredictable.
It's weird to see how hard a man will fight back to survive. It's not just one or two stabs and your dead,like in the movies. It's more like stab after stab, victim jumps up throwing punches, while the attacker continues stabbing him over and over again. Then the guards come running in and gas the whole place. The stabbed guy is full of blood but still fully alert, then taken to the hospital.
It's not until hours later you hear the stabbing victim died in the hospital of internal injuries caused by the ice pick shank.
While in prison, I read many books on philosophy, history, and spent many hours painting and drawing. Art and books served as tools to keep my mind off the ugly environment I was forced to live in.
Living in such a filthy environment sometimes depressed me so bad I'd cuss at God. I regreted doing that and believe God has forgiven me for that aswell.
4 things kept my mind strong.
1. My family and their letters. Receiving those letters gave me hope and strength.
2.Books and newspapers. They helped improve my grammer skills and deepen my once shallow mind.
3. Exercise. Push-ups, pull-ups, squats and practicing my jabs on an old prison mattress.
I was finally released from that horrible Texas prison last year. I remember walking out feeling as if I was entering the Twilight Zone. I must of looked as pale as a vampire because people seemed to stare at me.
As I waited for the Grey Hound Bus in Downtown Dallas, I watched the people of a free society drag their luggage.Some had unhappy frowns on their faces and I felt like telling them to cheer up, after all they were all free.
But they probably wouldn't understand how 13 years of prison could make a person more thankful and less ungreatful.
AR-15
Guards posted on towers are trained to use an AR-15 assault rifle to shoot and kill any prisoner attempting to escape.