On this date, October 28, 2019, Mikel Brady was sentenced to death for murdering four prison workers during an escaped attempt from Pasquotank Correctional Institution in North Carolina.
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A North Carolina inmate was found guilty Monday of murdering four prison workers during a botched escape attempt two years ago. |
'Malicious monster' inmate who was one of four to beat to death four prison workers with claw hammers during a bungled escape attempt is found guilty of murder
· Mikel Brady, 30, was convicted of four counts of first-degree murder in North Carolina's deadliest attempted prison breakout
· Brady and three other inmates were implicated in the brutal slayings of four prison workers at the Pasquotank Correctional Institution on October 12, 2017
· Brady and fellow inmates Jonathan Monk, Wisezah Buckman, Seth Frazier were accused of stabbing and bludgeoning them to death during an escape attempt
· Corrections Enterprises Manager Veronica Darden, Corrections Officers Justin Smith and Wendy Shannon, and maintenance worker Geoffrey Howe we killed
· A jury took about a half an hour to deliver a guilty verdict in Brady's case on Monday. He now faces life in prison or the death penalty
By Ralph R. Ortega For Dailymail.comand Associated Press
Published: 10:16 AEDT, 29 October 2019 | Updated: 15:30 AEDT, 29 October 2019
A North Carolina inmate was found guilty Monday of murdering four prison workers during a botched escape attempt two years ago.
Jurors deliberated for about half an hour before convicting Mikel Brady, 30, of four counts of first-degree murder in the state's deadliest attempted prison breakout.
The jury next will recommend whether Brady should get life in prison or execution, as three other inmates await trial for their roles in the murders.
Brady was tried on charges of stabbing and bludgeoning to death two prison guards, a maintenance worker and a sewing plant manager on Oct. 12, 2017.
He and fellow inmates Jonathan Monk, Wisezah Buckman, Seth Frazier at the time of their failed attempt at escaping from the Pasquotank Correctional Institution were accused of using hammers to crush skulls and scissors to spear the flesh of their victims.
One victim was stabbed more than 65 times, according to an autopsy report.
Corrections Enterprises Manager Veronica Darden, Corrections Officer Justin Smith, Corrections Officer Wendy Shannon, and maintenance worker Geoffrey Howe were identified as the victims in the brutal attempted escape, according to authorities.
Monk, Buckman and Frazier also face first-degree murder in the deadly attack at the prison in Elizabeth City, about 40 miles (64 kilometers) north of Raleigh.
Brady also was convicted of 10 other crimes, including attempted escape, assault with a deadly weapon and setting a fire inside the jail. The fire was aimed at causing chaos within a sewing workshop to distract guards and aid the prisoners' escape attempt, authorities said.
He was already serving time for attempted murder after shooting a North Carolina state trooper at close range in 2013. At the time of the shooting, he was a fugitive from Vermont wanted on a probation violation.
Jurors viewed a video in which Brady told investigators he was upset over his nearly 25-year sentence and felt he had nothing to lose. He said he thought about escaping for months before making the break.
Brady described the attack on one of the victims in the interview describing how the inmates attacked one of the corrections officers -- Shannon -- and hit her until she 'stopped.'
'Until she stopped what?' the interrogating law enforcement officer asked.
'Moving,' Brady replied.
Jurors also saw prison camera photos of the four prison workers lying in pools of blood as Brady and others armed with hammers or scissors stood over them, The Virginian-Pilot reports.
Prison understaffing at the time of the assault was so severe that workers cut corners in ways that endangered personnel, an evaluation team from an arm of the US Justice Department found in a report released last year.
A quarter of the jobs at the Pasquotank prison were vacant, and the reliance of managers on staff overtime led to burnout and complacency, the National Institute of Corrections report said.
Understaffed prison workers failed to keep track of tools, metal shards and hazardous chemicals, the report said.
Doors were left unlocked, and inmates roamed unobserved near the sewing plant where the fire was set and created undiscovered hiding places outside the view of video cameras.
Darden, head of the sewing plant, was 50. Howe, who was in maintenance, was 31. The corrections officers Smith and Shannon, were 35 and 49, respectively.
Pasquotank inmate sentenced to death after 4 killed in 2017 escape attempt
by: Jane Alvarez-Wertz
Posted: Oct 28, 2019 / 01:16 PM EDT / Updated: Oct 28, 2019 / 05:09 PM EDT
DARE COUNTY, N.C. (WAVY) — A jury has sentenced a former Pasquotank inmate to death for his role in a 2017 escape attempt that took the lives of four prison employees.
The same jury convicted Mikel Brady, the self-proclaimed “pack leader” behind the 2017 attack.
Every jury member chose to sentence Brady to death. In North Carolina, if all jurors are not in unanimous agreement, the defendant is sentenced to life in prison.
Shortly after, the judge decided to accept the jury’s recommendation.
Brady is the first of four inmates facing charges in this case to go to trial.
10 On Your Side’s Jason Marks has been covering the trial since it began two weeks ago and will have live updates through the evening. Check back for updates on this breaking news.
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