By C1 Staff
SCRANTON, Pa. — New details in the murder of Corrections Officer Eric Williams show how quickly his colleagues moved to identify his attacker, then convince him to turn over the murder weapon and surrender.
The Times Tribune details reports documenting interviews of correctional officers conducted by the FBI, which were included as exhibits in court filings by defense attorneys for inmate Jesse Con-Ui.
After finding Williams and summoning medical aid, a lieutenant armed with a pepper ball gun lead others around the cell block and locking down all cells. Once this was completed, they moved with Williams to the prison infirmary to await an ambulance.
Other officers went cell to cell, searching for any wounds or blood on inmates and found a drop on Con-Ui. The lieutenant who found Williams returned to identify the inmate, who was barricaded in his cell.
As Lt. Brian Sudul approached Con-Ui’s cell, he saw an eight-inch Plexiglass knife in a sink. He asked Con-Ui to surrender, but Con-Ui said he feared that the officers would kill him in retaliation.
Other officers reassured Con-Ui that they were being watched by cameras and couldn’t hurt him.
“I give you my word no harm will come to you,” Sudul said, according to the FBI reports.
“OK, I will cuff up,” Con-Ui replied.
He then handed the knife through the food port on his cell door and submitted to being handcuffed.
He then blurted out, “hey man, I am sorry, but I had to do what I had to do. I am sick of all your people’s disrespect.”
Con-Ui was allegedly angered by a shakedown of his cell supposedly ordered by Williams the day before.
Sudul said he was shocked Con-Ui attacked Williams, saying he was “the last guy” he expected to attack an officer.
“Every CO that Sudul talked to after the attack agreed that Con-Ui never caused problems inside the prison,” the FBI reported.
Con-Ui was at the end of an 11 year stint for federal drug trafficking charges when he attacked Williams. In September 2012, he would have been moved to Arizona to serve 25 to life for killing a gang rival.
He is now jailed at ADX Florence, the nationa’s only supermaximum prison in Colorado. He awaits trial on murder charges in federal court.