By Bob Kalinowski
The Times-Tribune
CANAAN TOWNSHIP, Pa. — Eric Williams faced death alone, armed with keys, handcuffs and a radio with a “panic button.”
Death had a makeshift knife and nothing to lose.
The Feb. 25 slaying of Officer Williams allegedly at the hands of Jessie Con-ui, an inmate at the U.S. Penitentiary, Canaan, is another shocking stain on a prison with a brief but bloody history. Since the facility opened in 2005, more than a dozen inmates have been charged with assaulting correctional officers or each other. In the last three years, three inmates have been stabbed to death.
A high-security institution, one rung below maximum security, Canaan is home to hard men, including Somali pirate Mohammad Shibin, al-Qaida conspirator Abdul Kadir and James Kopp, who made the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted list for the 1998 sniper murder of an Amherst, N.Y., abortion doctor.
Already in jail for life for the murder of a rival gang member in Arizona, Mr. Con-ui is a member of a powerful prison gang known as the New Mexican Mafia. Prison and FBI officials refused to identify Mr. Con-ui for days after the attack, and prison personnel have been warned not to talk with the media. Shaken by the on-duty death of one of their own and convinced immediate changes must be made to prevent another tragedy, a handful of correctional officers spoke with Times-Shamrock newspapers on condition of anonymity.
Together, they provided an inside look at the dangers of working inside facilities like Canaan, where single, unarmed guards are assigned to units of more than 100 inmates.
“If you’re not scared when you go to work, you’re not right,” one officer said. “These inmates are there for a reason. If you don’t watch your back, you’re going to be in trouble.”
Full story: Corrections officers, union official call for more staffing at federal prisons