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.
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'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.com
and 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.
Get the free WAVY News App, available for download
in the App Store and Google Play, and sign up to receive notifications. WAVY
will send a push alert to the app when the jury delivers its sentencing
recommendation.
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