Thomas Silverstein

Thomas Silverstein, is an American murderer who has been incarcerated since 1975. His reputation as a vicious killer is asserted by his murder of three inmates and one federal corrections officer while incarcerated at various locations, and he has been used as a case study for prison systems to analyze the handling of violent prisoners.

In 1977, he was convicted of armed robbery. While serving his sentence, Silverstein killed an inmate, and received a life sentence for the murder. He was transferred, in 1980, to USP Marion. Silverstein was housed in the H-Unit, a top security area consisting of solitary confinement regime reserved for prisoners prone to assaultive and disruptive behavior. While incarcerated here, Silverstein killed a second inmate, and received a second life sentence.. Subsequently, Silverstein killed a third inmate, and received another life sentence.

Due to Silverstein's dangerous nature, officials determined they would keep him in handcuffs anytime he was outside his cell. Guards escorted him while handcuffed to the library, rec room, and shower. The guards were not armed, wary that prisoners would seize weapons given the opportunity. On October 22, 1983 at 10:15 am, Silverstein was removed from his solitary cell to be escorted to the shower. Three guards were assigned to this task. During this process, Silverstein slipped his cuffs into the cell adjacent to his, where inmate Randy Gometz unlocked his handcuffs and passed him a shank fashioned from one of the cell beds. Silverstein stabbed 51-year-old corrections officer Merle Eugene Clutts 29 times. Gometz and Silverstein were tried together, and each received an additional 50- to 150-year sentence (killing of a federal official was not a capital offense at the time.)

Following this incident (along with the murder of another corrections officer, Robert L. Hoffman, on the same day), USP Marion went into a permanent lockdown, which remains in effect today.

Silverstein was subsequently moved to USP Leavenworth in Leavenworth, Kansas, with his security recorded as "no human contact." Silverstein was placed in a cell located underground.

In 2005, when USP Leavenworth was designated to become a medium security facility, Silverstein was moved to ADX Florence, a supermax facility in Colorado.