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Potosi Correctional Center

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Coordinates: 37°56′11″N 90°44′12″W / 37.93639°N 90.73667°W / 37.93639; -90.73667
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Potosi Correctional Center
Map
Location11593 State Highway O
Mineral Point, Missouri[1]
Coordinates37°56′11″N 90°44′12″W / 37.93639°N 90.73667°W / 37.93639; -90.73667
Statusopen
Security classMaximum, Death Row
Capacity800
Population897 (112.1%) (as of June 30, 2012[2])
Opened1989
Managed byMissouri Department of Corrections
WardenDavid Vandergriff

Potosi Correctional Center (PCC) is a Missouri Department of Corrections prison located in unincorporated Washington County, Missouri,[3] near Mineral Point.[4] The facility currently houses 800 death row, maximum security and high-risk male inmates.[citation needed]

The facility, which opened in 1989, is a maximum security prison. In 1989 it had about 200 prisoners.[5]

Shortly after the prison's opening, the majority of the non-death row prisoners at Potosi were serving long sentences, such as life imprisonment without parole, or sentences with a 50-year minimum before parole eligibility. A small number had shorter sentences.[6]

Death row

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In April 1989 the state transferred its 70 death row inmates from Jefferson City Correctional Center (JCCC, originally Missouri State Penitentiary[7]) to Potosi. The U. S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri approved some modifications to the consent decree before the inmates were moved to Potosi. Originally death row prisoners lived in a 92-bed, two wing facility at PCC. The death row inmates had their own special custody levels: minimum custody, medium custody, close custody, and administrative segregation. One wing housed the minimum custody death row inmates, with another wing housing the others. The classification system was intended to award privileges to death row prisoners exhibiting good behavior.

After inmates filed legal challenges, in the late 20th century, prison administrators began to consider whether to integrate death row prisoners into the non-death row population. The majority of non-death row prisoners at PCC had very long sentences and had been convicted for crimes similar to those for which death row inmates were convicted.[6]

MDOC began to stop using the word "death row", believing it to be negative. It began referring to death row prisoners as "'capital punishment' (CP) inmates".[8]

For the first time in MDOC history, the state began to allow death row prisoners to leave their housing units, with staff escorts, to eat meals. When no serious incidents occurred, MDOC officials began to use an escort system so that death row prisoners could use the gymnasium. The death row prisoners also began to have access to the law library, and were permitted to work in the laundry facility. On January 8, 1991, death row prisoners were fully mainstreamed into the population.[9]

Executions

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Sixty-one executions were carried out by lethal injection at the Potosi Correctional Center between April 1989, when death row moved to Potosi, and April 2005. At that time the site of executions was moved 25 miles (40 km) east to the Eastern Reception, Diagnostic and Correctional Center in Bonne Terre, Missouri.

Death row prisoners are housed at Potosi until shortly before their scheduled execution. They are then moved to Bonne Terre. Since November 23, 2013, the state has carried out 20 executions.[10]

Notable inmates

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Current

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  • Charles "Billy" Armentrout – Found guilty of capital murder and originally sentenced to Death Row in the beating death of his grandmother, Inez Notter. In 2006, an appeal resulted in a St. Louis circuit judge reducing his sentence to life in prison. Armentrout's story was the subject of the Netflix docuseries I Am a Killer (Season 2, Episode 7).[11]
  • Nicholas Godejohn – Convicted of murdering Dee Dee Blanchard.[12][13]
  • Emory Futo – Convicted of murdering his parents and two brothers.[14][15]

Former

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  • Zein Isa – Murdered his daughter in an honor killing in 1989 and died in 1997.
  • Terry Blair – Originally convicted of murdering Angela Monroe in the 1980s, and was later released.[16] While out of prison, he murdered a further six women.[17][18] Blair died in May 2024.[19]

Executed

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[28]

  1. ^ "Potosi Correctional Center | Missouri Department of Corrections". doc.mo.gov.
  2. ^ "Missouri correctional populations of Census 2020 vintage". Prison Policy Initiative. 2020. Retrieved December 26, 2021.
  3. ^ "2020 CENSUS - CENSUS BLOCK MAP (INDEX): Washington County, MO" (PDF). U.S. Census Bureau. p. 12 (PDF p. 13/24). Retrieved 2024-10-11. Potosi Correctional Ctr
  4. ^ "Institutional Facilities Archived 2015-07-18 at the Wayback Machine." Missouri Department of Corrections. Retrieved on September 18, 2010. "Potosi Correctional Center (C-5)" "11593 State Highway O Mineral Point, MO 63660"
  5. ^ Lombardi, George, Richard D. Sluder, and Donald Wallace. "The Management of Death-Sentenced Inmates: Issues, Realities, and Innovative Strategies Archived 2010-05-27 at the Wayback Machine." Missouri Department of Corrections. 8-9. Retrieved on September 18, 2010.
  6. ^ a b Lombardi, George, Richard D. Sluder, and Donald Wallace. "The Management of Death-Sentenced Inmates: Issues, Realities, and Innovative Strategies Archived 2010-05-27 at the Wayback Machine." Missouri Department of Corrections. 9. Retrieved on September 18, 2010.
  7. ^ "Jefferson City Correctional Center." Missouri Department of Corrections. August 14, 2003. Retrieved on September 18, 2010.
  8. ^ Lombardi, George, Richard D. Sluder, and Donald Wallace. "The Management of Death-Sentenced Inmates: Issues, Realities, and Innovative Strategies Archived 2010-05-27 at the Wayback Machine." Missouri Department of Corrections. 9-10. Retrieved on September 18, 2010.
  9. ^ Lombardi, George, Richard D. Sluder, and Donald Wallace. "The Management of Death-Sentenced Inmates: Issues, Realities, and Innovative Strategies Archived 2010-05-27 at the Wayback Machine." Missouri Department of Corrections. 10. Retrieved on September 18, 2010.
  10. ^ State execution location changed – March 29, 2005
  11. ^ "I Am a Killer Season 2, Episode 7 recap: Owning It". 23 May 2020.
  12. ^ "MODOC Offender Search".
  13. ^ Holman, Gregory (January 5, 2021). "Dee Dee Blanchard murder: Now serving life in prison, Godejohn asks judge to set aside criminal trial". Springfield News-Leader.
  14. ^ "Emory M. Futo found guilty of killing his parents and two brothers after month long trial". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. 13 March 1993. p. 1.
  15. ^ "Futo Family Murders: Who Killed Them? Where is Emory Futo Now?". 3 January 2021.
  16. ^ "Man charged one of six deaths in Kansas City". NBC News. 2004-09-15. Retrieved 2024-06-12.
  17. ^ "Man's murder trial might hinge on calls". Columbia Daily Tribune. Retrieved 2024-06-12.
  18. ^ "Kansas City man convicted of killing 6 women". NBC News. 2008-03-27. Retrieved 2024-06-12.
  19. ^ Schmidt, Heidi (2024-05-14). "Kansas City serial killer Terry Blair dies in prison". www.kctv5.com. Retrieved 2024-05-14.
  20. ^ "Condemned man executed for 1978 killing". United Press International. May 11, 1990. Retrieved April 3, 2022.
  21. ^ Lambe, Joe; Perry, Erin (July 21, 1993). "Death order is fulfilled". The Kansas City Star. p. 21. Retrieved April 3, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  22. ^ "Missouri executes Griffin for 1980 drive-by shooting". The Daily Journal. June 21, 1995. p. 5. Retrieved April 3, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  23. ^ Scott Charton (November 29, 1995). "Man Who Confessed to Many Slayings Executed in Missouri". Associated Press. Archived from the original on January 12, 2022. Retrieved April 3, 2022.
  24. ^ "Missouri Executes Killer Who Turned To Religion". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. December 7, 1995. p. 4. Retrieved April 3, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  25. ^ "Missouri executes killer, but questions remain". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. January 14, 1999. p. 4. Retrieved April 3, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  26. ^ "Roberts executed". The Kansas City Star. March 11, 1999. p. 67. Retrieved April 3, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  27. ^ Robinson, Ryan (February 7, 2001). "Gay prisoner executed in Missouri". ABC News.
  28. ^ Bellware, Kim (September 24, 2024). "Missouri executes Marcellus Williams despite prosecutors' objections". WashingtonPost.
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